The great light debate - hopefully not…

[wazzupmac]

I move in 2 months and will set up a CDA 100 gallon (4ft) and a Red Sea 250. I really won’t have too many limitations on cost of lighting. I have 3 lightly used Kessil a360x’s in hand but am open to and more likely to get something different.

The tank will be located in either the family room 12*26’ and/or my home office (12*12’).

I’ll have an Apex on both systems, if that matters.

I’ve read as many reviews as I could on the Neptune Sky, researched and seen Radion X15 and X30 (blue and pro) in action, Kessil ap9x, and even combining options like the radions with reef brites.

I wish I could see Neptunes in person but that hasn’t happened. I’d prefer the entire house to not be blue but interestingly the blue lights are more attractive in the evening.

What are the thoughts of anyone and everyone? I’d love to order early so they are ready for installation when I move between 6/1-7/1.

 

[nly04]

Depend on what you plan to keep, for lps and softy those A360X are great. If mix reef then Radion or AI is better. Pure sps then Radion or AI or Orphek or T5 plus supplement light bars.

 

[PeetaJai]

I always prefer kessil because of the shimmering.

 

[H2OPlayar]

Dream setup? Sky for coverage, kessil spotlights for shimmer. All on a moveable rack.

 

[tankguy]

I’m a fan of the radion’s . I’m converting my tank over to the XR15’s

 

[Turkeysammich]

If you design light spread to even coverage. All high end lighting is pretty much the same. The only difference is what control and effect do you want. Which is a personal preference. But par/ micro moles are all about the same spectrum.

 

[Srt4eric]

I'm a major Radion fan boy. I'm putting 6 xr30s over my new 300 and I have 4 xr15s over my frag tank.

 

[jhuynh]

I'm a major Radion fan boy. I'm putting 6 xr30s over my new 300 and I have 4 xr15s over my frag tank.

same... i prefer radions. i run 6 xr15pro g5 over a 4ft tank which "might be" overkill for a sps dominate tank

 

[RandyC]

I have more Radions running in my house than I’d like to admit, but here’s 8 XR15W that I run over a 6x3’ frag tank. I have wanted to check out the ATI Straton, but I haven’t gotten a chance to see one yet.

 

[Finnaddict]

I roll on a budget. I use the Viparspectra $150 and Noopsyche $250 lights. The Vipars give you control of white a blue intensity with built in timer and sun up sun down which is blue on first then white with sunset vise versa. The Noopsyche have full control of all colors like the high end lights with intensity control of all colors and built in timer with the controller that can run multiple lights. Noopsyche has been compared to the Radion G4 for adjustability and color.

 

[Da_Neefer]

I'm a huge fan of the QuantaReef Pro led bars as a T5 replacement. You can easily get 400+ PAR near the surface across the majority of the tank based upon mounting height, # of bars, and the spacing. No hot spots like puck lights, very even spread, color blending is fantastic, and there's some nice low level shimmer. Full AB+ spectrum

I'm currently using 1 Meso Blue, 1 Reef Crest Daylight, and 1 Orphek blue bar on the IM 75 INT tank. Measured PAR at 10" mounting height with the club meter @ 300+ PAR 6" below the surface. 80-150 PAR in the corners and 220 along the sandbed at the front glass. I did raise them up to 12" recently to lower PAR a bit.

For a 4' x 2' tank like your CDA:
3 X 48" BARS $555 using 216 watts (Add an extra bar for more PAR if you're heavy SPS)
3 x Radion XR-15 Pro $1275 using 315 watts @100%

If your tank is deeper than 26" I'd say no to these as primary SPS lighting. Yes for supplemental.
There's no dimming = true
There's no refunds = true
ip67 water resistant
No noisy fans

 

[Chromis]

Based on your office tank pics
https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/wazzupmacs-office-tank.30793/post-447211

I recommend Kessils or Sky, because you are keeping corals that will grow, color up and look best under those lights, and if the tank is going into a family room or office you might want eye pleasing/natural looking light. You probably already know you can program the Kessils/Sky to throw blue light in the evening for fluorescent viewing. If you were keeping multicolor tenuis or very fluorescing corals under mainly blues I would then recommend Radions.

