Red Sea Reefer S-850 Light Replacement Recommendations

[jfm3]

I currently have the Reefer-S 850 setup which includes 3 ReefLED 160s lights. I'm looking to replace these lights due to continued power bank failures and lack of spectrum control. Currently a mixed reef but I want to migrate to SPS dominant.

I originally planned to follow the pack and just replace the 3 160s with 3 AI Hydra Edge 68HD w/ HMS Single Arm Kit & Rear Tilt Mount for about $2500 total.

But I found 2 other options that appear better.

1. Three ReeFi Uno 2.1 Pro w/ Mount. $2000
https://www.reefi-lab.com/reefi-uno-2-0-pro/
2. Four Quanta Helix 59" (2 Meso Blue, 1 Reef Crest Daylight, 1 Tropic Sun). $1120 (but will require a custom 3D printed mounting bracket $ unknown).
https://www.quanta-lights.com/products/quanta-helix?variant=45246714380445
I'm leaning toward the Quanta Helix if the custom mounting is reasonable. But I'm intrigued by the ReeFi setup, which looks to be overkill PAR even for SPS (but can be throddled down). Any thoughts?

 

[PPBlimpy]

following along - I has a s1000 running 4 older generation noopsyche k7s. I really like the lights and actually thinking of replacing the 4 and going with 6 new noops k7s. They are only $149 each currently and perform on par with my g4 radion xr30s i replaced.

If i go that route i will ad a bar across the front for supplemental lighting

 

[jfm3]

following along - I has a s1000 running 4 older generation noopsyche k7s. I really like the lights and actually thinking of replacing the 4 and going with 6 new noops k7s. They are only $149 each currently and perform on par with my g4 radion xr30s i replaced.

If i go that route i will ad a bar across the front for supplemental lighting

Do you hang the K7s from the ceiling?

 

[PPBlimpy]

They have a mounting arm you can get with them. I currently have mine mounted on a temporary bar made from pvc pipe while i build my floating canopy. Once the canopy is done they will be mounted in that and hung from the ceiling .

I have seen guys adapt other brand mounting bars to them also.

This picture was saved off R2R here, if you are the one that built this, Thank you!!

Using it as inspiration for my floating canopy. but my canopy will have the lights recessed above the bottom lip to block out light spillage that you see

 

[Reefer1978]

Morning jfm3, I am also running Reefer 850. I am using 3 XR30 Pros Gen6 with custom spectrum, I'd estimate 65% power + 2 Quanta Helix (Meso Blue) @ 100%. I am getting 450 par at the top of the rocks where SPS are. I have some pics in my thread linked in signature.

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[bobnicaragua]

You have a lot of options. I would just add T5 to your Red Sea LEDs. You would do very well with SPS (acros). If you don’t want T5, add Quanta bars to your Red Sea LEDs. That setup would have nice shimmer and be able to grow anything. You can always look at ReeFi UNOs down the road.

The UNOs are all around better lights, but like any modular light, they will have shadowing without supplementation. They are very adjustable and will have all the power you will ever need.

I ran T5 and Red Sea LEDs with good results. The shimmer was good, but the light was too purple. I also ran ReeFi UNOs in combination with T5 for a while. This was a great setup, but I missed metal halides.

I’m currently running a couple UNOs between metal halides.