**The GHL Mitras LX7 LED**

[slief]

Yes! I am leaning towards the G4 Pro but this weekend I get to see both side by side. I just don't like the look of my T5s, tank looks to flat.

If you see them both side by side, I suspect it will be an easy decision. Mitras is the winner IMO. It's similar to the G4 but the power output is slightly better. Especially with the power balancing and the color channels are a bit better on the Mitras IMO which can result in better coloration of the corals when you fine tune the channels. In fact, the Mitras are one of the best lights I have ever seen or played with when it comes to channel control, spread and output and I've had my hands on pretty much all the popular lights from the Radions to Kessils, AI Hydras, Reef Tech, Maxpect and others. Heck, sitting here at my house right now I have Kessil 360's, AP700, Mitras LX6200, Mitras LX7206's, Radion XR30 Pro's, Radion XR15 Pro's and a Maxspect Razor. It will be interesting to hear your thoughts once you see them. The Mitras LX7206's over my main display were a pretty easy decision and my corals are doing great!

 

[rodneyri]

If you see them both side by side, I suspect it will be an easy decision. Mitras is the winner IMO. It's similar to the G4 but the power output is slightly better. Especially with the power balancing and the color channels are a bit better on the Mitras IMO which can result in better coloration of the corals when you fine tune the channels. In fact, the Mitras are one of the best lights I have ever seen or played with when it comes to channel control, spread and output and I've had my hands on pretty much all the popular lights from the Radions to Kessils, AI Hydras, Reef Tech, Maxpect and others. Heck, sitting here at my house right now I have Kessil 360's, AP700, Mitras LX6200, Mitras LX7206's, Radion XR30 Pro's, Radion XR15 Pro's and a Maxspect Razor. It will be interesting to hear your thoughts once you see them. The Mitras LX7206's over my main display were a pretty easy decision and my corals are doing great!

Not sure it will be so easy, I saw them and bought a whole bunch of Radion G4 for my tank. To me it looked crisper and appeared brighter than the Mitras. The Mitras looked like it flooded the tank more giving it more of a T5 look. Each to their own I guess, but at least he has the chance to see both aswell

 

[mako61]

I am still debating between G4s and LX7s for my new setup. I hate the disco effect. LX7s are winning my internal debate I have been out of reefing for 10+ years so im a noob with this stuff.

The tank is 60x22x22 i plan on mixed at some point. LPS to start with. I def plan to start with 2 lights, I may go to 3 in the future. ( if needed SPS )

Anyone know the approximate min and max height off the water I need to have for either 2/3. I am currently working on a adjustable mount design, so the range would help in costing the parts. im thinking 8-12 inches, but i cant find much info.

 

[slief]

Not sure it will be so easy, I saw them and bought a whole bunch of Radion G4 for my tank. To me it looked crisper and appeared brighter than the Mitras. The Mitras looked like it flooded the tank more giving it more of a T5 look. Each to their own I guess, but at least he has the chance to see both aswell

I suspect the difference you saw was a result of the way the Mitras were setup. They have very similar diode spectrum's though the Mitras does have one extra channel and instead of the clusters being laid out in two larger pucks. the Mitras have 6. At the end of the day, you can tune the Mitras to look just like a Radion if you chose to by comparing the diodes colors on each channel and setting the intensities to match.

I am still debating between G4s and LX7s for my new setup. I hate the disco effect. LX7s are winning my internal debate I have been out of reefing for 10+ years so im a noob with this stuff.

The tank is 60x22x22 i plan on mixed at some point. LPS to start with. I def plan to start with 2 lights, I may go to 3 in the future. ( if needed SPS )

Anyone know the approximate min and max height off the water I need to have for either 2/3. I am currently working on a adjustable mount design, so the range would help in costing the parts. I'm thinking 8-12 inches, but i cant find much info.

8-12" would be fine. It's all relative to the tank length, number of lights, how you orient the light over the tank etc.

 

[mikeatjac]

Not sure it will be so easy, I saw them and bought a whole bunch of Radion G4 for my tank. To me it looked crisper and appeared brighter than the Mitras. The Mitras looked like it flooded the tank more giving it more of a T5 look. Each to their own I guess, but at least he has the chance to see both aswell

I really like the look of the G4 Pro so a Side by side will be interesting. I know a G4 pro blows away G3 pro.

 

[scuzy]

I really like these Mitras been really nice over my tank.


