Programming a reef breeder light

[Marine Reefer]

I bought a 110gallon tank (48”x24”x24”) and it came with a reef breeder light. I have no idea which version it is. There are no identifying numbers such as serial, manufacturer, etc. it’s 55” long, 8.5” wide, and has 4 fans on the back of it. It also comes with a remote that is preprogrammed for sunny, cloudy, and moon. It’s also has settings for custom, and manual. So I have a few question. What version do I mostly likely have? How far above the tank should the light be? What setting/intensity should be set?

I currently don’t have any fish or coral in the tank because it is cycling, but plan to add fish in a few weeks. Then start adding coral slow with in a month or so.

any and all help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Ron Reefman]

I don't think there is any way to tell the V1 from the V2 except for watching the 'custom' mode and see if the intensity changes every hour on the hour or does smaller changes every 6 minutes. But both are very good fixtures and produce good light.

How high off the tank: Set it just high enough that the light covers the entire bottom of the tank. Lower and you don't cover everything and higher means you are spilling light outside the tank (waste). Height has almost no importance to the intensity as you can change that separately.

I'd use the 'custom' setting as that allows you to ramp up a sunrise and ramp down a sunset. BTW, I changed my 'manual' setting to be all full blue and violet at 100% intensity. I use that to impress people with the amount of fluorescence the corals and anemones can do... especially at night in a dark room!

As for intensities (setting) I'd suggest a midday of 6 to 8 hours of blues at 60% to 90% and whites at 30% to 50%. Do what you want with the reds and greens. I run them some at midday but then only white and blue during a 4 hour sunrise and a 5 hour sunset. I start and end with all blue for 3 hours and only add in or remove the whites within an hour or two of midday.

I have two 20" deep tanks, one with a wide mix and one that is more local collected stuff (I collect in the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico).

This is my setting from a few years ago. It's a bit different now, but not enough to make a difference. Back then I didn't use any red or green. Now I use them during midday, which I consider to be from 10 am to 4 pm on my chart below.

 

[WVNed]

https://reefbreeders.com/faq/
Poke around in there.

 

[Marine Reefer]

Awesome, thank you both for the info. I don’t think my light has 6 channels. I’ll have to look at it this evening.

 

[Marine Reefer]

So I was able to check the custom menu for my light and I can only program 3 channels. CH1, CH2, and CH3. I believe CH1 is blue, CH2 is white, and Ch3 is green.

 

[oldmonk]

I bought a 110gallon tank (48”x24”x24”) and it came with a reef breeder light. I have no idea which version it is. There are no identifying numbers such as serial, manufacturer, etc. it’s 55” long, 8.5” wide, and has 4 fans on the back of it. It also comes with a remote that is preprogrammed for sunny, cloudy, and moon. It’s also has settings for custom, and manual. So I have a few question. What version do I mostly likely have? How far above the tank should the light be? What setting/intensity should be set?

I currently don’t have any fish or coral in the tank because it is cycling, but plan to add fish in a few weeks. Then start adding coral slow with in a month or so.

any and all help is appreciated. Thanks

Are you sure its 55" long? or just typing error? Coz if its really 55", isn't that longer than yr 48" 110gallon?
Regarding the height, u can keep it anywhere from 16'' to 18''. Many have kept it at 12-14 even. I am going for these lights sometime later this year , so doing lots of reading. Do keep posted on the performance :)

 

[Ron Reefman]

Maybe a photo? I think it might be a different fixture that Reef Breeders used to sell.

 

[Marine Reefer]

Are you sure its 55" long? or just typing error? Coz if its really 55", isn't that longer than yr 48" 110gallon?
Regarding the height, u can keep it anywhere from 16'' to 18''. Many have kept it at 12-14 even. I am going for these lights sometime later this year , so doing lots of reading. Do keep posted on the performance :)

That is correct. It is longer than the tank, but unfortunately that’s what the tank came with. Save myself some money for other things.

 

[Marine Reefer]

 

[oldmonk]

That is correct. It is longer than the tank, but unfortunately that’s what the tank came with. Save myself some money for other things.

That looks like V1 model. You mite want to try shooting a mail to reefbreeders(or a direct call) , Logan the owner is very responsive and supportive . Shudn't be a problem i guess being in the same part of the world. Also IMO, the 55" is going to result in quite some spillage outside

 

[Marine Reefer]

That looks like V1 model. You mite want to try shooting a mail to reefbreeders(or a direct call) , Logan the owner is very responsive and supportive . Shudn't be a problem i guess being in the same part of the world. Also IMO, the 55" is going to result in quite some spillage outside

I did send them an email yesterday as well, I’m just waiting for a response. As for the length, there is roughly 4 lights over hang on each side of the tank. However, the bottom of the tank is covered with light. Is that not what you want?

