Reef Breeders Meridians

[Science/G]

@Reef Breeders will I need the connection to daisy chain my 2 meridian 11's to run them on the same schedule or is there a master/slave setup via Bluetooth?

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

@Reef Breeders will I need the connection to daisy chain my 2 meridian 11's to run them on the same schedule or is there a master/slave setup via Bluetooth?

The daisy chain is primarily so that you only have to use one 1 plug instead of 2.

If you want your lights to follow the same schedule you do that through the app at the bottom where it says “groups”.

You are grouping the lights together.

 

[rockdiver]

Really like how @Reef Breeders actually answer. Bought alot of wave makers and my photon from them and this is why !

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Really like how @Reef Breeders actually answer. Bought alot of wave makers and my photon from them and this is why !

I’d love it if people actually used the customer service portal, but trying to get them to do that feels like swimming upstream, so I gave up and just handle everything here. Easier path, less resistance!

 

[David Cher]

looks interesting lights . looking to replace my radions

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Really like how @Reef Breeders actually answer. Bought alot of wave makers and my photon from them and this is why !

looks interesting lights . looking to replace my radions

looks interesting lights . looking to replace my radions

I think prices are going up very soon possibly unless we get some exemptions on the tariffs.

 

[Science/G]

How are you folks doing @Reef Breeders with restocking the Encompass Lenses?

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

How are you folks doing @Reef Breeders with restocking the Encompass Lenses?

We are getting more just gonna have to pay super high tariffs on them.

Since we only sell those direct currently we can absorb some of the tariffs.

 

[Science/G]

@Reef Breeders can you tell me the measurements of the led array and the distance between the arrays and the edge of the unit, and the spacing in the middle between the arrays? Thanks in advance. I am deciding between the 24 or two 11's my reef is on the small side 36x16x16

 

[BillyW]

This might be a dumb question, but I have a 48” ATI power module, but with summer coming again want to switch to LEDs. I have a 48x24x24 tank, so with the ATI I have wall to wall coverage for SPS, but my tank temp last summer would climb up to 83.
Would I be happy with a Meridian and 2 Edge bars? What edge bars should I get to make the tank look like the coral+ blue+ combo?
Right now it’s between new lights or a chiller, and for lights it’s between this, the Naturas and the X4s. But I like his option best because I can mount it in the back of the tank, and get rid of my ceiling wires.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

This might be a dumb question, but I have a 48” ATI power module, but with summer coming again want to switch to LEDs. I have a 48x24x24 tank, so with the ATI I have wall to wall coverage for SPS, but my tank temp last summer would climb up to 83.
Would I be happy with a Meridian and 2 Edge bars? What edge bars should I get to make the tank look like the coral+ blue+ combo?
Right now it’s between new lights or a chiller, and for lights it’s between this, the Naturas and the X4s. But I like his option best because I can mount it in the back of the tank, and get rid of my ceiling wires.

If there’s no center bracing and you like to have your lights mounted lower than 12” above the water line then go with a 45 bundle, if you mount your lights around 14” or more above the water the 35 bundle is sufficient for most reefers but some still like to have the extra kick from the 45.

In terms of spectrum it sounds like you’d benefit from the Blue/Uv Hybrid spectrum, however if you want to incorporate more whites then you’ll benefit from the 14K spectrum. The Royal ice is straight blues.

 

[BillyW]

If there’s no center bracing and you like to have your lights mounted lower than 12” above the water line then go with a 45 bundle, if you mount your lights around 14” or more above the water the 35 bundle is sufficient for most reefers but some still like to have the extra kick from the 45.

In terms of spectrum it sounds like you’d benefit from the Blue/Uv Hybrid spectrum, however if you want to incorporate more whites then you’ll benefit from the 14K spectrum. The Royal ice is straight blues.

If I wanted to hang it, would the hanging kit that attaches to the light work with the ATI wire I already have hanging from the ceiling, or would I have to put new holes in the ceiling for something for the carabiner to hook onto?
I don’t want to hang it but it says I would need 3 BOT mounts, and I have a water box so I can’t put a mount in the center.

 

[VintageReefer]

If I wanted to hang it, would the hanging kit that attaches to the light work with the ATI wire I already have hanging from the ceiling, or would I have to put new holes in the ceiling for something for the carabiner to hook onto?
I don’t want to hang it but it says I would need 3 BOT mounts, and I have a water box so I can’t put a mount in the center.

Could you use the tank mount end brackets ?

 

[BillyW]

Could you use the tank mount end brackets ?

I could but for whatever reason I despise them, main reason I hadn’t already got the X4s. Must be a personal thing, because that would make it easy!

 

[VintageReefer]

I could but for whatever reason I despise them, main reason I hadn’t already got the X4s. Must be a personal thing, because that would make it easy!

I like them! They changed from silver on the photons to black on the meridians. I just slide the fixture back if I need more room to work.

