Viparspectra 165watt, Anyone using these?

Shadows Reef

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Im with you on that. After buying a Viparspectr and upgrading the board your not far off the price of the new AI 32HD or the 26HD on clearance.
I also agree with that if I was buying the lights new I definitely would go that route, I already had the black box’s so I listed wanted to upgrade them
 

xiholdtruex

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So I am planning to purchase one of these lights for my 29 bio cube, was thinking of using them on my 12g jbj nano cube till I have the biocube up and running. Do you have a recommended height and setting for the 12g cube which is 14inches wide by 16 long and 12inches deep?
 

DesertReefT4r

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So I am very close to ordering 2 of the 165w Vipar lights after all the postive reviews. I just need a little push I guess. I will be replacing 2 250w metal halides with the Vipars on a 75g mixed reef palnning for a good amount of acros and other sps. Good choice or no? I will be dialing in the par with the new lights to match my current lights before ramping them up.
 
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Nicholas Dushynsky

Nicholas Dushynsky

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So I am very close to ordering 2 of the 165w Vipar lights after all the postive reviews. I just need a little push I guess. I will be replacing 2 250w metal halides with the Vipars on a 75g mixed reef palnning for a good amount of acros and other sps. Good choice or no? I will be dialing in the par with the new lights to match my current lights before ramping them up.
I can't comment as a comparison to metal halides as I have never used them. But the power of the viparspectra lights should be more than enough to light it. If you tune them in with a par meter you should be fine. Also depending on how high you mount them from the tank you might find some hotspots closer to the surface, just make sure to map your scape with par readings to help you add corals in the future.
 

oreo54

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So I am very close to ordering 2 of the 165w Vipar lights after all the postive reviews. I just need a little push I guess. I will be replacing 2 250w metal halides with the Vipars on a 75g mixed reef planning for a good amount of acros and other sps. Good choice or no? I will be dialing in the par with the new lights to match my current lights before ramping them up.
From a photon standpoint you'll need at least 3...
Those Vipars really run around 105W each and you are trying to replace 500W of light..
 

DesertReefT4r

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My current MH setup is providing 200-230 par at the top of my rock work where most of my acros will be or already are. I am thinking the Vipars can can do better than that.
 

AdamB

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So I am very close to ordering 2 of the 165w Vipar lights after all the postive reviews. I just need a little push I guess. I will be replacing 2 250w metal halides with the Vipars on a 75g mixed reef palnning for a good amount of acros and other sps. Good choice or no? I will be dialing in the par with the new lights to match my current lights before ramping them up.

I had 2 165 Vipers on my 90 gallon mixed and had great growth out of acros, birds nest and rest of sps and lps . I was actually amazed ! I think they have a 3 year warranty too.

A99C26A9-8CCF-403A-A6F7-FD6E59362565.jpeg A5AF71D6-21CD-4BE0-8978-49DEE72C565F.png
 

Semisonyx

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My current MH setup is providing 200-230 par at the top of my rock work where most of my acros will be or already are. I am thinking the Vipars can can do better than that.

The Vipars can do way more than that, and I’m surprised that’s all you’re getting out of your MH. What kind of reflectors/ballasts/bulbs are you using?

I replaced 3 250w Radiums running on the super lumen setting of 250w select a watt ballasts with 3 Vipars. 14” off the water, I’m running B:45% W:18%. Not sure about the par, but my lux increased from 30,000 at the surface to 45000, directly under each fixture. I’m growing SPS all over the tank, even on the bare bottom. No need for a fourth fixture at the moment, but I did buy one just in case shading becomes and issue. I’m also still running 2 of the old school 6’ VHO actinic bulbs (until I run out of them next year).

2 will be fine for a 75. The higher off the water, the better. I say 14” as a minimum for best color blending.
 

Semisonyx

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From a photon standpoint you'll need at least 3...
Those Vipars really run around 105W each and you are trying to replace 500W of light..

That all depends on how you use them. I replaced 825ish watts of Radiums with about 120 watts of Viparspectras, and have seen no negligible difference so far, even in growth of SPS on the bottom of the tank (standard 180). The higher you can hang the lights, the better the color blending you get in addition to getting light reflected off the inside of the glass.
 

Bpb

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Can anyone share any QUALITY images of acropora frown under these lights. Colonies preferred but large frags are fine. I feel like for an sps guru the biggest problem with light reviews are people either posting images of fresh frags they just purchased, somehow giving the lighting credit which isn’t actually deserved, or lots of pictures of bargain bin euphyllia, monti caps, and birdsnest. No offense at all to those who have softy dominant or easy sps tanks. It’s not a knock. I just want to see if anyone is growing any knockout looking acropora with these
 

oreo54

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Can anyone share any QUALITY images of acropora frown under these lights. Colonies preferred but large frags are fine. I feel like for an sps guru the biggest problem with light reviews are people either posting images of fresh frags they just purchased, somehow giving the lighting credit which isn’t actually deserved, or lots of pictures of bargain bin euphyllia, monti caps, and birdsnest. No offense at all to those who have softy dominant or easy sps tanks. It’s not a knock. I just want to see if anyone is growing any knockout looking acropora with these
Maybe people just get tired of it..;)
2016....
 

