reefbreeders photon V2 is OUT...reviews here.

[Gweeds]

It depends on what you plan to do in the tank (i.e. type of coral and rockscape).

Lots of sps corals all over the place, then I'd go with 4.

If you rockscape up the back wall rather than islands with space between the rock and the back wall, I'd do 4.

If you do islands and keep corals a bit away from the front glass and back wall, 2 is probably enough.

Here's an alturnative idea. Rather than going all out and doing 4 fixtures (if you have the budget, it's an excellent idea), have you considered just doing led strips or t5 to supplement at the front or front and back?

I use the 50" Photon version of your fixture (and I love it). But my rockscape is a slope up the back wall and I have sps coral from very close to the front glass to 3/4's of the way up the back glass (24" front to back but only 16" deep). I added a blue & white led strip at the front (with dimmers for each channel) and all blue led strip at the back. It added to my PAR, gave me better front to back coverage, reduced shadows and actually makes the tank look a bit deeper from front to back with the back being more blue than the front.

Photos don't do it justice, but there are some in my build thread. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593017

Thanks Ron... feels like you've been with me all the way on this decision... you mentioned the photons in another thread.

Here's a couple of pics of the tank (the first is from one end looking down the tank lengthways)... the intention is to have the entire top dedicated to SPS and then LPS in the centre and mixed softies and LPS on the sand. One end will be dedicated to a h.doreensis too, hoping my clowns will take to it. I won't be getting the nem or any more sps frags til lights are on and everything is moved and acclimated to them.

I was thinking of running two units side by side, but tilting them slightly towards each other... would give much higher par in the centre but a lower spread of light... might to reduce shading too? Kinda like / \ but at a less extreme angle.

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[dz6t]

My point exactly!



The alternative would be a new way to program it. Maybe a new remote?

I like the way AI and Radion program their light, just set the min and max intensity and ramp time, the let the controller to fill in the rest.


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[Ron Reefman]

Gweeds, looking at the light in your tank, I assume you have just a couple of 16" or 24" fixtures and they are more toward the back of the tank?

Given your rockscape and coral plans, I'd suggest 2 possible plans of action.

1) Your original idea for 4 EG IT5012 will do a crazy great job of lighting your tank. You can run all 4 at the same power and color mix and it should work great. However, with a bit of effort to set the leds you coule do the front pair more white and the back pair more blue and your tank would look more like it was 48" front to back instead of 30". The trick is you'd need to unplug a pair, set the other pair. Then unplug the pair you just programmed and plug in the first pair and program them. Then plug the other set back in. You'll have 4 remotes, so keeping 1 remote with one program and a 2nd remote with the 2nd program is easy. You'd also want to get a plug into the wall, USB multiple outlet so you can keep at least 2 of the remotes charged all of the time. The rechargeable battery only holds a charge for a couple of weeks.

2) You could do 2 EG IT5012 and set them over the back half of the tank and tipped slightly forward. (BTW, your idea of tipping the fixtures slightly is spot on). Then rather than add 2 more leds, add some t5 fluoresce bulbs. Maybe just two 4' singles or even two 4' pairs. They would be over the front half of the tank. There are issues involved though. You'll be replacing bulbs every year, to change the 'shade' of white in the t5's requires buying more bulbs, and you can't control the intensity.

I'd recommend doing what I did, but I have 2 concerns. I added 2 led strips, one up front and one near the back. The front os white & blue, the back is all blue. It looks dynamite over my tank, but my tank is only 24" front to back, not 30", and my tank is only 20" deep, not 30". The issues are, the led strips I used (21ledusa) run hot and don't make tons of PAR. On the other hand, for me, they add enough PAR for what I needed and the changed the look in the tank just the way I wanted.

Since you are willing to consider 4 EG fixtures (and the related expense), I'd suggest this. Try 2 EG IT5012 leds and add 2 of the 4' t5's as well. If you don't like it, you can always add 2 more EG IT5012 fixtures. And then you could even have the 2 t5 fixture in between the front and back led fixtures. That would be epic! You'd have great control and enough light to grow anything, anywhere in the tank. Even serious sps light loving coral off the back glass!

