Quick Review - Radion Diffusers

Martyd

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I like mine too. It does a good job of blending the light and definitely reduces, if not eliminates hot spots. It’s a lot of money for what amounts to a plastic light filter (especially when you have multiple lights), but it is well designed and you do need to take into consideration the R&D cost.

All things considered, I’m very happy with it.

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SaltMan

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Thank you for the review. I have them on my XR15 Gen4 Pro's and I love them! I didn't realize how much shimmer I had going on in my tank but these definitely smooth the light out nicely. Two thoughts, I can see a thin white line of the plastic underneath where the diffuser mounts together and second, these lights should come standard with this option.
+1 for the diffuser
 

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I’m running three XR15s with diffusers on a 36”x24”x18” tank @ 100% intensity. I was at 75% intensity pre diffusers.
My take is that the diffusers are great and does what everyone has said but my one caution is it isn’t for everyone, specifically those that are using minimal fixtures for maximum coverage.
 

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I bought my radion with diffuser. I figured paying 10% more is worth. I care more about the quality (distribution, spectrum) of the light than quantity (PAR).

Also it's pretty well made gadget. Although the real function piece is just a thin plastic, the new light cover, and magentic attached panel is really some quality of life improvment. I know I won't be able to make something as nice and functional. I can save cost of a dinner or two by taping a piece of sheet (plastic) to the light, and make it look like piece of sh1t ...
 

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Man, you and greg caroll are making me think hard to part away with my beloved Geisemann halides and go all radions with diffusers.
Scared of how the acros will take the transition though !


Ab, be very careful with this ... I transitioned from MH (1400W) to LED a few years back ... sps did not like it despite me taking a very 'scientific' approach with light metering, etc. I have since upgraded the LEDs to 4 x GHL Mitras 6200 HD fittings which are a great improvement but still not getting the total effect of my MHs. I will likely go back to a mix of 250W MH and Mitras LEDs in the future once I have undone the disruption to my sps ... it is taking me years as this has been going on for 4 years already.

Whilst LED has come such a long way since it was first introduced, I am convinced that if you can afford to run with the MH, stay with it.
 

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Ab, be very careful with this ... I transitioned from MH (1400W) to LED a few years back ... sps did not like it despite me taking a very 'scientific' approach with light metering, etc. I have since upgraded the LEDs to 4 x GHL Mitras 6200 HD fittings which are a great improvement but still not getting the total effect of my MHs. I will likely go back to a mix of 250W MH and Mitras LEDs in the future once I have undone the disruption to my sps ... it is taking me years as this has been going on for 4 years already.

Whilst LED has come such a long way since it was first introduced, I am convinced that if you can afford to run with the MH, stay with it.

I'm curious if sps will do the same when grow up under LED and transition to HM or T5. It may just like people grow up with Western food, then later moved to Asian food only diet, not all will enjoy, despite both can provide enough calories.
 
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Point was it's best "under center". It does not measure probably more than a 45 degree cone.
apex/Apogee being corrected for off axis light will post higher PAR #'s (theoretically) because it gathering all light in a approx 130 (150 whatever.. 180 is optimistic)degrees off parallel.
You point it towards a light source and your values jump..moreso than an Apogee/Li-Cor

=seneye_light_monitor_device_without_cosine_correction.png

Seneye actually works better than it should.. ;)
I have a second SQ 520 on its way (first one would not fire up - likely the USB cord) and should be able to fit my Apex Par Rock thing. The lack of stability effecting that Seneye is serious and as you pointed out the 45 deg cone is obviously an issue. Ill do the measurement gambit again once the SQ comes in.
 
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I like mine too. It does a good job of blending the light and definitely reduces, if not eliminates hot spots. It’s a lot of money for what amounts to a plastic light filter (especially when you have multiple lights), but it is well designed and you do need to take into consideration the R&D cost.

All things considered, I’m very happy with it.

42659dce62648c560f5a8c98936321ba.heic


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Nice looking rig. What are those mounted to?
 
