Benefits in mixing blue and pro radions

[johnj]

Would there be any benefits of mixing gen xr30 pro and xr30 blue lights on tank and if yes wy?
Maybe would help with having few pro with blue to higher the par a little for bigger tanks but still keep the blue look with the blue radions also!

how many lights would you want over a waterbox 320.7 lx tank 86x30x26

 

[blaxsun]

Other than aesthetics, I can't see a benefit. Blues have higher resale value so I'd just stick with those. On a 86" tank I would probably go with a minimum of four XR30 G5s placed vertically instead of horizontally. I have two XR30s and one XR15 placed horizontally, but my tank is 71"x23.5" (1668 sq in) - and you have 54% greater area (2580 sq in).

Each of my XR30 G5s covers about 667.2 sq in with the XR15 G5 covering 3336.6 sq in (for your tank this would work out to 645 sq in per XR30 G5, so roughly equivalent).

 

[johnj]

Other than aesthetics, I can't see a benefit. Blues have higher resale value so I'd just stick with those. On a 86" tank I would probably go with a minimum of four XR30 G5s placed vertically instead of horizontally. I have two XR30s and one XR15 placed horizontally, but my tank is 71"x23.5" (1668 sq in) - and you have 54% greater area (2580 sq in).

Each of my XR30 G5s covers about 667.2 sq in with the XR15 G5 covering 3336.6 sq in (for your tank this would work out to 645 sq in per XR30 G5, so roughly equivalent).

only thing with the Blue g5 is im not mad on the heavy blue colour so if not running the AB+ Template would they work as good with lowering the blues and adding more white? Also what you running % on your lights as iv got 2 xr15 pro on 3ft red sea tank and at 70% the fans are fairly noisy and say the xr30s would be more noisy! Id rather have more lights than needed and run lower power to save the fan noise

 

[JGT]

I run both. I did it for 2 reasons. First is aesthetics. The blues are just too blue for my liking, despite the fact that you can tweak them to make it more white. Combining the blues and the pros gives me a nice blend.

Second is the spectrum. The benefit of the blues is just that. They are more concentrated in the blue spectrum which is beneficial for corals. If I go with a lesser overall intensity, the blue spectrum on the blues will have a higher intensity than the pros blue spectrum will. Honestly, not sure if overall, it makes a significant difference but I’m happy with the look and my corals are thriving so that’s all that matters.

 

[jgirardnrg]

The blues are geared so you can run AB+ and use all of the output the lights provide on all channels. If you're not looking to run flat out on AB+, which is pretty blue, you might be better off getting the pros and adjusting to your liking.

 

[JGT]

The blues are geared so you can run AB+ and use all of the output the lights provide on all channels. If you're not looking to run flat out on AB+, which is pretty blue, you might be better off getting the pros and adjusting to your liking.

I run a modified AB+. Keep everything as is except bump up the whites a bit more so not so blue. Get the benefits of full blue spectrum but better aesthetics of a not so blue tank.

 

[johnj]

The blues are geared so you can run AB+ and use all of the output the lights provide on all channels. If you're not looking to run flat out on AB+, which is pretty blue, you might be better off getting the pros and adjusting to your liking.

Good point you make about buying a light and not really using it for what it was made for! I do like the more white look so maybe just higher the blue channels on pro and lower whites little! iv got apogee par meter so finding the correct par should be ok!

 

[blaxsun]

only thing with the Blue g5 is im not mad on the heavy blue colour so if not running the AB+ Template would they work as good with lowering the blues and adding more white? Also what you running % on your lights as iv got 2 xr15 pro on 3ft red sea tank and at 70% the fans are fairly noisy and say the xr30s would be more noisy! Id rather have more lights than needed and run lower power to save the fan noise

I run a modified version of the Radiance template and I think it looks great. My lights are running @75% schedule intensity, but I think the overall with the channels is between 45-60%. I'm also running diffusers so I have to bump up the intensity to compensate.

If you're going to be hanging the lights you could always go with 10x XR15 G5s instead.

 

[johnj]

I run a modified version of the Radiance template and I think it looks great. My lights are running @75% schedule intensity, but I think the overall with the channels is between 45-60%. I'm also running diffusers so I have to bump up the intensity to compensate.

If you're going to be hanging the lights you could always go with 10x XR15 G5s instead.

Dont the diffusers lower the intensity not bump it up because your putting something over the led lights to stop/help the mixing of the colour! And do not really want 10 power bricks and the use of that much sockets just on lights bud

 

[Speaker]

I've got 3 xr30 pros over my 72L x 24.5W x 24H currently running parallel to the front glass. I'm adding a 4th to run them perpendicular to the front glass. I would do at least 4 xr 30s on that tank, maybe 5 depending how sps heavy. I am running ab+ with extra whites to eliminate the blue look a bit. If you don't like the blue look I would get the pro's. If you don't mind get the blues. I think mixing them would only work if you set them to different schedules with the pros running more white than the blues can. Otherwise they might as well all be the same.

 

[blaxsun]

Dont the diffusers lower the intensity not bump it up because your putting something over the led lights to stop/help the mixing of the colour! And do not really want 10 power bricks and the use of that much sockets just on lights bud

Yes, that's why I'm running @75% intensity instead of @60-65% (the diffusers). As @Speaker and I indicated, 4x XR30s would probably be the bare minimum for this size of tank.