Nicrew HyperReef 200 Gen 2

[Johnd651]

The bar is from another company. My tank is retrofitted and no other light fixtures fit. You can see the slight bend in the middle. I didn’t want to hang from the ceiling.

I was going to buy there bar from Amazon.

https://a.co/d/aOkfTq6

 

[jmcdona6]

I was going to buy there bar from Amazon.

https://a.co/d/aOkfTq6

I ended up using the AI HMS bar kit. I just used stainless hardware from the local hardware store to retrofit a mounting solution. A little pricy but much sturdier than any other options I could find. Looked into DIY and the costs were meh when effort was considered.

Opposite of the light itself, one of those times where paying a premium seemed to make sense.

 

[jmcdona6]

I guess I am more anti capitalism greed, of these companies putting a "luxury" tax on the hobby. I have built led test pucks in the past, and know the markup is astronomical. More then likely, most of the lights are made overseas any way.

Pro-capitalism "greed" guy here. But if one vendor has a effective monopoly on a design or market its not capitalism. Happy to have them charge top dollar for their top quality product and innovation. Its also cool many are willing/happy to pay. But part of innovating is also finding ways to make quality products for the broader market. Just like Volkswagen makes Audi for those who want to pay (arguably overpay) for premium features but also makes a decent affordable scaled back version for consumers who can't/won't as well.

This is where Ecotech, AI and others have have failed. They had a long time on top of the mountain to address the total market, and they did nothing with it. They just doubled down on the high end. Capitalism done right punishes people for that. Happy to pay 25-50% more for a decently made in the West product. 100-150% more is ludicrous.

But I digress...don't want to side rail your convo about the PAR of the lights. This can get touchy for folks.

 

[stasher59]

Just happy that you can get a decent product for a fair price. Even their customer service was extremely helpful when I reached out.

 

[Johnd651]

Just happy that you can get a decent product for a fair price. Even their customer service was extremely helpful when I reached out.

I am very excited to get the PAR readings and dial in some different light profiles on the next week time.

 

[chapter7]

Kinda off topic, but do these lights have any shimmer? Or are they pretty "flat" spread? Thx!

 

[Johnd651]

Kinda off topic, but do these lights have any shimmer? Or are they pretty "flat" spread? Thx!

On the flat side. I have not noticed any shimmer or disco ball affect

 

[Johnd651]

Kinda off topic, but do these lights have any shimmer? Or are they pretty "flat" spread? Thx!

This is a pretty good video at peak, no shimmer

 

[oreo54]

This is a pretty good video at peak, no shimmer

No surface agitation...no shimmer.
No light type will shimmer...

 

[Johnd651]

No surface agitation...no shimmer.
No light type will shimmer...

Who says... this video is with the return off, just my gyre. The returns are half above water, and add to the agitation.

 

[oreo54]

Who says...

Physics...

BTW plenty of "shimmer" on the sand bed caused from the surface ripples..

An aquarium shimmer is the natural-looking, sunlight-like ripple effect created by light passing through the agitated surface of your tank's water
. The best and most popular way to achieve this aesthetic is with specialized LED light fixtures.


How to get shimmer lines

For the most noticeable shimmer lines, you will need two main components:

• A point-source light: Shimmer is created when light from a single or highly concentrated source is focused through the moving water surface. A diffused light, such as a traditional fluorescent strip, will not produce the same effect.
• Surface agitation: Water movement from an air stone, wave maker, or filter outflow will create the necessary ripples on the water's surface.

 

[Moe K]

I got mine up replacing Ali Express Radion clones. I love these lights. I have a bunch of other brands in the closet but see no need to remove these. I am upgrading to a 5ft tank soon and I am pretty sure these will do the job for SPS but at this price I might just add a 3rd to that tank. I wasn't really a fan of their 1st gen but these seem to be on another level. Also I switched out the stock wide lenses for the 90 degree which totally changed these lights for the better.

 

[chapter7]

I got mine up replacing Ali Express Radion clones. I love these lights. I have a bunch of other brands in the closet but see no need to remove these. I am upgrading to a 5ft tank soon and I am pretty sure these will do the job for SPS but at this price I might just add a 3rd to that tank. I wasn't really a fan of their 1st gen but these seem to be on another level. Also I switched out the stock wide lenses for the 90 degree which totally changed these lights for the better.

Having had the Ali Radeon clones, how do these Nicrew compare to those so far?

 

[Moe K]

Having had the Ali Radeon clones, how do these Nicrew compare to those so far?

IMO the Nicrew lights are better. Much much better if you change the lenses. The spectrum just visually is a nicer blue. The whites also seem cleaner. I have 2 tanks in the same room and when I had the clones on next to my smaller cube tank with NavaReef lights the tank with the clones had this pinkish look which I hated. I think it has something to do with the whites they used in the clones. I have real xr15 too and they had that same weird pink look. I cant explain it lol. The spectrum is just nicer on the Nicrews IMO. If you have seen Orphek Blue Plus bars it is closer to that.

There is a little bit more disco ball from the Nicrew lights but far from what older LED lights used to have.

Besides not being wireless the HyperReef G2 is what we are conditioned to expect from a $500-$1000 light. And the freaking mounting arm that is INCLUDED is awesome.

 

[Johnd651]

IMO the Nicrew lights are better. Much much better if you change the lenses. The spectrum just visually is a nicer blue. The whites also seem cleaner. I have 2 tanks in the same room and when I had the clones on next to my smaller cube tank with NavaReef lights the tank with the clones had this pinkish look which I hated. I think it has something to do with the whites they used in the clones. I have real xr15 too and they had that same weird pink look. I cant explain it lol. The spectrum is just nicer on the Nicrews IMO. If you have seen Orphek Blue Plus bars it is closer to that.

There is a little bit more disco ball from the Nicrew lights but far from what older LED lights used to have.

Besides not being wireless the HyperReef G2 is what we are conditioned to expect from a $500-$1000 light. And the freaking mounting arm that is INCLUDED is awesome.

Are the original optics wider or narrower? How wide is your tank? What height do you have the lights at?

 

[Moe K]

The original lenses are wider at 120 degrees. I replaced them with their 90 degree lenses. You lose spread but par increased significantly so you can then get more of the blue violet/uv florescent pop. 90 degree lenses were the standard on most lights until I think ecotech made wider coverage more popular. 60 degrees is too narrow for my taste. I still get great coverage with the 90s.

I have mine mounted right at 11 inches above the water. That is right where the arm is flush with the bottom of the clamp bracket. Pretty much max height. But that is for my 80g seapora which is shallow 4ftx2ft and I believe 16 inches deep.

For a deeper tank I would probably go with 9-10 inches. I was at about 9.5 inches when I had the light on my cube tank which is 24 inches deep.

This is my preferance. Some might like the wide angle more. If you like a much more white spectrum then you will be fine with stock lenses.

 

[Submerge]

I went with 90* lenses on the 2 outside and the standard 120 in the middle.

Par was surprisingly high.

I’ll do a proper par map if I ever get around to my build thread. Slacker.

 

[Johnd651]

I went with 90* lenses on the 2 outside and the standard 120 in the middle.

Par was surprisingly high.

I’ll do a proper par map if I ever get around to my build thread. Slacker.

I actually have the meter ready... just need to get my laptop

 

[Shnetts]

I have Nicrew gen 2's running on 4 tanks, never done a par test. Very curious to what you come back with.

 

[Submerge]

If you turn everything on full it will fry an egg. Way over 1000.

If running the default pro set program with 80% violet and blue and less than 15 on the other 3 channels it’s about 400 at the top and 200s near the sand line on a 2’ tank. According to apogee anyhow.