[Marc_G]

Hi everyone,

A couple months ago I bought the Chihiros WRGB2 Pro 120cm lights from Aqua Rocks Colorado. I bought that one as a result of this thread requesting a comparison between the WRGB2 and the Vivid2.

Chihiros RGB Vivid II versus Chihiros WRGB II

Hi folks, I'm working on plans for the restart of my 48" wide 90 gallon tank. Main thread is here: https://www.plantedtank.net/threads/back-after-15-years-lighting-and-stand-hood-for-90-gallon-tank.1323121/ But, I've only recently come to the understanding that there are two different Chihiros...

www.plantedtank.net

Who knew there was a new PRO version in the offing with a new white channel to go with the RGBs! Fortunately for me, the participants there turned me on to the Pro, and as soon as the first shipment arrived, I had my lights. Time passed, and my tank is almost ready for plants, having just finished cycling.

Although the new Pro is mentioned here and there I figured it would be good to have a thread dedicated to this model.

I really like it. I haven't planted yet so I can't say I've dialed it in yet. Here it is at 20% power.

My only gripes so far are:

1. The stands on the side. As I mentioned in the other thread, they really aren't designed for wide rimmed tanks. Very crappy implementation:

I've bought the hanging kit and may very well switch to hanging mode.

2. The app... I have only occasionally had trouble connecting to the lights with my phone, but I haven't figured out if
there's a way to change the options on the main page:

I'm never going to use "Green" or "Red" but I'd love to add some of my own presets there. I wonder where the "Buce" setting is from?

Is there some way to change those buttons?

I will post back here regularly as I explore the lights now that I'm close to planing!

 

[ddiomede]

What's the width of your tank's rim? If you want I can measure the UNS hanging hit I have to see how wide of a rim it'll work with.

 

[ak7v]

Thank you for posting this. I've been curious to see how these lights work with rimmed tanks. I am running 2x Fluval Plant 3.0 lights, but one of these would have probably cost less and might be better. I'll follow your progress with interest!

 

[Marc_G]

What's the width of your tank's rim? If you want I can measure the UNS hanging hit I have to see how wide of a rim it'll work with.

Thanks! The top part of the rim is 1" (or fractionally under 1" perhaps), and with the lower part of the rim, just under 1.5".

Curious about the UNS kit; also considering a curling hang or hanger mounts from the wall. There's a big duct behind the wall so drilling into the wall poses some challenges.

Here are a couple laughable attempts at photographing rim measurements for my tank.

Oh one more note:

My wood is still leaching tannins into the tank water at a prodigious rate despite soaking for a month and being bleached. So, pictures I take that aren't right after a massive water change will look red/yellowish. No fault of the lights!

 

[Virtus]

Thank you for posting this. I've been curious to see how these lights work with rimmed tanks. I am running 2x Fluval Plant 3.0 lights, but one of these would have probably cost less and might be better. I'll follow your progress with interest!

Did you go with two Fluvals from the start or getthe second after finding one to not be enough?

 

[ddiomede]

Thanks! The top part of the rim is 1" (or fractionally under 1" perhaps), and with the lower part of the rim, just under 1.5".

Curious about the UNS kit; also considering a curling hang or hanger mounts from the wall. There's a big duct behind the wall so drilling into the wall poses some challenges.

Unfortunately the UNS kit that mounts onto the rim will only fit 5/8".

They do sell another hanging kit that mounts to the stand I believe. That could be another option for you if you don't want to DIY something.

 

[ak7v]

Did you go with two Fluvals from the start or getthe second after finding one to not be enough?

I had one 48" Fluval and one shorter 36" BuildMyLED fixture to start. I thought this was enough light, but I didn't like the 36" fixture on a 48" tank. So I found a deal on a second Fluval 3.0 48" fixture here and bought it. I run both at 100% and I think it's plenty of light.

I used the Photone app on my iPhone to measure PAR of one Fluval 3.0 at 17 inches, through air. I got around 100-105. The app is just an app, not calibrated by me, so I don't know how accurate that is. I also don't know what knockdown to apply for PAR through water. But it gave me confidence that with two of these lights, I'm probably at least 100 where they overlap.

One Fluval should be enough light for most plants right under the light, but in my 75 gallon tank, it wouldn't light up from back to front evenly. I also want to try demanding plants and growing a carpet, so I figured two should give me enough light and the control to bring it down if I need.

 

[Marc_G]

Unfortunately the UNS kit that mounts onto the rim will only fit 5/8".

They do sell another hanging kit that mounts to the stand I believe. That could be another option for you if you don't want to DIY something.

It's no worry. I've got the hanging kit from Chihiros, here is a picture of the bits:

The question for me if I hang it is: do I want to sink lag screws into the ceiling joists, and are the joists positioned conveniently? And: Would I rather put hanger mounts on the wall to hang from?