Bpb

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Maybe people just get tired of it..;)
2016....
My question wasn’t for competitive reasons or debate. I’m in the market. Not for a replacement, but for expansion/experimenting
 

oreo54

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My question wasn’t for competitive reasons or debate. I’m in the market. Not for a replacement, but for expansion/experimenting

Then do a search.. There are prob dozens of threads on it at various reef sites..

I was trying to be mildy funny/sarcastic..

2018...

I understand you sort of want "current" standing but the prob. is ..see this one.. oh it's not quite as purple as under MH blah blah blah..and away it goes...

So sometimes I wonder why the question is still asked..
 
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Bpb

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Then do a search.. There are prob dozens of threads on it at various reef sites..

I was trying to be mildy funny/sarcastic..

oh I understood it I just wanted to make sure this wasn’t going to be steered toward another debate. While I enjoy them, they can get distracting from a specific question. Like when someone asks for a recommendation between two specific products and what follows is hundreds of replies of other products not asked about
 

Semisonyx

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Can anyone share any QUALITY images of acropora frown under these lights. Colonies preferred but large frags are fine. I feel like for an sps guru the biggest problem with light reviews are people either posting images of fresh frags they just purchased, somehow giving the lighting credit which isn’t actually deserved, or lots of pictures of bargain bin euphyllia, monti caps, and birdsnest. No offense at all to those who have softy dominant or easy sps tanks. It’s not a knock. I just want to see if anyone is growing any knockout looking acropora with these

Quality as in high-res pics of growth? Check out @trido and his 210 thread, grown multiple times over with modified CBBs. Pics of coloration? I find that one hard since things are typically so blue heavy that it requires some sort of filtration or post processing. I have things that have colored up better under Vipars than Radiums, and some (specifically purples and blues) that aren’t quite as good; but I’m not so sure that isn’t an issue of trace elements on my part.

I was die hard Radium/VHO. After one month of using these, I was so confident and happy with them that I’ve bought about $1k worth of SPS frags from varous vendors.

There are times that I think I can see or remember a difference between what the radium and Vipars looked like (I ran the two side by side and tuned the Vipar to look like the radium) but I’m not so certain that it isn’t just that urge we all have to tinker with things. I still run the VHO, but will probably switch them out for blue plus next summer, after I’ve used my last set of bulbs.
 

Bpb

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I
Quality as in high-res pics of growth? Check out @trido and his 210 thread, grown multiple times over with modified CBBs. Pics of coloration? I find that one hard since things are typically so blue heavy that it requires some sort of filtration or post processing. I have things that have colored up better under Vipars than Radiums, and some (specifically purples and blues) that aren’t quite as good; but I’m not so sure that isn’t an issue of trace elements on my part.

I was die hard Radium/VHO. After one month of using these, I was so confident and happy with them that I’ve bought about $1k worth of SPS frags from varous vendors.

There are times that I think I can see or remember a difference between what the radium and Vipars looked like (I ran the two side by side and tuned the Vipar to look like the radium) but I’m not so certain that it isn’t just that urge we all have to tinker with things. I still run the VHO, but will probably switch them out for blue plus next summer, after I’ve used my last set of bulbs.
ll check it out. I tend to feel like high res pictures ARE those of good color. I generally scroll right past orange filtered blue pictures. The more extravagant they look the faster I scroll. They’re dishonest. You’re trading one misrepresentation with another when you take images like that.
 

Semisonyx

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Can anyone share any QUALITY images of acropora frown under these lights. Colonies preferred but large frags are fine. I feel like for an sps guru the biggest problem with light reviews are people either posting images of fresh frags they just purchased, somehow giving the lighting credit which isn’t actually deserved, or lots of pictures of bargain bin euphyllia, monti caps, and birdsnest. No offense at all to those who have softy dominant or easy sps tanks. It’s not a knock. I just want to see if anyone is growing any knockout looking acropora with these
09CA8DF8-574F-4BAE-B5E5-AE1DCD5FCD66.jpeg

The white channel is off right now, but the circled areas are just two instances of growth I’ve had over the past couple of months. Left is what I think is ORA Joe the Coral, Right is WWC Yellow Tip Austera.
 

Semisonyx

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Sorry for the blue heavy pic, @Bpb. Just read your post. I’ll see if I can post some more this afternoon after I clean the glass and the whites are on. I do tend to run my whites heavier than most people I see on here.
 

DesertReefT4r

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The Vipars can do way more than that, and I’m surprised that’s all you’re getting out of your MH. What kind of reflectors/ballasts/bulbs are you using?

I replaced 3 250w Radiums running on the super lumen setting of 250w select a watt ballasts with 3 Vipars. 14” off the water, I’m running B:45% W:18%. Not sure about the par, but my lux increased from 30,000 at the surface to 45000, directly under each fixture. I’m growing SPS all over the tank, even on the bare bottom. No need for a fourth fixture at the moment, but I did buy one just in case shading becomes and issue. I’m also still running 2 of the old school 6’ VHO actinic bulbs (until I run out of them next year).

2 will be fine for a 75. The higher off the water, the better. I say 14” as a minimum for best color blending.
Running 2 PFO 250W DE pendants, ebay 20k bulbs was using Phoenix 14k and PFO magnetic ballasts. Yeah I was pretty surprised at the low PAR they put out. They do grow coral well just looking for a bit more from my lighting.
 

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