Cali Kid Corals

Looking for used lighting - tips

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howdoyoureef

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Hey everyone!

So I have been scouring the internet looking for deals on used Radion XR30 Pro for my IM NUVO 40. Newer to corals, but I’d like to slowly expand so I want a light I can grow and expand with. Any advice on Gen 3 vs Gen 4 and what a good target price point would be for buying used? Seen a few Gen 4 for 500-600 range and not sure if that’s a great deal or not.
 
some gen 4 will get you Mobius which is nice to have but not make or break. Lighting is usually set and forget, but I have found it nice to be able to turn the white Channels up if I need to ID something nasty growing. I traded to get my xr30 g4 and would say it was a $400 trade.

You could also get away with aiprimes. Fish of Hex on YT uses a couple on his IM 40 and it’s his acro grow out tank for his business. He just sets each channel to 100% I believe.

or you could always go the black box route and upgrade lighting down the road, BRS did a decent video recently or I suggest checking out Telegrahams reviews as he has suggestions for easy diy improvements if you’re feeling handy
 
max_nano said:
some gen 4 will get you Mobius which is nice to have but not make or break. Lighting is usually set and forget, but I have found it nice to be able to turn the white Channels up if I need to ID something nasty growing. I traded to get my xr30 g4 and would say it was a $400 trade.

You could also get away with aiprimes. Fish of Hex on YT uses a couple on his IM 40 and it’s his acro grow out tank for his business. He just sets each channel to 100% I believe.

or you could always go the black box route and upgrade lighting down the road, BRS did a decent video recently or I suggest checking out Telegrahams reviews as he has suggestions for easy diy improvements if you’re feeling handy
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So what is the drawback of no Mobius? You are only able to adjust settings with the physical buttons on the light itself?

I was also considering the black box or Noopsyche, but don’t want to get that and then end up having to upgrade soon anyways.
 
howdoyoureef said:
So what is the drawback of no Mobius? You are only able to adjust settings with the physical buttons on the light itself?

I was also considering the black box or Noopsyche, but don’t want to get that and then end up having to upgrade soon anyways.
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Before Mobius supported gen 4 I had to connect with a micro usb to my PC. I’m not familiar with the other options but I think there was reeflink which worked as a hub to make them controllable wirelessly. I set mine up then didn’t touch it again until I got Mobius.

If you want to be able to check your par you can become a supporting member and then 2 months into your membership you become eligible to borrow one of the 3 par meters this club has. Less than half the rental cost from BRS and it’s only one of the many benefits of supporting membership.
 
Also keep in mind that there is Pro and non-Pro models for Gen 3 and Gen 4 Radion lights, would it be make or break for a tank of that size? No. Depending upon the wear and tear there's nothing wrong with a G3 light vs a G4 especially with a tank of that size, G4 has a few more LEDs in the violet range I think. No Mobius means you won't be able to bluetooth connect to it, but IMO kind of overrated as I feel lights are set it and forget, and as Max said, hook up a laptop to your lights to program them with a USB -> MicroUSB (phone charger cord, non-Apple I think), then never have to worry about them again, the buttons on the light itself will do something... but it's not obvious, and you can't program any settings that way (I think).

But $250 gets you a quality light, again assuming the wear and tear isn't too bad on it, and you're really not going to save THAT much over black boxes.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Also keep in mind that there is Pro and non-Pro models for Gen 3 and Gen 4 Radion lights, would it be make or break for a tank of that size? No. Depending upon the wear and tear there's nothing wrong with a G3 light vs a G4 especially with a tank of that size, G4 has a few more LEDs in the violet range I think. No Mobius means you won't be able to bluetooth connect to it, but IMO kind of overrated as I feel lights are set it and forget, and as Max said, hook up a laptop to your lights to program them with a USB -> MicroUSB (phone charger cord, non-Apple I think), then never have to worry about them again, the buttons on the light itself will do something... but it's not obvious, and you can't program any settings that way (I think).

But $250 gets you a quality light, again assuming the wear and tear isn't too bad on it, and you're really not going to save THAT much over black boxes.
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But I’ve seen people selling relatively new black boxes for 50 or less. It’s worth to get it while you save up for a long term light.


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sfsuphysics said:
I think a G3 is a fine long term light for a tank, no reason to buy into the hype of "must have the latest" especially if "black box" is the alternative plan.
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You are taking about possible 6 year old light that might fail any time due to age and burnt led, any latest black box would still outlive that light. So to me, g3 is not an ideal ‘long term’ option


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I'm a fan of xr15pros. i have 4 xr15pros over my rsr350. you can prob get 2x with mounts cheaper (or almost same price) than just one xr30pro with mount and have better light coverage. that's just my opinion though. everyone has their preference. really depends how much you wanna spend and what corals you'll be growing.

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howdoyoureef said:
how do you guys feel about XR30W G4 for 450?
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That sounds reasonable. It’s a hell of a light. I traded a tank for mine so I don’t have a great price gauge.

Only thing I would say is that’s the same price as about 3 used AI primes or 2 new ones. Maybe check out the brs videos on mounting height and spread and based on your tanks dims it may be better to run 2-3 primes? Getting new could be nice to have a warranty and then down the like you could add a 3rd.

I don’t know enough to say prime vs radion would be better but just consider your options as new can bring some good benefits!

edit: ask the seller if it is Mobius compatible. I believe it is possible to add a chip to all G4 but I’m not positive and I would say no Mobius offer 400 if you go that route
 
If it's a G4pro for 450 then sure, again pro vs no pro isn't a HUGE difference, but price wise I think the non-pro was a good chunk of change cheaper (needless to say finding out the actual pricing now is difficult).

I still think the G3 is a good place to start, and disagree with Ashburn's assessment, unless the G3 was run at 100% for many hours there should be no problem with any part of it.
 
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