 

[SupraSaltyReefer]

I wish I could see Neptunes in person but that hasn’t happened.

Neptune Aquatics has a frag tank in the last aisle back corner that’s lit up with two Neptune Skys in case you wanted to compare them to the Radions and Kessils they have scattered throughout their other tanks.

 

[rygh]

I would totally go back to DIY.
Not because I can do better on color choice or LEDs. Not to save money.

It is because almost every fixture out there is poorly sealed and uses fans.
That means they eventually fail in our humid salty environment.

And the rare few that are fanless and sealed seem to have too small of a heat sink.

 

[Vhuang168]

I wish I could see Neptunes in person but that hasn’t happened. I’d prefer the entire house to not be blue but interestingly the blue lights are more attractive in the evening.

Where are you located? Might be able to find you an example to look at.
If you like the flat T5 look, the SKYs will do that for you. As you mentioned, you can add some other point source LEDs for added shimmer if you prefer more.

Full tank shot of the lobby tank. SPS on the sand are growing and coloring up same as the ones on the top. Tank is 20" tall. ( 48/24/20).

 

[wazzupmac]

90% of my decision has been made.

I decided to go with 3 XR30 G5 Blues -- delivered later this week - as people noted there was a sale on radions recently and have a friend visiting from MA so I saved an extra 9% in sales tax (oh CA - purchased across the border in NH).

I will get the radion rail mount and decide on the end RMS kit or hang based on looking at location in the room I will end up putting the tanks in. I did buy 3 Kessil RMS mounting kit (seller on R2R) for the a360x's that I have to combine everything for the look I like. So it will be 3 xr30's mounted perpendicular to tank with 2 kessils in between them for some additional shimmer.

I will still figure out what to do with the RS250 -- neptune sky might still be an option. I went to Neptune Aquatics on Sunday to check out the Sky's and walked away still unsure -- there is so much light being blasted everywhere in an LFS and tanks are close together that I couldn't even compare apples to oranges.

My mythical build continues -- where to blow my money on a skimmer and should I upgrade the sump are my next two tasks. And I'm waiting to see what I learn from the RODI thread that just started and the APEX session that may happen.

Thanks all for your inputs thus far.....

 

[H2OPlayar]

My mythical build continues -- where to blow my money on a skimmer and should I upgrade the sump are my next two tasks.

Used from the club and anything DC. No need to put $1k into a new dc skimmer. I really like my used Reef Octopus that I got for just under half price used.

Sump upgrade? Yes. As big as you can fit while still having room for rodi and dosing.

I am sure others have different opinions on the skimmer, but the sump I have consistently heard as big as reasonable.

Nice pick on the lights, you'll be really happy with the colors and effects, and will get great life since you'll only need to run them at 50% to get your sps par (my guess, verify with the meter).

 

[wazzupmac]

Currently have this sump from the tank purchase:

UP36 Sumpro Sump - Skimz (DISCONTINUED)

Sumps are a great addition to any fresh or saltwater tank. From adding additional water volume to area for heaters, reactors, probes, and any other life support equipment you may want to add. Many tanks are already drilled or can be drilled for a sump to be added. Skimz Sumps are by far one of...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

It might be the 34 - tape measure read 34.5 inches for length and didn’t feel like confirming the extra 2 gallons by measuring the refugium section to confirm. I have around 6-8 additional inches easily in the cabinet if I put the ATO outside of the cabinet which is what I would do anyway - way easier to refill.

 

[popper]

I prefer a tidy look. So two ap9x with hidden mount vs four xr30 with the fat mount or rail. The tank and its inhabitants are a moving growing piece of art. Don't want a bunch of hardware to distract that. Besides, since most high end lights emit the same par and color...whats the difference in growing corals?

 

[wazzupmac]

I got lucky and was able to cancel my order for xr30's and instead replaced the order with the new G6's. They arrived today and I'm happy. The build is now officially real - next up sump and skimmer!

I ended up getting only 2 because they are supposed to have better spread and the tank is only 48" long.