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[mikeatjac]

After comparing the G4 Pro and the LX7 in a unscientific test.......
Keep in mind we did not use a par meter, not sure who has it.
Both have great programming functions, spread and colors.
If you take a picture you can't tell which is which.
However to the naked eye there is a big difference. The G4 looks more alive.

We also tested HD26s and G3 Pros. We did like the HD26 however you need two to do what a G4 or LX7 does so there is little price difference. The G3 is not a G4.

So I am sure both LX7 and G4 will be great additions to anyone's tank, I am going to place my order for the G4.

 

[RegalAngel]

After comparing the G4 Pro and the LX7 in a unscientific test.......
Keep in mind we did not use a par meter, not sure who has it.
Both have great programming functions, spread and colors.
If you take a picture you can't tell which is which.
However to the naked eye there is a big difference. The G4 looks more alive.

We also tested HD26s and G3 Pros. We did like the HD26 however you need two to do what a G4 or LX7 does so there is little price difference. The G3 is not a G4.

So I am sure both LX7 and G4 will be great additions to anyone's tank, I am going to place my order for the G4.

From d2mini:

"Light Quality
You get 9 separate, dimmable color channels to work with. Hyper Violet, Ultra Violet, Royal Blue, Blue, Blue White, Cool White, Warm White, True Green, and Hyper Red. Wow. There are a total of 72 leds spread across 6 clusters. Each cluster is replaceable/upgradeable and the leds are clustered very tight together and within a metal coated reflector that attempts to mimic parabolic metal halide reflectors. This blends the separate color channels to avoid that "disco" effect commonly seen in tanks that are lit by led fixtures. I can say that I see zero disco effect in my tank. The light spread and lack of shadowing is also quite impressive. I removed the 24" double ended metal halide fixture and replaced it with this Mitras and I can not see any discernible difference."


Can you say the same for the G4?

Just wondering if the LED lens vs reflector is the difference for the "more alive" look you mention?

Perhaps the Mitras will be more like a hybrid unit using T5/LEDs.

 

[mikeatjac]

IMO the difference is due to the number of pucks. The LX7 pucks wash each other out. More of a T5 look. However we all agreed that the G4 made the tank look more "alive".
I did not see a disco effect with either.
Which is better, only time will tell.

 

[slief]

After comparing the G4 Pro and the LX7 in a unscientific test.......
Keep in mind we did not use a par meter, not sure who has it.
Both have great programming functions, spread and colors.
If you take a picture you can't tell which is which.
However to the naked eye there is a big difference. The G4 looks more alive.

We also tested HD26s and G3 Pros. We did like the HD26 however you need two to do what a G4 or LX7 does so there is little price difference. The G3 is not a G4.

So I am sure both LX7 and G4 will be great additions to anyone's tank, I am going to place my order for the G4.

A couple thoughts come to mind.. Were the Mitras in High Efficiency mode or High Output mode? Was power balance utilized? How much time was spent playing with the channels? There are some settings changes that can make the two fixtures seem nearly identical (just enabling HO Mode and copying he settings of the Radion to the LX7 or some changes that can give the advantage to the Mitras (HO Mode with power balance enabled while adjusting each channel to bring out colors of the corals). Also, if the MItras were in High Efficiency mode, then it wasn't fair comparison because you aren't using the full power of the Mitras. If you enable power balancing, on the Mitras so you can use all available power then the edge can easily go to the Mitras if you spend the time fine tuning the channels. Both are however great fixtures. I don't think the 6 pucks vs the 2 makes much of a difference though the 2 pucks on the Radion will act more as a point source light however you lose spread and end up with more shadowing issues were as the 6 pucks help mitigate shadowing a bit more.

 

[FPSD]

However to the naked eye there is a big difference. The G4 looks more alive.


Flawed logic. Doesn't matter what your eyes like. It's what the corals like. JMO

 

[RegalAngel]

Since this Thread is about the Mitras LX7, I do see the mention of the HO & HE modes:

"You can choose between 2 operation modes: High Output Mode (maximum light output) and High Efficiency Mode (good light output with high efficiency)"

If one wanted to operate the LX7s at low power to save electricity use (Fish Only Tank...but want good lights for possible future coral use as well as control of sunrise, sunset, colors, etc afforded by LED fixtures), I suppose that the HO mode would not be selected? HO mode means high power usage mode?


In that case, to get the sharpness of the LED to show, perhaps the G4 would be a better selection?

