The bug bites again...

eledile

eledile

Active member
i have been a reefer in the past, and with life changes and what not had to put the hobby down for a while but i am back in a position to get the tank back up and going again. i have a 50 gal rimless cube that's been stored away for the last 6 or so years, and want to get a nice little mixed reef tank going. looking to go more heavily on LPS and soft corals, but would like to have a nice SPS or two in there. i am unsure of what lighting i want to go with. a lot has changed since i was in the know, and thinking about going LED but not sure what i might need. dims of the tank are 24x24x20. if anyone has any good suggestions i would greatly appreciate it!
 
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Welcome back!

Lighting is all going to depend on budget.

I think your tank would be a perfect candidate for the Reefi Uno 2.0. I can’t say I’ve heard much back except the user interface is a bit dated looking. I have not used this light but it seems to be a big up and comer for certain based on the reviews I’ve seen and has a great warranty of 3 years.

At the top price end: a Radion XR15, Neptune Sky, or AI Hydra 32 should provide enough coverage.

Mid Range Price: Reefi Uno 2.0

Low End: Viparspectra, SmatFarm, NiCrew, Noopsyche or similar would work.

In the end it boils down to price, features, warranty and related support (or lack thereof), and ultimately coverage. In the low price point I didn’t specify models (some models will have better coverage, features, etc than others).

For example, the Viparspectra is 2 channel control and does not have an app last I knew. SmatFarm is 6 channel control but no app and as I have one of the G5 models, quite frankly the spectrum leaves a bit to be desired to really get that color “pop,” but it grows coral and anemones just fine. NiCrew, I personally wouldn’t buy another NiCrew product unless significant advancements have been made but that’s just my personal experience with the lack of control in the one light I’ve purchased. Noopsyche has a decent reputation but the app and UI can be a bit clunky.

Hope this helps some!
 
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thank you, its good to be back! and also for the info!
i think when i was having to tear the tank down radion was all the rave and was one of the only high end fixtures (as far as price and functionality is concerned). always liked the look of them but price was always waaaaaay out of budget. i will give the list a look over and start the "do i really need this and this and this" about features and what not.

is there any distance from the surface i should be aiming for with any of these?
reefing102 said:
Welcome back!

Lighting is all going to depend on budget.

I think your tank would be a perfect candidate for the Reefi Uno 2.0. I can’t say I’ve heard much back except the user interface is a bit dated looking. I have not used this light but it seems to be a big up and comer for certain based on the reviews I’ve seen and has a great warranty of 3 years.

At the top price end: a Radion XR15, Neptune Sky, or AI Hydra 32 should provide enough coverage.

Mid Range Price: Reefi Uno 2.0

Low End: Viparspectra, SmatFarm, NiCrew, Noopsyche or similar would work.

In the end it boils down to price, features, warranty and related support (or lack thereof), and ultimately coverage. In the low price point I didn’t specify models (some models will have better coverage, features, etc than others).

For example, the Viparspectra is 2 channel control and does not have an app last I knew. SmatFarm is 6 channel control but no app and as I have one of the G5 models, quite frankly the spectrum leaves a bit to be desired to really get that color “pop,” but it grows coral and anemones just fine. NiCrew, I personally wouldn’t buy another NiCrew product unless significant advancements have been made but that’s just my personal experience with the lack of control in the one light I’ve purchased. Noopsyche has a decent reputation but the app and UI can be a bit clunky.

Hope this helps some!
Click to expand...
 
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Generally distance from the water is based on the coverage you’re trying to achieve. One of the biggest things with LED is being able to measure par so you don’t end up shocking and possibly killing the coral.
 
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Welcome back. Another option would be the Pop Bloom fixtures on eBay. I have no personal experience with them but have heard good things. Their RL90 is supposedly a knockoff of the Red Sea Reef LED 90.
 
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so many good options! i started doing some looking during lunch today and it seems like most have a "recommended mounting distance" from the water surface. i will have to check out those Pop Bloom ones as well!
 
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eledile said:
so many good options! i started doing some looking during lunch today and it seems like most have a "recommended mounting distance" from the water surface. i will have to check out those Pop Bloom ones as well!
Click to expand...
My experience is the recommended mounting distance is what they use to get the spread and numbers they publish

Edit to add, the way I understand it is it’s not a marketing ploy it, it’s actually a case of manufacturers stating these are the numbers/spread we get when the light is x distance from the water.
 
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reefing102 said:
My experience is the recommended mounting distance is what they use to get the spread and numbers they publish

Edit to add, the way I understand it is it’s not a marketing ploy it, it’s actually a case of manufacturers stating these are the numbers/spread we get when the light is x distance from the water.
Click to expand...
good comms. the more i looked the more i saw photos of graphs illustrating par spreads at different height intervals. the suspicious consumer in me always thinks its a marketing ploy first :ROFLMAO:
 
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Potreefer said:
Me too however it’s seems that the expense of loss and start up are astronomical
Click to expand...
completely understandable. the tank i'll be setting up is just my old tank that when i moved away i was lucky enough to have a family member with a spare room to store stuff in so i put it all there. i know for sure i will need is lights and then the trivial start up stuffs like bacteria and testing kits and such. still have all the rock that was in the tank and everything. maybe go with some new sand but i'll know more when i can go get the tank next weekend.
but griss has a point. with the right amount of patience and luck, you can find lots of good things from local clubs and other marketplaces. that's actually how i found the tank that i will be setting up. heard about a company that was liquidating a whole line of full tank setups because of a manufacturing flaw back in 2013 and checked it out for myself. got a brand new set up worth like $1800 for just under $600, and if i'm not mistaken i heard about it here on these forums.
 
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after a lot of research on my end, and where i am at, i have decided that i will likely go with a radion light. there might be a tiny tinge of "i just want the biggest baddest thing there is" to my reasoning, but also i think there are a lot of benefits to it, along with the fact that it's the only real piece of equipment that i will need to purchase once the tank is ready to turn the lights on. my only concern is that i had someone irl tell me that the xr15 blue would be way overkill for my tank. but according to everything i have seen, it should be just fine for my tanks dims of 24x24x20. im not the crazy one, that person is...right? :ROFLMAO:
 
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I recently got two used XR15 G3 Pros with a used system I bought. I’m still figuring them out but, you don’t have to run them full blast. So, you can dial back the output. I think you’ll be fine.
 
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that is about what i was figuring. i'll be picking the tank up out of storage on saturday, so the build thread will likely start shortly after. probably wont have the light for a bit since i wont have much of a need for it, but should have the tank up and running very soon
 
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okay, question time again. gonna start the build thread here once i get everything ready to put into the tank, but want some feedback regarding flow. tank dims as mentioned above are 24x24x20. going for mixed reef but mainly gonna go LPS with a few SPS a little later down the road. i want to make sure that i get flow right. since i am going Radion with lighting, i figured i might as well go with the Vortech powerhead that way i only have one software to be dealing with. i'm attaching a photo of the tank itself and when i can figure out how to resize the photos because the file size is apparently too large even tho they're the same size as the photo of the tank XD, some pics of the aquascape i have chosen. i just want to make sure that with the size of the tank and aquascape that i can have adequate flow and make sure i can keep dead spots out of the tank as best as possible. if i put one MP10 on the back of the tank, would i be able to achieve that? or would having two be the safest bet?
 

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