White Supplemental Lighting

[Bucrob]

I’m running two Radion XR15 Blues on a 4ft hanging track over my 120g (48x24x24). I love the growth, but the tank is a bit too blue for my personal taste. I'm looking to add some crisp white light to the mix to bring out more natural colors during the day.

Since I’m using a hanging fixture, I’m looking for slim LED bars that I can easily bracket directly to my current Radion rail setup.

What are the best white bars to balance blue light and also reduce shadowing?

I'm currently looking at:

• Orphek OR4 Day Bar
• Quanta Bar
• Reef Brite XHO

Has anyone successfully mounted bars to their Radion hanging kit? Would love to see photos of your mounting solutions and the color difference!

 

[mfinn]

Hey @Velcro do you still make those awesome 3d printed brackets for Radions?

Hopefully he still. I love mine.

 

[Velcro]

Hey @Velcro do you still make those awesome 3d printed brackets for Radions?

Hopefully he still. I love mine.

Sure do. Available on my website: www.velcrosreef.com

 

[Velcro]

I’m running two Radion XR15 Blues on a 4ft hanging track over my 120g (48x24x24). I love the growth, but the tank is a bit too blue for my personal taste. I'm looking to add some crisp white light to the mix to bring out more natural colors during the day.

Since I’m using a hanging fixture, I’m looking for slim LED bars that I can easily bracket directly to my current Radion rail setup.

What are the best white bars to balance blue light and also reduce shadowing?

I'm currently looking at:

• Orphek OR4 Day Bar
• Quanta Bar
• Reef Brite XHO

Has anyone successfully mounted bars to their Radion hanging kit? Would love to see photos of your mounting solutions and the color difference!

I love my quanta tropic suns with meso blues, reefbrites and for a few hours halides as well.

If I was in your shoes I’d be looking at either the quanta helix reef crest daylights or tropic suns depending on the type of white you are going for. Could also consider AI blade grows if you want to be able to tune color a bit and want a more “flat” t5 type of spread. The quanta bars are an incredible value and imo offer a better spectrum than the 3 diode ai blade though.

 

[Bucrob]

I love my quanta tropic suns with meso blues, reefbrites and for a few hours halides as well.

If I was in your shoes I’d be looking at either the quanta helix reef crest daylights or tropic suns depending on the type of white you are going for. Could also consider AI blade grows if you want to be able to tune color a bit and want a more “flat” t5 type of spread. The quanta bars are an incredible value and imo offer a better spectrum than the 3 diode ai blade though.

About what are the differences between the two quanta helix bars? Also on your website what would you say is the best way to mount them to my fixture?

 

[Velcro]

I personally like the top of RMS rail version especially since you have the big diffusers. Would do 3 or 4 of the mounts (1 towards each end then 1 or 2 between the lights.

I haven’t actually seen the reef rest daylight in person but my understanding is that it’s much more like a cool white/blue look. The tropic sun is more warm white but IMO it pulls much more of the non-fluorescent pigments out than a cool white type of light. Would recommend reaching out to Luca directly if you need more insight on it. I’ve had radion blues in the past and for me personally I would definitely be looking at the tropic sun. I used to run 4 coral plus t5 bulbs with radion blue for a decent full spectrum look during the day… they are so blue.

 

[Velcro]

This is what a meso blue (100%) + a tropic sun (70%) + a couple rows of reefbrite XHOs looks like. Ignore the left side that’s more blue… that was before I added another 24” tropic sun since only had a 6 foot one on a 8 foot tank.

 

[Bucrob]

Do the quantas need a controller or do they have an app?

 

[Velcro]

Do the quantas need a controller or do they have an app?

They come with two options in the box:
1) Manual dimming knob that attaches to the meanwell driver
2) 0-10v connection for aquarium controller.

 

[oreo54]

Do the quantas need a controller or do they have an app?

As noted.. the Meanwell driver can be controlled with any 0-10v analog dimming system. Quanta does not supply nor have this. Apex and asst. 0-10v systems including the GHL which seems to have a 50% increase in price atm can be used

ProfiLux Light WiFi Aquarium Controller

Aquarium Controller for professional illumination control.

www.aquariumspecialty.com

There are is a cheaper system somewhere as well as semi-complicated DIY setups using PWM controllers and converter boards.

"Stuff" is out there.... but can be challenging and/or pricy.

 

[Bucrob]

Whats your opinion on orphek OR4s? I like the fact that they come with a app controller for $10 more than the quantas

 

[Velcro]

Whats your opinion on orphek OR4s? I like the fact that they come with a app controller for $10 more than the quantas

Plenty of people have tons of success with them. Some complain that the diode sequence is too long and leads to color separation. Their customer service is generally not great. These are just the opinions that I’ve heard and I have no direct experience with the orpheks other than making a bracket to fit them.

 

[Hooz]

Whats your opinion on orphek OR4s? I like the fact that they come with a app controller for $10 more than the quantas

The Orphek bars offer something ridiculously narrow for spread (30 degrees or some nonsense), whereas the Quanta bars get you closer to the 90 degrees that you'd expect. If you're supplementing Radions at their optimal mounting height (8"), then the Orphek bars will be like lazer beams and won't give you any coverage.

Also, the Orphek bars use 2 diodes per reflector, which means colors repeat every 3-4 reflectors down the length of the bar. WIth the narrow beams, you'll get a lot of disco unless you have them mounted REALLY high. Quanta offers 4 diodes per reflector, so they repeat more frequently down the length of the bar. Coupled with the wider beam angle... no disco.

The two Helix options for white bars are Tropic Sun and Reef Crest Daylight. Reef Crest Daylight alternates blue and white clusters, so it gives a more traditional AB+ type (blueish white) light. Tropic Sun is a full blown white bar. More of a freshwater planted tank look. Super high color rendering, but very white. Most people would couple the Tropic Sun with blue bars to get the look they like. Since you're already running Radion Blues, those might be the option for you.

Orphek might offer more perceived "features" with the app/controller, but the drawbacks are also very real.

 

[Velcro]

I love the tropic sun with meso blues personally (with a lot of blues). I actually have two open box quanta pro tropic suns I’m looking to sell. It’s the version previous to the helix so no dimming without a wall adapter but just throwing it out there