reefbreeders photon V2 is OUT...reviews here.

[Editour2]

Can we see some samples programs from photon v2's? I'm up to about 50% at the highest point, but am slowly ramping up the intensity. I've had the light for about 2 months now

Is your tank 6' long? If so, I have a similar tank (215 gal).....what do you have covering your tank? (2 x 32 V2's ?)

 

[kenith]

Is your tank 6' long? If so, I have a similar tank (215 gal).....what do you have covering your tank? (2 x 32 V2's ?)

I have the 50, there is a very slight shading on both ends of the tank, but it fits the rockwork nicely.

 

[Ron Reefman]

That is a great tip about the red channel for moonlights! I think I will do that as well. I like to feed in the dark, but can never see what is going on when I do so.

Now my next question is how do you cycle through the configurations without hitting the sunny/manual ones on the way to moonlight?

I take the remote to a different room, scroll through until I get to 'Cloudy'. Then wait for the little blue light at the top to quite flashing (sending a signal). Go back to the aquarium and scroll one more to 'Moonlight'. No problem.

 

[jason2459]

So, I've been sub'ed to this thread for a while, haven't read every single post, and seems like generally most everyone is happy with these overall which is good and support from Reefbreeders seems to be good?

Can 4 of the 32 V2's be used together and controlled with just the one controller just once? Seems like they can be linked to one controller. But do they each have to be programmed individually or I can just set 1 program and all 4 would sync to that one programming?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Jason, all 4 fixtures can be run off one remote control and you do the programming in the remote... you don't have to be in the room with the tank. When you are done just be in the same room with the fixtures, tell it which mode you want, most likely CUSTOM, and they all get done a one time... it even syncs the clocks.

BTW, I've found Reef Breeders customer service to be as good or better than anybody's. IMHO, Logan is a class act!

 

[jason2459]

Jason, all 4 fixtures can be run off one remote control and you do the programming in the remote... you don't have to be in the room with the tank. When you are done just be in the same room with the fixtures, tell it which mode you want, most likely CUSTOM, and they all get done a one time... it even syncs the clocks.

BTW, I've found Reef Breeders customer service to be as good or better than anybody's. IMHO, Logan is a class act!

Thanks. I've got 4 on their way. Going to mount them up in my canopy with dual 80 watt T5s down the middle between the pairs.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Ok everyone, how are the photons v2 with coral growth? Anyone have them long enough to say its great? Im trying to decide either photon v2 or ai hydra 26. Thanks.., hope to hear from you guys.

110g - 48x18x30

 

[Ron Reefman]

Ok everyone, how are the photons v2 with coral growth? Anyone have them long enough to say its great? Im trying to decide either photon v2 or ai hydra 26. Thanks.., hope to hear from you guys.

110g - 48x18x30

I seriously don't think anybody can give you any REAL proof that one is better than the other at growing coral. They both make light with multiple colored leds and every color is controllable.

My V2 has only been running about 6 months and that is over a new tank with clean sand and 50% old LR and 50% dry rock. All the corals moved from my 180g which had EverGrow IT2080 leds (same as the old Photon but mine had a custom led layout). However, my corals all spent 6+ weeks in multiple small tanks and containers with water movement but no filtration, just water changes... and not enough of them. I had way too many projects on my hands at that point.

I really didn't have a cycle, but I did have a fairly serious diatom bloom that lasted for a few weeks. Over the last 4 months all my old corals, the sps that survived (I lost 50% or more) and the lps and softies are all doing just fine. In fact, one of the biggest colonies that survived, a red and green war coral, is growing better now than it did in the old tank. But I don't credit that to the lights as much as I do 'other' criteria.

If I were you, I'd look at the cost, the ascetics, the control, the mounting over your tank as the issues to consider. They will both grow your coral just fine.

BTW, are you considering a 32" or a 48" over your 48" tank? Do you have a canopy and plan to hang the lights? Or use the legs (RB) or behind the tank mounts (AI)?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks. I've got 4 on their way. Going to mount them up in my canopy with dual 80 watt T5s down the middle between the pairs.

