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anyone have opinions on Reef Radiance LED lighting?

Tskiller

Tskiller

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I'm trying to decide what's going to go on top of my reefer 170 and I'm a bit torn. It has a 24 x 20 x 20 display.

I was originally going to get a Radion XR30wpro but it's very expensive, and I'd need to add another 100 or so to be able to control it with my Apex. I'm kind of splurging on the tank so I'd like to go a bit cheaper on lighting.

I was looking at this guy: http://reefradiance.com/dm-165e.html

Full spectrum, controllable and dimmable. Good price too! Has anyone used these or seen tanks with them set up?

Are there any other lights I should consider? I was thinking about a Kessil A360 but it's more expensive and I'm actually having trouble finding if its full spectrum or not and what types of LEDs exactly it has.
 
I had a dm-135e for a while and even when the whites were dimmed all the way down they always looked so white and washed out. Aside from that, I did get great growth and good color when I supplemented it with some all blue par30 bulbs. Right now I have two tanks running the OceanRevive SO26 and they are the most amazing lights I could ask for. They are cheap, well built, give amazing color, growth is off the charts, coverage is amazing and the lights just look really good. Not too sure if you will be able to control it with an Apex but these lights are well worth the $150 or so they cost. Hope this helps.
http://www.oceanrevivellc.com/
 
I have a RR Coral Pro 120 that was used briefly over a tank slightly larger than yours. Great bang for your buck IMO. A Kessil 360 will 2x the price. PM me if you're interested.
 
I've been doing a bunch of research on equipment and lighting has been my latest time suck on the internet.

Based on my research, the LED lights like reef radiance and others are great bang for the buck. Dimmable and while they say controllable its usually just a timer. They usually have the whites on 1 channel and the other colors on another so you can change the lights by dimming the 2 channels independently. With the timers, you can have your blues come on at 20% for 2 hrs then your whites at 40% for 4hrs then only blues for 2hrs. This level of control may be enough for you, if so, these lights seem like an excellent buy.

The more expensive models like Aqua Illumination and Ecotech have a higher level of control. You can control each individual color channel independently at any given time. Meaning you can have the blues at 10% for 10mins, then add the yellow at 20% for the next 10, then the reds at %20 while bringing the blues up to 30% and yellows to 0% for the next 30mins etc. Some controllers will even simulate a sunrise/sunset by starting the lights from 1 side of the tank at sunrise and ending with sunset on the other.

Do we need that level of control? I don't know but I don't think the corals really care as long as the lights are of the correct spectrum and of the correct intensity for the correct amount of time.

Vincent
 
Vhuang168 said:
I've been doing a bunch of research on equipment and lighting has been my latest time suck on the internet.

Based on my research, the LED lights like reef radiance and others are great bang for the buck. Dimmable and while they say controllable its usually just a timer. They usually have the whites on 1 channel and the other colors on another so you can change the lights by dimming the 2 channels independently. With the timers, you can have your blues come on at 20% for 2 hrs then your whites at 40% for 4hrs then only blues for 2hrs. This level of control may be enough for you, if so, these lights seem like an excellent buy.

The more expensive models like Aqua Illumination and Ecotech have a higher level of control. You can control each individual color channel independently at any given time. Meaning you can have the blues at 10% for 10mins, then add the yellow at 20% for the next 10, then the reds at %20 while bringing the blues up to 30% and yellows to 0% for the next 30mins etc. Some controllers will even simulate a sunrise/sunset by starting the lights from 1 side of the tank at sunrise and ending with sunset on the other.

Do we need that level of control? I don't know but I don't think the corals really care as long as the lights are of the correct spectrum and of the correct intensity for the correct amount of time.

Vincent
Click to expand...

Hard to say - Are your corals' feelings going to be hurt if you don't give them a sunrise and sunset? ;) Some of the nicest tanks I've seen were running halides and those certainly didn't have much control at all!
 
Tskiller said:
I'm trying to decide what's going to go on top of my reefer 170 and I'm a bit torn. It has a 24 x 20 x 20 display.

I was originally going to get a Radion XR30wpro but it's very expensive, and I'd need to add another 100 or so to be able to control it with my Apex. I'm kind of splurging on the tank so I'd like to go a bit cheaper on lighting.

I was looking at this guy: http://reefradiance.com/dm-165e.html

Full spectrum, controllable and dimmable. Good price too! Has anyone used these or seen tanks with them set up?

Are there any other lights I should consider? I was thinking about a Kessil A360 but it's more expensive and I'm actually having trouble finding if its full spectrum or not and what types of LEDs exactly it has.
Click to expand...


Kessil makes their own LEDs... its the attraction to the unit, their dense matrix. They have published spectral plots, I'll dig them up when I get a chance.
 
Generally speaking...any fixtures that use RGB LEDs in their fixture is now considered "full spectrum". To that end, the Kessil A360 series therefore is not full spectrum. Their new AP700 fixture though is a full spectrum fixture. But, it's not available, yet. The red and green implemented in it does bring out additional colors in corals. I don't think it does much for their health but dang, they do look more colorful. Give them more depth. Still, the 360 series still by far my favorite for now.

Like Gresham mentioned, Kessil is the ONLY company that designed and manufactured their own LED diodes. When you have that kind of access to engineering leverage, you can design your light the way it meant to be, like better UV output that last longer and with better efficiency. On top of that, their customer service is unmatched.

Remember, all the other aquarium light manufacters does is repackaged what other companies (Cree, Bridge Lux, and etc.) makes in their enclosures. At the heart of it, how much engineering do you think went into it as a result?

Yes, I am shamelessly being biased...lol.
 
Vhuang168 said:
I've been doing a bunch of research on equipment and lighting has been my latest time suck on the internet.

Based on my research, the LED lights like reef radiance and others are great bang for the buck. Dimmable and while they say controllable its usually just a timer. They usually have the whites on 1 channel and the other colors on another so you can change the lights by dimming the 2 channels independently. With the timers, you can have your blues come on at 20% for 2 hrs then your whites at 40% for 4hrs then only blues for 2hrs. This level of control may be enough for you, if so, these lights seem like an excellent buy.

The more expensive models like Aqua Illumination and Ecotech have a higher level of control. You can control each individual color channel independently at any given time. Meaning you can have the blues at 10% for 10mins, then add the yellow at 20% for the next 10, then the reds at %20 while bringing the blues up to 30% and yellows to 0% for the next 30mins etc. Some controllers will even simulate a sunrise/sunset by starting the lights from 1 side of the tank at sunrise and ending with sunset on the other.

Do we need that level of control? I don't know but I don't think the corals really care as long as the lights are of the correct spectrum and of the correct intensity for the correct amount of time.

Vincent
Click to expand...

Kessil spectral controller can do sunset/sunrise on both the 160 and 360 series. It can also control non Kessil fixtures that uses the 0-10V input. The controller is a two-channel controller, each channel can control both color and intensity.
 
Ah.. but what if I want a rosey sunrise and a pinkish sunset!?! I'm aware the corals don't care but I like the option to use it if I want to. Not that I'll ever but you'll never know!
 
Im running 3 DM155's and they are great light in my opinion. Corals are colorful and growing. Only thing I wish was that they were dimmable thru a controller. You cant beat the price either. I actually picked mine up on a sale for $100 ea.
 
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