Does anyone actually make decent lights?

[cedwards04]

Im in the research phase for my next build and struggling bad with lighting.

It seems like there just aren't any decent options out there. Everything i look at i find a legitimate reason that I don't want to buy them.

I've had cheap black boxes, t5's, ai primes, ai hydras, radion g4's, radion g5's, led/t5 hybrid. I just cannot seem to find what I am looking for.

Tank will be a 6ft mixed reef but heavy on the sps. T5's give my wife headaches, so they are out. I dont want to deal with the difficulty of getting metal halides, or the heat, so they are out. I didnt like the look of my tank under radions, nor did I like the mobius app and its unreliability. I liked my hydras ok, but then there is lense burn and some disco affect that I don't like. Black boxes never gave me the coral color I was after.

I want leds that blend color very well, which has me leaning towards kessil, but I know I will need a bunch of them, or some strip lighting, which isn't ideal either. Considering how much money lights cost, there really should be better options.

Ive looking into dalua x4's, but they are really pricey and it seems customer service is lacking.

Ive looking into reefi, but a lot of people say they give off a pinkish spectrum and I absolutely do not want that.

The Stratton x looks somewhat promising but people say the app is difficult and ati doesnt have a great record of customer service in the USA.

What am I missing?

 

[trmiv]

Reefi do not give off a pinkish spectrum. They are powerful enough that you can tune them to whatever look you want.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I know you said radions are out but hear me out for one second. The G6 optics are incredible for spectrum blending, no disco ball and the color blend is incredible, so much so that a diffuser is not needed at all. I don’t use Mobius but instead use the MXM module on apex. So much nicer. I run 4 G6 pro’s currently. I too have had previous generation models and the difference with the G6 is incredible.

 

[painter1982]

I have 5 kessil a360xe on my 60” sps tank. I love the look. No problem achieving high par at 60% power. I use the 55 degree reflectors.

 

[Waters]

I have recently switched to the Straton Xs from G6 Radions and I can say so far I am very happy with the switch. I am not sure you can beat the look for a whiter spectrum SPS tank. The app is clunky for sure.....fortuantely once you set the lights up there isn't really any reason you would use the app anyways (they are working on updates though). Regarding customer service, I actually did have an issue right out of the box with one of the three lights I purchased. It has been a struggle getting it back up and running but only because they are brand new here in the states. Replacement lights and well as parts haven't even made it over here yet (the part I needed, the controller board, is currently being shipped here from Germany). Some would ask why they didn't prepare for possible warranty issues from the beginning...and I would agree lol. The ATI NA reps have been helpful though and have remained in contact as I tried to get a hold of this part. I did have to take the entire light apart and they are very well built.

 

[jsmkmavity]

What about quanta helix or meridians?

 

[MasterClassReefs]

Im in the research phase for my next build and struggling bad with lighting.

It seems like there just aren't any decent options out there. Everything i look at i find a legitimate reason that I don't want to buy them.

I've had cheap black boxes, t5's, ai primes, ai hydras, radion g4's, radion g5's, led/t5 hybrid. I just cannot seem to find what I am looking for.

Tank will be a 6ft mixed reef but heavy on the sps. T5's give my wife headaches, so they are out. I dont want to deal with the difficulty of getting metal halides, or the heat, so they are out. I didnt like the look of my tank under radions, nor did I like the mobius app and its unreliability. I liked my hydras ok, but then there is lense burn and some disco affect that I don't like. Black boxes never gave me the coral color I was after.

I want leds that blend color very well, which has me leaning towards kessil, but I know I will need a bunch of them, or some strip lighting, which isn't ideal either. Considering how much money lights cost, there really should be better options.

Ive looking into dalua x4's, but they are really pricey and it seems customer service is lacking.

Ive looking into reefi, but a lot of people say they give off a pinkish spectrum and I absolutely do not want that.

The Stratton x looks somewhat promising but people say the app is difficult and ati doesnt have a great record of customer service in the USA.

What am I missing?

I am using kessils for my 72x36x30 300 gal build.
I will be adding t5 for fill light but you could probably get away with some led bars to supplement and help with shading as things grow.

 

[MasterClassReefs]

Reefi do not give off a pinkish spectrum. They are powerful enough that you can tune them to whatever look you want.

Have seen this pink tone light on tanks using reefi but figured that was due to user spectral adjustments.

