Radion G5 Blues

[User1]

There is a metric ton of information out there on the internet regarding these lights. Both good and bad. Enough to make your head spin. BRStv also did a good video on them well worth watching if you are considering the lights. They actually have a couple good videos recently on lighting so if you have time today or tomorrow maybe check them out. May give you a few other options honestly.

Here is the long and short of it. Great light. General consensus is that they hit a home run on them. Good for them honestly. However, the bad. Delivery and quality control or packaging was a bunt. People don't know if it is due to packaging or final assembly but my guess is it is a bit of both. Also we don't know what the actual percentage is. Is it just a handful we are hearing about or is it a bigger problem.

What we do know is that Ecotech had problems with a return pump a while back and went through pretty big redesign to correct the problem. They also went to extra effort to take care of their customers. I've heard only great things about their response and support. My guess is that they will take care of everyone and fix the problem once the real world / bigger issues subside.

Note: I'm not a Ecotech customer nor do I own their product(s). Especially the lights we are talking about. Best of luck to you.

 

[maharsreef]

Overall, great PAR spread, less disco ball even without diffusers. Blues don’t look as blue as AB+ on Gen4s. Fans are noisy and app is garbage


What are you running AB+?

How do you figure? I’d say most issue are related to Mobius and poor packaging of initial batch

I run built in program on Blue model. So I guess its AB+ Blasting top acros with 500 par and they have exploded with growth over last month. Maybe because I started dosing alot of potassium nitrate as well.

 

[AJsReef]

I run built in program on Blue model. So I guess its AB+ Blasting top acros with 500 par and they have exploded with growth over last month. Maybe because I started dosing alot of potassium nitrate as well.

Interesting, hard to say for sure changing multiple variables. What intensity do you run?

 

[maharsreef]

Interesting, hard to say for sure changing multiple variables. What intensity do you run?

80% at 14" above waterline. 4 lights over 6ft by 30" wide tank

 

[HolySmoke]

I run built in program on Blue model. So I guess its AB+ Blasting top acros with 500 par and they have exploded with growth over last month. Maybe because I started dosing alot of potassium nitrate as well.

I have to say running blues for a week bottomed out my nitrates. Dosed some loudwold NaNo3 and everything Is looking much better. Unfortunate setback otherwise I would have more to add regarding lights.

@Camaro

I went to the G5 pros from G4 pros and imo the pros have a better spectrum for sticks, and zero issues with pros compared to the blues

I am curious why you say this? I would think the opposite but dont know for sure. Most sticks are collected pretty deep and I would assume more red is filtered out. Also the lime/cyan fill an important spot missing on the pro. I'm not doubting you and want to learn more.

Pros are obviously used by many aquaculture facilities albeit usually with t5, but it seems to me the blue was focused more on the stick heads. I like the ab+ better on b5 blue than g4 but it is completely subjective.

Thanks

 

[HolySmoke]

Ecotech is a hot mess right now. Versa pump launch was an epic fail. Lights are all showing up damaged. App has been in beta for a long time and yet it looks like the code was written last month.

That being said the new lights are impressive. I really want to experiment with them and compare to 8 bulb ati with all thing equal.

There is a metric ton of information out there on the internet regarding these lights. Both good and bad. Enough to make your head spin. BRStv also did a good video on them well worth watching if you are considering the lights. They actually have a couple good videos recently on lighting so if you have time today or tomorrow maybe check them out. May give you a few other options honestly.

Here is the long and short of it. Great light. General consensus is that they hit a home run on them. Good for them honestly. However, the bad. Delivery and quality control or packaging was a bunt. People don't know if it is due to packaging or final assembly but my guess is it is a bit of both. Also we don't know what the actual percentage is. Is it just a handful we are hearing about or is it a bigger problem.

What we do know is that Ecotech had problems with a return pump a while back and went through pretty big redesign to correct the problem. They also went to extra effort to take care of their customers. I've heard only great things about their response and support. My guess is that they will take care of everyone and fix the problem once the real world / bigger issues subside.

Note: I'm not a Ecotech customer nor do I own their product(s). Especially the lights we are talking about. Best of luck to you.

