Hello Everyone I wanted to post a thread about my new lighting setup on my 75g mixed reef.
Some background:
I found out about Quanta Lights in the most unlikely sequence ever. I have known Luca, the owner of Quanta Lights for over 4 years now. I met him at the gym 4 years ago and have been great friends with him ever since. Recently in August he asked me how my weekend was on a Monday before work, I told him it was great and that I was super excited to see the new results that my AI Hydra 32s were gonna give me. Up until this point I had no idea that he was involved in the Reef lighting industry. After telling him this, he told me about his company and what he does for work. I was blown away that I didn't know this sooner, and honestly disappointed in myself for not asking him sooner. Since he was one of my best gym buddies I knew I had to give his lights a shot.
After annoying Luca for the past 2 months about when the lights where coming in, he finally recieved his first shipment from the factory and I was one of the first people to get my hands on them. And let me say WOW was I blown away by the quality. I am so impressed on how well they feel in hand, and the design of them. Every single piece of the light looks like it was over engineered to withstand everything. After getting the 3 bar White+ combo set up on my tank everything in the tank looks incredible. All the fish have the best coloration I have ever seen, and the corals are full of color.
Before my Quanta Light bars I had two different lights I have had expirence with. I started with a Current USA Light Bar. With this I basically had slow to no growth from my corals, this is solely because there was a terrible spectrum on it and it was very weak in power. After having enough of the Current USA Light I decided to upgrade back in August to two Hydra 32's. My experience with these lights was alright, obviously it was nice to have the app control, but once everything was set I basically never used the app. I ran the Hydras with BRS recommended settings and after using the for about two months I saw a little coral growth but nothing jaw dropping.
Here are the settings I ran both my Hydra 32s at:
With these new Helix Lights I expect the same to better results I was getting from 2 Hydra 32s. This is because these Helix Bars have a better spectrum than the Hydras and seem like they will last longer. I also believe that because these will reduce shadows because they will yield better results to corals lower in the tank like my Zoas and Kenya Trees. When testing the 3 bar setup, with all three bars at 100% I was getting about 900 par at the water line on the tank. I turned them down to about 65% and have 325par at my Acros and my Stylo. At my Trumpets, Gongordians, Blasto, and Hammers I was getting about 250-200 par. At my GSP and Kenya Trees I was getting about 150 par. As for a testament to the build quality, I decided to mix up a new batch of saltwater the night I got my lights and didn't take my 10ft hose off my pump. When I woke up in the morning, I walked over by my tank and about 3 gallons of saltwater had spilt onto the Helix power supplies. I dried everything off, and my lights still turned right on at 8am. I was so impressed that these were designed to withstand this because I know if that would have happened to my Hydra Power Supplies I don't think they would be turning on.
When I picked up the lights from Luca, I convinced him to let me buy another two foot Reef Crest 2.0 light bar for my refugium. This is purely for my curiosity to see how well my cheato grows under this light and to see if I can save a couple bucks from my current refugium light, The Kessil A360x Refugium. With this Kessil I ran the light on the grow spectrum at 100% intensity. I was getting my cheato to double every two weeks in size. At the top of the refugium waterline I was getting a little over 1000 Par, and at the bottom of the refugium I was getting a little over 400 par. With the new Reef Crest light bar I was getting about 400 Par at the top of the water and 150 at the bottom. I understand that the Reef Crest 2.0 is not designed to grow cheato, but at about half the price 1/3 of the price if I can get half the results of the Kessil I will be extremely happy. I also talked with Luca and he said he is working on creating a refugium specific light.
In all I think everyone considering reef lighting should seriously consider these Quanta Helix Light Bars. If you have any questions post them below and I will answer them to the best of my ability.
The first image attached is my tank with the 3 Bar Setup on it. The second attachment is a picture of the Power Supplies with all the water on them. The third photo is a picture of my Ehiem Auto Fish feeder attached to my Helix Support. The fourth photo is my tank with the two Hyrda 32s on the tank. The fifth photo is a picture of my refugium with the Helix Light Bar on it. The sixth photo is a picture of my tank with the Hydra 32s. The seventh photo is a picture of the tank with two hydra 32s lighting it. and the eighth photo is a picture of me using the refugium light as a moonlight on my tank.
