SPS dominated Reefer 250 light upgrade help

TastyScrants · Nov 2, 2023

Hi,

I want to upgrade my lights on my mixed reef that is slowly becoming SPS dominated.

It looks like this:

Currently it is lit with 2 Redsea Reefled 90s. They are putting out enough PAR and growing acro at the top, but they are causing shadowing.

I’m thinking of moving away from them entirely. Particularly because 1 unit is only 2 years old, and is measuring around 150 PAR lower than my new unit added for tank upgrade.

I’m thinking either 3 AI blade grow 30” (maybe a glow down the road but that’s just aesthetic as far as im aware)

Or radion XR15s - I don’t know how many, most seem to have three on these tanks but I have just two towers of rock.

It has to be tank mounted I cannot suspend from ceiling.

What would you do?

I’m seeing fantastic results with the blade and I’m not averse to having to remove one for maintenance access.

Just not sure what to do. I’m not concerned about future proofing as I don’t intend to upgrade tank size due to the cost of electricity in the UK.

therootcause · Nov 2, 2023

I find it odd that one of your lights would have such a significant degradation in intensity over two years. Are you using the ReefBeat app and does that allow you to reset the light to factory settings? Are you able to inspect the LED's to see if any are burnt out?

Your Redsea ReefLED is out of warranty, but I would reach out to them regarding the drop in PAR performance. Maybe it is a known issue. If you can get both lights working properly, and being as you are budget minded, I would continue using them and supplement with an AI blade, reefbrite, or T5. Personally I supplement with a 2x 48" T5 that eliminated shadows.