Sojiiro109
New Member
Hey guys,
I’m not completely new to the hobby, but it’s been a long time. I was heavily into reef tanks back in the early 2000s during the VHO/T5/metal halide days, then stepped away for years. Now the reef bug bit me again and I’m planning a pretty serious return.
My biggest tank before was a 110 gallon, but this time I’m looking at a 200+ gallon setup, most likely the Red Sea Reefer 1000 G3.
Where I’m really stuck right now is lighting.
I can either go with the full Red Sea setup and use the 4 ReefLEDs that come with the package, or switch over to Ecotech and run either:
- 3 Radion XR30s
or
- 6 XR15s
I really like the Radions, but I also absolutely love shimmer, so I’d appreciate real-world opinions from people who have run both systems, especially regarding reliability, spread, PAR, and overall look on a mixed reef.
Current equipment plan:
- Red Sea Reefer 1000 G3
- Red Sea skimmer
- Red Sea ReefMat
- 2 Red Sea wave pumps mounted near the overflow
- 2 MP40s on the side panels
- 6-stage 150 GPD RODI
- 4x 300W Sicce preset heaters
- 2 BRS heater controllers
- CO2 scrubber
- Eventually a full Neptune Apex setup with Trident and nutrient testing modules (just not immediately during the cycle)
Budget is around $16k total.
Livestock goals:
- Mixed reef
- Heavy fish load
- Mostly easier SPS like montis with maybe a couple acros
- Some LPS and softies
- My dream centerpiece would honestly be a Magnifica anemone
I’d really appreciate any advice on things you’d change, equipment you’d avoid, or lessons learned from large reef builds. The hobby has changed so much since I left that I almost feel new again.
Thanks in advance guys.
I’m not completely new to the hobby, but it’s been a long time. I was heavily into reef tanks back in the early 2000s during the VHO/T5/metal halide days, then stepped away for years. Now the reef bug bit me again and I’m planning a pretty serious return.
My biggest tank before was a 110 gallon, but this time I’m looking at a 200+ gallon setup, most likely the Red Sea Reefer 1000 G3.
Where I’m really stuck right now is lighting.
I can either go with the full Red Sea setup and use the 4 ReefLEDs that come with the package, or switch over to Ecotech and run either:
- 3 Radion XR30s
or
- 6 XR15s
I really like the Radions, but I also absolutely love shimmer, so I’d appreciate real-world opinions from people who have run both systems, especially regarding reliability, spread, PAR, and overall look on a mixed reef.
Current equipment plan:
- Red Sea Reefer 1000 G3
- Red Sea skimmer
- Red Sea ReefMat
- 2 Red Sea wave pumps mounted near the overflow
- 2 MP40s on the side panels
- 6-stage 150 GPD RODI
- 4x 300W Sicce preset heaters
- 2 BRS heater controllers
- CO2 scrubber
- Eventually a full Neptune Apex setup with Trident and nutrient testing modules (just not immediately during the cycle)
Budget is around $16k total.
Livestock goals:
- Mixed reef
- Heavy fish load
- Mostly easier SPS like montis with maybe a couple acros
- Some LPS and softies
- My dream centerpiece would honestly be a Magnifica anemone
I’d really appreciate any advice on things you’d change, equipment you’d avoid, or lessons learned from large reef builds. The hobby has changed so much since I left that I almost feel new again.
Thanks in advance guys.
