Reef Breeders Meridians

[mrpontiac80]

@Reef Breeders
Suggestion, or are there any plans to change the way manual override works?

One thing I appreciated on the old app when switching to manual override, was that the lights did not completely shut off at first. On the newer app, once we click manual control, the lights turn off until you start adjusting things.

I know this is not a big deal but I do have at least one fish that just really freaks out with sudden light changes. ( a large longhorn Cowfish ) just curious

 

[MikeReefs]

Man these are beautiful can’t decide between these and the new Hyrdas. I like the sleekness and size of the Hydras but the Maridians are definitely stronger and probably better light

 

[Red_Beard]

Man these are beautiful can’t decide between these and the new Hyrdas. I like the sleekness and size of the Hydras but the Maridians are definitely stronger and probably better light

Meridians. better diodes, more par, better coverage. Better light.

 

[Science/G]

For photos I typically stack an orange and yellow lens (mine connect together),

Orange only

Orange + yellow - better filters out exaggerated blues

I’m using my shared community schedule and it’s noon for me now

Thank You!

 

[tharbin]

I figured I'd go ahead and add my mounting solution to this thread. I got the longer mounting screws from ReefBreeders and 3d-printed these brackets to mount the Meridian 11 to my T-Slot crossbar in place of one of my AI Prime 16HDs. I'm very happy with it so far. I only have one T-Nut on the bracket in the photo as I still had to remove the one from the Prime 16HD bracket. The height of the bracket was designed to match the bottom of the Meridian to the bottom of the Prime 16HDs and Blades.

And here it is installed.

 

[Science/G]

I figured I'd go ahead and add my mounting solution to this thread. I got the longer mounting screws from ReefBreeders and 3d-printed these brackets to mount the Meridian 11 to my T-Slot crossbar in place of one of my AI Prime 16HDs. I'm very happy with it so far. I only have one T-Nut on the bracket in the photo as I still had to remove the one from the Prime 16HD bracket. The height of the bracket was designed to match the bottom of the Meridian to the bottom of the Prime 16HDs and Blades.

And here it is installed.

Beautiful! Kudos. Amazing work with the bracket, and you blended the spectrum wonderfully.

 

[Science/G]

I have had to increase my AFR dosage by 15% since adding the Meridians, and, I'm still lagging a bit behind consumption. I expect to see a growth spurt soon.

 

[Americus]

I’m quickly learning a 36” tank is a pain to light. What would you recommend, one Meridian 24 or two Meridian 11’s? Waterbox 50.3. Prefer a lower rank mount so thinking two would be better for that.

 

[Science/G]

I’m quickly learning a 36” tank is a pain to light. What would you recommend, one Meridian 24 or two Meridian 11’s? Waterbox 50.3. Prefer a lower rank mount so thinking two would be better for that.

It really depends on your goals, and your aquascape. I have a 36 inch 30 gallon mixed reef. My 24 is mounted 13" up and at max of my schedule at around 45% I'm getting 300-350 par in the middle center, 250+ front and back center and 100+/- on the left and right sides. With two 11's you will certainly be able to achieve better spread to the edges, and even out the hotspot. These lights are great. I highly recommend them.

 

[Science/G]

With a 36 meridian, you can have wall to wall SPS no problem.

 

[Red_Beard]

I always tend to lean more towards 2 separate fixtures rather than 1 larger one for 2 reasons.
1. if one fails, you still have the other, giving you some time to sort out a fix or replacement
2. never knowing what the future holds, 2 fixtures provides more flexibility for any future tanks

That said, either option would suit you well here, I think either option would give you enough coverage and par to grow whatever where ever.

 

[Science/G]

@Americus, there is also the option of switching out the standard lenses with the Encompass Lenses for more spread.

 

[tharbin]

I always tend to lean more towards 2 separate fixtures rather than 1 larger one for 2 reasons.
1. if one fails, you still have the other, giving you some time to sort out a fix or replacement
2. never knowing what the future holds, 2 fixtures provides more flexibility for any future tanks

That said, either option would suit you well here, I think either option would give you enough coverage and par to grow whatever where ever.

I also tend to gravitate toward smaller/more fixtures both in case of failure and more flexibility for future builds. That said, The single power supply aspect of their longer lights and bundles is very compelling. I am really tired of putting up with five plugs, and five power bricks, and five wires going to my light mount.

I really do like the Meridian lights. I have the Meridian 11 over the center of the tank with Prime 16HDs at the outer sections and Blade Grows flanking them all. The center section looks the best and seems to be growing better although it is a little early to say that definitively.

As an aside, @VintageReefer's Coral_Collector_VR schedule actually blends pretty well with Saxbe's AI Hydra schedule.

