Are high dollar lights worth it?

[Borat]

Also the more expensive your corals are - the more expensive light spectrum they require. For example, if you bought a coral for $1000, you wouldn't want it to receive a $100 light spectrum (VERY VERY OBVIOUS LOGIC), you would want to have at least a $1000 light spectrum. Therefore you need to buy expensive lights - to produce expensive light spectrum.

 

[nickng]

Possible that some bought expensive name branded lights simply because the corals they acquired are all grown under those exact lights and spectrum&schedule templates that are promoted by the said coral vendors.
If it’s straight forward to tune any lower priced black box lights to the same spectrum and blending then it should not matter

 

[Hooz]

So it's pretty well established that you can "grow" coral with nothing but 450nm blue LEDs... but... there are more factors than just growth to consider. I mean, I like to look at my coral too.

 

[Scoob]

Also the more expensive your corals are - the more expensive light spectrum they require. For example, if you bought a coral for $1000, you wouldn't want it to receive a $100 light spectrum (VERY VERY OBVIOUS LOGIC), you would want to have at least a $1000 light spectrum. Therefore you need to buy expensive lights - to produce expensive light spectrum.

 

[Hooz]

So it's pretty well established that you can "grow" coral with nothing but 450nm blue LEDs... but... there are more factors than just growth to consider. I mean, I like to look at my coral too.

And, no. I don't run Radions. I found a better (much cheaper too) option.

 

[nickng]

So it's pretty well established that you can "grow" coral with nothing but 450nm blue LEDs... but... there are more factors than just growth to consider. I mean, I like to look at my coral too.

Possible, though some SPS, especially true yellow and true blue only show their colors under lights with wider spectrum. Under blue light, the true blue coral just look shiny black!

 

[Faurek]

Possible, though some SPS, especially true yellow and true blue only show their colors under lights with wider spectrum. Under blue light, the true blue coral just look shiny black!

Also clearly colors don't develop as they should.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If it’s straight forward to tune any lower priced black box lights to the same spectrum and blending then it should not matter

Which is the issue for me.I just do not see fanless, inexpensive led lights with good white light spectrum control.

 

[fish_collector]

Reefi UNO 2.0 Pro lights are $490 and outperform an XR30 by a huge margin, has 9 color channels with infinite blending and control, has a 3 year warranty, a fairly straightforward non-cloud based user interface that works with any PC, Mac or smartphone with settings that are stored internally and will function without an internet connection, the lights are their own WiFi server. Daniel Lu, the developer and guy who has them manufactured, is near Seattle and very easy to get a hold of and talk to. I had some issues with 2 of mine early on and he repaired them and sent them back with 7 days no questions asked.

https://www.reefi-lab.com/reefi-uno-2-0-pro/

 

[Faurek]

Reefi UNO 2.0 Pro lights are $490 and outperform an XR30 by a huge margin, has 9 color channels with infinite blending and control, has a 3 year warranty, a fairly straightforward non-cloud based user interface that works with any PC, Mac or smartphone with settings that are stored internally and will function without an internet connection, the lights are their own WiFi server. Daniel Lu, the developer and guy who has them manufactured, is near Seattle and very easy to get a hold of and talk to. I had some issues with 2 of mine early on and he repaired them and sent them back with 7 days no questions asked.

https://www.reefi-lab.com/reefi-uno-2-0-pro/

Never had one but I wonder why it outperforms with such intense Violet spectrum and warm whites. But when I say it no one believes.

 

[MnFish1]

Are high dollar cars worth it? Both get you to the same grocery store.

But the higher priced car may get you back home as well:).

 

[MnFish1]

It's really personal preference. I would tend to buy a light that has reliable customer service, that is easy to send for repairs, with a good warranty - as well as the ability to get replacement parts quickly. Additionally, with the features you like/want (like tuning spectra, etc). IMHO the old saying 'you get what you pay for' kind of applies here - kind of, because I'm not sure, for example, that every 'new generation' of a particular 'expensive' light warrants purchase of that light.

 

[hoardingcorals]

For me, one of the main draws of going name brand was the user friendliness of controls more complex than a simple dial/potentiometer (not necessarily enough to justify the price difference). I recall many of the generic brands that I had would have button sequences that would be difficult to remember without instructions.

Maybe some of the newer economy brands have more intuitive UIs, but I haven't had the chance to look at any of them.

 

[Hooz]

If it’s straight forward to tune any lower priced black box lights to the same spectrum and blending then it should not matter

The problem is that you can only tune the spectrum according to what "color" LEDs they give you in the light. More colors (broader or wider blue spectrum) usually costs more money.

The black boxes will grow coral, but if you look at their spectrum graphs, they're usually REALLY 450nm blue heavy. Some have been catching on lately, though. They're getting better (thinking Nicrew in particular), but also more expensive.

 

[nickng]

Reefi UNO 2.0 Pro lights are $490 and outperform an XR30 by a huge margin, has 9 color channels with infinite blending and control, has a 3 year warranty, a fairly straightforward non-cloud based user interface that works with any PC, Mac or smartphone with settings that are stored internally and will function without an internet connection, the lights are their own WiFi server. Daniel Lu, the developer and guy who has them manufactured, is near Seattle and very easy to get a hold of and talk to. I had some issues with 2 of mine early on and he repaired them and sent them back with 7 days no questions asked.

https://www.reefi-lab.com/reefi-uno-2-0-pro/

Reefi UNO 2.0 Pro lights are $490 and outperform an XR30 by a huge margin, has 9 color channels with infinite blending and control, has a 3 year warranty, a fairly straightforward non-cloud based user interface that works with any PC, Mac or smartphone with settings that are stored internally and will function without an internet connection, the lights are their own WiFi server. Daniel Lu, the developer and guy who has them manufactured, is near Seattle and very easy to get a hold of and talk to. I had some issues with 2 of mine early on and he repaired them and sent them back with 7 days no questions asked.

https://www.reefi-lab.com/reefi-uno-2-0-pro/

This is one light that I am very interested in. On paper and (measurements) it outperforms the well known rations xr30. On top of that it has proper WiFi Connectivity and self contained ie no relying on cloud services. The radio a on the other hand rely on short range Bluetooth. What happens if ecotech bankrupts and there’s no more cloud services.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

I use and like my Noopsyche K7's. If money was no object, I would maybe buy all ecotech products, because they have a pretty nice integrated ecosystem.

I'm a PC guy, not a Mac guy, because I can build a better computer with exactly what I want in the PC ecosystem, but if I just wanted a good computer that was well designed, and I wanted to make sure that everything I plugged into it "just worked" I might be a Mac guy.

Excellent answer. My tanks are very much cobbled together on the cheap. Lots of DIY and tinkering. I've been reefing for many years and the tinkering is part of what I enjoy. But if I had unlimited money and just wanted everything to reliably work out of the box...I would buy into an ecosystem and go all out.

 

[Maritimer]

I've got ViparSpectra 300s over my 6' tank. Two of them.

The _one_ thing I feel that I'm missing out on is ramping.

Is that worth a couple extra thousand dollars?

Maybe to someone ... I'm not sure that it is to me.

~B.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Are high dollar cars worth it? Both get you to the same grocery store.

The girls do like my M though.

 

[nickng]

First thing the biggest photosynthesis peak is from 420 to around 440, this is why I use 445 royal blues instead of 450, and that has nothing to do with PAR, PAR is the amount of light you hit the tank with at certain depth, wavelength is the color of the spectrum.
Yes, If you have enough par with blues you will grow color but clearly corals use the rest of the spectrum.
Expensive lights are actually very bad, yes radions are not as good as the hype, they produce so low violet for the amount of blues that is insane, different violets will make more fluorescent proteins shine as well.
So yeah, if you don't want to build your LED's go with something cheap like the Vipar Spectra's. The first thing is PAR for growth and then for the absolute best color that is where wavelength plays a role.

Do you know of any spectrum profile or curves that are optimal for coral color development and or profiles that are good for growth?
Very interested in this since it’s not that hard to make a custom led setup if one has access to a spectrum meter and light tracing software and skills in electronics. I can guess some of us in engineering/physics/games software design will be able to develop such a light

 

[nickng]

Never had one but I wonder why it outperforms with such intense Violet spectrum and warm whites. But when I say it no one believes.

That light was developed by an ex-senior Intel engineer, won’t surprise me he used a lot of his knowledge from intel in his design