Best led light for a reef aquarium
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billyocean
10K Club member
About any reef led will handle lps these days. It comes down to how much you want to spend on the frills. Yhe aforementioned lights are all fine. Xr30 vs orphek icon..I would go icon and it's retail price is comparable. Nicrew or noopsyche is a great budget light that will handle all coral. The kessil gives a nice shimmer look. The reefi 2.0 is a beast of a light as well. Tons of choices but all of those will handle your needs as long as it provides coverage for your tank size.
I have reefi, ai primes and hydras, orpheks, kessil. Friends with radions. They all have pros and cons. My orphek had a lot of lense burnout and bad shimmer. Kessil had to much shimmer, reefi not the best shimmer and produce a lot of heat. Radion have a lot of room light bleed. I think I like the look of the tank under hydras the best, but love the power of the reefi. Crazy enough my current tank has reefi, primes, kessil and orphek bars which actually make a pretty awesome light setup.
VintageReefer
2500 Club Member
Many good choices. I would give a vote to reefbreeders photon 32 v2
I have v1 photon 32 and v1 photon 48 and I also have a photon 48v2
The v2 fixtures are extremely good and priced in the middle of the line
I have v1 photon 32 and v1 photon 48 and I also have a photon 48v2
The v2 fixtures are extremely good and priced in the middle of the line
Aquama
New Member
As my tank will be in a closed cabinet (I will use some grills on the cabinet for ventilation), I think the light must not be the one which produce lots of heat (and the cooling fan of it must be good and silent -I am sensitive to noises as "may be" because of being a mixing engineer).
I do not have lots of choices in my country so that I can go and check and choose the one I like. But I have the option of going to Europe (next month) and buy the light(s). So, I have to decide this without seeing them live...
I do not really know which will "cover" my tank well (as the depth of the tank is about 30" and in general, the light manufacturers give values for 24" tanks).
If possible, I do not want to spend 2.000 Euros and buy very strong 2x lights. Instead (may be), I can buy smaller (thus cheaper) multiple lights with low Watt values so that they can cover all of the tank (yesterday, I have watched a Youtube video that a guy explains in detail this).
My tanks "water level" (height) can be changed. I am planning to make it roughly 21.6" for now. Will that be OK? Or do you suggest 23.6" water level?
How many inches should the height of the aquarium be above the water level?
I think I like the "shimmering" effect of LPS (as @VintageReefer's tank above)
I will appreciate if you can let me know (as you guys are all experienced well) which make(s)/models(s) will be the best choice for me under those above conditions...
Note: Thanks a lot for the replies till now and those replies has given me already lots of information.
I do not have lots of choices in my country so that I can go and check and choose the one I like. But I have the option of going to Europe (next month) and buy the light(s). So, I have to decide this without seeing them live...
I do not really know which will "cover" my tank well (as the depth of the tank is about 30" and in general, the light manufacturers give values for 24" tanks).
If possible, I do not want to spend 2.000 Euros and buy very strong 2x lights. Instead (may be), I can buy smaller (thus cheaper) multiple lights with low Watt values so that they can cover all of the tank (yesterday, I have watched a Youtube video that a guy explains in detail this).
My tanks "water level" (height) can be changed. I am planning to make it roughly 21.6" for now. Will that be OK? Or do you suggest 23.6" water level?
How many inches should the height of the aquarium be above the water level?
I think I like the "shimmering" effect of LPS (as @VintageReefer's tank above)
I will appreciate if you can let me know (as you guys are all experienced well) which make(s)/models(s) will be the best choice for me under those above conditions...
Note: Thanks a lot for the replies till now and those replies has given me already lots of information.
AquaLogic
Active Member
In my opinion Radions are very overpriced. I like Kessil for their shimmer, but they are also very expensive. My favorite budget lights are the Noo-Psyche k7 pro III. You just can’t beat the bang for the buck. The app isn’t as nice, but it’s a fraction of the cost of a radion for similar performance.
They also look better in my opinion. Good shimmer.
They also look better in my opinion. Good shimmer.
Stylo and plating monti, approx 11-12 months under Reefi Uno 2.0. I run 4 of them on a 96inch by 31inch by 24inch 300g tank. 27inches of water depth, lights mounted 12 inches above water line, using the 90 degree reflectors (factory installed).
Light Profile I am using. Set at 95% of the Bar numbers. The corals above are getting around 150-185 par, maybe 200 at the top of that stylo now.
www.reefi-lab.com
All this at about half the price of leading competitors and with a longer (3yr) warranty.
In sheer wattage the next highest output light is the Reefbreeders at 230watts, Orphek 218w, Radion xr30 g6 215w, etc.
Light Profile I am using. Set at 95% of the Bar numbers. The corals above are getting around 150-185 par, maybe 200 at the top of that stylo now.
ReeFi Lab – Smart Aquarium Solutions
www.reefi-lab.com
All this at about half the price of leading competitors and with a longer (3yr) warranty.
In sheer wattage the next highest output light is the Reefbreeders at 230watts, Orphek 218w, Radion xr30 g6 215w, etc.
