Reefbreeders vs Ophrek vs ReeFi

[DeadEnd]

Hey everyone,

I’m currently looking to upgrade my lighting setup for my 48x24x24 tank and I’d love to get some feedback from those who have experience with any of the following options:

- 1 x 45 ReefBreeders Meridian or 2 x 24's
- 2 x Orphek Natura iCon
- 3 x Reefi Uno 2.1 Pro

I haven’t seen any of these in person yet, so if anyone has used them or has thoughts to share, pros, cons, PAR performance, how they look over a tank, I’d really appreciate it.

If anyone is wondering I am leaning forward the Reefis or the Ophreks.

Thanks!

 

[scottw]

You really could not go wrong with any of those 3. I have not owned the RB Mer but had many of the last version, they were fantastic. I have heard great things about the new version. I own the Natura and I think they are fantastic lights, if you wanted to see them in action, I am sure @Adam would let you come view them over his grow out tanks. @Atalien2005 has been running Reefi forever and has all version so I am sure he could share his .02 cents on them. Myself I would go with Orpheks, but that is only b/c I have not ran the Reefi, but have heard wonderful things about them as well. Jay is awesome USA support on them too. Wow just re-reading what I put, I guess I didn't help too much lol, other than I would go with the Natura myself but you won't go wrong with any of them.

 

[DeadEnd]

You really could not go wrong with any of those 3. I have not owned the RB Mer but had many of the last version, they were fantastic. I have heard great things about the new version. I own the Natura and I think they are fantastic lights, if you wanted to see them in action, I am sure @Adam would let you come view them over his grow out tanks. @Atalien2005 has been running Reefi forever and has all version so I am sure he could share his .02 cents on them. Myself I would go with Orpheks, but that is only b/c I have not ran the Reefi, but have heard wonderful things about them as well. Jay is awesome USA support on them too. Wow just re-reading what I put, I guess I didn't help too much lol, other than I would go with the Natura myself but you won't go wrong with any of them.

Hey,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I just pulled the trigger and went with the ReeFis. It was a tough decision... I was actually leaning toward the Orphek at first, but after reading so many mixed reviews about the app and the output color (a lot of people mentioned it looking like blue Windex), I decided to play it safe. Honestly, I have a feeling I might’ve loved that look, but I was just too afraid to take the risk.

 

[Adam]

I'll start off stating that I have no experience with the Reefi light. A quick look at the specs show a pretty damn good light with heavy led counts in the sweet spot listed below. Maybe @Atalien2005 can offer some info on how easy the app is to work with.

I have read a lot of Dana Riddle's articles over the years and he is probably the foremost authority on this topic in the industry. I would have to say that the Orphek Natura iCon has the best led chip layout and spectrums of any fixture on the market at this time. That being said there are many people growing excellent coral with spectrums between 420nm & 490nm with the heaviest led count in 450nm-470nm. @dball711 is one of those people.

I have several of the older version of the RB lights, the Photon V2. I do like them but I also would like to see less whites and more lower Violet to UV in them. The new Meridian does just that and hits the sweet spot listed above nicely.

Now with the apps. The RB app is very simple and easy to use. It's at a plain Jane app and many people don't seem to like it. For me...

@DeadEnd Well, scratch all the above seeing how you've made the purchase. Again the Reefi does look like a very good light and I was going to say that it would be tough to go wrong with any of the three and to buy the one you could get the best deal on.

 

[siege]

Is the Orphek app that bad? I was thinking about picking up an OR3 (if I can find a good deal on a new one) or an OR4 to supplement my current lights with.

It's at least got to be better than NooPsyche's app.