I think you need to search for Jason's lighting thread. I think he did something very similar.

Whatever you decide, please keep us in the loop and add photos!

 

[Ron Reefman]

I like the way AI and Radion program their light, just set the min and max intensity and ramp time, the let the controller to fill in the rest.

Yup, that's easy alright. But there's no way I would give up total control of the ramp to the fixture. The bell curve they use isn't what I want, and isn't what I use. Is their's easy, absolutely. Is it the best, not in my book. :beer:

 

[dz6t]

reefbreeders photon V2 is OUT...reviews here.

Actually, you can program AI or Radion to get exactly what Photon v2 do, a step-wise dimming, 1 hour per time point.
There is no question that AI or Radion have more advanced programming ability.
You mentioned about "bell curve", which, no offense, it tells me that you never actually program an AI hydra.
If you don't believe me, you can actually get a AI hydra and actually program it for the very first time, then you can get back to me about which led has more control.
But on the other hand, more control may not give you better result.


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[dz6t]

reefbreeders photon V2 is OUT...reviews here.

For matter of fact, I actually have photon V1 and V2, AI hydras, Radion, Kessil, maxspect, marsaqua, SB reeflight, plus a bunch of other brands.
I study these things and use them on my coral farm along with MH, t5.
Not only I test them, I use them for long term evaluations.


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[biecacka]

Does these have pre-programmed options in them already?

Corey

 

[Ron Reefman]

Does these have pre-programmed options in them already?

Corey

If you mean pre-programmed sunrise/sunset options... no. If you mean pre-programmed modes like sunny, cloudy, moonlight, manual... then yes, but these modes don't change or run off the internal timer that the custom mode (sunrise/sunset) does.

To program it, you have to set 6 channels 24 times. It takes me about 5 to 8 minutes to do a complete new program. Once it's done, any smaller changes, like adjusting a single color for just one hour, only takes a few seconds.

I had the original EverGrow version of the Photon V1 so I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. I only did a few major reprogramming runs because I wanted a longer midday segment and faster sunrise/sunset.

BTW Corey, Logan at Reef Breeders is telling us that a new easier remote that does changes every 6 minutes rather than every hour is being tested currently. I think you do the same 24 hourly settings and it smooths them out by making 10 adjustments an hour rather than one big jump hourly. And it should be backward compatible to current V2 fixtures (for a price).

 

[biecacka]

Ron I'm thinking more along the lines of the radion ab programs or similar.


Corey

 

[Ron Reefman]

Ron I'm thinking more along the lines of the radion ab programs or similar.
Corey

The photons do not come with programs. But then I wouldn't expect EcoTech or anybody else to make the lighting program I want for my tank. Not the mix of spectrum, not the sunrise/sunset ramp, not the length of midday and not the time of day that I want.

IMHO it's just not that hard to understand or to set up on your own. I don't think anybody selling led fixtures has an inside track on what the light should be. Different corals and different tanks have different sweet spots. But in general, they are all very similar and a specific program isn't going to be much help unless you don't understand the light needs at all.

 

[biecacka]

I understand Ron. I just like the plug and play aspect, not a deal breakers though

Corey

 

[bnagy0]

I feel like I might not be getting the best potential growth on my tank. I have a mixed reef in a 60x24x24 150 gallon. I have 2 photon v2's. With all 6 channels, what would be a good max output per channel? Currently I'm using the blue and whites the majority, then I add the others for color. But I don't go much over 10%.

Thoughts?

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[Ron Reefman]

I feel like I might not be getting the best potential growth on my tank. I have a mixed reef in a 60x24x24 150 gallon. I have 2 photon v2's. With all 6 channels, what would be a good max output per channel? Currently I'm using the blue and whites the majority, then I add the others for color. But I don't go much over 10%.

Thoughts?

I assume you mean you don't go much over 10% on the red & green channels only? What are the peak percentages for the 2 blue channels and for how long at the peak?

