New tank set-up! Help, please.

[Sojiiro109]

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.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Not exactly the same, but I had an RL50 that came with my 20-g tank. It worked great for what it was. It's up to you if you want to swap over to radions or keep the Red Sea lights.
@oreo54 can break down the lights better than I can!

 

[jsmkmavity]

G3 tanks have seam problems too!!!

 

[Sojiiro109]

G3 tanks have seam problems too!!!

That is disconcerting... I was hoping some of the troubles I heard about years ago had been worked out through the G2 and specially G3 with the euro bracing.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

16k budget- go with an eshopps mariner, glasscages, or IM. Don’t risk it.

Can’t go wrong with radions, or so I’ve read.