The big argument for using LED reef lights was energy savings/long term cost savings. Is that still true? The new Radions are up to 205 watts and $840 each. For my 6 foot tank, I would need 4 units for a total cost of $3,360! In comparison, my 60” 8 bulb ATI Sunpower fixture costs $673 and another $200 for a set of bulbs. I could use the ATI fixture (replacing bulbs every year) for over 13 years before exceeding the price of the Radion fixtures. Comparing energy, my ATI fixture uses 640 watts while the Radions would use the same at 78%. I don’t see much cost savings energy wise. While I agree the Radions look nice, what am I missing? Are these lights really worth the money?
G5 Radion Lights - Are They Worth the Price?
- Thread starter ddrueckh
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jlts21
Well-Known Member
Why would you need 4? 2 ran parallel should suffice, maybe 3. I have never understood why BRS and others mount lights perpendicular. The front to back spread is not going to be that much less if you mount them parallel. The lights are rectangle and so is your tank, mount em the same way But back to your original question, were the G4’s worth the price before the G5’s came out? I’d say yes, and the G5’s are better than the G4’s.
IronVulture
Valuable Member
T5 will grow coral but you will never get the pop that leds provide and those g5 blues look amazing. I am surprised ecotech isn’t charging at least 1k for those lights.
Shameless_Dood
Active Member
I guess we'll see. I ordered 2 this morning. I was already going order some Gen 4's this week and these came out.
They are not cheap for sure, however I was pleasantly surprised they weren't considerably more than the Gen 4.
They are not cheap for sure, however I was pleasantly surprised they weren't considerably more than the Gen 4.
BRS is having an amazing sale on the g4 pros with free diffusers.
Viking_Reefing
Valuable Member
You could go the MH/T5 route + supplement with some led-strips for that extra pop and should get something that’s easily as good in terms of coral health and growth if not better...but who knows, these bad boys might just be the best thing ever and blow everything out of the water.
Shameless_Dood
Active Member
So that's part of the reason I am changing. I have MH / T5 now and just tired of dealing with the heat which most of the time was manageable with a fan and kicking the AC down a little bit, but when we get those "in-between" temperature days where the AC doesn't run as much, the temperature swing is just a little too much for my liking.
In high energy cost states like California, switching to LEDs was a major money saver for me, esp. after you factor in the cost of AC, fans, chilling, etc.
I wouldn't waste money on the G4's. I'd personally put in the extra money and get the G5's.
As a long time radion user, I feel the Gap is too large between the G4 and G5. I wouldn't purchase a G4 just to save a couple hundred. This isn't like a G3 to G4 where we have a minor upgrade.
piranhaman00
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The Xr30s on brs already sold out lol
To buy them, sure, but don’t think it’s worth to upgrade from G4 Pros. Given I am running my G4’s at 60% on the SPS AB+ program, I would not benefit from the output increase of the G5. Using diffusers, the only difference would be more even par I think.
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hyprc
Well-Known Member
Just looks. If you frag the same colony and place one frag under LED and one under T5, I'd bet good money the frag that head up under T5 would display significantly more vibrant and rich color when viewed under the same LED as the LED-grown frag. In short, T5 will produce the more colorful/vibrant coral but LED will show it off better...
As for ROI, I'd love to know how many Radion fixtures are still kicking around after 10 years, much less 13...
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