Deciding on LEDs for 36 gallon

[tuggerlake26]

I'm getting back into the reef hobby after taking a hiatus for about ten years. Quite a bit has changed, especially with lighting. My previous tanks were all metal halides, so it's been a bit of a learning curve of what the best route is for lighting.

My tank is a 36 gallon bowfront, with dimensions of 31"x21"x15". Since it is on the deeper end, I want to make sure I have enough par near the bottom. The inhabitants will be LPS and some SPS.

I've narrowed my choice down to the following:

1. Two Radion XR15 G5 Pros
   1. Have read good reviews overall with shimmer and control functions
   2. Finding it hard to figure out PAR on this one
2. Two AI Hyrda 32 or one Hyrda 64
   1. Have read mixed reviews, but see these on a lot of tanks. Seems customer service is lacking if you run into product issues.
3. Two Kessil A360 Tuna Blues
   1. All around good reviews, but have read that there are some areas of shadowing

I also recently was reading about the ReefBreeders Photon V2+, which had good reviews and PAR, at half the price. However, seems too good to be true.

Any advice?

 

[Reefer40b]

32in Photon v2, doesn't have all the controls but honestly you set the light and forget it so... you can set the different presents for whatever you like, say one for pictures, one for super blue, etc and its easy to switch back to your original program, 1 button push. Take the money you saved and buy some coral ;)

I have used them for past 3-4 years mine are the regular V2 and still no issues

 

[Acros]

You might need only one of the Radion XR15 or one AI Hydra 32HD for a mostly LPS tank. A single AI Hydra 64HD or a XR30 will be a better choice for SPS, if you want to stick with just one light fixture.

 

[Kinjirra]

Sub for info

 

[learjet3]

one XR15 is plenty. Two would be a waste, you would have to run them at like 30%. I have one over a 30G cube and run it at 70%

 

[tuggerlake26]

Thanks! Alright, I think I'm going to go with one XR15 after watching a few more videos from BRS on them. Now for deciding on Pro vs Blue. I'm thinking of Pro and then adding a Reefbrite actinic. I feel like that will give me the flexibility if I want more blue.

 

[Bpb]

Pair of xr15’s will do it. The photon v2 isn’t too good to be true. There’s a reason it has such high par levels. The diodes have pretty tight optics meaning the light is more focused down and doesn’t spread outward as much. The upside to this is you get higher par levels at lower operating wattage. The downside is you have to mount them in the stratosphere to get them to blend well. They also lack app control and all that stuff people like so much. They definitely work well though.

 

[anthonygf]

I'm getting back into the reef hobby after taking a hiatus for about ten years. Quite a bit has changed, especially with lighting. My previous tanks were all metal halides, so it's been a bit of a learning curve of what the best route is for lighting.

My tank is a 36 gallon bowfront, with dimensions of 31"x21"x15". Since it is on the deeper end, I want to make sure I have enough par near the bottom. The inhabitants will be LPS and some SPS.

I've narrowed my choice down to the following:

1. Two Radion XR15 G5 Pros
   1. Have read good reviews overall with shimmer and control functions
   2. Finding it hard to figure out PAR on this one
2. Two AI Hyrda 32 or one Hyrda 64
   1. Have read mixed reviews, but see these on a lot of tanks. Seems customer service is lacking if you run into product issues.
3. Two Kessil A360 Tuna Blues
   1. All around good reviews, but have read that there are some areas of shadowing

I also recently was reading about the ReefBreeders Photon V2+, which had good reviews and PAR, at half the price. However, seems too good to be true.

Any advice?

On the ReefBreeders Photon V2+, I don't like the position of the fans. It could blow warm air down to the water surface or could be blowing up sucking moisture from the tank. Currently running 2 Kessil A360 TB Wide Angle on my 46 g bowfront and love them, I can't recall shadowy areas but love the lights.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

On the ReefBreeders Photon V2+, I don't like the position of the fans. It could blow warm air down to the water surface or could be blowing up sucking moisture from the tank. Currently running 2 Kessil A360 TB Wide Angle on my 46 g bowfront and love them, I can't recall shadowy areas but love the lights.

Our fans are temperature controlled- and only come on for brief periods when needed. In 4 years with that fan setup, it has not been an issue :) The heat sink is quite large, so that handles most of the cooling.