Razor 120w or 180w?

[Billy]

Hi everyone!! Need some help/opinion with lighting. We have a JBJ RL45, dimensions are 26"long by 21" deep and 19" high. We have narrowed it down to a maxspect razor cause we run one on another nano. Would you think the 120w is enough or go with the 180w? The 180w is 1" longer then the tank and the 120w is 20" long. Which light would you go with?

[Frogger]

It is going to depend on what you are trying to grow. I grow LPS and SPS in my small tank.

I run a maxspect 130w razor over a 35 gallon tank and I feel it is not enough. I find that with only the 2 banks of Led's it is creating way to many dark spots and the corals are growing up but being shaded within. When I move my tank I will be adding a couple of T5's to supplement and reduce the shadows.

On the 180, the light might be a couple inches longer then the tank but the banks of led's are set back well from the edges.

I would go with either the 180 watt maxspect razor (remember you do not need to run the lights at 100%) or preferably go with the 130 and supplement it with a couple T5's.

[IronChefItaly]

I've owned the 20.5" on a 24" tank and now have the 27" on a 36" tank. In both cases I found the light spread to be quite poor when kept leg mounted - hot spots and shadowed corners. Suspending the fixture around 12" from the water surface allows much better dispersion aesthetically and practically. If you do suspend the fixture, I'm quite sure the 120W will work. It is also worth noting that the 3 LED arrays on the 27" fixture fall within the center 16" which could be quite nice. If I was shopping second hand, I'd simply pick whatever is available.

[Billy]

Awesome!! Thanks for your inputs. Now my friend wants to sell me has radion gen3 pro for $650. He's asking $350 for the maxspect, are these decent prices? All equipment is in great condition. Not sure if we should spend the extra $300 on the radion.

[spit.fire]

Originally Posted by Billy

Awesome!! Thanks for your inputs. Now my friend wants to sell me has radion gen3 pro for $650. He's asking $350 for the maxspect, are these decent prices? All equipment is in great condition. Not sure if we should spend the extra $300 on the radion.

What wattage is the maxspect for 350?
Also the radion Is a super nice light but I'm not a fan of programming them at all

[Billy]

Originally Posted by spit.fire

What wattage is the maxspect for 350?
Also the radion Is a super nice light but I'm not a fan of programming them at all

The razor is a 160w. It's one the replaced with the 180w I think. Ya I totally agree with the programming, he has 3 gen 1's, one gen 3 and a ghl he wants to sell. Everything is in great condition, just not sure what to pick up from him for the wife's nano.

[IronChefItaly]

Originally Posted by Billy

Awesome!! Thanks for your inputs. Now my friend wants to sell me has radion gen3 pro for $650. He's asking $350 for the maxspect, are these decent prices? All equipment is in great condition. Not sure if we should spend the extra $300 on the radion.

If the piece of equipment is in good shape and in the neighborhood of a year old I usually use 50% retail as a starting point. Considering the 180W Razor is available for $660, I think $350 is pricey for the 160W. Similar case for the radion. G4 pros retail for $1100 and though they are in high demand, $650 is still on the high end in my opinion. Also I should add that I don't think the G3 pro would be a good fit for your tank, ideally I'd pick 2 XR15s instead. I don't think you'd be operating them over 50% and it would give much better spread than a single unit covering 26".