Help me decide on a light upgrade
- Thread starter Shnetts
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VintageReefer
10K Club member
Meridian 11 can cover it. You might need the optional wide lens kit. I can tell you this is an impressive light
I went from this: a photon 48v2, + 48” led
Bar, + 24” led bar - a great setup that gave excellent full coverage in my 75g tank
To this…just this…two new Meridian 11 panels
And these two panels are doing better than my prior rig
Having just one on, covers more than half, with a mounting height of 9”
That’s about 30” of coverage, from only 9”. If I went higher I could get even more coverage easily.
The app is easy to use and reliable. The spectrum is great. They eliminated the red and green channels nobody uses, and replaced with more indigo, blue and whites. I can now increase my white channel to 40-50% and brighten my reef without overpowering and making it ugly. Prior I couldn’t bring white more than 10% before I disliked the spectrum and color. With the new ratio of leds, I can have strong blues with my whites turned up and I can have nice color pop but in a white dominate spectrum, I could never achieve this before
I’m getting 100 par on my sandbed and 250-300 on my higher corals, and around 400-450 at the surface. At around 60% power. These Meridian 11 are $400 each. Not the cheapest but not the most expensive. Im really impressed with how well they are doing, I reduced my leds by half and don’t need bars anymore. Crazy lol
I went from this: a photon 48v2, + 48” led
Bar, + 24” led bar - a great setup that gave excellent full coverage in my 75g tank
To this…just this…two new Meridian 11 panels
And these two panels are doing better than my prior rig
Having just one on, covers more than half, with a mounting height of 9”
That’s about 30” of coverage, from only 9”. If I went higher I could get even more coverage easily.
The app is easy to use and reliable. The spectrum is great. They eliminated the red and green channels nobody uses, and replaced with more indigo, blue and whites. I can now increase my white channel to 40-50% and brighten my reef without overpowering and making it ugly. Prior I couldn’t bring white more than 10% before I disliked the spectrum and color. With the new ratio of leds, I can have strong blues with my whites turned up and I can have nice color pop but in a white dominate spectrum, I could never achieve this before
I’m getting 100 par on my sandbed and 250-300 on my higher corals, and around 400-450 at the surface. At around 60% power. These Meridian 11 are $400 each. Not the cheapest but not the most expensive. Im really impressed with how well they are doing, I reduced my leds by half and don’t need bars anymore. Crazy lol
Last edited:
VintageReefer
10K Club member
My apologies. I reread and now see you are leaning towards mobius. Well I already wrote all that in the last post and I’m leaving it lol. I stand behind the recommendation and throw it out as an option to consider. Feel free to skip the suggestion, I misread your post and then saw other non mobius suggestions and thought this was a general request for ideas
rtparty
7500 Club Member
Nicrew Gen 2. Cheaper and blows away every light mentioned in this thread so far.
The new Edge is a pile of junk. I had one and had to return it becasue the disco ball was so bad with it. The only positive reviews so far all got the light for free or are paid reviews.
I really liked my Radions but Mobius kept turning them on at 2am. Full blast. Sometimes only for 10 seconds but other times for a lot longer. Ridiculous for a light at that price.
The new Edge is a pile of junk. I had one and had to return it becasue the disco ball was so bad with it. The only positive reviews so far all got the light for free or are paid reviews.
I really liked my Radions but Mobius kept turning them on at 2am. Full blast. Sometimes only for 10 seconds but other times for a lot longer. Ridiculous for a light at that price.
DanyL
Valuable Member
If you’re looking for the best of the best than Radion is definitely not on the list, they are the most overrated and overpriced fixture I’ve ever seen.
I would consider the following:
ATI Straton Pro - overpriced, but not overrated.
ReeFi - best value, ridiculous power and the widest spectrum.
Reefbreeders - best value for panels
I would consider the following:
ATI Straton Pro - overpriced, but not overrated.
ReeFi - best value, ridiculous power and the widest spectrum.
Reefbreeders - best value for panels
A Young Reefer
Valuable Member
I really would stay away from AI lights. They work, but the noise is unbearable, had to replace lenses twice.
Running into a similar boat where I am looking for a replacement to my 2 primes and hydra 32. looking into the new orphek natura.
Running into a similar boat where I am looking for a replacement to my 2 primes and hydra 32. looking into the new orphek natura.
rtparty
7500 Club Member
I have a 150 that I extensively tested and put my findings in their thread on here.
It’s a connected controller like Kessil. Very simple and easy to use and the best part is it’s not tied to an app for control.
VintageReefer
10K Club member
Will warn able the new nicrew, read many complaints about the noise. Guess that’s subjective but should be mentioned.
The meridians are completely silent and fan only comes on basically in an emergency situation. Entire casing is aluminum heatsync, passive cooling. Also built to be splash resistant
The meridians are completely silent and fan only comes on basically in an emergency situation. Entire casing is aluminum heatsync, passive cooling. Also built to be splash resistant
VintageReefer
10K Club member
I’ll consider it. How much do you want to pay for me to take it ?
Clean the fans, replace the lenses if needed. (Cheap) The bit you need will cost more! Invest in some Prime Shades and Diffusers. Disco effect will be gone, and you will get more spread. IMHO
Then don’t buy radions lol, so many better options in 2025
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