Reluctantly looking for LED, thinking about Reefi

reef’r · 2026-09-08T09:07:59-0400

I’ve been kicking around the idea of making the switch from MH to LED for a while. I’ve always been interested Quanta, his helix bars and his new panel light that’s coming out is exciting. I’ve also always heard the Reefi is good stuff, at least from the people that use them they absolutely love them I like the duo extreme from them. My tank is 4x2x16 SPS system. I’ve also looked into reefbreeders but a Photon v2 pro not the meridian. What do you guys think? Any Reefi users out there?

exnisstech · 2026-09-08T09:26:19-0400

No reefi but I really like my photons v2 pros over my SPS tank. Photons would most likely have to be found used. I also have meridians. I like the meridians but given a choice I would choose the photons. I was looking at the reefi bars to add to my meridian 45 and see they don't run on an app. I see that as a positive.

oreo54 · 2026-09-08T10:40:48-0400

exnisstech said:
No reefi but I really like my photons v2 pros over my SPS tank. Photons would most likely have to be found used. I also have meridians. I like the meridians but given a choice I would choose the photons. I was looking at the reefi bars to add to my meridian 45 and see they don't run on an app. I see that as a positive.

There looks to be some 16" and 24" Photons still available.
24" is like $620 if you include the side tank mounts ( $70 mounts ).

mfinn · 2026-09-08T11:37:10-0400

I briefly had a Reefi Uno I was going to use but the plans fell through.
I did fire it up ( over a empty tank ) and was impressed with the color and the amount of light that fixture put out.
One thing I was really impressed with was how solid and well built the fixture was.

oreo54 · 2026-09-08T13:44:29-0400

reef’r said:
I’ve been kicking around the idea of making the switch from MH to LED for a while. I’ve always been interested Quanta, his helix bars and his new panel light that’s coming out is exciting. I’ve also always heard the Reefi is good stuff, at least from the people that use them they absolutely love them I like the duo extreme from them. My tank is 4x2x16 SPS system. I’ve also looked into reefbreeders but a Photon v2 pro not the meridian. What do you guys think? Any Reefi users out there?

2 duo extremes at the current sale price of $550 each (215w each) is an almost impossible deal to beat
BUT it depends on what you like as to how much of that wattage is usable to you. $2.56/watt

reef’r · 2026-09-08T14:06:54-0400

oreo54 said:
2 duo extremes at the current sale price of $550 each (215w each) is an almost impossible deal to beat
BUT it depends on what you like as to how much of that wattage is usable to you. $2.56/watt

Would 2 of them cover my needs for SPS growth throughout the tank?

oreo54 · 2026-09-08T14:17:59-0400

reef’r said:
Would 2 of them cover my needs for SPS growth throughout the tank?

Depends on the spectrum you use and light height and tank dimensions.

Bunch of data here.
Didn't see anything that leads me to believe 2 can't do it for a 90 gal relatively shallow (<24" deep) tank:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/interesting-new-led-light.640820/page-10

fish_collector · 2026-09-08T14:26:07-0400

I use them over my SPS tank and I love them.

X-37B · 2026-09-08T14:41:40-0400

reef’r said:
I’ve been kicking around the idea of making the switch from MH to LED for a while. I’ve always been interested Quanta, his helix bars and his new panel light that’s coming out is exciting. I’ve also always heard the Reefi is good stuff, at least from the people that use them they absolutely love them I like the duo extreme from them. My tank is 4x2x16 SPS system. I’ve also looked into reefbreeders but a Photon v2 pro not the meridian. What do you guys think? Any Reefi users out there?

The Photon is a great light. I run 2 50's over a 60×30 and a 24 over my 35g nem system.
You will only have about 13" to the bottom. I ran 4 xr15's over my 48×24×16 and could grow anything.

reef’r · 2026-09-08T15:23:01-0400

X-37B said:
The Photon is a great light. I run 2 50's over a 60×30 and a 24 over my 35g nem system.
You will only have about 13" to the bottom. I ran 4 xr15's over my 48×24×16 and could grow anything.

I’ve thought about xr15s… funny because I just sold a g6 pro. Problem with that is even used is be spending the same as two new reefi and would have a lot more cables and power bricks to hide

X-37B · 2026-09-08T15:42:07-0400

The Photon will grow whatever you want. I would have went with the Meridian but they were not out yet. I do run 2 24"14K edge bars over my Halide syatem.
My current 60×30×21 running 2 Photon 50's and 3 OR4 uv/v bars. They make a nice combo.

areefer01 · 2026-09-08T16:15:45-0400

If you are looking at the Meridian's do your homework first. There is a thread here with talk of subscription for some features that are included by every other light or there about. Not needed to run the basic features but something to be aware of.

Do a search using your favorite search engine on telegraham lighting tests and maybe that will help. You could always buy a noopsyche k7's off of amazon, test it out, and return it within 30 days if not happy. If acceptable buy a couple to start while doing a deeper search on what you really want.

There is a lot of personal bias when it comes to lighting. The more or less will all grow corals assuming you are buying a LED made for reefing.

Good luck.