Going through Analysis Paralysis, please help

[bvickery1974]

So, starting to put together my first SW setup - WB 20 Cube. Just waiting a lil bit before pulling the trigger.

Right now looking at putting in Torches, Zoas, and other LPS's (Always welcome some recommendations, want the vivid and flowing if possible)

Should I keep going between Edge44, HD16, AI Blade Grow and the like. I want good coverage to help ensure healthy corals.

Not opposed to budget one to get now and then save for an upgrade.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

My opinion with lights is never to cheap out. Lights are one of the most important pieces of equipment in our tanks. If you buy cheap lights now, you are going to run into issues with not enough lighting or potentially the lights not working properly. The lights you suggested are good for a tank that size!

 

[bvickery1974]

My opinion with lights is never to cheap out. Lights are one of the most important pieces of equipment in our tanks. If you buy cheap lights now, you are going to run into issues with not enough lighting or potentially the lights not working properly. The lights you suggested are good for a tank that size!

But the thing is all the lights are various price points.

Can get the AI Blade Grow for $170 or go up to $400 for the Edge44. I am still new and not sure if I am missing at looking at other alternatives. It is great to know I am on the right track though.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Honestly, the AI Blade is a good light. There are a lot of people on here who have them and have been satisfied with them. I personally ran a RedSea Rl50 (AIO tank). If I had to get a different light, I would either get an Orphek OR4, Noopsyche K7, or a Blade. (I have a 20g as well)

 

[MeganV]

The AI HD16 notoriously burn up the lenses. I had one for less than a year and the thing is toast. Just not worth the trouble. For the same money, you can get something more reliable.

I replace the HD16 with the Smatfarm G6 which has kind of a similar color channel set up to the HD16 and so far I am very pleased with it. It isn't quite as customizable, but it does what I need it to do. You can set the sunrise and sunset time and ramp times, and then the moonlight time, and adjust each of 6 channels for the sunlight and moonight.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I used to have two Kessil A80s on goosenecks on the back of my IM 20 gallon. Nothing wrong with them, per se, but being an all-in-one, a good portion of the light hit the rear chamber. I switched to a single Blade Grow, and it's now centered over the tank. It's working great.

 

[Johnd651]

All decent lights. I went through a similar light analysis paralysis recently and actually went with Nicrew HyperReef Gen 2 instead. I still need to pull PAR numbers, but am running them at about 50% only, and my corals have perked up a lot. I was using an AI Blade and Meridian Edge before the Nicrew. They have 3 different sizes.

Nicrew HyperReef 200 Gen 2

So lights was one of the last things on the list. Well here we go, 2x Nicrew HyperReef 200 Gen 2 and a controller. I'll post par numbers and program when I get it dialed in. I'll be sharing what I learn along the way.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[rowenaad]

i run an hd16 on my waterbox 20 for 4 years. its still going strong but i never run any spectrum at 100% or above

 

[BryanM]

Lights are super important, at the pricepoint for the Edge44, I'd suggest taking a look at ReefBreeders.

 

[exnisstech]

I've run black boxes, Ai Hydra 26hd, gen4 XR15s, noopsyche k7 pros, reefbreeders Photons, and reefbreeders meridian. They'll all grow coral. I'd pick one that fits the budget and has the features you want and looks nice if that's important.

PSA Personally I won't buy another light that runs on Mobius because it still has problems loosing track of the correct date and time that has been a problem since it was released but never corrected or even acknowledged by the manufacturer TMK.
My radions are on the shelf because I got tired of mobius turning them on in the middle of the night.
I still use mobius for my vortechs and this is the app doing what it does. Screen shot from yesterday.

Unfortunately it isn't the device clock that is incorrect it's the date and time in the app.

 

[BriDroid]

Depending on what you want to grow, 1 Blade Grow probably isn't going to be enough. I have a 11 cube, and I run a 12" Grow and a 12" Glow. I run them on a custom mount about 7" above the water (got tired of having to constantly move them to gain tank access). I'm getting around 150PAR at on the sand (about 18-19" below the lights) and 300PAR at the top of the rocks (about 10-11" below the lights). I do really live the coverage that the Blades produce, nice even light.

