Ecotech Radion G5 Speculation

[gcarroll]

When you have the money or fame that those people have in order to get 1 radion per 1sq/ft then sure radions are amazing. Rather than spending more money on more radions I added t5 to my setup.

WWC's 900g display has 12 radions. Yes that is a lot, however with a tank foot print of 12' x 4', that is one for every 4 sq/ft. Yes they also have T5 but only 6 - 4' bulbs for the entire tank. Considering that all of the lights are mounted 24" above the water's surface, it just goes to show how little light is required from these fixtures for amazing results.

 

[Carlos Danger]

The gen 4's pack a punch. Even at 24" it just spreads the light better and allows better dispurtion at the water level. They're definitely tried and true. I'm sure when the 5's come out wi-fi will be the obvious addition.

 

[Reefer525XL]

WWC's 900g display has 12 radions. Yes that is a lot, however with a tank foot print of 12' x 4', that is one for every 4 sq/ft. Yes they also have T5 but only 6 - 4' bulbs for the entire tank. Considering that all of the lights are mounted 24" above the water's surface, it just goes to show how little light is required from these fixtures for amazing results.

Keep in mind that tank was not setup with with Radions from day 1. That 900g tank had 6x 250w MH, 14x 80w T5's and 6x Reef Brites XHO's. The switch to Radions was at the end of 2016. So keep that in mind. The way that tank looks today is not the result of Radions. Its the results of their previous light setup plus everything else that goes into getting corals to grow.

 

[Reefcowboy]

Keep in mind that tank was not setup with with Radions from day 1. That 900g tank had 6x 250w MH, 14x 80w T5's and 6x Reef Brites XHO's. The switch to Radions was at the end of 2016. So keep that in mind. The way that tank looks today is not the result of Radions. Its the results of their previous light setup plus everything else that goes into getting corals to grow.

Reefer525xl,


Changing subject a bit, how do you like the powermodule?

 

[Reefer525XL]

Reefer525xl,
Changing subject a bit, how do you like the powermodule?

No longer have it. Went from it to 3x G4's was not pleased so went to this. Best of all worlds


Reefer 525XL -5-17-2017-3 by Reefer525XL, on Flickr

 

[Reefcowboy]

No longer have it. Went from it to 3x G4's was not pleased so went to this. Best of all worlds


Reefer 525XL -5-17-2017-3 by Reefer525XL, on Flickr

Wow. You aint kidding when you say best of the worlds there! Really cant go wrong!

Do you mind elaborating on the experiences you had? I remember you were having issues with the leds of the powermodule, was that the reason you parted with it? With the G4's what did you not like about them?

I ask because im either going with the powemodule or the G4's...thanks and sorry to crash the thread everyone

 

[gcarroll]

No longer have it. Went from it to 3x G4's was not pleased so went to this. Best of all worlds


Reefer 525XL -5-17-2017-3 by Reefer525XL, on Flickr

Nice! Spectra with Reefbrites! How long have you been running this?

 

[Reefer525XL]

Nice! Spectra with Reefbrites! How long have you been running this?

Just a week... So far loving it

 

[Reefer525XL]

Wow. You aint kidding when you say best of the worlds there! Really cant go wrong!

Do you mind elaborating on the experiences you had? I remember you were having issues with the leds of the powermodule, was that the reason you parted with it? With the G4's what did you not like about them?

I ask because im either going with the powemodule or the G4's...thanks and sorry to crash the thread everyone

Yea no problem here you go.

The Powermodule I got rid of because it was a bit too much light for my tank. My tank is 22.6" front to back and the 8 bulb powermodule is 21" front to back so almost as wide as the tank. I was getting a lit of light spill over the front glass and on the back it was just lighting the wall and overflow. So essentially I was really getting the most light from the 4 bulbs in the center of the fixture. I really should have gotten the 4 bulb version but I went a little overboard with it and got the 8 bulb. The issue I had with the LED's it was software related and ATI took care of it right away. The one thing I did not like was that the controller did not always saved the time when unplugged/power outage.

As for the Radions I decided to give them a shot since it would cost me about the same as getting the 60" 4 bulb powermodule. I got 3 xr30w pro g4 and initially it seemed like it was enough light but after really looking at all the frags I have scattered all over the rock work I realized that the amount of shadowing was just too much for my liking. It would only get worse as the frags grew. I'd say I probably needed minimum 4 Radions to get rid of the shadows, maybe even 5 once the frags got bigger. I did not want to invest into 1 or 2 more Radions just to see if I was right so I opted out for the Giesemann Spectra with Reef Brite XHO strips.

Don't get me wrong. Both the Radions and Powermodule are great lights and I've seen beautiful tanks with both and even cheaper fixtures.

 

[revhtree]

WWC's 900g display has 12 radions. Yes that is a lot, however with a tank foot print of 12' x 4', that is one for every 4 sq/ft. Yes they also have T5 but only 6 - 4' bulbs for the entire tank. Considering that all of the lights are mounted 24" above the water's surface, it just goes to show how little light is required from these fixtures for amazing results.

