Interesting 'New' LED Light

Kevin Duprey

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How close to the waterline did you end up adjusting these? Ever take any PAR measurements? What power are you running them?

Thanks for any info and my apologies if these were answered in the other pages of the thread!

See the quoted posts in this thread below for details on my setup.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with the color and growth I've seen since installing these lights. I've had to increase my dosing ~30% to keep up with the added growth.

I have had mine running for about 1 month. For the first week or so, I ran them on basically the default program pulled down a bit because I wanted to be sure I didn't over do it with my SPS and burn them, especially because I was heading overseas for a week shortly after I installed them. I noticed my pH not rising as high during the day, and my alk consumption went down during this time (I have a Reefbot monitoring alk daily). That was enough indication for me that I could amp things up quite a bit.

I've since settled on a program that starts with the default sunrise at 7:45am, ramps up continuously to an approximation of the Radion AB+ spectrum at 171W from each unit (I have 2 over my RSR525XL) at 10:30 am. That then holds until 1:00 pm where it then ramps over 30 minutes to 100% on all blue, purple, UV channels and 75% on the others (probably about 14k roughly). This peak is 201W on each unit. At 3pm it ramps back to a slightly whiter AB+ at 177W, then holds there till 6:30 pm when it ramps continuously down through default evening to default night at 7:30pm, then moon at 9:15pm. This gives me a good 8 hours of fairly high intensity light, peaking for 1.5 hours at a cool white. At this peak, I'm getting about 400 PAR at the top of my rock structure, about 5 inches below the water surface with the lights ~10" above the surface. The PAR at the bottom, center of the tank is 150-175 PAR at this peak.

Everything looks very happy with this, and my alk consumption has gone back to where it was with the Radions and T5 I had previously. I am seeing some definite color enhancement in many of my SPS and other corals. I credit the high UV for most of this.

When I get home tonight I'll post a screenshot of the overall program and the AB+ approximation.
Here's a snapshot of my settings. At the time of this snapshot, the lights are just starting to ramp down from the "after" mode so this is close to my approximation of the AB+ spectrum, just with a lot more UV and violet.
1570574111754.png
It's funny you ask this. I was just taking some FTS pics this weekend with my phone. Then I saw this post. Here you go. You can't see the lights in this shot, they're just out of the frame to the top. I have them hanging about 10" above the water.
20191110_174349.jpg

I don't think shading is an issue. There is definitely some light dropoff in the corners, but this is an open scape mixed reef, so I'm fine with that.
 

Silver14SS

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Thanks for the detailed response and additional pics!

Anything you don't like about them? Heat, noise, anything at all?
 

Kevin Duprey

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Thanks for the detailed response and additional pics!

Anything you don't like about them? Heat, noise, anything at all?
If I had to pick something I didn't like, it would be the weight. Makes them a bit harder to hang / mount. Small sacrifice for the massive heatsink that allows them to pump out a lot of light. Honestly, I like pretty much everything about them, especially since the recent firmware update which addressed one of my minor issues with the programming interface.

As I've said elsewhere on this site, I didn't buy them to replace the Radion / T5 combo I was running because I thought I'd really get better color and growth. I bought them because I was really getting tired of the glare from the Radions when I sat in front of my tank to view it. That distracted from viewing the tank, and covering them would destroy the aesthetic of a rimless tank. The Reefi's totally solved the glare issue, look great hanging above my tank, and as an added side bonus, I now get to support Triton more with my increased demand for their product...
 

lexinverts

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I just googled it. Looks nice . But the price .

ReeFi Extremes are on sale for $650, and the light includes a built in web server. These lights also have 26 more leds than Radion pros and a 3 yr warranty, while Radions have a 1 year warranty.

Radions are quite a bit more expensive at $800, and you have to spend another $40 for a diffuser and $100+ for Reeflink. That’s 940-ish and you are not getting as good a light.

Without a doubt,
ReeFis are the BEST value right now for a high performance light.
 

b4tn

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I just googled it. Looks nice . But the price .

Considering the reefi is on the same level if not better performing than the Radion G4 Pro. You have to figure The Radion is $840 for the light + $68 for the diffuser + $99 for the reef link to control it... That’s just over $1000. The reefi is $650, no diffuser required and built in WiFi with a 3 year warranty. That’s pretty good imo.
 

b4tn

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ReeFi Extremes are on sale for $650, and the light includes a built in web server. These lights also have 26 more leds than Radion pros and a 3 yr warranty, while Radions have a 1 year warranty.

Radions are quite a bit more expensive at $800, and you have to spend another $40 for a diffuser and $100+ for Reeflink. That’s 940-ish and you are not getting as good a light.

Without a doubt,
ReeFis are the BEST value right now for a high performance light.

LOL you beat me to it.
 

ca1ore

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Considering the reefi is on the same level if not better performing than the Radion G4 Pro.

Based on what? I’m quite interested in getting one of these, but I’d like to see more than hyperbole. Anyone done any side by side comparisons (I’m guessing probably not)? Not trying to offend - I guess anecdotes are probably them best I can expect since side by side comparisons are hard to do.
 

ca1ore

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Here are a couple of FTS pics from the holidays. Cell phone pics with PolypLab filter as needed. First is my approximation of the AB+ spectrum (color balanced in phone cam, slightly top-down), second is primarily blues (with filter and less top-down).

Pictures have a bit of a pink cast - something I’ve assiduously avoided on my tanks. Curious if it’s just a camera thing or whether it’s apparent to the eye? I have trouble with pink in my phone pics that’s not apparent in person.
 

lexinverts

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Based on what? I’m quite interested in getting one of these, but I’d like to see more than hyperbole. Anyone done any side by side comparisons (I’m guessing probably not)? Not trying to offend - I guess anecdotes are probably them best I can expect since side by side comparisons are hard to do.

