Lighting Question - 60 cm aquarium

[Qwedfg]

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking here for a while and have learned a great deal! I've been keeping aquariums, primarily reef tanks over the last 15 or so years, for most of my life. I haven't kept a tank in about 5 years and have decided to get back into the hobby.

I picked up a waterbox "60p" replica and have been thinking about lighting. As of now I have a first gen Radion xr15fw that I used on a 45p sized aquarium 5 years ago but have been eyeing a WRBG 2 instead. I have read that the gen 3 Xr15fw have a poor spectrum and I'm wondering if I can get full coverage on a 60cm tank using the RMS tank mount. Would a WRBG 2 be a big upgrade over the older xr15fw? Is it worth waiting for the WRGB 2 pro, from what I read the inclusion of the white led has caused the fixture to appear more washed out.

Thank you for any input.

 

[erwin123]

someone mentioned that you can save $100 by using a regular WRGB2 and adding your own DIY white LED strip! As a current WRGB2 owner, I thinking of trying that, but there is a bewildering array of LED strips available on ebay, not sure whether 'white is white' or whether there are quality differences between sellers.

I am using the optional WRGB2 shades, and the underside of the shade seems to be a good place to stick a white LED strip - furthermore the shade is made of metal so it will act as a heatsink!

 

[oreo57]

Hello everyone,

I have read that the gen 3 Xr15fw have a poor spectrum t.

Thank you for any input.

you mean the gen 5?

Radion XR15 and XR30 Gen 5 Now Available with Freshwater Spectrum | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

It's taken almost two years but freshwater aquarists can now finally get the groundbreaking and highly refined Radion LED light in a light with a classic freshwater spectrum. Costing as much as their…

reefbuilders.com

Completely different animal..

The combination of cool white, warm white, photo red, green, lime and blue LED colors riding six control channels combine to generate a very warm color spectrum

There is sort of a "cultural" difference between lights that run strictly RGB vs RGBW(ww,cw ect)
As an illustration.. if you know what I mean..
A well done rgbw will be less err punchy yet still rich..



After that there is the warm/cool aspect.
Most white centric led lights run "low" (compared to saltwater) K temps. Finnex does run 7000k though.
Most RGB by their nature run on the cool side though there are exceptions.

Since many are adjustable much of this is sort of pointless but it is best to 1) Know what you favor in regards to both saturation and color temp.
2) Get a light that starts (on full) close to what you like

On a personal not, the radions are way overpriced (light plus bracket plus "Mobius", whatever) for most freshwater needs.
You'd be better off with a freshwater Hydra 32
Hydra 32 Freshwater - AquaIllumination which is just 2 AI Prime fw's in one box basically.
Chihiros RGBW PRO is probably fairly equivalent.
If you want punchy w/ a loss of some "realness" the old RGBW.

White only lights will always be a bit dull in leds unless there are very good white diodes (rare to non-existent in commercial units). It's a tech/color theory thing.
Best simple good color whites add at least 660nm red to the mix.

If you want simple and cool Beamswork DA-FSPEC run high k white RGB so overall tone is very cool but w/ adequate color pop.
Simple control can be added.

 

[Qwedfg]

you mean the gen 5?

Radion XR15 and XR30 Gen 5 Now Available with Freshwater Spectrum | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

It's taken almost two years but freshwater aquarists can now finally get the groundbreaking and highly refined Radion LED light in a light with a classic freshwater spectrum. Costing as much as their…

reefbuilders.com

Completely different animal..



There is sort of a "cultural" difference between lights that run strictly RGB vs RGBW(ww,cw ect)
As an illustration.. if you know what I mean..
A well done rgbw will be less err punchy yet still rich..



After that there is the warm/cool aspect.
Most white centric led lights run "low" (compared to saltwater) K temps. Finnex does run 7000k though.
Most RGB by their nature run on the cool side though there are exceptions.

Since many are adjustable much of this is sort of pointless but it is best to 1) Know what you favor in regards to both saturation and color temp.
2) Get a light that starts (on full) close to what you like

On a personal not, the radions are way overpriced (light plus bracket plus "Mobius", whatever) for most freshwater needs.
You'd be better off with a freshwater Hydra 32
Hydra 32 Freshwater - AquaIllumination which is just 2 AI Prime fw's in one box basically.
Chihiros RGBW PRO is probably fairly equivalent.
If you want punchy w/ a loss of some "realness" the old RGBW.

White only lights will always be a bit dull in leds unless there are very good white diodes (rare to non-existent in commercial units). It's a tech/color theory thing.
Best simple good color whites add at least 660nm red to the mix.

If you want simple and cool Beamswork DA-FSPEC run high k white RGB so overall tone is very cool but w/ adequate color pop.
Simple control can be added.

Thank you for the replies.

I have the original xr15fw which came out during gen 3. It has 8 cool white, 7 warm white, 4 red, 2 green and 2 blue leds. I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to LED as I always had an ATI t5 fixture on my reef tanks. I bought this fixture used and only had it over my tank for about 4 months before I moved and took the 45p planted tank down which was 5 years ago. I have been researching LED lights and it seems like chihiros is the most recommended beyond the ADA rgb fixture which is 800 dollars and more than I'd like to spend.

We don't have the WRGB 2 pro fixtures available in the US that I have found yet. I am also interested in the vivid 2 but I don't really have a way to hang the fixture as my wife will kill me if I drill the ceiling...

 

[oreo57]

Thank you for the replies.

I have the original xr15fw which came out during gen 3. It has 8 cool white, 7 warm white, 4 red, 2 green and 2 blue leds. I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to LED as I always had an ATI t5 fixture on my reef tanks. I bought this fixture used and only had it over my tank for about 4 months before I moved and took the 45p planted tank down which was 5 years ago. I have been researching LED lights and it seems like chihiros is the most recommended beyond the ADA rgb fixture which is 800 dollars and more than I'd like to spend.

We don't have the WRGB 2 pro fixtures available in the US that I have found yet. I am also interested in the vivid 2 but I don't really have a way to hang the fixture as my wife will kill me if I drill the ceiling...

CHIHIROS WRGB II PRO - Black

Lighting a planted aquarium is one of the most crucial components that keep plants healthy & attractive. Chihiros Aquatic Studio brings you app-controlled LED with full adjustability of each color, sunrise/sunset, & a timer feature to turn your lights on & off. With these features your planted...

aquarockscolorado.com

Pre-orders.
One person was told March 15th.

Chihiros RGB Vivid II versus Chihiros WRGB II

www.plantedtank.net

One word of caution... Leg spread looks fixed on the Pro.
could be an issue with some tanks

Maybe not. The pic at aquarocks looks fixed, a vid looks not to be fixed.

Any bets on March 15th?

 

[Qwedfg]

After some thinking I decided I will start with my xr15 and see how it goes. If I don’t like the results I will go with a vivid 2, wrgb 2 or wrgb 2 pro depending on how things shake out. I might try to hang my xr15 from a light stand to see if that helps with the spread. My main concern is how many cool and warm white leds my fixture uses since it seems like the colors will probably be pretty washed out given the leds modern planted tank lights are using.

I have a 100 dollar gift card to Amazon burning a hole in my pocket to buy a new light so I will probably upgrade sooner rather than later. Patience is a virtue but one that is difficult to practice.

 

[Qwedfg]

An update for anyone who may care (unlikely). After seeing the pricing for the wrbg 2 pro and the differences in color rendition I decided to just get a wrbg2 and call it a day. I finished the hardscape of my tank and there are a lot of shadows in the corners of the tank where I plan on putting stems. For 115 dollars (with giftcard) it seems like a good choice.