LED Lights - AI Hydra 32 vs Radion XR15

DarkReefer

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So with a new tank sitting in my garage I need to start planning out the equipment. (Tank size is 1800x700x600mm (LxWxH) or 5.9' x 2.3' x 2' I think it works outroughly.
The new tank will ideally be a bit of a mixed reef.
My current tank is using a single AI Hydra 32HD which is at least 3 years old now.

Originally my thoughts were to change over to Radion's with the new tank, 4x XR15's.
My reasoning behind this included;
- My existing Hydra has got melted lenses which I believe is a common issue. Not sure when this happened but noticed it a couple times over the past 2 years and I don't really want to be dealing with that type of thing with the new tank, especially when buying new.
- Felt like trying out something new and different (to me) that seemed to be a popular choice by others with successful tanks.
- The mount that came with the hydra has never been particularly great and I had to cut a small piece of plastic/wood to allow it to grip the tank with little movement because it wouldn't clamp tight enough to the glass or something.

With the cost being over 3K AUD new for a set of 4 G6s + RMS it's got me wondering whether I should just buy some new lenses for the Hydra and just buy 3x new Hydra's + HMS which would probably save me a bunch initially, but then I feel like I'd be constantly worried about the melting thing and potentially have regrets. I have considered buying 2nd hand as well to save some costs, but when the difference in prices of what some people ask isn't that much different from buying new it makes me think why bother?

I'm also interested in checking out the radion app to see how much easier better/worse it is than the AI app and I know the radion's have some presets like the AB+ that a lot of people use successfully and I don't think AI really have that readily available on the app, you have to go and find ones to download from the internet etc.

If I do end up going with the XR15's I'm still a little unsure if I go with Blue or Pro but that's another thing.


Does anyone else have any advice/input on one or the other, why I should go one way or the other or things I should consider here?

Thanks in advance!
 
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DarkReefer

DarkReefer

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That part about the radions is the only thing that really bugs me so far, the fact you have to choose.

But paying 600+ for a light, you shouldn't have to worry about a lens melting either...
 

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