Need advice on new reef tank

[N_E_M_O]

Personally I love Radion Pro Gen 4. Fans are what they are.
Personally I wont use the Orphek, way too many issues
AI are nice and not too loud.
Really IMO your lighting choice should depend on what Corals you are planning to keep, or which Reef zone you are trying to recreate.

 

[Dave T]

I've seen comments about the Radion fan noise, I think I'll stay away from them.

AI Hydra looks good, you'd recommend those over Reefbreeders?

What about light bars instead?

For corals, I will ultimately, as my tank matures and I gain experience, want to have a mixed reef, definitely with a fair amount of SPS. My tank will be 28 inches deep, 72x28x28.

 

[N_E_M_O]

If you want SPS then my recommendation is Radion
Or go metal halide (no noise at all)
If you want a good mix but not focused on SPS then ReefBreeders for sure.
If you want LPS then AI is my go to. AI will also do a good job with a mix.

Ideally you want to pick a zone of the reef to recreate or mimic. Ultimately if you design your system around a certain zone and keep animals from that zone you will have the best results. Like a reef crest, high energy, low nutrients. Or a reef flat, similar to a lagoon, less wave action, but shallow water. Or a fore reef which is like a wall sloping down from the reef crest into the depths.
Zones are very different and have a lot to do with the distribution of Corals, Fish, and Inverts in the Ocean. And actually has a lot to do with the success and failure of many organisms in captivity.

 

[Joe Rice]

I've seen comments about the Radion fan noise, I think I'll stay away from them.

AI Hydra looks good, you'd recommend those over Reefbreeders?

What about light bars instead?

For corals, I will ultimately, as my tank matures and I gain experience, want to have a mixed reef, definitely with a fair amount of SPS. My tank will be 28 inches deep, 72x28x28.

Dave, I use AI Hydra 26 HDs and you commented on how quiet my system was. I run them at pretty close to 100% intensity too. That said, I think the ReefBreeder light on my frag tank gives somewhat better color, but the AI's could be augmented with some Lumenbars which might help with that.

 

[Chris A.]

I have ghl mitras and prefer them over radions

 

[MikeG]

If you want SPS then my recommendation is Radion
Or go metal halide (no noise at all)
If you want a good mix but not focused on SPS then ReefBreeders for sure.
If you want LPS then AI is my go to. AI will also do a good job with a mix.

Ideally you want to pick a zone of the reef to recreate or mimic. Ultimately if you design your system around a certain zone and keep animals from that zone you will have the best results. Like a reef crest, high energy, low nutrients. Or a reef flat, similar to a lagoon, less wave action, but shallow water. Or a fore reef which is like a wall sloping down from the reef crest into the depths.
Zones are very different and have a lot to do with the distribution of Corals, Fish, and Inverts in the Ocean. And actually has a lot to do with the success and failure of many organisms in captivity.

Any reason you say not to use Reefbreeders for SPS focused tank?

 

[Dave T]

Zirky (Joe) lent me a Reefbreeders Photon V2 Plus to try. I put it up to 100% on all channels, and the fans don't come on at all. Looking good. I am going to heat up a closet to 90 degrees with a space heater, and see if the fans will come on then or how loud they are. The only other concern is disco effect, not sure how to evaluate them for that without a tank.

 

[MikeG]

Zirky (Joe) lent me a Reefbreeders Photon V2 Plus to try. I put it up to 100% on all channels, and the fans don't come on at all. Looking good. I am going to heat up a closet to 90 degrees with a space heater, and see if the fans will come on then or how loud they are. The only other concern is disco effect, not sure how to evaluate them for that without a tank.

My fans cycle on and off on my Reefbreeders all summer long and I dont have them in a canopy. I can barely hear them cycle and sit about 4 feet away on the couch. For reference when I had my blues at about 85% and whites at 40% my PAR was over 600-700 at the surface. I had since turned them down to a 4:1 ratio blues to whites with whites at a max of about 18% and blues at 72%. This put my PAR around 450 at waterline and 300 at sandbed. If you went with Reefbreeders you likely will be nowhere near 100% intensity on white/ red and green channels.

 

[N_E_M_O]

Any reason you say not to use Reefbreeders for SPS focused tank?

IME they have not given good results when myself or several customers have tried, especially when compared to the growth and color I get from Radions. I am running both at the farm
I love Reefbreeders for Zoas. But I have found if I dial it in the way I like for SPS, its too much for other Corals.
Radion Pro G4, are by far the best LED I have used. And I hate Ecotech, but I love that light, especially for SPS

 

[MikeG]

IME they have not given good results when myself or several customers have tried, especially when compared to the growth and color I get from Radions. I am running both at the farm
I love Reefbreeders for Zoas. But I have found if I dial it in the way I like for SPS, its too much for other Corals.
Radion Pro G4, are by far the best LED I have used. And I hate Ecotech, but I love that light, especially for SPS

Interesting, I have heard other opinions from other coral farmers that are not able to get better sps colors with other fixtures. I have seen amazing growth with them as well.

 

[Dave T]

Can anyone comment on disco effect on the Reefbreeders?

 

[srit1]

None to speak of in my tank (72x24x30) with a Photonv2 50 mounted ~8" off water

 

[Zirky]

I definitely had disco shimmer from my photon. But honestly I would only notice it if I was looking for it.

