Reef Discussion

[dazzamx]

Hi
Just after some info on LED nano lights.
I have have blue/white light over my 80lt nano tank and would like to up grade to a Full spectrum light.
The two im looking at are the ecotech Radion XR15w pro and the Maxspect Razor R402R 16000k.
I'm really after something that will show the colour up in my corals and growth.
What is everyone's take on these two lights.
Cheers

 

[dimitri]

i have the 30w radions on my tank, they are overkill, i have to basically run them at 40% intensity or i get bleaching on the sps and a trunk load of algae

great features though and i just downloaded a bunch of light schedule settings for them that are nifty

i suspect the 15w will be overkill for a little nano tank but for all the features you get you wont regret it, the storm setting is cool also when linked with a mp10 wavemaker from ecotech

 

[GhostRPH]

I used to run the Razor over my Aquaticstyle marine nano, loved it!!! Easy to program, great LED unit and the cost wasnt as steep as some of the competitors (xr15w wasnt out then, going back 3 years now I think)

 

[hoangii]

Have you looked at the aqua illumination prime. Packs a good punch for its size and its wifi controllable without any need for extensions.

It says it can do 45cm cubed easy or up to 60cm

 

[Azedenkae]

Hi
Just after some info on LED nano lights.
I have have blue/white light over my 80lt nano tank and would like to up grade to a Full spectrum light.
The two im looking at are the ecotech Radion XR15w pro and the Maxspect Razor R402R 16000k.
I'm really after something that will show the colour up in my corals and growth.
What is everyone's take on these two lights.
Cheers

Hey mate, white is full spectrum. So you'd already have all the colors needed over your tank with your blue/white light.

If you are looking to intensify a specific spectrum, then yeah Radions and Maxspects would be good choice. They are both good. Kessils, AquaIllumination, Dalua and Illumagic are too.

What's the dimensions of your tank again?

 

[Webb]

I use a AI Prime on a 60x30x30 nano and it does the job very well.
Have you looked at the new AI Hydra TwentySix HD? Basically 2x Primes in a single unit with all the built in convenience, but you can 'overdrive' a specific spectrum when there's available power left.
http://www.aquaillumination.com/lighting/hydra/

Which was something that I've found annoying with many smart control lights that just divvy up the available power into rails for each of the colour types and not something I see being discussed much about light units on forums.
For example your blue+white light, probably has two dimmers. This means if you dim your whites to 60% and blue at 100%, you have 80% of your maximum lights output power. So of the 100W available power through ballast, you're now have a max 80W of the available 100W. This gets worse when you add in more rails for each colour type, possibly ending up with only being able to use 1/2 the power of your expensive LED unit and hobbyist go buy a bigger unit only to turn down a bunch of the colours on LED units.
With something like a semi-programmable shared power rail, if you set your whites to 60% you could use that extra power left over to run the blues at 120% of 'normal max output' to get that sweet spot of enough PAR at the colour temperature/spectrum you want. You want a unit that can do this but not effect the brightness of the other colours when you dim one (ie turning down 'greens' won't make the red/blue/whites instantly brighter than what you set them to).

Not a big concern with the nano as you'll likely be running all the colours at less than 80%, but great if you get a bigger tank you can increase the intensity without changing the spectrum that makes the corals colours pop, with the same unit instead of having to buy a bigger light.

 

[TunaBlue]

Check these guys out - http://nanoboxreef.com. I found that site the other day they look pretty sweet and the guy emails back quite fast. There's a few photos on there Facebook.
Just another option.

 

[dazzamx]

Hey mate, white is full spectrum. So you'd already have all the colors needed over your tank with your blue/white light.

If you are looking to intensify a specific spectrum, then yeah Radions and Maxspects would be good choice. They are both good. Kessils, AquaIllumination, Dalua and Illumagic are too.

What's the dimensions of your tank again?

Tank is 46x45x38

 

[Savage Henry]

I have an Vertex Illumilux sitting on a 47cm deep tank and it works really well on softies and LPS.

I've had this light for about 4 years now and have used in on various tanks.

They are basic - non-dimmable - but really really well made.

There doesn't seem to be many aquarists using them, maybe because they don't have all the bells and whistles, but what they do have will last. I think they are made in Austria.

My brother was a fitter and turner and when he saw my Illumilux he said it was really well made, almost like an industrial instrument, and he was really impressed.