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Reef LED light
- Thread starter Oroborous
- Start date
When in doubt about a fair price for used equipment I always go to Reef2reef's dry goods forum and search for the item to get an idea of what other have paid for it. For lights just be sure to also note how old they are, how much they have been in use, and look up track record for longevity.
I see some XR30 gen 2 pro selling for around the 200-250 a unit shipped so that price seems reasonable to me. The gen3 pros I see for 300-350 range. Also factor in the mounting gear you may need. From my understanding (and having never owed a radion haha), Radions also have a solid track record for lasting a long time but even if the actual LEDs can last for well over a decade, the rest of the components in the light might not. The Pro has a few more LEDs on it to affect the spectrum and subsequent par capabilities. You can probably find some numbers somewhere for any gen model. I think if you are going for a used Radion there is no reason to not just go for the Pro.
I personally decided to buy new pair of Hydra32HDs for my 40B recently just because I have always had cruddy luck buying used lights. Needless to say, one of the pucks on one of my new lights was emitting greenish light from the blue channel and so AI is sending me a replacement. Had this been a used Hydra26 or something and I had not noticed this at purchasing I would be out of luck and either stuck with it or had to pawn it off at a loss. I know tons of people who have great success with used lights but I don't think I am one of those haha.
I would advise you to read about different lights and what they are intended to be able to grow in what tank setting. See what other people with your tank size have done with what lights (and everything else while you're at it). Also BRS has a bunch of really good videos describing the capabilities of many of the lights in the hobby. They also have a ton of very easy to watch videos of background information on reef keeping in general. Chemistry, coral, fish, equipment, etc... You could spend hours and hours.. days even weeks just watching BRS TV haha. And don't forget cheaper options like blackboxes.
I see some XR30 gen 2 pro selling for around the 200-250 a unit shipped so that price seems reasonable to me. The gen3 pros I see for 300-350 range. Also factor in the mounting gear you may need. From my understanding (and having never owed a radion haha), Radions also have a solid track record for lasting a long time but even if the actual LEDs can last for well over a decade, the rest of the components in the light might not. The Pro has a few more LEDs on it to affect the spectrum and subsequent par capabilities. You can probably find some numbers somewhere for any gen model. I think if you are going for a used Radion there is no reason to not just go for the Pro.
I personally decided to buy new pair of Hydra32HDs for my 40B recently just because I have always had cruddy luck buying used lights. Needless to say, one of the pucks on one of my new lights was emitting greenish light from the blue channel and so AI is sending me a replacement. Had this been a used Hydra26 or something and I had not noticed this at purchasing I would be out of luck and either stuck with it or had to pawn it off at a loss. I know tons of people who have great success with used lights but I don't think I am one of those haha.
I would advise you to read about different lights and what they are intended to be able to grow in what tank setting. See what other people with your tank size have done with what lights (and everything else while you're at it). Also BRS has a bunch of really good videos describing the capabilities of many of the lights in the hobby. They also have a ton of very easy to watch videos of background information on reef keeping in general. Chemistry, coral, fish, equipment, etc... You could spend hours and hours.. days even weeks just watching BRS TV haha. And don't forget cheaper options like blackboxes.