Echotech radions gen 4 pros or AI hydra 52 hds

[Bml1024]

Well I'm at the last and finally step and I am torn between which lights to go with. My tank is 180 gallon reef tank that will be housing fish, and tons of SPS, LPS, hard corals and nems. I can't decide which lights to choose though and wanted to get an order placed ASAP on them. Please help me lead in the right direction with this decision. I posted a picture of my tank below as well.

 

[deaclauderdale]

Gen4 Radions.

 

[Highgrade]

Gen4 for sure.

 

[johanngh1977]

Kessil ap700 plus t5 retrofit

 

[Bml1024]

Come on guys help me out here I'm stuck

 

[deaclauderdale]

The new G4's offer a wonderful spread, and there are several tanks on here with G4's that grow some really nice sps.

 

[Bml1024]

They won't grow lps, hard corals or nems?

 

[deaclauderdale]

Sure they will, they'll grown everything. May have to tone them down a bit though for certain LPS.

 

[Water Dog]

How much is your budget? If budget isn't an issue, I'd go with at least 4 of either fixture mounted perpendicularly to the tank with the pucks of each fixture oriented from front to back. That will go a long way towards reducing shadows on a 24" wide tank.

 

[Bml1024]

Would 3 be enough? As I have 2 braces on the tank that will get in the way of the 4th one being added. Also how what hanging kit do you suggest for them?

 

[Water Dog]

I suppose you could do 3, but if you did do 3 and not 4, you'd be setting the fixtures up horizontally to the tank with the pucks of each fixture going from side to side, leading to a lot of fore to aft shadowing for a 24" wide tank. Is it possible, with proper spacing to do 2 fixtures perpendicularly in the middle section and one fixture each horizontally on the outer 2 sections? That way, you could keep LPS and other lower light corals on the ends of the tank where shadowing isn't as big a concern.

As far as mounting options, are you using a canopy or open top? If open top, I think the factory RMS or the Hydra equivalents work well and would look nice.

 

[Oldreefer44]

I decided to go with 2 Orphek Atlantics on my similar setup. Able to grow Acro's on the bottom of the tank and only have to deal with 2 fixtures.

 

[Water Dog]

Definitely better coverage and shadow reduction than puck style fixtures for sure.

 

[Bml1024]

So you're saying the orphecks are better than the radions?

 

[Water Dog]

No not necessarily. It's the nature of puck style lighting. The less point sources of light (pucks) the more issues with shadowing. Hence the need for more fixtures then claimed by the manufacturers. However, with puck style fixtures, because the diodes are closer together, the color blending is better.

With the Orphek, the individual diodes are spread over the entire fixture for less shadowing, but color blending is poorer leading to the oft heard of disco ball effect.

Not necessarily saying one is better than the other... it's a trade off. That's why you see such a resurgenc in T5 lighting for many SPS keepers, speccifically the ATI T5 fixtures or LED with T5 supplementation.

 

[GoVols]

I'm a Kessil reefer but if I went with the latest it would have to be the GHL mitra's 7's.
https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/usa/product/mitras-lx-7206-black-usacnd/

 

[Water Dog]

GHL LX7's 6 pucks per fixture > Ecotech's Radion XR30's 2 pucks per fixture IMO.

 

[GoVols]

GHL LX7's 6 pucks per fixture > Ecotech's Radion XR30's 2 pucks per fixture IMO.

If your going by pucks then OP needs to import some Philips "Coral Care's"

 

[GoVols]

Not necessarily saying one is better than the other... it's a trade off. That's why you see such a resurgenc in T5 lighting for many SPS keepers, speccifically the ATI T5 fixtures or LED with T5 supplementation.

+1
That's why I run a t5/led hybird.

 

[Water Dog]

I'm currently have 2 Nanobox LED pucks retrofitted into my Biocube hood. I bought two spare pucks and will be retrofitting a total of 4 pucks into my 36" TEK Elite T5 fixture for a killer LED/T5 setup for my next upgrade.