You are doing 4 of the RB V2 32" leds and dual 80 watt t5's over a standard 180g tank? What do you plan to keep in the tank, coral from mercury! :beer:

 

[jason2459]

You are doing 4 of the RB V2 32" leds and dual 80 watt t5's over a standard 180g tank? What do you plan to keep in the tank, coral from mercury! :beer:

lol yep. I'm sure two alone will be just fine but I'm going for FULL 100% no doubt about it coverage and just be done with it. The price of these make that possible for me. There are some slightly cheaper options but then saccrifice in other areas. These seem like the Aquamaxx skimmer of the lighting world. Not the cheapest but very good bang for the buck. At just under $2k to get the coverage I wanted I priced out other name brand fixtures and they start at $3k and go way up from there and may or may not even include mounting hardware. That's freaking nuts. They should have absolutely every option available. LEDs have been out a long time now and prices need to reflect that.

More on my plan and why from my tank jounal.

Ok, so here's the plan and going to blast my tank with leds shotgun style but this time I have some more control and coverage compared to what I tried with the ocean revive fixtures.


https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-32-v2/

Getting 4 32" Photon V2 fixtures from Reef breeders. For one they have been giving good customer support from what I have seen over the past few years. I like that the fixtures support the ability to use legs for tank top mounting and come with the fixtures. I have a plan to be able to use them to mount up into the canopy and attach two together to make 2 pairs.

I'm looking to keep my dual T5s down the middle of the tank. Then put a pair on each side and tilted inward slightly. Maybe. Will start out like that and see if I like it. I'll flip the directions between the pairs. Which if I'm looking at the layouts right will help the two rows complement each other better. Having the two rows will also put up a LOT of leds up into the canopy which will hopefully give a lot of coverage. Also, if what I'm thinking of doing with the legs I should be able to mount them up higher in the canopy which was another issue I had with the ocean revive fixtures.

I really did not like the red and green leds in the old fixtures I had and made for an annoying shimmer. These have 6 channels to be able to control and the reds and greens are on their own channels which is perfect as I can play with their intesities individually from the rest of the leds to maybe even having them turned off. If that happens I'll look into just swapping those leds out all together for a different color temp. I also plan to remove their lens to help their spread to reduce spot lighting. I also shouldn't need to get anywhere near 100% which I was with the ocean revive fixtures. 100% both channels left no where to go and wearing out those leds.

I do like the ratio of blue to whites which is just over 2 to 1. With the coral plus bulbs I'm hoping for a nice crisp 14k look. I also notice with the 16/32 length fixtures the leds are more tightly packed compared to the 24/48 lengths. May be a good thing for blending in better.

Then I'll have to play around with timing and for the first time ramping. That's actually not something I'm looking forward to. I like just old fashioned on and off. No guess work. But after this maybe I'll be hooked into the scheduling ramping thing.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Hi ron, thanks for the reply, i am thinking of two of the 24inch photon v2 n will be hung inside a canopy about 8 to 12 inches from the water. I think the cost will be around the same as getting two ai hydra 26 hd.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

I think i will go with two 24inch photon v2. I should get a lot more coverage with these. Thanks guys.

 

[jason2459]

Nice! Shipping notification says I should have the lights this Friday!

 

[jason2459]

Getting them ready for mounting in the canopy. I'm pretty impressed with their quality.

Probably get to mounting them tomorrow

One of the boxes had some damage

But the inner boxes seemed to be well padded so hopefully nothing wrong and will find out tomorrow. [emoji4]

And noticed this nick on the fixture inside

Cut the legs to be used to tie the two fixtures together like one unit. Did this to both pairs

There will be support in the middle once in the canopy.

Spacing will vary as I'll adjust to straddle the gaps between clusters over the two cross braces my 180 has. But if spaced so led clusters are evenly spaced the two fixtures make a single 63-64" fixture

 

[Ron Reefman]

Jason, two comments for you.

