60g cube First Tank!

[FishBoyJay]

Complete beginner, spent the last few months researching a ton. Cant wait to make all the mistakes!

60 gallon 24" cube



Looking to purchase the right light for the job.
Have seen alot about the radion xr15 or the reefi uno 2.0. Wondering is it the right way to go as it will only be a single light causing shading. What other avenues have you guys gone with on a cube?

 

[fishface NJ]

Congratulations on the new tank! Very exciting time. Sorry I can't help you too much with LED...I'm a T5 reefer. The Orphey and ReefBreeders are nice. Noopsyche are nice budget lights. Would need to know what you are looking to spend.

 

[FishBoyJay]

I was thinking max 500. Really want to buy one that is gunna last and not worry me!

 

[fishface NJ]

Meridians 24 are $800 new. You might be able to find them used here. I think with radion xr15 you would need two units

@Red_Beard any suggestions?

BTW Welcome to R2R!

 

[slogan315]

What kind of corals are you wanting to keep, and how much do aesthetics matter to you?

My first tank was a used 60g cube and I tried a few lights over it. My goal was a brightly lit mixed reef.

I started with a single kessil 360x. It looked nice but was underpowered to grow everything I wanted. Added an aquatic life t5 fixture to supplement. This was much better. Replaced the kessil with a noopsyche k7v3 pro (because the kessil was getting older). The noop was great value but the colors were a little harsher than the kessil. Both really benefited from the t5 knocking off some of the shimmer. Both lights visibly showed a triangular beam coming down, but I was limited by height due to a canopy. So raising the light could mitigate some of this. I also held a a kessil ap9x over the tank for a bit and it looked amazing.

Takeaways - I always wanted to try the uno 2.1 pro over the tank. If you went noops, I think you’d want 2. I think you’ll feel underpowered with a single xr15. Meridian 24, Orphek natura, and ATI straton also seem interesting for a cube tank.

 

[Red_Beard]

that is going to be a nice setup!
I just set up a 35 gallon cube(20x20x20) for my daughter that is using a single xr15. You can almost see the light cone in the pic, but still shows it covers most of the footprint quite well.

That is a gen3 and the newer fixtures do have better coverage, but, i would still recommend against a radion. I would heartily recommend a Meridian though. There are a few different options there depending on what you want to grow. If you want a mixed reef, plan your scape and stocking accordingly and keep higher light demanding coral higher up, toward the middle and lower light demanding things lower and towards the perimeter and a single meridian 11 will be great! You could probably still overcook most coral. Mount it up higher if you can, like 10-14 inches above the water. If you are going to mount it low (less than 6-8), the 24 will give you much better spread. Get the original spectrum if you like the bluer look, the shallow reef if you like it to look a little more natural. Both can give plenty of blue pop though.
If you do go with the meridian and decide later that you want more par on the edges, you can upgrade it with 2 edge 24s or edge 12s depending on what all you plan to add/shading etc. That easy path for expansion is another reason i would recommend a Meridian.
I have also heard good things about the reefi's but dont have any hands on experience with them.

 

[FishBoyJay]

that is going to be a nice setup!
I just set up a 35 gallon cube(20x20x20) for my daughter that is using a single xr15. You can almost see the light cone in the pic, but still shows it covers most of the footprint quite well.

That is a gen3 and the newer fixtures do have better coverage, but, i would still recommend against a radion. I would heartily recommend a Meridian though. There are a few different options there depending on what you want to grow. If you want a mixed reef, plan your scape and stocking accordingly and keep higher light demanding coral higher up, toward the middle and lower light demanding things lower and towards the perimeter and a single meridian 11 will be great! You could probably still overcook most coral. Mount it up higher if you can, like 10-14 inches above the water. If you are going to mount it low (less than 6-8), the 24 will give you much better spread. Get the original spectrum if you like the bluer look, the shallow reef if you like it to look a little more natural. Both can give plenty of blue pop though.
If you do go with the meridian and decide later that you want more par on the edges, you can upgrade it with 2 edge 24s or edge 12s depending on what all you plan to add/shading etc. That easy path for expansion is another reason i would recommend a Meridian.
I have also heard good things about the reefi's but dont have any hands on experience with them.

Yeah the reefi uno 2.0 looks solid. Ill take a look at the meridians right now thanks for your input!!!!