 

[oldmonk]

yes bottom of the tank should be covered, but this at what mounting height? last thing you would want is hot spots. Maybe some pics would help.

 

[guylaga]

So this actually looks like the fixture I have which is the Photon W.

Channel 1 should be the blues, channel 2 is the whites and reds and channel 3 should control the string of blue moon lights down the middle of the fixture? If so that would confirm it.

My light is set about 16 inches above the tank, you want to mount these higher so you dont cook the any corals directly under the lights and also get a more even spread of light on the edges.

You could apply some painters tape to the ends of the light to help dim the spill over if that bothers you.

Mine is programmed to ramp from 7am to 9am and max at 90% blue and 75% white for 6 hours and then ramps down pretty quick to 30% blue and 10% white in the evenings for viewing pleasure.

I run channel 3 at 100% from 7am to 8pm then 10% until 10pm when it shuts off.

 

[mvbrandt]

Make sure your check your PAR readings; my build thread's first couple posts have some good examples. The Reefbreeders are VERY intense; I had to dial back intensity to 70% max as a result. Great lights, though; consider adding a lumenbar or two to improve color pop and coverage, depending on how wide your tank is.

 

[Marine Reefer]

So this actually looks like the fixture I have which is the Photon W.

Channel 1 should be the blues, channel 2 is the whites and reds and channel 3 should control the string of blue moon lights down the middle of the fixture? If so that would confirm it.

My light is set about 16 inches above the tank, you want to mount these higher so you dont cook the any corals directly under the lights and also get a more even spread of light on the edges.

You could apply some painters tape to the ends of the light to help dim the spill over if that bothers you.

Mine is programmed to ramp from 7am to 9am and max at 90% blue and 75% white for 6 hours and then ramps down pretty quick to 30% blue and 10% white in the evenings for viewing pleasure.

I run channel 3 at 100% from 7am to 8pm then 10% until 10pm when it shuts off.

What you are describing is exactly right. The light currently sits about six inches above the tank due to the makeshift lid that came with the tank. The tank is 24" wide and 24" tall, and at the height coverage isn't a problem. I have been playing with the settings but I can't seem to get the timing right. The highest setting I have is 40 on any one channel at any given time and that seems to provide plenty of light at the height. The problem I'm running into now is keeping the time correct on the remote. I have changed it countless times to reflect the correct time, because occasionally it doesn't change the settings every hour. I don't remember the current settings offhand but I know the light turns off at 11pm and back on at 6am. I don't have any corals at the moment (I'm just starting out). But again, I only have the intensity set to 40 (CH2) during the midday hours and 35-40 (CH1) for the evening. Ch3 is set at 10-15 from 9pm until it turns off. However, due the the time keeping issue I'm having it sometimes doesn't change light settings of turn off/on.

Side note I did contact reef breeders and they told me that it sounds like I have an old photo 60-W. So, I suppose that gives me confirmation with your added information.

 

[guylaga]

Hmm, thats a strange issue.

I found that my fixture will partly lose programming if there is a power loss. Typically I have to re-set it once or twice and re-program everything to get it to stick.

The people over at ReefBreeders probably already suggested it, but try re-setting the fixture a few times and re-programming it.

 

[Marine Reefer]

I have tried that as well, restored to default and after two days it didn't turn on at 6 am. I had to turn it on when I came down stair to leave for work.

 

[guylaga]

Seems superfluous but try unplugging the fixture.

 

[Marine Reefer]

***UPDATE***
So, its been a few weeks and I'm still having a programming issue. However, it is only during the "midday" time frame. I'm not sure exactly when because it happens when I'm at work. The light has been turning on in the morning as advertised. Although, at some point during the day CH1 and CH2 turns off completely and CH3 turns on. I don't know what setting (intensity) it goes to due to the remote displaying what the levels should be. I have contacted Reef Breeder and have completed their troubleshooting steps with no luck. Any thoughts/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Side note: Is the time/date displayed on the remote supposed to keep up with current time/date? For some reason I feel like it should but mine does not, if I'm crazy and expecting to much then so be I just would like to know.

 

[guylaga]

My fixture does not have issues keeping up with the time and date.

Sounds like that's the root cause of the issue, but regretfully I cannot advise how to fix it.