To be a believer all you have to do is walk into the WWC store. WWC is in the business of growing corals and I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that Victor and Lou are NOT going to put lights above their corals that don't do the job. The livelyhood of their families and employees rest under Radion G4's.

That doesn't say that other lights wouldn't do the job just as well because we know that's not the case. But it speaks volumes for EcoTech Marine.

 

[reefwiser]

Did they switch out to G4's? I know when they first set up the farm they had G3's. Because it was last year right before the G4 announcement. An everyone was making comments about how they had the old G3 lights.

 

[revhtree]

Did they switch out to G4's? I know when they first set up the farm they had G3's. Because it was last year right before the G4 announcement. An everyone was making comments about how they had the old G3 lights.

You are correct. I just asked Vic to confirm. They are using some G4 in the store as I asked specifically while I was there. But it proves my point even further. Still using an older model Radion, WWC believes in them.

 

[WWC]

We are currently using gen 3 and 4 and couldn't be happier with them here at our facilities.

 

[WWC]

Forget looking at the Phillips fixture. Anyone who has seen the display tanks at World Wide Corals, Sanjay Joshi, and Mike Paletta will agree, the product is great as it sits and is a proven performer. AI has a similar design and David Saxby and Stuart Bertram have proved to have amazing results with them as well. If you are not successful with the Radions, don't blame them. The problem is not the light, but the user.

Amen

 

[gcarroll]

Just a week... So far loving it

So clearly you are evaluating it based on the results of your previous light setup! I mean, if the light on the WWC 900g cannot be evaluated after 5 months....

What I am saying is that they are having excellent results. If you were not having similar results, it has absolutely noting to do with the light. The Radion has nothing to prove. It is proven! Is it more proven than a Spectra?

 

[Reefer525XL]

So clearly you are evaluating it based on the results of your previous light setup! I mean, if the light on the WWC 900g cannot be evaluated after 5 months....

What I am saying is that they are having excellent results. If you were not having similar results, it has absolutely noting to do with the light. The Radion has nothing to prove. It is proven! Is it more proven than a Spectra?

My tank is less than 3 months old so there is very little to evaluate. Specially when this is the third light change. So when I said "Im loving it" that was about the color spectrum of all 3 lights and the over all look of the tank. Never said anything about my corals. I also never said my current setup is the only one that works and everything else sucks.

What I previously said about the 900g is that it did not get to the point it is today with Radions. So its misleading to say "Hey look at WWC 900g, it has Radions and looks spectacular" If the tank had started out from day one with Radions then the above statement would not be misleading.

 

[Water Dog]

WWC's 900g display has 12 radions. Yes that is a lot, however with a tank foot print of 12' x 4', that is one for every 4 sq/ft. Yes they also have T5 but only 6 - 4' bulbs for the entire tank. Considering that all of the lights are mounted 24" above the water's surface, it just goes to show how little light is required from these fixtures for amazing results.

As for the Radions I decided to give them a shot since it would cost me about the same as getting the 60" 4 bulb powermodule. I got 3 xr30w pro g4 and initially it seemed like it was enough light but after really looking at all the frags I have scattered all over the rock work I realized that the amount of shadowing was just too much for my liking. It would only get worse as the frags grew. I'd say I probably needed minimum 4 Radions to get rid of the shadows, maybe even 5 once the frags got bigger. I did not want to invest into 1 or 2 more Radions just to see if I was right so I opted out for the Giesemann Spectra with Reef Brite XHO strips.

No question, Radions are proven to work IF you have enough of them. But clearly, even a big player like WWC uses T5 to supplement to make up for the shortcomings that are present in all LED fixtures, shadowing. Radions aren't immune to this either.

 

[revhtree]

My tank is less than 3 months old so there is very little to evaluate. Specially when this is the third light change. So when I said "Im loving it" that was about the color spectrum of all 3 lights and the over all look of the tank. Never said anything about my corals. I also never said my current setup is the only one that works and everything else sucks.

What I previously said about the 900g is that it did not get to the point it is today with Radions. So its misleading to say "Hey look at WWC 900g, it has Radions and looks spectacular" If the tank had started out from day one with Radions then the above statement would not be misleading.

Good point about the 900g but they have so many other tanks that have been on Radions longer than even the 900g.

 

[Reefer525XL]

Good point about the 900g but they have so many other tanks that have been on Radions longer than even the 900g.

I am aware of that and I know Radions can grow corals, never said they couldn't. I was just trying to make sure other people who read this thread didn't think the 900 started out with Radions and got to the point it is today with only Radions. After all it still has T5's

 

[Reefer525XL]

No question, Radions are proven to work IF you have enough of them. But clearly, even a big player like WWC uses T5 to supplement to make up for the shortcomings that are present in all LED fixtures, shadowing. Radions aren't immune to this either.

Correct