Reef Radiance LumenTek Pro180. I want to hear from you!!

[NanaReefer]

How exciting is this?!! Growth & color improving ten fold!!!
Sept 2, 2014

October 29, 2014

 

[Nevil]

Do you have a link to the article you found today? I'm struggling to get good grow with mine. I currently am running 25% whites 55% blues.

 

[NanaReefer]

Nevil-Could you please tell me more about your system? Especially your parameters? I would also like to know your lighting schedule, how high/low they are mounted and if your ramping them.

 

[Nevil]

Hey Nana. Sorry for the delay I've been super busy. I hadn't tested my parameters in a while. I did the other day, I'm at work now and they are written down at home but my All and CA were low. I have some BRS 2 part on the way to correct this.

My lights are only about 6 inches off the water. I plan on raising them next week if I can get a day off work. I'm going to raise them to 12-14 inches.

My schedule I do ramp up and down. Blues max out at 55% and whites at 15%. These have been lowered to these #s in the last 2 week's and my lps seems to be getting better color already. I was running whites at max % for 10 hours. I just lowered this to 6 hours. Blues max out for 10 hours still.

I hope this all makes sense I'm typing from work on my phone. Thanks!

 

[NanaReefer]

Makes perfect sense! Sounds great also
Just today as part of my own experimenting I've reduced my white lights to 6% max intensity, while reducing my blues from 50% to 45% max. My idea is to use the whites mainly for ascetics purposes only. Just enough so the tank isn't totally blue. Also I wanna see if my Birds Nest color improves and the bleaching ends.
Having read that our corals do best under the 400-500nm range, I don't see how my plan could hurt.
So as my blues ramp up my whites ramp up @1:5 ratio (or there abouts) slowly to 6%max. As my blues ramp down my whites stay at 6% until 3pm. At which time the whites turn off, and the blues continue to ramp down until 7pm.

Something new I learned. Optics increase par. The Pro180 has 120 degree optics. Making them much stronger then your average budget friendly LED units.

 

[swk]

120 degree optics spread the led more than any other optics. The smaller the number the more focused.

 

[dmkahlan]

Interesting range of responses in this thread. I'm running 2 of the LumenTek Pro 120s. I've been very happy with them so far. I'm running it at 20% white and 65% blue and 6% lunar. They ramp up and back down over a 16hr period. Might be a little longer with the Lunar lights. I'll try to get some pics up over the next few days.

 

[REEF RADIANCE]

Hi Everyone,

We received the first shipment of new LUMENTEK controllers Friday and are testing them now to see if they will eliminate the two problems that a small percentage < 2% of our customers experienced with the LUMENTEK series - change of mode and slow/fast clock. We also sent a controller to Bow who has been helping us with the P series implementation and has two LUMENTEK 240s and he will be testing them independently. We programmed the 240 we have in our office so the intensity matches the hour - 11 am is 11 percent - 4 pm is 16 percent and so on. Doing this gives us a way to quick check that the timing and intensity setting are in sinc. I gotta say - I have this over a 75 gallon and at 16 percent ( on all 3 channels ) it lights the whole tank. I really miss this light - I have not had one in use since we stopped selling them - these are just awesome lights....... in any case - we are going to test the upgraded controllers for 10-14 days and when we know they are perfect will start shipping them out.

Rick

 

[dmkahlan]

Hi Everyone,

We received the first shipment of new LUMENTEK controllers Friday and are testing them now to see if they will eliminate the two problems that a small percentage < 2% of our customers experienced with the LUMENTEK series - change of mode and slow/fast clock. We also sent a controller to Bow who has been helping us with the P series implementation and has two LUMENTEK 240s and he will be testing them independently. We programmed the 240 we have in our office so the intensity matches the hour - 11 am is 11 percent - 4 pm is 16 percent and so on. Doing this gives us a way to quick check that the timing and intensity setting are in sinc. I gotta say - I have this over a 75 gallon and at 16 percent ( on all 3 channels ) it lights the whole tank. I really miss this light - I have not had one in use since we stopped selling them - these are just awesome lights....... in any case - we are going to test the upgraded controllers for 10-14 days and when we know they are perfect will start shipping them out.

Rick

Thanks for the update Rick. I'll try calling you again today or tomorrow to sync up.

Doug

 

[dmkahlan]

Pics of my tank with 2 LumenTek Pro 120 lights

A few pics of my tank and coral growth. Still working on the flash/non-flash with my camera.

Canopy closed

LumenTek Pro Lights Exposed

8/27/14

11/7/14

8/27/14 I know this pic is blurry but notice almost very little green Monti compared to the shot above.

 

[dmkahlan]

But wait, I've got more... :wink:

Taken today. Lights are on max schedule - 20% whites, 65% blues, 6% lunar

11/23/14

8/27/14 - Favia and Zoas

11/23/14 - Favia and Zoas

8/27/14

11/23/14

 

[dmkahlan]

Nanareefer - you need to teach me how your taking you pics. Your pics look great compared to mine. Then again, I probably should touch mine up before posting them...