Some background:
I found out about Quanta Lights in the most unlikely sequence ever. I have known Luca, the owner of Quanta Lights for over 4 years now. I met him at the gym 4 years ago and have been great friends with him ever since. Recently in August he asked me how my weekend was on a Monday before work, I told him it was great and that I was super excited to see the new results that my AI Hydra 32s were gonna give me. Up until this point I had no idea that he was involved in the Reef lighting industry. After telling him this, he told me about his company and what he does for work. I was blown away that I didn't know this sooner, and honestly disappointed in myself for not asking him sooner. Since he was one of my best gym buddies I knew I had to give his lights a shot.
After annoying Luca for the past 2 months about when the lights where coming in, he finally recieved his first shipment from the factory and I was one of the first people to get my hands on them. And let me say WOW was I blown away by the quality. I am so impressed on how well they feel in hand, and the design of them. Every single piece of the light looks like it was over engineered to withstand everything. After getting the 3 bar White+ combo set up on my tank everything in the tank looks incredible. All the fish have the best coloration I have ever seen, and the corals are full of color.
Before my Quanta Light bars I had two different lights I have had expirence with. I started with a Current USA Light Bar. With this I basically had slow to no growth from my corals, this is solely because there was a terrible spectrum on it and it was very weak in power. After having enough of the Current USA Light I decided to upgrade back in August to two Hydra 32's. My experience with these lights was alright, obviously it was nice to have the app control, but once everything was set I basically never used the app. I ran the Hydras with BRS recommended settings and after using the for about two months I saw a little coral growth but nothing jaw dropping.
Here are the settings I ran both my Hydra 32s at:
- UV: 110%
- Violet: 110%
- Royal: 120%
- Blue: 120%
- Green: 10%
- Deep Red: 10%
- Moonlight: n/a
- Cool White: 60%
With these new Helix Lights I expect the same to better results I was getting from 2 Hydra 32s. This is because these Helix Bars have a better spectrum than the Hydras and seem like they will last longer. I also believe that because these will reduce shadows because they will yield better results to corals lower in the tank like my Zoas and Kenya Trees. When testing the 3 bar setup, with all three bars at 100% I was getting about 900 par at the water line on the tank. I turned them down to about 65% and have 325par at my Acros and my Stylo. At my Trumpets, Gongordians, Blasto, and Hammers I was getting about 250-200 par. At my GSP and Kenya Trees I was getting about 150 par. As for a testament to the build quality, I decided to mix up a new batch of saltwater the night I got my lights and didn't take my 10ft hose off my pump. When I woke up in the morning, I walked over by my tank and about 3 gallons of saltwater had spilt onto the Helix power supplies. I dried everything off, and my lights still turned right on at 8am. I was so impressed that these were designed to withstand this because I know if that would have happened to my Hydra Power Supplies I don't think they would be turning on.
When I picked up the lights from Luca, I convinced him to let me buy another two foot Reef Crest 2.0 light bar for my refugium. This is purely for my curiosity to see how well my cheato grows under this light and to see if I can save a couple bucks from my current refugium light, The Kessil A360x Refugium. With this Kessil I ran the light on the grow spectrum at 100% intensity. I was getting my cheato to double every two weeks in size. At the top of the refugium waterline I was getting a little over 1000 Par, and at the bottom of the refugium I was getting a little over 400 par. With the new Reef Crest light bar I was getting about 400 Par at the top of the water and 150 at the bottom. I understand that the Reef Crest 2.0 is not designed to grow cheato, but at about half the price 1/3 of the price if I can get half the results of the Kessil I will be extremely happy. I also talked with Luca and he said he is working on creating a refugium specific light.
In all I think everyone considering reef lighting should seriously consider these Quanta Helix Light Bars. If you have any questions post them below and I will answer them to the best of my ability.
The first image attached is my tank with the 3 Bar Setup on it. The second attachment is a picture of the Power Supplies with all the water on them. The third photo is a picture of my Ehiem Auto Fish feeder attached to my Helix Support. The fourth photo is my tank with the two Hyrda 32s on the tank. The fifth photo is a picture of my refugium with the Helix Light Bar on it. The sixth photo is a picture of my tank with the Hydra 32s. The seventh photo is a picture of the tank with two hydra 32s lighting it. and the eighth photo is a picture of me using the refugium light as a moonlight on my tank.
