Red Sea Reefer 250- Nano Box Duo & Quad

[Cscultho]

What size light fixture is recommended for the RSR 250 tank?  I want to use the nanobox but not sure which light.

 

Will the Duo be enough coverage or would i need to step up to the Quad?  if i can get away with the duo i'd prefer that due to the cost but if it is under powered let me know.

 

thanks.

[RIP Sebastian]

1 hour ago, Cscultho said:

What size light fixture is recommended for the RSR 250 tank?  I want to use the nanobox but not sure which light.

 

Will the Duo be enough coverage or would i need to step up to the Quad?  if i can get away with the duo i'd prefer that due to the cost but if it is under powered let me know.

 

thanks.

 

Quad.

[Cscultho]

12 minutes ago, RIP Sebastian said:

 

Quad.

Do you happen to know where i can find the specs on the Quad?  I want to know if it has moonlights and lightning/storm operations?  Kessil has a higher end model that has all these features so i want to try and compare apples to apples....

 

thanks.

[jedimasterben]

You can run any channel as moonlight, and the Bluefish controller has storm functionality, but I wouldn't consider either of those features selling points, as they don't really serve a purpose.

[RIP Sebastian]

37 minutes ago, Cscultho said:

Do you happen to know where i can find the specs on the Quad?  I want to know if it has moonlights and lightning/storm operations?  Kessil has a higher end model that has all these features so i want to try and compare apples to apples....

 

thanks.

nanoboxreef.com.

 

@DaveFason, hook this guy up!

[charlesgage]

I would get at least the quad or two duo's. Also they wont penetrate the depths of that tank perfectly. They guy that makes the nanos has a quad on a 24" tank....

 

I own the duo on a 170 and I am iffy on it. I can either raise it high and get dim light front to back, or lower it to the recommended 6" and choose which part of the tank I want to light (front or back, it will shadow in one). It disco's like you wouldn't believe. I mean it has some shimmer, but the shimmer is in different colors for half the day (ramp up and ramp down time). Kessil's would give you better depth penetration and more halide like shimmer, but you will lose moonlights and need a special controller or an apex.

 

The bluefish controller is cool on the nanobox, but you need to give up the bluefish for it to work with an apex, so now I have two apps on my phone... Kessil went with the standard 0-10v. You can get a converter for the Nanobox to go to apex control though.

 

To be honest this site seems really biased towards Nanobox. I would hit reefcentral or the like up for opinions, especially on a RSR 250.

 

NanoBox customer service has been pretty good though, and the controller is neat even if it lacks apex integration.

 

Edit: This is what my tank looks like most of the morning (the owner of NanoBox setup my percentages on each channel to the reccomended). Notice the clear deliniation of dark blue, light blue, and violet?

 

[DaveFason]

13 hours ago, Cscultho said:

What size light fixture is recommended for the RSR 250 tank?  I want to use the nanobox but not sure which light.

 

Will the Duo be enough coverage or would i need to step up to the Quad?  if i can get away with the duo i'd prefer that due to the cost but if it is under powered let me know.

 

thanks.

Go to the website. 

http://www.nanoboxreef.com/quad.html

 

100% for the lager RSM you need a Quad. Not Duo. 

 

Drop me an email or PM. I am here.

4 hours ago, charlesgage said:

I would get at least the quad or two duo's. Also they wont penetrate the depths of that tank perfectly. They guy that makes the nanos has a quad on a 24" tank....

 

I own the duo on a 170 and I am iffy on it. I can either raise it high and get dim light front to back, or lower it to the recommended 6" and choose which part of the tank I want to light (front or back, it will shadow in one). It disco's like you wouldn't believe. I mean it has some shimmer, but the shimmer is in different colors for half the day (ramp up and ramp down time). Kessil's would give you better depth penetration and more halide like shimmer, but you will lose moonlights and need a special controller or an apex.

 

The bluefish controller is cool on the nanobox, but you need to give up the bluefish for it to work with an apex, so now I have two apps on my phone... Kessil went with the standard 0-10v. You can get a converter for the Nanobox to go to apex control though.

 

To be honest this site seems really biased towards Nanobox. I would hit reefcentral or the like up for opinions, especially on a RSR 250.

 

NanoBox customer service has been pretty good though, and the controller is neat even if it lacks apex integration.

 

Edit: This is what my tank looks like most of the morning (the owner of NanoBox setup my percentages on each channel to the reccomended). Notice the clear deliniation of dark blue, light blue, and violet?

Curious about your comments on the disco. The clusters are pretty much as close as you can get but you will always have some. As well in photos you will see this the most due to shutter speeds stopping motion for 1/100 of a second an more. If you have a ton of surface agitation this can cause some separation.  

 

I have APEX module that fits in the same space as the Bluefish so it is seamless. Just plug the 1-10v spots that apex provides. 