First, if you don't have a convenient place to keep your new remote plugged in ALL the time, buy one. The batter will go dead in 4 to 8 weeks with no use and there is nothing worse than wanting to adjust your light (showoff the fluorescence with blue settings) and picking up a dead remote!

Just based on the look of the photo, I'd get longer sections of tube to span between the fixtures. That is to say, have more tube inside the track of the fixtures so they don't look saggy in the middle. Not critical, but worth considering?

 

[jason2459]

Thanks for the input. I'll make sure to keep the remote plugged in under the stand.

The middle will get strapped up along with the ends in the canopy so wont be drooping any. They are nice looking so its a shame to hide them.

 

[jason2459]

Now to figure out the remote and programming.

As I just finished getting this done. Got a late start. Family time first...


Getting things lined up and marked where some pilot holes need to go

Nice stainless steel eyelets and stainless steel snap rings. Notice the size difference and will tilt the fixtures inward

Getting them in the canopy and back on the tank...sucker was heavy! Should have been a team lift. lol

T5s back in and ready to go. If I want less angle I'll break out some zip ties

Excited to fire them up tomorrow...just hope they all light up. Then will get some par measurements. I'll probably start at 15% max each fixture and see where that's at and go from there.

 

[jason2459]

All the LEDs are working and playing with the color combination. The coverage is amazing. Two rows of fixtures + T5 and there is most definitely full coverage and absolutely 0 shadowing from my braces. Its awesome. I have them going up to 15% to start for the max peak for the day to start. I'll try to get par and pur measurements later.

I decided not to pull the lenses on the red and greens. With the 100 degree lens and two rows the alternating red green and the flip red green on the other side works out very well and spreads nicely. I have no disco effect or spot lighting at all even with just reds or just greens on. Again, it's awesome.

This wasn't cheap (but not nearly as much as "higher end" fixture) and getting so many LEDs was not about brightness but about spread and full coverage on top, sides, and under the corals. I think I've succeeded.

The remote and programming seems easy for someone absolutely new to programing LEDs. I really like as going through the custom programming it actually tells the lights to do whats on that hour so no guessing what it looks like until after saving.

 

[jason2459]

I did get a quick par reading last night. I have a MQ-510 Apogee par meter on hand that I used and will get more readings and comparisons vs. the Seneye reef monitor.

Right in the middle of the tank on the sand (~3" of sand there) Par was about 160. That's pretty awesome as I have a LOT more power to move that up very very easily. I'm glad the Photon v2 can go up in 1% jumps and not 10% jumps I've seen some Chinese LEDs do.

Right now, if my memory serves me right, at peak my settings are

Red Channel 1: 2
Green Channel 2: 2
Royal Blue Channel 3: 18
White Channel 4: 10
Cool Blue Channel 5: 18
Violet Channel 6: 18

That is not going to be my final ratio as I'm still playing around with the colors. That's just to give what was producing that Par above. Plus there's the two 80 watt T5's down the middle which are right now ATI Coral Plus bulbs. I'm liking the angle of the LEDs so far but will see more about that as I test out different channels individually and par measurements and will really see how the angles effect things.

I'm thinking I might be able to play around with Blue Plus and True Actinic's now. The White's on the Photon seem more Yellowish or warm white to me. Which with the Red's and Green's actually not spot lighting anymore I could turn those up for those colors that the Coral Plus bulbs provides.

I'm very happy I have some options now to play around with, power to drive the brightness (Par/Pur), and some amazing spread. Which I certainly hope so as I decided to shotgun it and put up 288 LED's and two strips of T5's down the middle.

Which I really feel that putting the T5's down the middle is better then supplementing them on the outsides. You don't put Baby in the corner... lol
This really softens and blends everything together nicely with still a hint of shimmer from the LEDs. LEDs seem to be so focused on a certain wavelength while the T5 blends smoother from one wavelength to another in a single bulb stretching the entire tank. Very different looks in lighting but when put together really creates a perfect blend. IMO.

 

[Civicman86]

Any updates?