Help Me Pick Lighting!

[rtparty]

I have 3 AI Blades now over my current tank. Looking to try something new and with better spectrum.

Been there and the Blades are not lacking anything like some think/claim

I went from Blades to Radions and saw no difference long term. I now have halides but if I go back to LEDs, the Blades are #1 by a mile and I have used almost every mainstream LED out there

 

[SFNanoReef]

My question and yes I run them and love them why you said Reefi the underdog? I am not going to dog on the Meridians they seem to be very capable and look good doing it. Reefi blow most if not all of them out of the water though in actual capability including par, spectrum, visual appearance, control and warranty.

I called them the underdog because I feel they don’t get the attention. Those who have them absolutely love them but I don’t see them over many tanks.

 

[SFNanoReef]

Okay that’s interesting. I haven’t had that issue yet had them running a year and a half on the “David saxby” schedule. What sort of intensity were you running them at ? I plan to just install the “Luxdium” pucks if mine ever burn out, heard nothing but great things about them.

I ran the Dmitry schedule at 100%. I think my UV was at 100%.

 

[SFNanoReef]

All those will work just fine.
I run Orphek, Radions, Reefbreeders, and Halides so it's a very personel choice.

If I had to choose today I would go with the Meridians as I really like the Photon 50's I currently run.
One 35 is all you would need.

Really, I thought I would need a Meridian 45 for a 4ft tank to avoid shadows.

 

[Josh Will]

It’s almost 2026, and reef lighting has come a long way.

You’re starting a brand-new mixed reef build (not your first tank).

Tank size: 48” × 24” × 21”

What lighting would you run and why?

2 Popbloom RL90 wifi, cost $260, great value! Absolutely amazing, even out does my Red Sea 90 and my AI 16 Prime. The growth and colour pop in my corals has been outstanding.

 

[Gtinnel]

I run 6 Noopsyche lights over my 6' tank and I like the lights, but the app is not great.
If I were to get new lights right now I'd probably go with Kessil.
I miss the shimmer from my metal halide days and I'd guess kessil is probably the most likely to get me close to that shimmer.

 

[Zuluuz]

Meridian no brainer

 

[painter1982]

Kessil a360xe are my top choice. I grow acros with them. Putting 5 on my eshopps m130 build.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Kessils 100%

 

[Featherweight]

It’s almost 2026, and reef lighting has come a long way.

You’re starting a brand-new mixed reef build (not your first tank).

Tank size: 48” × 24” × 21”

What lighting would you run and why?

I'm running reefi with quanta helix bars one one tank. Then I added a kessil for shimmer. Perfect

Xr30s w quanta bars on another. Pretty dang good

 

[arcwaveaquatics]

It’s almost 2026, and reef lighting has come a long way.

You’re starting a brand-new mixed reef build (not your first tank).

Tank size: 48” × 24” × 21”

What lighting would you run and why?

On a 48” × 24” × 21” mixed reef, I’d run 2 × Radion XR30 G6 (with diffusers) and I’d personally add a couple simple 48” LED bars for fill. Two XR30s give you proven output, easy tuning, and enough punch for SPS up top while keeping LPS/softies happy lower down, and the extra fill is what really cleans up shadows on a 24” front-to-back tank.

If I had to pick strictly from the list with no “extras,” I’m still picking the 2 × XR30 G6 for consistency, support/resale, and the fact that it’s hard to regret once the tank is grown in.

 

[IPT]

Interesting...I currently have a 120Gal with 4 T5's, 1 Radions G6 pro and 2 Kessil 360's.

I bought a ReeFi Uno 2 for my sump/frag tank and noticed it's color rendition is AWESOME! That said, it also has no other lights to wash it (like my main tank).

Anyway, I want more PAR and more spread in my main tank. I also think I can pull better color than what the Kessils and Radion are doing (compared to my Reefi uno - hopefully that ends up being true). I was REALLY tempted to go with 2 Reefi Uno 2's (with the 120 degree reflectors). However, the Meridians were on my Radar too. People rave about the color with them and the PAR. With the BF sales I was able to get 3 Meridian 11's for just a tad more than 2 Reefi Uno 2's. It made more sense to me to get 3 fixtures instead of two for better light distribution and spread. I would have no qualms about getting the Reefi's it was just the price that held me back.

I think (and time will tell) that the 3 Meridians will do what the 2 Reefi's could (or more/better). I won't know for a while because I just started Captiv8 and bringing up some lagging elements. I want to give that 4-6 weeks to see how it changes the tank before I add the new lights so i can try and understand what element had what effect. Change one variable at a time.

 

[SFNanoReef]

It’s almost 2026, and reef lighting has come a long way.

You’re starting a brand-new mixed reef build (not your first tank).

Tank size: 48” × 24” × 21”

What lighting would you run and why?

I'm running reefi with quanta helix bars one one tank. Then I added a kessil for shimmer. Perfect

Xr30s w quanta bars on another. Pretty dang good

Which Quanta bars do you run? 2 Reefi’s with bars is an options as well.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I run 6 Noopsyche lights over my 6' tank and I like the lights, but the app is not great.
If I were to get new lights right now I'd probably go with Kessil.
I miss the shimmer from my metal halide days and I'd guess kessil is probably the most likely to get me close to that shimmer.

I run 5 noops over my 7’. Love the lights. I am toying with going back to halides but the newer style 315w with 10k bulb and see how I like them

 

[X-37B]

I run 5 noops over my 7’. Love the lights. I am toying with going back to halides but the newer style 315w with 10k bulb and see how I like them

I almost went that route with a CMH. The problem was finding 10K bulbs. I could only locate one place and you had to order 50 at a time.
I went with a 400 watt MH instead.

 

[Featherweight]

Which Quanta bars do you run? 2 Reefi’s with bars is an options as well.

I run meso blues x 2 w radions

With the reefi I found I preferred 1 meso blue and 1 reefcrest as the reefi already had a lot of the blue n violet of the meso. I have the bars for filling in shaded spots.

 

[NeutronMan]

I voted for Meridians, but I also really like and run Orphek

I noticed my corals really took off once I switched to Orphek. It’s also worth mentioning that I have an Icon over my 24in wide tank so it’s probably the overkill :-)

 

[PPBlimpy]

I almost went that route with a CMH. The problem was finding 10K bulbs. I could only locate one place and you had to order 50 at a time.
I went with a 400 watt MH instead.

I found them on Amazon. I know previously they had to be special ordered but I have found a couple other vendors that carry them

 

[caddnima]

I am on the last option,.DIY.. I just like building stuff.

 

[SFNanoReef]

Reefi Uno and ReefBreeders Meridian tied for first place! The one power supply on the Meridian does sound good.