 

I run a Quad because I run NBR. Like Tim the Tool Man Taylor, more power!

 

 

 

 

[Cscultho]

1 hour ago, DaveFason said:

Go to the website. 

http://www.nanoboxreef.com/quad.html

 

100% for the lager RSM you need a Quad. Not Duo. 

 

Drop me an email or PM. I am here.

Curious about your comments on the disco. The clusters are pretty much as close as you can get but you will always have some. As well in photos you will see this the most due to shutter speeds stopping motion for 1/100 of a second an more. If you have a ton of surface agitation this can cause some separation.  

 

I have APEX module that fits in the same space as the Bluefish so it is seamless. Just plug the 1-10v spots that apex provides. 

 

I run a Quad because I run NBR. Like Tim the Tool Man Taylor, more power!

 

 

 

 

Ok...dumb question coming!  What is the purpose of the Bluefish?  is that part of the Quad or is it seperate and how does it make the light better?

[jedimasterben]

20 minutes ago, Cscultho said:

Ok...dumb question coming!  What is the purpose of the Bluefish?  is that part of the Quad or is it seperate and how does it make the light better?

Bluefish is the LED controller it uses.

[Cscultho]

@DaveFason-- is it safe to say that with the RSR 250 and Quad lighting i will have NO limitations as to what corals i can add to the DT.  Anything is fair game?

[pokerdobe]

I'd say a quad at the very least. I had two Duo's over my Reefer 250 and I a couple of my zoas were still stretching that were on the bottom of my tank. 

[Cscultho]

1 minute ago, pokerdobe said:

I'd say a quad at the very least. I had two Duo's over my Reefer 250 and I a couple of my zoas were still stretching that were on the bottom of my tank. 

what do you mean by stretching?

[pokerdobe]

@Cscultho

 

[Cscultho]

Look very nice.  Is stretching due to the lack of light penetration through the water or is this considered a normal phenomenon?  Excuse me for all the questions but im somewhat new to this.

[pokerdobe]

Just now, Cscultho said:

Look very nice.  Is stretching due to the lack of light penetration through the water or is this considered a normal phenomenon?  Excuse me for all the questions but im somewhat new to this.

 

Ah, not my photo, just something I took off Google to demonstrate stretching. I personally think it's due to lower levels of light. My zoas only demonstrated this behavior when I had reduced lighting levels. 

 

It's not harmful, at least I don't think it is. However, I don't like the look of it and I prefer my zoas nice and flat to the rock work. 

[jedimasterben]

34 minutes ago, pokerdobe said:

I'd say a quad at the very least. I had two Duo's over my Reefer 250 and I a couple of my zoas were still stretching that were on the bottom of my tank. 

A Quad is simply four arrays like you have, they don't have any more power than two separate Duos. Did you have the intensity turned down or were you maxing out?

[charlesgage]

3 hours ago, DaveFason said:

Go to the website. 

http://www.nanoboxreef.com/quad.html

 

100% for the lager RSM you need a Quad. Not Duo. 

 

Drop me an email or PM. I am here.

Curious about your comments on the disco. The clusters are pretty much as close as you can get but you will always have some. As well in photos you will see this the most due to shutter speeds stopping motion for 1/100 of a second an more. If you have a ton of surface agitation this can cause some separation.  

 

I have APEX module that fits in the same space as the Bluefish so it is seamless. Just plug the 1-10v spots that apex provides. 

 

I run a Quad because I run NBR. Like Tim the Tool Man Taylor, more power!

 

 

 

 

I will email you. So used to crowdsourcing responses that I forget about that! I posted in the Nanobox owners thread but got crickets from the community. 

[pokerdobe]

1 hour ago, jedimasterben said:

A Quad is simply four arrays like you have, they don't have any more power than two separate Duos. Did you have the intensity turned down or were you maxing out?

 

I know. I'm just saying I think it has to be a quad at a minimum since that was the equivalent to my two Duos. Blues were at 100%, whites was somewhere between 25-30%. 

[charlesgage]

3 hours ago, jedimasterben said:

A Quad is simply four arrays like you have, they don't have any more power than two separate Duos. Did you have the intensity turned down or were you maxing out?

 Two duos would give you more flexibility in light spacing and also if they ever upgraded to a longer tank down the line. I have tried mine at all different intensities as the tank is cycling right now without Fish or coral. I will reach out to Dave on Monday for more setting options. 

 

 The disco is what I'm not a big fan of,  but keep in mind I am new to LED lights.  Does Kessil have a patent on multiple LEDs under a lens or something? I have a hard time figuring out why more vendors aren't going that way...

 

 I would suspect R&D costs are high. 

[jedimasterben]

5 hours ago, charlesgage said:

 I would suspect R&D costs are high. 

Yes, and it restricts you to that form factor, and could not use off the shelf LEDs.