Also, I've got a bit of a damned fool idea to angle the lights up in the back, so as to shine more light to the back of the tank. Doing this might take some retrofit, and frankly might be easier to perform just by me reworking the rim mounts instead of hanging the thing.

Also, I should point out member @RazzVegas did a great build post of some shades for these lights, here! I'm considering following his lead on this.

 

[ddiomede]

It's no worry. I've got the hanging kit from Chihiros, here is a picture of the bits:

View attachment 1042430

The question for me if I hang it is: do I want to sink lag screws into the ceiling joists, and are the joists positioned conveniently? And: Would I rather put hanger mounts on the wall to hang from?

Also, I've got a bit of a damned fool idea to angle the lights up in the back, so as to shine more light to the back of the tank. Doing this might take some retrofit, and frankly might be easier to perform just by me reworking the rim mounts instead of hanging the thing.

Also, I should point out member @RazzVegas did a great build post of some shades for these lights, here! I'm considering following his lead on this.

It might not be a bad idea to check out what @minorhero and @EmotionalFescue did for their lights. I was going to choose one of their solutions but decided to hit the easy button with the UNS brackets.

 

[Kitsune]

I was lucky to get a WRGB 2 pro here in Germany, even though it's not officially out yet.

I decided for the 60, even though I have an 80cm tank, since I like the "light smaller than the tank"-look and a bit more shadowy areas on the sides.
It's a bit too shadowy for now, but I plan to hang it anyways. 2 inches higher than it is now should be absolutely perfect.
The power should be enough for anything, even if it's 2 inches higher than the standard mount.

However, the hanging kit is impossible to get here for now. Chihiros advised I should order it from China.

The light quality is excellent. The colors look so much better than with the A801.

 

[jellopuddinpop]

It's no worry. I've got the hanging kit from Chihiros, here is a picture of the bits:

View attachment 1042430

The question for me if I hang it is: do I want to sink lag screws into the ceiling joists, and are the joists positioned conveniently? And: Would I rather put hanger mounts on the wall to hang from?

Also, I've got a bit of a damned fool idea to angle the lights up in the back, so as to shine more light to the back of the tank. Doing this might take some retrofit, and frankly might be easier to perform just by me reworking the rim mounts instead of hanging the thing.

Also, I should point out member @RazzVegas did a great build post of some shades for these lights, here! I'm considering following his lead on this.

I wouldn't rely on the ceiling joists being in the right spot. Odds of them being perfect are slim to none. Find a nice piece of hardwood the length of the tank, stain or paint that and screw it to the ceiling, then hang the lights on there.

 

[Marc_G]

My tank is now planted, with starter plants and a few fish.

Will be trying this profile:

 

[RazzVegas]

Its been a couple months now since I replaced my fluval 3.0 with the wrgb 2 pro. Much better colors on my plants!

 

[ak7v]

Its been a couple months now since I replaced my fluval 3.0 with the wrgb 2 pro. Much better colors on my plants! View attachment 1043032 View attachment 1043033

Looks great. What size tank is that and are you using one light fixture or two? How is the light mounted?

 

[RazzVegas]

Looks great. What size tank is that and are you using one light fixture or two? How is the light mounted?

Its a 135G. Using 2 90cm pro. Just using the stand it came with. Probably about 6" above the water

 

[LidijaPN]

I realize this is probably a dumb question, but is there a benefit to having a light so strong you only run it at 20%?

 

[MoreliaViridis]

I realize this is probably a dumb question, but is there a benefit to having a light so strong you only run it at 20%?

For temporary use(algae outbreak or new tank) its useful.
If you blast light when things are not stable it will quickly overthrow everything.

If the spectrum of full-blast light is sub-par (less red/blue or too much yellow or green etc etc) then it needs to be adjusted to good spectrum via decreasing certain wavelengths so its waste of money.....in a prolonged use.

 

[Marc_G]

I realize this is probably a dumb question, but is there a benefit to having a light so strong you only run it at 20%?

I like that it gives me lots of options. I don't use mine near 100% (yet) but I can see I might move to a shorter, more intense photoperiod. And as MoreliaViridis said, the ability to tweak up and down the individual channels is really cool. Since I have a tank that's 24" deep, I will probably be increasing the intensity of at least some of my channels.

And, maybe one day I will turn it into a tanning bed...

 

[Virtus]

I realize this is probably a dumb question, but is there a benefit to having a light so strong you only run it at 20%?

 

[rzn7z7]

I realize this is probably a dumb question, but is there a benefit to having a light so strong you only run it at 20%?

Not a dumb question at all....IMO you can read all the reviews available re. a light but until it's installed on your tank and it's up/running it's a bit hit or miss, and I'd rather have a light that has power to spare than one that's under-powered