 

[mikeatjac]

The LX7's was set to High Output mode, balancing was used. We got about a one hour tour. The member has been a Mitras owner from the 6100, 6200 and now the LX7. Very knowledgeable.

We did set it to the Coral lab settings.

I agree that the naked eye is not very Scientific but without a lot of time it may be the best way to judge. I am sure both will grow colorful corals.

 

[d2mini]

Since this Thread is about the Mitras LX7, I do see the mention of the HO & HE modes:

"You can choose between 2 operation modes: High Output Mode (maximum light output) and High Efficiency Mode (good light output with high efficiency)"

If one wanted to operate the LX7s at low power to save electricity use (Fish Only Tank...but want good lights for possible future coral use as well as control of sunrise, sunset, colors, etc afforded by LED fixtures), I suppose that the HO mode would not be selected? HO mode means high power usage mode?


In that case, to get the sharpness of the LED to show, perhaps the G4 would be a better selection?

I run mine over my nano reef in High Efficiency mode.
You are correct, High Output is just more powerful.

 

[rodneyri]

However to the naked eye there is a big difference. The G4 looks more alive.


Flawed logic. Doesn't matter what your eyes like. It's what the corals like. JMO

Pretty sure there are many Radion tanks with full healthy corals...so I dare say the corals like it too.



Im keen to see how these turn out, keeping a watchful eye on slief's tank as it transitions from the Kessils. BTW any updates on the changover and tank pics with just the Mitras on?

 

[slief]

Pretty sure there are many Radion tanks with full healthy corals...so I dare say the corals like it too.



Im keen to see how these turn out, keeping a watchful eye on slief's tank as it transitions from the Kessils. BTW any updates on the changover and tank pics with just the Mitras on?

My tank is pretty much 100% Mitras now. I could probably use one or two more given the way my aquascape is laid out but the tank is doing great under the 6 Mitras. My SPS's growth didn't slow down at all. I was just this morning looking at a video I shot at the end of Jan and was walking around my tank comparing the SPS between then and now and my corals have been growing at nearly an inch a month but the coloration is much improved. Frags that I added end of Jan have spread over the epoxy and are showing great growth too. These lights grow corals great. Same can be said about the Radions. One thing is for certain though. Had I chosen Radions over the Mitras, I would have definitely needed more fixtures which comes at a serious cost. Personally, I love the LX7's as do my corals and I am very happy with my choice. The corals in my frag tank under the LX7's have also shown great growth despite that light have the intensity turned way down compared to the main display. I will likely do an update video on my tank later today which will be posted to my build thread. I will also share it here once it's uploaded. There is also a new LA Fish Guys Tech Talk video that was filmed when I installed the lights. It goes into great detain on the lights, setup as well as the install on my tank. Jim should have that uploaded in the next several days.

 

[FPSD]

Pretty sure there are many Radion tanks with full healthy corals...so I dare say the corals like it too.



Im keen to see how these turn out, keeping a watchful eye on slief's tank as it transitions from the Kessils. BTW any updates on the changover and tank pics with just the Mitras on?

Meant par wise also. What looks good to us maybe not what the corals need. I have a few friends with radions and yes they grow coral fine. But, they need more then ecotech claims to reduce shadowing. Also they cannot overdrive the led's which maybe very helpful. It's funny because the phillips coral care grows coral like t5 according to UK peeps. Looks boring to us. Just throwing it out there that corals may like that better. Maybe I am wrong though but it seems that it's going that way. Guess we will see.

 

[slief]

Im keen to see how these turn out, keeping a watchful eye on slief's tank as it transitions from the Kessils. BTW any updates on the changover and tank pics with just the Mitras on?

Here is a video update/walkaround on the tank. It was shot today. Best if viewed in HD! This was shot with a Sony A6500. I did some white balancing on the camera but still, the video does no justice in terms of the full coloration of the tank and corals. This is with just the Mitras.
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d_K8J1H2mT4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[scuzy]

Here is a video update/walkaround on the tank. It was shot today. Best if viewed in HD! This was shot with a Sony A6500. I did some white balancing on the camera but still, the video does no justice in terms of the full coloration of the tank and corals. This is with just the Mitras.
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d_K8J1H2mT4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That looks really good Scott. Hopefully I can dial mine in. Are you using HE or HO?


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[rodneyri]

Looks amazing thanks for posting, nice tank and shows the lights nicely too.