[AVN]

Hello, these questions are for anyone who has owned or used a Chihiros WRGB II (60 or 90) or similar models. If you have experience with different but comparable brands in this tier (functional, price, specs, etc.) I would also like your input as I am open to suggestions.

I have almost exclusively used T5ho ballasts to provide for my tanks' needs, so I have little to no experience with LED systems. I have personally used a Chihiros A601 over a betta tank, as well as an 18" Nicrew LED over a crayfish tank and both worked fine, however I kept no demanding plants there.

I do not mind having to mount the light on the tank or hanging it pendant. I like the controller for adjusting light values but it is a feature I could do without. I only want one fixture, and do not want it to interfere with the tank cover.

I am aiming for a target PAR of 70-80 at substrate, higher is fine, but that is the minimum. On their website, they claim to have 120+ in the center and 60 around the corners at 55cm.

I do plan on eventually assembling a Co2 system for the tank. The tank dimensions are 36.25"L x 18.25"W x 17"H

Now the questions,
1. Are those PAR readings accurate? Even if they aren't exact, are their ranges accurately advertised?
2. Will the beam spread on a single WRGB (60 or 90) be enough to cover the footprint of a 40B?
3. Will the WRGB be able to provide enough light when I install a Co2 system on the tank?

And lastly, if you think I should go with a similar fixture from another company, why do you think so?

Thank you for your input!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I also have a 40B and I went with the Twinstar 900S and love it. Definitely strong enough to grow all the demanding plants and it’s dimmable.

 

[stlhokie]

I have the WRBII 90 over a 20 long right now (way overkill, but waiting to upgrade to a 90p soon)

It is an extremely high powered light. I'm still trying to get it tuned in right (way stronger than my previous light and so I've got an algae bloom going on), but at full power it absolutely pushes those types of par readings, and plenty of light for CO2. I had the light at 55cm to start and had to raise it up by 10cm or so just to not have my tank completely covered in algae in a week.

I think the 90 would also be fine for a 40 breeder.

The programming on the app is actually a huge seller. You can fully program 24 hour cycles with complete ramping/dimming and can decide which LEDs you want to ramp at certain times. It can be a little finicky at times but once yo get everything set you don't need to mess with it anymore. The built in spectrums are also very balanced.

 

[jake21]

I have a wrgb 2 on my 29 - if you remind me later today i'll take a par reading at the bottom - i did order one for the 40B i have (which has a onf flat+ as i've been very happy with the 29's performance with this light - it had a fluval 3.0 - the 29 is low tech but the 40B is high-tech. There is a review in which the wrgb 2 is preferred to the twinstar s but the impact on the plants was equivalent (the wrgb2 has a ramp up built in timer and more control over spectrum). The same review was some what negative torwards the onf flat+ but did not state which model they used.

 

[jeffkrol]

To " properly" cover a 40b the height from light to water line should be about 10".
This means that the depth us 10 + 17 - substrate depth.

All approx and depends on how much light coverage you want immediately.

Assumes the beam angle on the Chihiros is 120 degrees.

 

[AVN]

I have a wrgb 2 on my 29 - if you remind me later today i'll take a par reading at the bottom...The same review was some what negative torwards the onf flat+ but did not state which model they used.

Any time that's convenient to you, please do. I'm on the fence and looking to place an order soon. I think I've seen the video you speak of, as I've seen a lot of review and comparison videos on these popular lights.

To " properly" cover a 40b the height from light to water line should be about 10".
This means that the depth us 10 + 17 - substrate depth.

All approx and depends on how much light coverage you want immediately.

Assumes the beam angle on the Chihiros is 120 degrees.

Thank you! For some reason, that information isn't listed (or maybe I'm blind) and it's very helpful to me. 120° spread seems to be the optimal angle from what Google says. I can definitely mount the light 8-10" off the tank.

 

[jeffkrol]

Any time that's convenient to you, please do. I'm on the fence and looking to place an order soon. I think I've seen the video you speak of, as I've seen a lot of review and comparison videos on these popular lights.



Thank you! For some reason, that information isn't listed (or maybe I'm blind) and it's very helpful to me. 120° spread seems to be the optimal angle from what Google says. I can definitely mount the light 8-10" off the tank.

Raising it will even the coverage..at the cost of some par.

 

[jake21]

Ok take this with a grain of salt - the par meetering was around 73 an inch off the substrate (the sensor is an inch high so the bottom was on the substrate. The light is on approx 70% (one channel is 80% the other two 60%) and this is through the dirty glass lid. My substrate is approx 3 inches high and the tank is 18 inches high so that put the depth at aruond 15 (I added an inch to take into account the light height above the lid - so 2 inch in air and 13 inch in water (the water line is almost an inch below the lid).