hello all, we lost the last reef tank in hurricane IKE, and now getting to the rebuilding stage. we used old school metal halide and they worked fine. but ran up the elect bill and was noisy, with the onset of led though, i was thinking of switching over. we have a glass oceanic 120gal tank.(60x18x22 deep). will have live sand on bottom, live rock on that. fish, soft corals will be put in this time we think. fuge underneath also. heard and read so many different things about led's any help would be greatly appreciated
-
Welcome back Guest!MARSH is a private reefing group. Comments and suggestions are encouraged, but please keep them positive and constructive. Negative threads, posts, or attacks will be removed from view and reviewed by the staff. Continually disruptive, argumentative, or flagrant rule breakers may be suspended or banned.
lighting question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter gilbertj77080
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Users who are viewing this thread
If you don't have a budget get the get the new radions g4pro
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I dont see why a nice AquaticLife t5/led setup or a few ocean revives couldnt rock a 5ft tank. Radion xr15s in the AquaticLife would be the best of the best. The thing with leds is acclimation, these diodes are a focused beam that can really hurt your corals. Even with the revives most people dont go higher than 50% on white spectrum. Good luck! With a nice led setup you can grow nice sps!(and of course everything else) And dont underestimate leds, similar diodes are in lasers!
Last edited:
I’d wait till ecotech radion goes G5 and then jump all over that.
fogcutter
Supporting Member
Is there anyone out there that really thinks those Radions are worth $799?? That's a serious question btw. I'm getting ready to set up a tank...probably a 75g. Is there anything comparable performance-wise that's $300 or under? I'm looking for something that can be used with a controler.
I have 2 Hydra 26 HD they work great for me I have a lps and softies tank . $350
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When is the release date do you know? By next summer I should be all leds - I really like the apex controllability aspect of it.
They are cool and I like the lighting schedule, but I'm a chinese black box/t5 supplement guy myself.
Several of the black box leds have scheduling but I don't know of any off the top of my head that work directly with a controller. The black boxes can be modded to use the 10v signaling off of the APEX if your in to that. Me I just use my Apex to turn on the blue channel and then the white channel, but I come from metal halide.
The Radion's are like the Ferrari's of Aquarium lighting. Very powerful and definitely do the job, but there are plenty of lesser expensive options out there that will also work for you. Ai Hydras or Primes are less expensive per light and are equally powerful. Other options are Reef Breaders Photon v2 (what I am running), and down to a myriad of black box units.
You can also go with generic T5's fixtures with your own mix of bulbs from say Amazon to start with. Then upgrade to high end LED's later on when it comes time to replace the lamps, or modify them and add LED's to them for more advanced features and control-ability like sunrise/sunset and moon lighting etc.
You can also go with generic T5's fixtures with your own mix of bulbs from say Amazon to start with. Then upgrade to high end LED's later on when it comes time to replace the lamps, or modify them and add LED's to them for more advanced features and control-ability like sunrise/sunset and moon lighting etc.
It looks promising, but the pricing (what is available at this time) puts is inline with the Hydra26 HD's. Unless US retailers pick them up and sell them for significantly less than the Hydras, they will be a tough sell.
i_am_poor
Supporting Member
I’m also getting good results with Hydra 26HD
i_am_poor
Supporting Member
2 x Hydra 26HD would provide better coverage than a single Radion G4 Pro for $100 less.
i_am_poor
Supporting Member
Intense... lol
Cody
Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Or you could just get five or six black boxes, spam every inch of your tank, and still be able to control their schedule with an apex.
The Radion and AI stood out years ago because they were the only guys in town making pucks that would blend the variety of single source lights that are leds and make it seem like the colors were blending/eliminating disco effect. They always offered horrible spread. Flash forward to today, they offer the same horrible spread (even with the newer type of lenses) and charge way too much to roast a small area underneath the fixture. They never fixed the spread issue, they just made the pucks stronger so that they could roast the area directly under the unit more quickly. Their solution would be to just buy more units. The only perk to the $700 light fixture compared to a <$100 Chinese black box is the number of controllable channels versus a black box. To remedy that, I recommend doing the same as Steve mentioned and just supplement the leds with t5. Between the two, you can control the lights, intensity, spectrum, or damn near anything else that you want for a fraction of the cost.
Last edited:
