ATI Straton or ReefLED 160s - New Lighting Contenders?

[Oldreefer44]

Dude thank you! Your experience is invaluable to me. What size is the tank you're running 4 on?

My tank is going to be 84x48x28. Do you think 4 would work for me as well?

I have 3 on a 72 x 24 and they are more than enough; but not sure on a 48 deep. My thoughts are purely anecdotal and I can only compare what I see in comparison to the Orphek v4's that I have on my old tank. I have always been a big Orphek fan and only made the switch because a square light fit my new tanks dimensions much better. So far very impressed and very happy with the Stratons. Colors are more vivid and there is no doubt in my mind that the spread is much more even.

 

[User1]

The point of this thread was not to bash CoralCare at all. It was just a passing observation. They are the lights I was waiting for the last couple of years to start a new tank, but they just didn't turn out how I would have liked. I actually prefer their color spectrum to the overly blue light most Americans are running these days. I just can't suspend them over my tank. Love the passing cooling - as does everyone else it seems. I think there's a lot of big potential for massive advances in the next 5 years if they start applying this new tech/approach right!

Ah, sorry if that is what I implied. I didn't take anyone in this thread as bashing anything nor did I mean to imply that. it has been a great thread actually and I think both products raised the bar. If anything I was probably being over critical of the BRS opinion on the lights is all.

 

[Justin Thibodeaux]

Dude thank you! Your experience is invaluable to me. What size is the tank you're running 4 on?

My tank is going to be 84x48x28. Do you think 4 would work for me as well?

Off topic, but this is the exact dimensions of the build I have planned out for next year! I would love to see a build thread! Or even just some pics of the tank that give some good perspective of its size/shape.

Also I think I'm sold on the ATI stratons myself with a few kessils for an adjustable shimmer. Been deeply researching possibilities for months then saw that Andre Mueller (the founder of reef moonshiners) just added them to his tank so I decided to give them another look.

 

[nornicle]

Keep in mind, there is a difference between spread and shadowing performance. The G5 is EXCELLENT at spread. Shadowing performance? I have my doubts.

This is a really old comment, but I just received frags from a 4ft tank with FOUR G5 XR30W Pros (a lot!) running 700 PAR at the top. I find the corals are very coloured on one side and brown on the other (i.e. shadowing) which I am finding LESS on the ATI Straton (but not none). I do run my Stratons directly next to each other (almost touching).

Also - you can probably run softies with a point source light, and even SPS to a degree, but if you want to be able to layer corals on top of each other I think you do need a panel light.

That said I am no expert and when I watch how the BRS guys work with just a single Kessil they grow amazingly coloured tanks too, so who knows if shadowing is really that big a deal.