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Latest and greatest lights (1 Viewer)

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jesusq

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I recently upgraded my tank from a 120 to a 150 gallons. I had my clunky marsaqua black box lights, which am now noticing that they are very telephoto and doesn't have a great spread, and my corals are not growing. I've had the lights for a few years now, but mostly only had fish on my prior tank, and I want to incorporate more corals on this tank. I had two 165 watts for a few years and recently bought the 300 watts a few months ago when I upgraded.

What are some of the better lights now?

My tank dimentions are 72x18. Many of the lights I've been seeing covers wider than 18" but lack on the wide area. am thinking of getting 4 Radion XR15 since they spread at 18" at 105Watts, or should I invest on the XR30 for a bit more coverage 24"x24" at 215Watts?

Are there any inexpensive no-name brands that can do the job? I want to keep them for a few years with out upgrading them. So I don't mind spending a bit more and be happy with them or have something that's a bit more power and not have the need to replace them in the future.

The difference between the XR15 and XR30 would be almost $1,000 if I would get 3 XR30 against 4 XR15. Again, I would like to spend less, but don't want to buy something I'm going to replace in the short future.

Anyone have experience with kessil lights or Hydra?
 
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jesusq

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I'm not sure really. I have the blues at 80%, they were 60% and the whites at 50%. But don't have any coral growth in a few months. Right now, I have a few veriaty of zoas, sponges and acro.

my water parameters are good.
 

Seaworthy Aquatics

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If you had growth with these lights in the past then I doubt its the lights. Some LEDs might get a little weaker over the years but sounds like you just replaced some a few months ago and highly doubt they would weaken enough to stop growth besides. There is a lot more than just lights that will stop growth even with "good parameters". Earlier this year I had an issue in one of my tanks where everything stopped growing and some stuff eventually started dying when all the tests said my water was good. I thought it was lack of light and added another light to my tank with little to no results. Turned out it was invisible coral warfare that I couldn't test for and I had to move some coral, do some massive water changes and increase carbon now everything is fine and growing like crazy. Might want to try some other stuff before spending on the new lights like I did. Get your hands on a PAR meter if you can and check the lights, wish I had done this first as it turns out the extra light I added was waaaay too much. What types of corals do you have? Some Acros will try to kill anything near them. Any old equipment that might be leaking things into the water like a bad heater or an exposed magnet? I'd doubt check all the parameters, perhaps send off an icp test if you can. I'd also make sure all your testing equipment, like your refractometer or whatever you use, works and are calibrated properly. Make sure your tests aren't expired etc. Hope you figure it out!
 

PicassoClown

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Marsh has several PAR meters available to the supporting members, the membership really isn’t that much and it has a lot of benefits so I’d definitely check it out! I’m agreeing with @SWCRitt about the lights. When I started my tank I was definitely using lights that weren’t powerful enough but I still saw growth, so I’m thinking it’s something else such as the coral warfare mentioned. I hope you figure it out!
 

Cody

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The chinaboxes grow corals like crazy! I don't use them;anymore ... Not tacky like @Cody !!
Haha I’ll take them any day of the week over a radion or AI. I have a old soul and I’m stuck in my ways. Now get off my lawn!!!
 

RR-MAN

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Melevreef was showing a tank with insane corals - the guy was using china black boxes with T5s. He said he was changing the led diodes every two years for peak performance.

Yes buying radions doesnt mean you can grow insane corals - keeping stable water parameters is an important factor.
 
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