6 Ft Tank lighting decision. Reefi? Hydra Edge?

blueoverbrown · Nov 3, 2025

I'm planning out a new tank that I will be setting up next year. Looks like I'm going to go with the 72"x26"x22" Eshoppes Mariner 180. It will be mixed reef, I want bright light for a big acro mountain in the middle with less light for LPS and soft coral on the sides. The black friday deals are tempting, I almost bought 4 AI hydra edge units. Then I really got to thinking about the Reefi Uno 2.1, it seems like a much better value. Also if I had issues with a light, starting the clock on the warranty when I'm six months from having the tank ready is probably a dumb idea.
Any recommendations between these two? How many unos would you recommend if I go that route? I'm thinking 3. One feature I was excited about with the edge lights was the solar ring shimmer function, Reefi owners, do you notice much shimmer?

TX_REEF · Nov 3, 2025

I think 3 reefis would do great, that's a lot of lighting firepower at a reasonable price.

skey44 · Nov 3, 2025

I covet reef breeder meridians, and ATI straton flex when I see them on tanks.

Just what I would look at personally.

Definitely nothing AI, they’re just overpriced, very corporate, and lagging behind in tech IMO. I don’t know much about reefi. They seem to be popular though, and I’ve seen some good systems run on them.
And no doubt AI is fine. I’d just want way more power than the edge for Acropora.

twentyleagues · Nov 3, 2025

I have Reefi over my cube and 3 more sitting waiting for me to set up my 180. Daniel the owner can see from the log on the light when it was actually put into service. I am not 100% on if that is when the warranty starts but I do remember reading something like that from him on the FB group. May want to reach out to him he's very responsive.

twentyleagues · Nov 3, 2025

blueoverbrown said:
I'm planning out a new tank that I will be setting up next year. Looks like I'm going to go with the 72"x26"x22" Eshoppes Mariner 180. It will be mixed reef, I want bright light for a big acro mountain in the middle with less light for LPS and soft coral on the sides. The black friday deals are tempting, I almost bought 4 AI hydra edge units. Then I really got to thinking about the Reefi Uno 2.1, it seems like a much better value. Also if I had issues with a light, starting the clock on the warranty when I'm six months from having the tank ready is probably a dumb idea.
Any recommendations between these two? How many unos would you recommend if I go that route? I'm thinking 3. One feature I was excited about with the edge lights was the solar ring shimmer function, Reefi owners, do you notice much shimmer?

I missed the shimmer part. There is some on the one I have running but I am using the included 120 degree reflector which may change the look of it with 90 degree reflector that the units come equipped with. The light with the 120 reflector is very well blended and a muted but noticeable shimmer. I was trying to cover 28"x28" area well, one light does that pretty good. If I were going sps I would want some sort of additional lighting like a bar of some sort or another Reefi on this tank just to get better angles of light hitting the corals.

X-37B · Nov 3, 2025

skey44 said:
I covet reef breeder meridians, and ATI straton flex when I see them on tanks.

Just what I would look at personally.

Definitely nothing AI, they’re just overpriced, very corporate, and lagging behind in tech IMO. I don’t know much about reefi. They seem to be popular though, and I’ve seen some good systems run on them.
And no doubt AI is fine. I’d just want way more power than the edge for Acropora.

2 Meridian 35's and your good to go.
Enough light over the 180 for anything you want to grow.
I run the Breeders on 2 systems and Meridians would be my choice for an led lit future system.

blueoverbrown · Nov 3, 2025

X-37B said:
skey44 said:

I covet reef breeder meridians, and ATI straton flex when I see them on tanks.

Just what I would look at personally.

Definitely nothing AI, they’re just overpriced, very corporate, and lagging behind in tech IMO. I don’t know much about reefi. They seem to be popular though, and I’ve seen some good systems run on them.
And no doubt AI is fine. I’d just want way more power than the edge for Acropora.

Click to expand...

2 Meridian 35's and your good to go.
Enough light over the 180 for anything you want to grow.
I run the Breeders on 2 systems and Meridians would be my choice for an led lit future system.

Looking at the meridians, I hadn't considered them previously. Just curious what aspects set them apart?

LavenderTi · Nov 3, 2025

I have a 5’ x 2.5’ tank with (3) Reefi. Love them, so much power. Can grow acros no problem. I recently added (2) quanta helix bars to reduce some shadowing I was getting from the frags turning to colonies. If I did it all over again I’d probably do the same thing. I really like the combo.

exnisstech · Nov 3, 2025

I have a meridian that I can get a lot of shimmer and even a disco effect if mounted low enough with a lot of surface agitation but I'm not sure what a solar ring shimmer function is.

skey44 · Nov 3, 2025

blueoverbrown said:
Looking at the meridians, I hadn't considered them previously. Just curious what aspects set them apart?

Power, flexibility, coverage, modularity, and expandability. Easy to add bars easily when your corals all start shading each other and you need more coverage. Can combine power bricks and fixtures, have ability to choose spread with lenses. Reef breeders have been growing SPS for a while now and I just like the package for the price. More colors and more complex led arrays.
Mounting options are good too, With side of tank rails and back of tank arms.
Battlecorals and some of the top Acropora growers on here use them as their led of choice when transitioning or supplementing metal halide.
I’m building a 3 foot frag tank and am heavily leaning towards a meridian 24 to grow some sticks!
Also I think they are privately owned(don’t quote me here) , vs apex/vortech,ai, brs conglomerate corporation.
I love how @MegabiteOG mounted his on his tank. Looks super clean!

X-37B · Nov 3, 2025

skey44 said:
Power, flexibility, coverage, modularity, and expandability. Easy to add bars easily when your corals all start shading each other and you need more coverage. Can combine power bricks and fixtures, have ability to choose spread with lenses. Reef breeders have been growing SPS for a while now and I just like the package for the price. More colors and more complex led arrays.
Mounting options are good too, With side of tank rails and back of tank arms.
Battlecorals and some of the top Acropora growers on here use them as their led of choice when transitioning or supplementing metal halide.
I’m building a 3 foot frag tank and am heavily leaning towards a meridian 24 to grow some sticks!
Also I think they are privately owned(don’t quote me here) , vs apex/vortech,ai, brs conglomerate corporation.
I love how @MegabiteOG mounted his on his tank. Looks super clean!

My new growout 36×36 ext 112 will have a 400 watt MH with 2 24" 14 K edge.
The edge bars put out some par.

skey44 · Nov 3, 2025

X-37B said:
My new growout 36×36 ext 112 will have a 400 watt MH with 2 24" 14 K edge.
The edge bars put out some par.

Ooh that’s slick. I’m thinking just a 24 will do plenty for my new 33g frag tank build. It’s got the large corner overflow so I’m not needing to light a significant portion of the tank.
And power wise it’s 36”x18”x12” so I think I’ll be just fine without the halide!

X-37B · Nov 3, 2025

skey44 said:
Ooh that’s slick. I’m thinking just a 24 will do plenty for my new 33g frag tank build. It’s got the large corner overflow so I’m not needing to light a significant portion of the tank.
And power wise it’s 36”x18”x12” so I think I’ll be just fine without the halide!

The Meridian 24 will grow anything you want in that system and probably at 50% at that depth.