 

[Science/G]

I have my T5's (2B+,1 actinic, 1P+) running through the first 8 hours of my cycle, so my schedule is set up to blend with them. I get a nice 10k look throughout the day, then a funky heavy blue after.

 

[Red_Beard]

I also tend to gravitate toward smaller/more fixtures both in case of failure and more flexibility for future builds. That said, The single power supply aspect of their longer lights and bundles is very compelling. I am really tired of putting up with five plugs, and five power bricks, and five wires going to my light mount.

I really do like the Meridian lights. I have the Meridian 11 over the center of the tank with Prime 16HDs at the outer sections and Blade Grows flanking them all. The center section looks the best and seems to be growing better although it is a little early to say that definitively.

As an aside, @VintageReefer's Coral_Collector_VR schedule actually blends pretty well with Saxbe's AI Hydra schedule.

I would have to look, but i know you can chain the 11's together. I *think you can do so from the stock power supply too. I am intending to do do that very thing in the near future. Worse case you ask for upgraded power supplies with them (so you have one for a spare.)

 

[tharbin]

I would have to look, but i know you can chain the 11's together. I *think you can do so from the stock power supply too. I am intending to do do that very thing in the near future. Worse case you ask for upgraded power supplies with them (so you have one for a spare.)

Good point. I'm almost positive that is the way @VintageReefer is running his. I didn't really think about the idea of spare supplies. One of my reasons to consider switching was the waste of having unused supplies laying around. I figure it is cheaper in the long run to buy the bundles but I also think that if I bought the largest supply with the next Meridian purchase I could start daisy chaining and end up with three Meridian 11s and two Edge 35s over the tank with still just one down wire and supply.

The thinking behind switching to the 35 though is I don't see me ever getting a tank longer than 48 inch and it would be very clean. Of course it would be an issue if I downsized. I have a 40 Breeder stand that we use as furniture and I've always liked 40 Breeders, so I could see myself downsizing if I ran into issues with my current tank.

 

[Americus]

I always tend to lean more towards 2 separate fixtures rather than 1 larger one for 2 reasons.
1. if one fails, you still have the other, giving you some time to sort out a fix or replacement
2. never knowing what the future holds, 2 fixtures provides more flexibility for any future tanks

That said, either option would suit you well here, I think either option would give you enough coverage and par to grow whatever where ever.

This is a little where my head is at…better control and future planning. I saw where someone bridged two meridian 11’s with a larger edge (24 or 35, not sure), which I really liked. I have a lid that is split so two cross memebers over the center, which also pushed me towards two 11’s to better straddle that artificial “euro brace” effect from the lid.

 

[Red_Beard]

Good point. I'm almost positive that is the way @VintageReefer is running his. I didn't really think about the idea of spare supplies. One of my reasons to consider switching was the waste of having unused supplies laying around. I figure it is cheaper in the long run to buy the bundles but I also think that if I bought the largest supply with the next Meridian purchase I could start daisy chaining and end up with three Meridian 11s and two Edge 35s over the tank with still just one down wire and supply.

The thinking behind switching to the 35 though is I don't see me ever getting a tank longer than 48 inch and it would be very clean. Of course it would be an issue if I downsized. I have a 40 Breeder stand that we use as furniture and I've always liked 40 Breeders, so I could see myself downsizing if I ran into issues with my current tank.

Neither did I LOL, until some rapid on off operations of a power switch by someone's tiny humans smoked one of my other ones. Definitely good to have something like that on hand...

 

[Manose]

I might look into these lights just for the edge bars and how easy they are to connect. I have Reefi 2.1 pro's and I love them, but no way to attach bars of anykind.

 

[VintageReefer]

This is a little where my head is at…better control and future planning. I saw where someone bridged two meridian 11’s with a larger edge (24 or 35, not sure), which I really liked. I have a lid that is split so two cross memebers over the center, which also pushed me towards two 11’s to better straddle that artificial “euro brace” effect from the lid.

‘‘Twas me. Or. Maybe someone else. But alas, that is my setup

The two 11’s allows me to customize the spacing between them. I am using a single power supply and a link cable.

I use the tank mount brackets which allows your choice of two fixed heights - I believe 9 or 11 inches

This puts the Meridian slightly closer than spec, but allows the beam cone to go under the brace, eliminating center brace shadow

Paired with the dual 11’s, I run dual edge 45’s, the 14k model. My tank is packed and I needed this to shoot at strong angles to get under my frag shelves on my front glass and to some extreme areas of the tank

I am thrilled with the controllability and amount of coverage I have, it’s unreal.

My front bar angle is temporarily straight down, normally it’s angled to hit my rear sandbed area by the blue green Cynarina in the last pic