Hi, just joined up today. Have read plenty of stuff on here over the years but after finding a lot of good info and advice on the new light I just purchased, I decided I should join up! I have a standard 29 with a 10 gallon sump currently. Tank has been up for about 3 years and has had its ups and downs but everything is doing pretty good now. Here's a few pics from my reef, all with my old light.
Howdy!
- Thread starter AKay3600
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Thanks! It's not as full looking as a lot of 3 year old reefs out there but it's getting there!
Lights: Current USA (non pro) buuuuttt a 24" Reef Breeders Photon V2 is waiting for me at home when I get off work!
Flow: Jebao PP-4
Sump: 10 Gallon with refugium
Overflow: Eshopps HOB
Return: Rio 1400
Skimmer: Hydor Slim Skim Nano
I run a filter sock and am currently running a bag of carbon as well as a bag of phosgaurd between my baffles.
Lights: Current USA (non pro) buuuuttt a 24" Reef Breeders Photon V2 is waiting for me at home when I get off work!
Flow: Jebao PP-4
Sump: 10 Gallon with refugium
Overflow: Eshopps HOB
Return: Rio 1400
Skimmer: Hydor Slim Skim Nano
I run a filter sock and am currently running a bag of carbon as well as a bag of phosgaurd between my baffles.
dbl
It Takes Less Energy to be Nice
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Article Contributor
Moderator Emeritus
Reef Squad Emeritus
Hospitality Award
My Tank Thread
Welcome to R2R and thanks for joining. Good looking tank.
melypr1985
totally addicted
Welcome to R2R! Beautiful tank 
Thanks everyone! Here is an updated picture with my new Photon V2. It's a ton brighter than the Current USA, obviously but I'm not sure how I feel about the increased shadowing and disco look it's putting off. Still messing around with it though so we shall see!
I am about to upgrade my lights and was looking at the current USA non pro, and pro, and the reef breeders photon v2...literally the 3 lights I was trying to decide from. Did you get decent growth with the non pro? I am also running a standard 29.
Beautiful tank, I hope mine looks that good at 3 years.
Beautiful tank, I hope mine looks that good at 3 years.
Haha nice. I got decent growth from a few corals but I also fed them once a week. In 2 years the Frogspawn has gone from 2 heads to 20+ and my Duncan in about a year has gone from 1 head to 12-15ish. They take to feeding the best though. My blasto and trumpet corals have grown alright but not close to what the others have. The pic below is from day 1 and a year after that so you can see the growth in the Frog. Strangely I've lost basically all my coraline algae since then...hmm
Honestly if you can afford it I'd go for the Pro or the Photon. The Pro will be easier to set up and has better ramping up and down. I went with the Photon because a 40 breeder is in my future.
Thanks. I was leaning towards the photon, but trying to be cheap, lol. One of the first lessons i learned when venturing into a reef tank was it isn't cheap, so I should have known. For only $80 more I think I will get the photon over the pro.Haha nice. I got decent growth from a few corals but I also fed them once a week. In 2 years the Frogspawn has gone from 2 heads to 20+ and my Duncan in about a year has gone from 1 head to 12-15ish. They take to feeding the best though. My blasto and trumpet corals have grown alright but not close to what the others have. The pic below is from day 1 and a year after that so you can see the growth in the Frog. Strangely I've lost basically all my coraline algae since then...hmm
Honestly if you can afford it I'd go for the Pro or the Photon. The Pro will be easier to set up and has better ramping up and down. I went with the Photon because a 40 breeder is in my future.
No problem! Yeah that is exactly why I went with the Orbit. Really most everything I have bought has been cheap(ish), went cheap with my ATO and my skimmer as well but have no complaints about those. I honestly love the Current Orbit, I just wish it had a little more power. With the Photon I am noticing a good bit of disco effect and the red lights seem to be very straight down so I get a red spotlight inside one of my rocks. I think I am going to take the lenses off the reds to see if I can't get them to blend a bit better. If I knew I was sticking with the 29 gallon for a long time I would probably have got the Pro but since I know I am upgrading to a 40 which is 36inches long the Pro ends up costing more than the Photon. I have two weeks in which I can return the Photon and if I don't get used to the disco effect and the increased shadowing than I man return it. The Current Orbit has so many LEDs that the spread and blend of the lights is really nice and gives off just a tad bit of shimmer. Though the Pro does have more narrow lenses than the 120degrees on the regular.
Yeah, the pro only has a 60 degree. So I read people recommending 2 of the them...which would put the pro at quite a bit more than the photon. Aren't all the channels on the photon individually adjustable? Maybe adjusting the channels will help reduce the disco effect. The other option I had thought of was getting the non pro and running it along with the dual t5-ho fixture I am currently running. I really like the lighting of the non pro, but just like you, I wish it had more power. I am not ordering my lights until april, so I will definitely have to check back with you and see how the photon works out for you.
Yeah I think if I were to get the Pro it would work fine over the 29 but with the 40 gallon I would probably run the regular shorter one I have behind it to help with spread. I think the spread on a 12inch front to back tank with the Pro should be fine, I've seen one on a 40 breeder and it was allllmost enough front to back. Running the regular with the T5 is probably not a bad option. I tried that with a cheap dual T5 fixture I had laying around but it made so much noise I couldn't take it haha. The T5s would help with power and light spectrum while the Orbit could provide you with the nice ramping up and down of sunrise and sunset.
I will have the 29 until fall probably so feel free to check in with me about the Photon closer to April if you haven't seen any updates. I'm thinking about starting a tank thread soon so I should have updates in that if I get it going. Of course I am gone for the weekend so I won't be able to update on how I am feeling about the light until next week. Also check out the Introducing Photon V2 thread down in the Reef Breeders section if you haven't already.
I will have the 29 until fall probably so feel free to check in with me about the Photon closer to April if you haven't seen any updates. I'm thinking about starting a tank thread soon so I should have updates in that if I get it going. Of course I am gone for the weekend so I won't be able to update on how I am feeling about the light until next week. Also check out the Introducing Photon V2 thread down in the Reef Breeders section if you haven't already.
Thanks, yeah I will check that out. I have only read up on the photon on the reefbreeders website so far.
Yeah, my t5ho fixture is quiet, but I just hate the lighting options. It is stuck at 1 31w actinic bulb and 1 10k 31w bulb. I really want to switch the 10k out for a 14k or 20k, but there are no bulbs that will fit this fixture and the manufacturer only makes a 10k bulb.
I might consider the pro then if the spread shouldn't be a problem since the tank is so narrow. I have time to decide. I know I like the lighting in your tank a lot better than mine though lol.
Yeah, my t5ho fixture is quiet, but I just hate the lighting options. It is stuck at 1 31w actinic bulb and 1 10k 31w bulb. I really want to switch the 10k out for a 14k or 20k, but there are no bulbs that will fit this fixture and the manufacturer only makes a 10k bulb.
I might consider the pro then if the spread shouldn't be a problem since the tank is so narrow. I have time to decide. I know I like the lighting in your tank a lot better than mine though lol.
Aww man that's a bummer about the bulbs ha. Could go well with the Orbit though. You're right though you have time, just check out all the options out there and decide what matters the most to you. I'll try and have some updates on the Photons as much as I can!
Hey just letting you know the light has really grown on me. I just had to do a bit more messing around with the settings to get them looking like I wanted them too. The extra shimmer grows on ya too and I actually really like it now haha. All of my corals, besides my xenia seem to be really liking it! Here is a link to my tank thread, if you're interested, where I'll be updating occasionally.
http://reef2reef.com/threads/akay3600s-29gallon.291223/#post-3563370
Similar threads