I have a 60"x24"x20" with a 50" V2 fixture. It was 70% sps and in just one year the corals were growing very well. From 1" and 2" frags to 6" and 10" colonies. However, just a month ago my chiller didn't turn off when it was supposed to and drop the water below 60F. I lost 95% of my sps. Now I see how much the zoas had grown under the sps and I'm doing an all zoa and anemone tank.

If your corals aren't growing fast enough for you, there are 3 possible reasons:
1)Your expectations may be too high.
2)You have other issues in your tank (water quality, nutrition, flow...).
3)You don't have the fixture set properly.

Here is my light schedule:

 

[bnagy0]

I assume you mean you don't go much over 10% on the red & green channels only? What are the peak percentages for the 2 blue channels and for how long at the peak?

I have a 60"x24"x20" with a 50" V2 fixture. It was 70% sps and in just one year the corals were growing very well. From 1" and 2" frags to 6" and 10" colonies. However, just a month ago my chiller didn't turn off when it was supposed to and drop the water below 60F. I lost 95% of my sps. Now I see how much the zoas had grown under the sps and I'm doing an all zoa and anemone tank.

If your corals aren't growing fast enough for you, there are 3 possible reasons:
1)Your expectations may be too high.
2)You have other issues in your tank (water quality, nutrition, flow...).
3)You don't have the fixture set properly.

Here is my light schedule:

Yes, only the red and green stay low. I run my lights 9am-10pm, ramp up and down. At the peak they run for 4 hrs, 90% blue, 30% white.

I like your table, I may adjust my setup similar to yours, worth a try.

Thanks!!

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[ddumanski]

44 Gallon Tank

44 Gallon Tank

Hi all i have a 44 gallon 36Lx12Dx24H would you suggest the 24 or 32 V-2 thank you

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hi all i have a 44 gallon 36Lx12Dx24H would you suggest the 24 or 32 V-2 thank you

Either will work. But the 32" will have a couple of advantages. First the coverage will be less of an issue end to end, that's easy. Second, you'll 72 leds vs 44 in the smaller unit. That means you can run it at slightly lower setting to get the same PAR.

If you can afford the 32", that's what I'd buy.

Good luck either way.

 

[Editour2]

I just replaced my original 3 x 180 watt LED fixtures, (these only contained cool white, blue & royal blue LEDs), with 2 photon V2 32" fixtures. These are supplemented with 4 x 80watt T5 bulbs (photons in the center with 2xT5's in front & back). I was just wondering what the consensus was on the Violet LED's regarding intensity settings. I see Ron from your schedule that you max out at 40%....was just wondering what others are doing. I max out the green and red at 15% and they are only on during peak hours.

 

[Ron Reefman]

My 40% max on violet is VERY arbitrary and not due to any issues or concerns. I run a lot of blue and adding more violet starts to make the take a deeper blue than I want. I could just as easily reduce some of the blues and add in more violet. But IMHO the blue spectrum is more important to the photosynthesis of the zooxanthellae than the violet. But that's just my opinion, there is very little science behind it.

I tried t5's and didn't like that it eliminated the shimmer and was uncontrollable in terms of intensity. So I went with 2 led strips from 21ledusa. One is all blue in the back (with dimmers) and one is 50/50 white and blue in the front (with individual dimmers). So I have less shadows, still have the shimmer I want, I don't have to replace t5 bulbs, I can control the intensity and my tank is a bit more white at the front and more blue at the back which is a look I real like.

 

[biecacka]

Ron, i agree. if i am running leds then i don't want t5 on my tank because to me that defeats one of the purposes of leds. no bulb replacements.... i would want only led and maybe that means an extra fixture or two and then that would be the path i would take, personally.

corey

 

[Editour2]

Thanks guys.....I personally don't think that the 2 x photon 32 V-2's would be sufficient for my tank inhabitants and I like the addition of the 4 x 80 watt T-5's. I have plenty of shimmer, (maybe that's attributed to the Photons being in the center of my tank with the 2 pairs of T-5's being angled-in on both sides, {I'll post a pic}). 2 of the T-5's basically are only on during peak hours. My 2 actinic T-5's are part of my sunrise and sunset. The LED's are on more hours during the day then all of the T-5's. Anyway, all of this is a learning process so I guess time will tell.