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Following I think I maybe should have gotten these lights
Man anything Giesemann makes it going to work just fine. Plus that light it basically a large heat sink - certainly will help with the longevity of the LEDs. The LEDs all appear hit the same spectrums and the G4Pros, wifi, blue tooth, sexy profile. Cant ask for much more than that. It also looks like they are constructed like my Specra in that the you could remove the endcaps and try a sheet of diffuser if you wanted to. Certainly it could be retrofitted somehow. I like those lights!
 
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might as well go with T5s if using this diffuser on leds..pretty much same effect for the most part...minus the yearly bulb change with T5s
Maybe - the lights are certainly more blended and have a t5-ish look about them but there is still a pretty big LED UV pop that you need a couple of true actinic bulbs to get from t5s. Not a problem for me as I run a couple of actinic bulbs in my t5 rig ;). I stuck 6 "test subjects" under them @ about 350 par yesterday (added to the tank several days ago, just moved them up) so it will be interesting to see how the do. T5s and MH have always produced great results for me so I'm inclined to favor them though Ive been fiddling with LEDs for several years now. Unfortunately the tank the Radions are on crashed during hurricane Irma just as I was starting to see good growth.

Crappy blue sell phone pic... sorry.
IMG_20180214_161229.jpg
 

petemichelle

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Sorry Man, didn't pay enough attention and missed the 80% - Ill do that when I get back to work i the morning. With respect to 100%.

10" below the surface
Centered on G4Pro - lengthwise orientation
No diffuser
All lights on
cranked.jpg

Crazy stuff here

10" below the surface
Centered on G4Pro - lengthwise orientation
No diffuser
One light on
cranked2.jpg

Still a wacky amount of light @ 10"

10" below the surface
Centered on G4Pro - lengthwise orientation
With diffuser

One light on
cranked3.jpg

Looks like a 29% difference but still more light than most corals can use.

10" below the surface
Off Centered on G4Pro @ 9.5" - lengthwise orientation.
With diffuser
One light on
falloff.jpg

Lots of fall off on the sides of the light though. This is 4" away from the edge of the light and clearly shows the necessity to both own a Par or Lux meter and be prepared to overlap lights. WAY easy to over light with these guys.
i thought this was supposed to take the place of the wide angle lens that were available for the older Radions, and help diaperse the light also at a wider angle as well as mix them together. are you saying, the rations have a wider aspect without the diffuser?
 
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i thought this was supposed to take the place of the wide angle lens that were available for the older Radions, and help diaperse the light also at a wider angle as well as mix them together. are you saying, the rations have a wider aspect without the diffuser?
Im saying that those are the measurements that I got. Kind of obvious that its going to happen though as the diffuser is a half inch or so thick.
 

petemichelle

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Im saying that those are the measurements that I got. Kind of obvious that its going to happen though as the diffuser is a half inch or so thick.
i understand the thickness of the actual diffuser panel is only a few millimeters thick. If you mean the whole frame around it, then I don't understand what that has to do with the angle the lense throughs. again, i thought the diffuser was going to help widen the area of light and get light into the darker corners, anybody else have any experience with this?
 
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i understand the thickness of the actual diffuser panel is only a few millimeters thick. If you mean the whole frame around it, then I don't understand what that has to do with the angle the lense throughs. again, i thought the diffuser was going to help widen the area of light and get light into the darker corners, anybody else have any experience with this?
Ya, the thickness of the frame, sorry I should have been more clear there. It doesn't appear to be a big deal though and raising the lights a little would certainly help if it does become a problem. If I had a way to hang them at 18 - 24" above the water I would for even better blending and spread.
 

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I've ordered a diffuser for my Radion G4. It's supposed to arrive on Wednesday. I'm excited, but also a little nervous. I don't like the idea of taking the faceplate off my Radion to install it. I hope it all goes smoothly, and that I like the results. Thanks to all for sharing your experience here.
 
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I've ordered a diffuser for my Radion G4. It's supposed to arrive on Wednesday. I'm excited, but also a little nervous. I don't like the idea of taking the faceplate off my Radion to install it. I hope it all goes smoothly, and that I like the results. Thanks to all for sharing your experience here.
It is dead simple as long as you orientate the white plate correctly - promise.
 

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