 

[N_E_M_O]

Interesting, I have heard other opinions from other coral farmers that are not able to get better sps colors with other fixtures. I have seen amazing growth with them as well.

If its a farm situation totally different. Your talking coral flats. I talking about a mixed reef in a tank 24"+ deep. And im not saying they cant keep them. I find its harder to dial them in for good results with more of a mixed reef. In several setups we would get it perfect for the SPS, then we noticed LPS starting to bleach, then dial it back and we would lose some colors on the SPS.

But still I run both RB and Radion. Even run them together over one tank, as personally thats my favorite (48×24×10, 1xr15 then a 24"photon. Then another xr15) now that combo is awesome
But over the years, for strictly SPS dominant, id have to give it to the radions. And most of the biggest most productive coral farmers are using Radions

But lighting is worse than politics.
We can debate all day, and get no where, lol
There are so many options, opinions, and experiences. Enough to definitely spin ones head around several times. Lol
Most of you know I am VERY critical of things before I get behind them. I did not use LEDs until about 6 years ago. Hell you could not pay me to use them. They weren't right, they were burning Coral more then keeping them alive. But finally the technology got better and they figured it out, then I started using them. But i am still not as happy with the results of LED over metal halide. Just cant justify the heat and electricity usage of them compared to LED.

 

[Joe Rice]

Can anyone comment on disco effect on the Reefbreeders?

It's only something I notice in shadowed areas of the tank and it's very minimal. I really never notice it.

One thing to note about the Reefbreeders Photon lights is that the 32 (that I have) and the 48/50 are about the same power which leads me to believe that the 48/50 will provide less PAR per unit area.

 

[Dave T]

Ok, here's a (possibly useless) table, with the lights I'm considering. All are panel style except for the puck style Kessel. Is it valid to consider the LED density, or the wattage density? I would think higher LED density would help with spread and help minimize disco. But maybe the type of diffuser negates that consideration. Looking at density, the Radions and Hydra win. The reefbreeders and coralcare lose. But the Phillips Coralcare is fanless, so I'm strongly considering them. Thoughts on the Coralcare?

I'd love to go with the Radions, after NEMO's endorsement, but the noise complaints worry me.

Regarding the Reefbreeders, I was able to get the fan to come on by putting them in a bathroom I heated to 80 degrees with a space heater. And they're louder than I'd like, about 45db. But they don't seem to come on in a room temperature room.

Light	Noise?	LEDs	Watts	LEDs/sq in	Watts/sq in	Dimensions
Kessel A360x	Minor fan noise		90
Radion XR30	Has noise complaints	102	215	1.23	2.60	11.8	7	1.5
AI Hydra	Fan noise sounds to be ok	68	135	1.07	2.12	11.875	5.375	1.42
Neptune Sky	Not sure...	104	219	0.88	1.85	12.8	9.25
Phillips Coralcare	No fan!	68	170	0.23	0.57	18.1	16.4	2.24
Reefbreeders	Silent fan	44	140	0.22	0.70	23.5	8.5	1
GHL Mitras	Fan supposed to be quiet	72	195	0.71	1.93	12.80	7.9	1.65

 

[rock-n-reef]

Radions have quite noticeable noise. I get more sound from the light than from overflow or pumps

 

[Dave T]

@N_E_M_O, could you comment on my table above? You were talking about difficulty dialing in the Reefbreeders in a mixed reef. Could that be related to coverage? I'm wondering if the LEDs/sq in or Watts/sq in are useful to look at. You said the Radions are easier to dial in on a mixed reef, and they are at the high end of the LED/sq in and Watts/sq in. And the Reefbreeders are at the low end. Could that be why?

 

[MarkSzy]

Radions have quite noticeable noise. I get more sound from the light than from overflow or pumps

I have two 30’s and don’t hear them at all.

 

[Joe Rice]

Ok, here's a (possibly useless) table, with the lights I'm considering. All are panel style except for the puck style Kessel. Is it valid to consider the LED density, or the wattage density? I would think higher LED density would help with spread and help minimize disco. But maybe the type of diffuser negates that consideration. Looking at density, the Radions and Hydra win. The reefbreeders and coralcare lose. But the Phillips Coralcare is fanless, so I'm strongly considering them. Thoughts on the Coralcare?

I'd love to go with the Radions, after NEMO's endorsement, but the noise complaints worry me.

Regarding the Reefbreeders, I was able to get the fan to come on by putting them in a bathroom I heated to 80 degrees with a space heater. And they're louder than I'd like, about 45db. But they don't seem to come on in a room temperature room.

Light	Noise?	LEDs	Watts	LEDs/sq in	Watts/sq in	Dimensions
Kessel A360x	Minor fan noise		90
Radion XR30	Has noise complaints	102	215	1.23	2.60	11.8	7	1.5
AI Hydra	Fan noise sounds to be ok	68	135	1.07	2.12	11.875	5.375	1.42
Neptune Sky	Not sure...	104	219	0.88	1.85	12.8	9.25
Phillips Coralcare	No fan!	68	170	0.23	0.57	18.1	16.4	2.24
Reefbreeders	Silent fan	44	140	0.22	0.70	23.5	8.5	1
GHL Mitras	Fan supposed to be quiet	72	195	0.71	1.93	12.80	7.9	1.65

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ReeFi® LED Uno – ReeFi Lab

www.reefi-lab.com