 

[steveschuerger]

I’ve used ReeFi and can definitively say no pink and yes ridiculously adjustable. Right now I’m running a 25 gallon with the Meridian 11 and love it. Even better than the Photon v2 I had for my larger display at the time. Only reason I still don’t have it is because I needed to sell the tank when I moved last year. Here’s what my current 25 looks like with Meridian . I only have it set a max of 25-27% on the blues/violets due to the power. And the app is easy to use and a neat feature is the community tab where people have uploaded their light schedules/profiles . Several of which I know from here on R2R.

 

[oreo54]

Im in the research phase for my next build and struggling bad with lighting.

It seems like there just aren't any decent options out there. Everything i look at i find a legitimate reason that I don't want to buy them.

I've had cheap black boxes, t5's, ai primes, ai hydras, radion g4's, radion g5's, led/t5 hybrid. I just cannot seem to find what I am looking for.

Tank will be a 6ft mixed reef but heavy on the sps. T5's give my wife headaches, so they are out. I dont want to deal with the difficulty of getting metal halides, or the heat, so they are out. I didnt like the look of my tank under radions, nor did I like the mobius app and its unreliability. I liked my hydras ok, but then there is lense burn and some disco affect that I don't like. Black boxes never gave me the coral color I was after.

I want leds that blend color very well, which has me leaning towards kessil, but I know I will need a bunch of them, or some strip lighting, which isn't ideal either. Considering how much money lights cost, there really should be better options.

Ive looking into dalua x4's, but they are really pricey and it seems customer service is lacking.

Ive looking into reefi, but a lot of people say they give off a pinkish spectrum and I absolutely do not want that.

The Stratton x looks somewhat promising but people say the app is difficult and ati doesnt have a great record of customer service in the USA.

What am I missing?

You left out the GHL Mitras line..
Reefbreeders
Maxspect
and if you want to go "China Direct"
Micmol Aquamax series..

Any the above with reflectors over lenses will usually blend better.
Shouldn't leave out Nicrew either.

 

[cedwards04]

Reefi do not give off a pinkish spectrum. They are powerful enough that you can tune them to whatever look you want.

There sure seems to be an awful lot of photos and videos specifically talking about that issue for it to not be true. I would have to see some in person, or get a money back guarantee before I would risk it. Its just too much money to roll the dice when there is evidence out there suggesting otherwise.

 

[Gone Reefin’]

I second the meridians. I have primes on my other tank, and regardless of the way I blend spectrums, I can’t get away from either a windex look or a drs office look when I go for the full spectrum. Meridians have a community preset that Battlecorals set up, and I love it…also helps because I get most of my SPS from BC…..

 

[steveschuerger]

There sure seems to be an awful lot of photos and videos specifically talking about that issue for it to not be true. I would have to see some in person, or get a money back guarantee before I would risk it. Its just too much money to roll the dice when there is evidence out there suggesting otherwise.

I don’t know if this’ll be helpful but he’s a FTS showing ReeFi with the 32 Photon v2 over the 90 I had. But as you can see it was tuned as to match the RB light. No pink.

 

[trmiv]

There sure seems to be an awful lot of photos and videos specifically talking about that issue for it to not be true. I would have to see some in person, or get a money back guarantee before I would risk it. It’s just too much money to roll the dice when there is evidence out there suggesting otherwise.

I’ve not really seen that. It’s highly schedule dependent. These lights are extremely powerful, so whatever look you want you can achieve and still have par to spare. To give you an example I can put 550 par at the top of my rocks in my IM200 with 4 reefi’s running at 35% with all channels at 100%. I can easily tune the spectrum for whatever look I want because of the power they put out and not worry about losing par.

 

[Boehmtown]

I've been very happy with my quanta bars. Add in a couple kessils for the ramp up and down and it's hard to beat

 

[dvgyfresh]

No complaints on orphek natura , except that it may be too strong for my small tank lol

 

[Red_Beard]

Another voice for reefbreeders meridions, especially the shallow reef model. Spectacular light, tons of power and very adjustable. Quanta helix bars are likewise a great pairing for fill

 

[Oldreefer44]

Had the same issues. Stratons solved all of the issues and do anything that any other LED light do.

 

[Acanthaopolis]

I also have a 3' 4-combo set of Quanta Helix on my 36 X 24 tank and absolutely love them. You get a similar look as you do with T-5s, but since they don't flicker like all florescent bulbs due you shouldn't have any problems with headaches. I can put my hand between the tank and the lights and get almost no shadowing, which I can only imagine would be ideal for SPS.

 

[Michael Hughes]

I'll second the Nicrew recommendation, especially for a mixed reef. I chose their HyperReef gen 2 for the DT because it has more white channels and lets me run a daylight aesthetic. The NavaReef (running on my frag tank) is heavier on blues if you prefer that look.