You should scroll to the beginning of this thread and see the results of Dana’s testing. Not hyperbole—high par. :)

Take a look at his plots of PAR.
 

ca1ore

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You should scroll to the beginning of this thread and see the results of Dana’s testing. Not hyperbole—high par. :). Take a look at his plots of PAR.

I did. I suppose if one judges ‘better performing’ as purely about PAR then fine, they’re ‘better’. I’m more interested In how well they do at growing corals over a tank though. Maybe they haven’t been out long enough to know that. Hard to judge lights - probably why I’m never satisfied with the ones I have LOL.
 

Kevin Duprey

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Pictures have a bit of a pink cast - something I’ve assiduously avoided on my tanks. Curious if it’s just a camera thing or whether it’s apparent to the eye? I have trouble with pink in my phone pics that’s not apparent in person.
It's probably the phone pics. I leant my DSLR to my oldest son who's in college, so that's all I've got right now for taking pictures. That said, I'm a bad judge of color cast, so it could be there in reality, but I doubt it. In the first pic, the amber channel was at nearly the highest it gets and the UV was at 100%, so its possible, but really there's so much blue channel power that it would be difficult to get pink. In the second shot, it's basically all blue and UV channels, so is got to be the phone cam. This pendant has so much deep blue / UV however, that there is a definite "black light" feel to the lighting at this time of day. Even the fine suspended matter in the water column is visible in this light, giving an almost haziness to the tank.
 

Kevin Duprey

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Based on what? I’m quite interested in getting one of these, but I’d like to see more than hyperbole. Anyone done any side by side comparisons (I’m guessing probably not)? Not trying to offend - I guess anecdotes are probably them best I can expect since side by side comparisons are hard to do.
I did. I suppose if one judges ‘better performing’ as purely about PAR then fine, they’re ‘better’. I’m more interested In how well they do at growing corals over a tank though. Maybe they haven’t been out long enough to know that. Hard to judge lights - probably why I’m never satisfied with the ones I have LOL.

As you said, I doubt anyone has done a truly scientific, side-by-side, controlled study. Like most things in this hobby the evidence is anecdotal.

That said, based on my results, I would argue there is a very strong correlation between these lights and good coral growth. I did not expect it, so I don't think it's confirmation bias. I switched from Radion / T5, which is already considered a good lighting option. I was seeking an end to the strong side glare while maintaining similar wattage, and hopefully PAR. I got better PAR (probably due to the preponderance of blue channels compared to Radions), better polyp extension, and better coloration. The only thing I knowingly changed in my tank these last 6 months is the light. To top it off, I have witnessed a 30% increase in alk uptake, fueling the better growth I'm observing. I went from 26 ml / day of Triton to now 36 ml / day. Sure, maybe the tank was primed for a growth spurt and it would have happened even if I didn't change lighting, but 30% seems excessive to chalk it up to that. At the very least, these lights didn't stop that growth spurt.
 
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ca1ore

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As you said, I doubt anyone has done a truly scientific, side-by-side, controlled study. Like most things in this hobby the evidence is anecdotal.

That said, based on my results, I would argue there is a very strong correlation between these lights and good coral growth. I did not expect it, so I don't think it's confirmation bias. I switched from Radion / T5, which is already considered a good lighting option. I was seeking an end to the strong side glare while maintaining similar wattage, and hopefully PAR. I got better PAR (probably due to the preponderance of blue channels compared to Radions), better polyp extension, and better coloration. The only thing I knowingly changed in my tank these last 6 months is the light. To top it off, I have witnessed a 30% increase in alk uptake, fueling the better growth I'm observing. I went from 26 ml / day of Triton to now 36 ml / day. Sure, maybe the tank was primed for a growth spurt and it would have happened even if I didn't change lighting, but 30% seems excessive to chalk it up to that. At the very least, these lights didn't stop that growth spurt.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I’m also a bit frustrated with light spill from my current array. I think I am definitely going to experiment with one of these.
 

Kevin Duprey

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Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I’m also a bit frustrated with light spill from my current array. I think I am definitely going to experiment with one of these.

Thanks. I just now realized you're in Stamford. If you ever feel like taking a drive up to West Hartford, I'd be happy to show you the lights and coloration of my tank in person. Shoot me a PM and we can arrange something.
 

crusso1993

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Thanks. I just now realized you're in Stamford. If you ever feel like taking a drive up to West Hartford, I'd be happy to show you the lights and coloration of my tank in person. Shoot me a PM and we can arrange something.

Everyone is always talking how the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about. However, I think R2Rers doing things like this is what it's all about! Great move, @Kevin Duprey !
 

lexinverts

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This forum is a terrible influence on me, just placed an order for 2 extremes...

I ordered 1515 parallel mounts to go with the lights. Any suggestions on hanging wires and hardware to suspend the 1515 from the ceiling?

I used small stainless chains that I got at Home Depot to connect to the wires. Each light weighs 6 lbs, so make sure that you plan for the weight with your ceiling mount.
 

Silver14SS

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I used small stainless chains that I got at Home Depot to connect to the wires. Each light weighs 6 lbs, so make sure that you plan for the weight with your ceiling mount.

There's blocking in the ceiling, I added it because the drywall was starting to look like swiss cheese from all the different lights that have been up there over the years!

I'll probably just take a piece of 1515 to the hardware store and see what fits in the T slot.
 

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