What's your favorite LED on the market right now?

Bnutz

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Been at reefing since August and I've tried different setups. Current usa got me, switched to kessil, now hydra. I prefer the hydra 32 for growth. Running the brs settings and spacing recommendations.
 

ReefRxSWFL

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I'm kinda surprised there haven't been more comments on this thread about these. Absolute best bang for your buck on any considerable footprint IMO
Have been running Stratons since they came out. Considered the Coral Cares as I think they are pretty similar as far as light output goes. Before the Stratons I ran V4's and liked them but they just didnt fit the layout of my new 180. Prior to the v4's I had a hybrid set up. I am absolutely amazed at the difference in both color blending and coral growth. I have had to more than double the amount of Alk and Ca dosing just to keep up with the increased demand that I can only attribute to the new lights.
Do you know/did you measure the difference in PAR and Spectrum from your last installation to your current one?
 

DxMarinefish

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2x Orphek Atlantiks on my 3ft tall tank.
Happy so far, especially after swapping out the 2019 boards for the 2020 boards.
 

Jay Norris

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I'm currently running a radion G3 with an Aquatic Life T5 hybrid. It works just fine, but since I haven't bought LED's in a while I'm curious about what you guys think are the best ones on the market today. I know radions are still great, and I've also heard great things about the Straton and Phillips Coral Care. What are your favorite LED's on the market now and why?
Hi, I’m using the Mitra LX 7206 LED lights, these are the closest to the old M/H VHO combo I used for decades. Great color and spread, with the shimmer effect I would get with my old M/H’s.
I'm currently running a radion G3 with an Aquatic Life T5 hybrid. It works just fine, but since I haven't bought LED's in a while I'm curious about what you guys think are the best ones on the market today. I know radions are still great, and I've also heard great things about the Straton and Phillips Coral Care. What are your favorite LED's on the market now and why?
 

Oldreefer44

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Do you know/did you measure the difference in PAR and Spectrum from your last installation to your current one?
No, I do not know the PAR numbers. Anecdotally I think that they are at least equal. To mehe difference seems to be the diffuser on the Straton that results in a more even spread.
 

stephj03

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Do you know/did you measure the difference in PAR and Spectrum from your last installation to your current one?

I started with:

4 Radion G4 Pro, neptune PMK gave me about 100 par 24" down off-center ran for 1.5yrs

Switched to 4 Orphek Atlantik and the reading went up to about 170, ran alone for about a yr

Added 2 250w Radiums in lumen max 3 reflectors and the reading went up to about 200-220 if I remember right (MH was in between Orphek 2/3 and 3/4). Current config for 1yr

The hobby for me is more about getting corals to grow than tracking par/flow/wattage numbers so take that with a grain of salt.

I never moved the PMK (always been on the right side of the tank on the sand 8" from the right wall) so the increases have as much to do with achieving better spread as they do with Orphek being weaker than Radiums.

The Radion G4 Pro was def much weaker and narrower than either the Orphek or the Radium. By a mile. I would have needed 6-8 of them to do what 4 Orphek or 3 Radiums would have done.
 
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stephj03

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The coral care looks pretty good in the comparison that BC did.

I put a lot of stock in a review from a vendor like that who pays for and uses all 3 lighting types to grow Acropora.

The 250w bulb he uses is the all time best light source besides the sun available for corals, so it wasn't really a fair fight.

But to see him Indicate he could switch to those in a few yrs if MH actually goes away was good piece of mind.
 

Sdot

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Haven’t used them yet but planning on using the Orphek Atlantik for my next tank. The ones I’ve seen look great.
This... I agree completely


1614897589934.png
 

ReefRxSWFL

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I started with:

4 Radion G4 Pro, neptune PMK gave me about 100 par 24" down off-center ran for 1.5yrs

Switched to 4 Orphek Atlantik and the reading went up to about 170, ran alone for about a yr

Added 2 250w Radiums in lumen max 3 reflectors and the reading went up to about 200-220 if I remember right (MH was in between Orphek 2/3 and 3/4). Current config for 1yr

The hobby for me is more about getting corals to grow than tracking par/flow/wattage numbers so take that with a grain of salt.

I never moved the PMK (always been on the right side of the tank on the sand 8" from the right wall) so the increases have as much to do with achieving better spread as they do with Orphek being weaker than Radiums.

The Radion G4 Pro was def much weaker and narrower than either the Orphek or the Radium. By a mile. I would have needed 6-8 of them to do what 4 Orphek or 3 Radiums would have done.
I only asked about the PAR difference from lighting to lighting to see if the new ATI light threw more PAR, and thats why your Ca and Alk uptake increased. I agree numbers are not the end all. I am more concerned with flow, because i run mu lights 12hours, so not good for the nuclear PAR option. I have a 180 coming in the next few months . Not that i could change lighting course at this point. I have 6 Kessil a360we’s here waiting. And ill add some fill light, havnt decided between the Orphek strips or Reef Brite’s yet.
 

TrojanScott

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Interesting thread and a lot for me to think about. I have 4 AI hydra 52s over an 8 foot 300. Bought as part of setup used. From what I could gather at the time, it was 5-6 years old. I’m now on year 3, so they’re 8 years old at least. I don’t keep sps, but I wonder if even some of my LPS are not getting enough light. I measured with par meter about a year or so ago and on the sand bed was less than 100. 60 in some spots. Up high still close to 300 I believe. I guess I should measure again. The hydras have been cool. I had never owned LED, was halides prior to that, so nothing to compare to. I dig the way you can tinker, and the app on the phone is great. I e come close to buying the new 64hds but just haven’t wanted to drop $3k. I guess I’ll start researching a bit more.
 

Karliefish

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After months and months of research I finally bought on 4 ATI Straton with three Kessil A360x’s in between. These are hanging above my 365G SPS reef tank. What a powerful combination plus the everyone always is commenting on the awesome design/look the new ATI Sratons.
 

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SteveMM62Reef

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Lights by 21 LEDUSA, I‘m Retired and on a budget. They are well made, put out plenty of light, my Corals grow like mad under them. I actually dropped a strip light in the Aquarium and it blew the transformer, the light still works, no LED’s are out. I blew the transformer, because the strip has a feed through plug.
 

stanleo

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I absolutely love my Reef LED90s from Red Sea. Simple and high tech. They run without having to worry if the WiFi is working.
 

trmiv

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I like my Red Sea Reefled 90s. I wasn’t happy with the Hydra 26HD’s I had and replaced them with the Reefled. I like that they are simple to setup, I don’t need to wonder if I’m running the right spectrum or ask for peoples settings. Just set the blue channel to the par I’m after and the white until it looks good to my eyes and done.
 

Jay Norris

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I use the Mitra's LX 7206 lights, and of all the LED lights I have used these are by far the best, including the new Radion XR 30 Pro's I just installed on my sisters tank. Love the natural shimmer, and no disco ball effect, as the shimmer is just as good as my M/H's, and VHO's I use to run years ago.
 

Acros

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I use the Mitra's LX 7206 lights, and of all the LED lights I have used these are by far the best, including the new Radion XR 30 Pro's I just installed on my sisters tank. Love the natural shimmer, and no disco ball effect, as the shimmer is just as good as my M/H's, and VHO's I use to run years ago.
How high would you recommend mounting the Mitras. Any other settings recommendation? I am wondering if I should go with them for my next tank. I really like my XR15 G5 Blue with diffuser, but I am planning on a 3’ long tank next.
 
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