I think that a minitide is better than an XR15 or any other small light.

[reefernanoman]

Just my opinion, but I think that the minitide colors look better(due to the lime LED maybe?). And by making it your own by choosing what colors go on the body of the fixture is just icing on the cake.

[evilc66]

The lime helps, and it's a stand out feature, but it's not the only reason. Most of the "premium" LED fixture manufacturers are still using cool white LEDs (6500K and higher), which suck for color rendering. All NBR fixtures are using a combination of 4500K neutral white, and 3000K warm white. This dramatically increases color rendering without the negative visual side effects of using red/deep red/amber to get similar results.

 

It really is one of the best fixtures, light quality wise.

[jedimasterben]

Actually I think they are 2700K and 4000K, but close enough

[Proball]

I've been doing research on a new system for over a month, and as far as LED fixtures go, I agree. NBR is on the cutting edge of LED aquarium lighting.

[Caravanshaka]

A couple years ago I built a DIY fixture using the first CNCreef Asis 412's (if you are on his site, the tank on the 412 page was mine). Within the LED cluster was a mix of 3000k to 5000k neutral/warm luxeons for my white channel. There was no lime at that time, but with those whites combined with RB/B/V, I got fantastic colors and great growth out of everything in that tank. I have since tried a few high end store-bought fixtures, and have sold them all within a few months because I hated them.

 

This time around, I got 8 nanobox v3 arrays because the color combination he uses is nearly identical to what I would have pieced together. I'm building my own hybrid using a CNC reef asis pro heatsink and 2 arrays for my frag tank, and will be adding 6 arrays to my ATI 8x80w on my display tank in place of 2 of the bulbs.

 

In other words, what evil and Jedi said is very true...the replacement of cool whites/colors with warm and neutral whites makes a dramatic difference in color rendition as well as the "Disco" effect. The addition of Lime helps to increase the brightness of the tank without cooking the corals, which makes the lights visually more appealing than the ATI/Ecotechs of the world

[rod00007]

I'd like to see a bigger system with these lights. Can anyone point to some links of 60+ gallon tanks with these things on? I am hoping for deeper than 21 inches.

 

I'm very happy with my kessils and bluefish controller. I wish the AP700 was out already.

[jedimasterben]

I'd like to see a bigger system with these lights. Can anyone point to some links of 60+ gallon tanks with these things on? I am hoping for deeper than 21 inches.

LEDs work the same way as other types of light - more power is needed as distance is increased.

[Caravanshaka]

once the bluefish mini is released, I will be retrofitting 6 arrays into my 8x80w sunpower over a 180g (60x30x24) tank. I'll be happy to provide pictures at that time. I have used several LED setups over 24" deep tanks with no lenses and have found them to work quite well.

[reefernanoman]

Jedimasterben and evilc66 know what they are talking about!

[tibbsy07]

The Tide is the best small light for the money

[blasterman]

If the kessils used 4000k as a base white I'd be first in line to buy one.

 

Why manufacturers are still farting around with cool white defies me. Cools combined with warms works, or a cool-white channel combined with a warm white channel is better yet.

 

The larger array type units are the only ones that seem to have great color (or DIY), but then disco becomes an issue.

[reefernanoman]

If the kessils used 4000k as a base white I'd be first in line to buy one.

 

Why manufacturers are still farting around with cool white defies me. Cools combined with warms works, or a cool-white channel combined with a warm white channel is better yet.

 

The larger array type units are the only ones that seem to have great color (or DIY), but then disco becomes an issue.

Maybe they should have a talk with one of the light gurus from nano reef. Nah, I like it like that.

[zooman72]

If the kessils used 4000k as a base white I'd be first in line to buy one.

 

Why manufacturers are still farting around with cool white defies me. Cools combined with warms works, or a cool-white channel combined with a warm white channel is better yet.

 

The larger array type units are the only ones that seem to have great color (or DIY), but then disco becomes an issue.

 

Or at least include some lower-K whites into their matrix "mix" to improve color rendering...

[reefernanoman]

Can some of you with different lights post pictures in this thread please? I will be doing just that when I get my minitide!

[Paleoreef103]

If the kessils used 4000k as a base white I'd be first in line to buy one.

 

Why manufacturers are still farting around with cool white defies me. Cools combined with warms works, or a cool-white channel combined with a warm white channel is better yet.

 

The larger array type units are the only ones that seem to have great color (or DIY), but then disco becomes an issue.

Cooler whites produce slightly more lumens per watt. They use cool whites to bolster their claim that their light produces X amount of light. Most people are suckers and think more power = better instead of better quality light (which isn't really quantifiable) with a 5% decrease in efficiency (which is quantifiable).

[bdevillier19]

Cooler whites produce slightly more lumens per watt. They use cool whites to bolster their claim that their light produces X amount of light. Most people are suckers and think more power = better instead of better quality light (which isn't really quantifiable) with a 5% decrease in efficiency (which is quantifiable).

Not to mention that when they use cool whites, they have to use reds and greens and every other color of the rainbow. This all leads to the marketing scheme of "we have x amount of colors and x amount of diodes in our fixture so it must be better".

[Dlc27]

Agree with OP completely, and appreciate the follow up explanation by evil. I have a Nanobox mini tide that I bought for my 8g to replace the stock light. First tank, first light. My new tank is a 20 fusion so needing a larger spread, and knowing I will only have softies and lps in this tank I went with an Orbit Marine. It's cheap, and you get what you pay for, but the bottom line was that I simply don't need more power/output/what have you for this setup. After having it a few days now I MISS the colors my Nanobox gave me. It's plenty bright, and can support my livestock, but I've been searching the interwebs since I turned the Orbit on for ways to supplement it simply to improve the spectrum.

It kills me that I'm considering buying a duo that, in terms of practicality, I honestly don't need.... I just miss the pretty colors!

[Paleoreef103]

Agree with OP completely, and appreciate the follow up explanation by evil. I have a Nanobox mini tide that I bought for my 8g to replace the stock light. First tank, first light. My new tank is a 20 fusion so needing a larger spread, and knowing I will only have softies and lps in this tank I went with an Orbit Marine. It's cheap, and you get what you pay for, but the bottom line was that I simply don't need more power/output/what have you for this setup. After having it a few days now I MISS the colors my Nanobox gave me. It's plenty bright, and can support my livestock, but I've been searching the interwebs since I turned the Orbit on for ways to supplement it simply to improve the spectrum.

It kills me that I'm considering buying a duo that, in terms of practicality, I honestly don't need.... I just miss the pretty colors!

You could always get a second mini. I'm sure without much reworking you could get both minis to work on the same controller. That is assuming you haven't sold your mini already.

[KurtS]

You could always get a second mini. I'm sure without much reworking you could get both minis to work on the same controller. That is assuming you haven't sold your mini already.

 

If it's a mini & storm combo you can just connect a second mini, the storm supports 6 channels.

 

And yeah, that color a Nanobox gives is just so lovely, I haven't regretted buying mine for one second.

[reefernanoman]

I just added the following things to my minitide that is cooking at Dave's shop : one channel for moonlights, and two more for colors for a total of 5 channels for more controllability. Just icing on the cake. One more reason the minitide is amazing.