The bigger fixture show even less of the bracket

 

[BillyW]

I am in the army so Excel is my friend.
These are basically the three options I am looking at.
Going to make a floating canopy.
Blue is where the light doesn’t cover the tank. All numbers in blue are inches from light end of tank.
Orpheks have been great for me in the past for supplements and the price is the lowest with good coverage.
Reefbreeders intrigue me, a lot, has 4 groups instead of three, but less per group.
Dalua has people raving over it, basically has 12 pucks in 3 fixtures, and I use there supplements with great success and phenomenal customer service. The price is just outrageous.

 

[rockdiver]

Going to maybe pull the trigger this coming week. I have zero interest trying to sell my photon 48 be nice to off set the cost some.
I wanna get the 45 since I may get a bigger tank in a year or so

 

[mrpontiac80]

@Reef Breeders
I am a long time photon v2 user and yesterday a power brick failed on one. I ordered a new one but got to thinking about upgrading to meridians. My tank is a planet aquariums 180 gal. 72” wide, 24” deep front to back and 25” tall. There are 2 braces that are glass and plastic. They measure roughly 5” wide. The tank is mostly sps but mixed.
I currently run a photon 48 and a 24 along with four 36” strip lights.

What setup would be ideal? A 63 meridian and edge bars or three 24s? Etc? Under the 63 listed on the site it recommends three 11s if the tank has braces but that doesn’t seem like enough?

Also, daisy chain questions. A 63 can not be daisy chained? Ideally less power bricks and plugs the better. Thanks!

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

@Reef Breeders
I am a long time photon v2 user and yesterday a power brick failed on one. I ordered a new one but got to thinking about upgrading to meridians. My tank is a planet aquariums 180 gal. 72” wide, 24” deep front to back and 25” tall. There are 2 braces that are glass and plastic. They measure roughly 5” wide. The tank is mostly sps but mixed.
I currently run a photon 48 and a 24 along with four 36” strip lights.

What setup would be ideal? A 63 meridian and edge bars or three 24s? Etc? Under the 63 listed on the site it recommends three 11s if the tank has braces but that doesn’t seem like enough?

Also, daisy chain questions. A 63 can not be daisy chained? Ideally less power bricks and plugs the better. Thanks!

Wow. You really gave me everything I could have asked for. The pictures, the breakdown, all of it was perfect. You made my job really easy, so thank you for that.

Here’s what I’d recommend. I would not use a Meridian 63 on this tank because the center brace is going to block part of the clusters. A better option would be using a Meridian 24 directly over each open section. You could go with a Meridian 11 over each section if you want to go minimal, that will still work. The 24s will definitely give you better results overall.

One of the advantages to using the 24s is that you can daisy chain all three together. We also have a dual panel control upgrade coming soon. It is a small hardware upgrade that lets you control both clusters on each 24 separately. So you would have six independent zones across your tank that you could adjust however you like. Brighter in the front, dimmer in the back, whatever you need.

I recommend positioning the lights front to back rather than side to side. That way, you can take full advantage of the dual panel control and it also happens to be the only way to daisy chain all three lights with the current port layout.

As for daisy chaining to a Meridian 63, here is how that works. Our largest power supply is 600 watts. The Meridian 63 uses 375 watts. That leaves you with 225 watts to work with. You could pair a Meridian 63 with a Meridian 35 and hit the 600 watt limit exactly. You could also pair it with a 24 or an 11. What you cannot do is add two 63 inch Edge Bars to a single 63. That setup would go over 600 watts. Technically it will still power on, but you would not be able to run the lights at full output since the power supply would max out.

 

[mrpontiac80]

Wow. You really gave me everything I could have asked for. The pictures, the breakdown, all of it was perfect. You made my job really easy, so thank you for that.

Here’s what I’d recommend. I would not use a Meridian 63 on this tank because the center brace is going to block part of the clusters. A better option would be using a Meridian 24 directly over each open section. You could go with a Meridian 11 over each section if you want to go minimal, that will still work. The 24s will definitely give you better results overall.

One of the advantages to using the 24s is that you can daisy chain all three together. We also have a dual panel control upgrade coming soon. It is a small hardware upgrade that lets you control both clusters on each 24 separately. So you would have six independent zones across your tank that you could adjust however you like. Brighter in the front, dimmer in the back, whatever you need.

I recommend positioning the lights front to back rather than side to side. That way, you can take full advantage of the dual panel control and it also happens to be the only way to daisy chain all three lights with the current port layout.

As for daisy chaining to a Meridian 63, here is how that works. Our largest power supply is 600 watts. The Meridian 63 uses 375 watts. That leaves you with 225 watts to work with. You could pair a Meridian 63 with a Meridian 35 and hit the 600 watt limit exactly. You could also pair it with a 24 or an 11. What you cannot do is add two 63 inch Edge Bars to a single 63. That setup would go over 600 watts. Technically it will still power on, but you would not be able to run the lights at full output since the power supply would max out.

Ok, good info. So if I took three 24s and positioned them front to back, I could daisy chain them to one plug. That’s awesome.

Would the stock clusters be ideal for me? Are the daisy chain cables long enough to connect the if they are hanging roughly 2’ apart? And I suppose if I wanted to add edge bars, I just need to add up all the watts to see what can connect to each other. Does that mean the power bricks that come with the lights are all capable of 600 watts total?

Thanks for your time, and happy Easter to everyone reading!