 

[X-37B]

2 16hds would work well. Just get some extra lens at $5 and don't run above 100%.
My old 30 running 2 16hds

My 20g 18" nano cube running 2.

A used xr15 gen 5 blue would be a good option. I run 1 on my current 15.

 

[X-37B]

I've run black boxes, Ai Hydra 26hd, gen4 XR15s, noopsyche k7 pros, reefbreeders Photons, and reefbreeders meridian. They'll all grow coral. I'd pick one that fits the budget and has the features you want and looks nice if that's important.

PSA Personally I won't buy another light that runs on Mobius because it still has problems loosing track of the correct date and time that has been a problem since it was released but never corrected or even acknowledged by the manufacturer TMK.
My radions are on the shelf because I got tired of mobius turning them on in the middle of the night.
I still use mobius for my vortechs and this is the app doing what it does. Screen shot from yesterday.

Unfortunately it isn't the device clock that is incorrect it's the date and time in the app.

Never had a problem with my 5 xr15's. Guess I'm lucky. Still running 4 gen5's. I like the blue running ab+ @ 100%.

 

[exnisstech]

Never had a problem with my 5 xr15's. Guess I'm lucky. Still running 4 gen5's. I like the blue running ab+ @ 100%.

Fortunately not everyone experiences the issue which is probably why ecotech hasn't addressed it but that's speculation on my part. I thought maybe it was an Android thing but the same thing happened on IOS so I have no idea the cause. I know unplugging devices will cause the issue but the date is always January 10th 2010 when it's caused by a power outage.
When mine lost sync yesterday 10/8 10/7 so it was only of by one day but still off lol.

 

[X-37B]

Fortunately not everyone experiences the issue which is probably why ecotech hasn't addressed it but that's speculation on my part. I thought maybe it was an Android thing but the same thing happened on IOS so I have no idea the cause. I know unplugging devices will cause the issue but the date is always January 10th 2010 when it's caused by a power outage.
When mine lost sync yesterday 10/8 so it was only of by one but still off lol.

Strange as I have heard of the issue. Well now that we're talking about it one of my 4 will surely decide to have an issue, lol.

 

[exnisstech]

Strange as I have heard of the issue. Well now that we're talking about it one of my 4 will surely decide to have an issue, lol.

Man I hope not. Its pretty annoying having lights come on at 3am. Sad part for me is I ran 6 vortechs and 3 xr15s for years on a reeflink with no issues. I needed two new MP40s and was advised by ecotech CS the new ones are only compatible with mobius. So silly me upgraded all devices to mobius

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m very happy with Reefi Uno 2.1 Pro

 

[JohnNYC8]

But the thing is all the lights are various price points.

Can get the AI Blade Grow for $170 or go up to $400 for the Edge44. I am still new and not sure if I am missing at looking at other alternatives. It is great to know I am on the right track though.

I wouldn't overthink it. The Blades flat out grow coral with good coverage.

 

[Johnd651]

I wouldn't overthink it. The Blades flat out grow coral with good coverage.

I think the one thing that may be helpful to consider, being that most lights on the market will grow what you want, when setup correctly is the aesthetics of the light.

I am not a big fan of the round Kessel's, and prefer either a bar or multiple rectangles. Just something else that might be helpful as you decide.

 

[bbolin]

Lots of variables here…since you are just keeping LPS, I wouldn’t worry too much about this. All of these lights will grow coral. The main question here is what do you want the tank to look like and how much control do you want?

I would suggest looking at the Nicrews. They blend performance nicely with just enough shimmer and control with the additional controller. The bonus is that they cost less than most of the others. Corals don’t need apps to grow.

Whatever you end up with, pick a light schedule and intensity and don’t change it much. Corals like stability and will adapt to most lights and spectrums.