 

[NanaReefer]

UPDATE: Now 6 months running...finally found the sweet settings...Birds Nest growth insane and I moved it higher up instead of messing with lights. The skin is now coloring up 8 new corals on the rack! 6 SPS & 2 LPS
Multi color favia
Green pavona
Orange psammacora
Idaho grape monti
Chalice
Orange pavona
Green w/red eye chypastrea
Favia

 

[Bpb]

Something new I learned. Optics increase par. The Pro180 has 120 degree optics. Making them much stronger then your average budget friendly LED units.

Just have to point out....in the realm of reef capable prefabricated LED units on the market, reef radiance IS an average budget friendly option. Literally the only way to go cheaper is to order them on eBay without the service, controller, or warranty. The fluval and current marine 0.1 and 0.25 watt led units don't count as average budget friendly, as they're not truely reef capable. Reef radiance is generally considered one of the most budget friendly options you can possibly choose in reef lighting (which includes the used market). Not saying anything about their service, quality, or effectiveness, as I'm not a customer.

 

[NanaReefer]

If you were a user/customer then you would know they are NOT an "average budget friendly option" simply because NOBODY out there offers such a unit, with these capabilities at these prices. Thus making it ABOVE average. Throw in the wonderful customer service, quality and effectiveness, this then makes them BEYOND average! Then again if you were a user/customer you would already know this

 

[Bpb]

Oh I'm fully aware of the feature sets and specs. I've researched these lights extensively and have several friends that use them with varying levels of success and have had an opportunity to see them and observe them many times. I leave service out of the equation because we were talking about par and optics. That has nothing to do with service

 

[Bpb]

How about this ill do one better. I feel like I may have inadvertently come across as giving a bad review of this light or something. Not the case.

Just pointing out that a controllable evergrow with optics does not make the reef radiance above and beyond average. I'm sorry. There are a handful of other sellers offering a nearly identical light at a comparable price point. Just saying of the budget friendly options...the optics and onboars controller on this price point is fairly standard...

Let's look at what Rick (that's the owners name right?) does that CAN be said is above average, that was never mentioned in your above post.
Offer a myriad of different spectrum options for different goals at different price points
Competators selling these same models offer only one spectrum (yeah everyone thinks theirs is the best), or make you modify it yourself,
RR is the first (to my knowlege) evergrow seller to develop and offer an apex controller conversion unit, finally bipassing the "CRUD I can't control my d120 with my apex!" Problem so many LED users face
RR is also the first evergrow seller (to my knowlege) to develop original software to control their lights with a cell phone program
RR is also one of the only led sellers to offer both bridgelux and Cree diodes in the same unit

Off the top of my head, those are 4 things RR is doing that definitely makes them above average in the budget friendly market. Nobody mentioned those. I read that the 120 degree optics make them above average...I'm afraid not. Still, great lights and company, especially for what you pay. I wouldn't hesitate to give them serious consideration if I were in the market. I like to be fully aware of what lighting options are in the realm of reefing, even if I'm not shopping

 

[dmkahlan]

How about this ill do one better. I feel like I may have inadvertently come across as giving a bad review of this light or something. Not the case.

Just pointing out that a controllable evergrow with optics does not make the reef radiance above and beyond average. I'm sorry. There are a handful of other sellers offering a nearly identical light at a comparable price point. Just saying of the budget friendly options...the optics and onboars controller on this price point is fairly standard...

Let's look at what Rick (that's the owners name right?) does that CAN be said is above average, that was never mentioned in your above post.
Offer a myriad of different spectrum options for different goals at different price points
Competators selling these same models offer only one spectrum (yeah everyone thinks theirs is the best), or make you modify it yourself,
RR is the first (to my knowlege) evergrow seller to develop and offer an apex controller conversion unit, finally bipassing the "CRUD I can't control my d120 with my apex!" Problem so many LED users face
RR is also the first evergrow seller (to my knowlege) to develop original software to control their lights with a cell phone program
RR is also one of the only led sellers to offer both bridgelux and Cree diodes in the same unit

Off the top of my head, those are 4 things RR is doing that definitely makes them above average in the budget friendly market. Nobody mentioned those. I read that the 120 degree optics make them above average...I'm afraid not. Still, great lights and company, especially for what you pay. I wouldn't hesitate to give them serious consideration if I were in the market. I like to be fully aware of what lighting options are in the realm of reefing, even if I'm not shopping

Bpd - well put. All valid points that differentiate RR from other sellers.

If you don't mind me asking - what LED light did you decide to go with and why did you choose it over one of the RR LED lights?

NanaReefer - what did you finally decide on for settings? Inquiring minds want to know. :xd:

Thanks,

Doug

 

[Bpb]

I didn't actually choose a competitor. When I was in the market to jump to full led, I eventually just changed my mind and stuck with my existing lights.

 

[dmkahlan]

I didn't actually choose a competitor. When I was in the market to jump to full led, I eventually just changed my mind and stuck with my existing lights.

Gotcha. Come on over to the dark side...