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Reefi Uno 2.0. They cover a 24inch by 24inch area if mounted 12 inches above waterline I think, but the best person to ask would be Daniel Lu. The lights designer. You will love his commitment to these lights and his customers. Can find him on https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReeFiLove
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twentyleagues
Valuable Member
I am a Reefi uno 2.0 pro user as well. Lights are very strong, great price you can get 2 for the price of 1 Radion and 1 is more powerful then the Radion. Cooling for the light is great fans are quiet. Very adjustable to output and color so it can look as blue or as white as you like. It has a nice muted shimmer not to crazy and color blending is so much better than Orphek. The come with a 3 year warranty. They also come with a 90 degree lens and a 120 degree lens. I am using mine on a 28"x28"x24" tank, I have a single unit with 120 lens it covers everything with a good amount of par. Pretty sure since its owner operated he will ship most anywhere so you shouldnt have to leave the country.
My current schedule. Tank is mainly lps (euphillia) and some zoas. I do have 2 sps that are doing really well.
This was a few weeks ago. You can see its still a newer tank been up since january.
If you look at my build thread you can see a more recent video. I am just using an older phone for pics and videos so quality isn't great.
My current schedule. Tank is mainly lps (euphillia) and some zoas. I do have 2 sps that are doing really well.
This was a few weeks ago. You can see its still a newer tank been up since january.
If you look at my build thread you can see a more recent video. I am just using an older phone for pics and videos so quality isn't great.
twentyleagues
Valuable Member
They come with a wire hanging kit if I remember correctly. I made a custom situation.
https://www.reefi-lab.com/product/reefi-uno-2-0-pro/ It does come with a hanging kit.
How high will you be mounting the lights? My reefi are 10 inches off the water, mounted in my canopy and despite using fans they really heat the tank up. I eventually added a chiller.
twentyleagues
Valuable Member
I'd do 2 with the 120 reflectors. 1 may do it but 2 would be better coverage with out a bunch of light spill and youd be able to run them closer to the water 10-12" at less watts per unit.
JNalley
Valuable Member
Closed lids/canopies are what increase the heat because they prevent the tank from cooling itself through evaporation. If you add some silent fans behind the grills to pull the air out of the cavity, thus allowing the tank to evaporate, you shouldn't have any issues with heat. Noctua makes some really silent fans that move a ton of air, but you'd have to rig something up to be able to control them.
Pod/Puck lights, such as AI Prime's, Hydra's, XR15's, and all of the Kessils (besides the AP9X, will get to that in a minute) are made to cover a square area, typically either 18" x 18" SPS Dominant, or 24" x 24" Mixed Reef (Achieved by raising the lights higher to get more spread).
On the other hand, Bar style lights, such as the Reefbreeders, Maxpect Razor's, AI Blade's, Orphek, are meant to cover rectangular spaces, the width can usually be 18", 24" or 30" depending on the height of the fixture,
Other lights, such as the Reef Flare by Reef Factory, or the Kessil AP9X, take multiple of their individual lights, and put them together to cover more length while keeping the same width. The AP9X for instance uses 2 A360x Pucks (each capable of 24" x 24" SPS Dominant system up to 24" deep into the tank (height), to achieve a 36" x 24" spread for an SPS Dominant system. They also do up to 48" x 30" for a Mixed Reef system if raised 15" above the waters surface. Since you will have a canopy, the extra 12" on the length would not cause any lightspill for you.
People generally want height when dealing with SPS systems because they allow for tall staghorns and things of that nature. Or because they want a really deep sandbed. My next tank will be 30" possibly even 36" tall because I want a 4" sandbed and some nice tall SPS and Finger sponges.
I think this is going to depend on how you wish to setup your flow. Personally, I am a fan of the wavebox by Tunze, which creates a standing wave giving the gentle back and forth sway of the ocean, but the wave height can be a problem. Generally speaking, 1-2" from the waters surface to the top of the glass is a good idea though.
Given your parameters, a 37" long tank, with a 30" width, and 21 - 24" deep, and you want shimmer, I personally feel like a single Kessil AP9X is the simplest, most user friendly light you could possibly get that will not only cover the footprint in a single fixture, but also provide shimmer, and enough PAR if at in the future you decide to go with some SPS/Acro's. I have my light running at 25% intensity, my current tank dimensions are 36 x 18 x 18, and I am still getting 200-250 PAR on the sand bed.
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JNalley
Valuable Member
@Aquama since you can't go into the store and see the lights in person, I have made a 1 minute video (first 30 seconds of the video features slight blue, final 30 seconds features mostly white with a bit of red in it) of my tank showing the shimmer and lighting (Kessil AP9X). My tank is 36" x 18" x 18" as stated before, and what you're seeing is the morning ramp, they haven't even reached the full 25% intensity yet (first half of the video is around 17-20% intensity, and the second half is even less). It will take about 25-30 minutes from the time of this post for youtube to finish processing it, so video quality may be low before then...
Aquama
New Member
Thanks a lot for this, I appreciate that. I like the first 30sec (blue colored one).
What do you think about Radion XR30 G6 Blue? Will it look better in blue color (than Kessil AP9X) and do you think that 1x of them will be enough for my tank?
The other option mentioned is Reefi Uno 2.0 Pro. Have you seen (and checked in detail) that one?
Note: Thanks for your replies to all of my questions above. That really helps.
KandAReefs
Community Member
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I will agree with you for the newer ones the older with the gateway was just a pain for setup. But the lights themselves are amazing.
smitten with ocean life
Active Member
following! this is very informative! not to distract from the topic, but is there something to watch out for if one would try to find used lights? or is it not even worth getting used? some of these price tags are mindboggling for new 
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