 

[camelcruiser]

I’ve had mine running for the last couple of weeks. I honestly love the lights. I replaced an 8 bulb power module with 3 of these and the spread is identical. I do have a very open scape which I’m sure helps but you can tell the shadowing that the previous versions had won’t be an issue anymore. I’m running the AB+ and during the middle of the day it looks very similar to my old bulb combo that was blue plus heavy. They did make that cracking/popping sound for the first few days but don’t do it anymore. Not sure what it was but all 3 of mine stopped doing it after the second or third day. I also didn’t run into any packaging issues with mine everything was delivered in perfect condition.

 

[HolySmoke]

80% at 14" above waterline. 4 lights over 6ft by 30" wide tank

Do you have a par meter for spacing of lights based on that height? It can be done but I think you are a little too high. I'm worried where you think you have high par is lower and edges are really high bc of light reflection off glass.

LEDs usually perform better the higher they are most likely bc of spectrum mixing/disco but this generation has really improved in that department.

With 4 lights over your tank you have more than enough coverage to lower them and drop intensity significantly.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

I have to say running blues for a week bottomed out my nitrates. Dosed some loudwold NaNo3 and everything Is looking much better. Unfortunate setback otherwise I would have more to add regarding lights.

@Camaro


I am curious why you say this? I would think the opposite but dont know for sure. Most sticks are collected pretty deep and I would assume more red is filtered out. Also the lime/cyan fill an important spot missing on the pro. I'm not doubting you and want to learn more.

Pros are obviously used by many aquaculture facilities albeit usually with t5, but it seems to me the blue was focused more on the stick heads. I like the ab+ better on b5 blue than g4 but it is completely subjective.

Thanks

Unless your into super deep water acros most are not as deep as you think, people get way to blue and way past the 20k spectrum. I buy a lot of sticks from guys who run 14k halides and learning from them some white really helps with growth. I ran the ab+ for years and it was good but never blew me away so with the pro I went with the phix14 spectrum and love it so far.

 

[HolySmoke]

I’ve had mine running for the last couple of weeks. I honestly love the lights. I replaced an 8 bulb power module with 3 of these and the spread is identical. I do have a very open scape which I’m sure helps but you can tell the shadowing that the previous versions had won’t be an issue anymore. I’m running the AB+ and during the middle of the day it looks very similar to my old bulb combo that was blue plus heavy. They did make that cracking/popping sound for the first few days but don’t do it anymore. Not sure what it was but all 3 of mine stopped doing it after the second or third day. I also didn’t run into any packaging issues with mine everything was delivered in perfect condition.

That is great news. I have been running mine for approx 3 weeks as well. Popping has significantly reduced but still there.

As a long time t5 user myself the g5 finally has that look I have been after with LEDs. Completely agree shadowing wont be an issue.

 

[HolySmoke]

Unless your into super deep water acros most are not as deep as you think, people get way to blue and way past the 20k spectrum. I buy a lot of sticks from guys who run 14k halides and learning from them some white really helps with growth. I ran the ab+ for years and it was good but never blew me away so with the pro I went with the phix14 spectrum and love it so far.

I totally agree about a lot more people using whiter light, and the importance of hitting those wavelengths for pulling all of the pinks and reds. I seriously contemplated buying g5 pro. If my main goal was the most delicious looking sticks I would be running 8 bulb T5+ bars hands down. I'm ok with sacrificing a little color rendition as long as they look dang good, have good growth, and are healthy. My reasoning for blue was so when daylights are off I can hit the tank with as much actinic lighting as possible without adding bars and such. I also think the fixture is white enough during daytime but that is subjective.

I have been reluctant to share pictures of my tank since the crash but screw it. Most of the corals in my tank were donated from longtime local reefer friends.
Basement reno is almost done and the tank will be moved and rescaped. About 75% of the rock is going and am curing a couple nice pieces for a bonsai look. Please excuse all the rock, wires everywhere, dirty glass, and I'm sure a couple planaria If you zoom in .

Here is a S10+ picture of my tank with the blues and it matches pretty dang good to what my eye sees. It actually a tiny bit whiter in person I think.
Pro mode, 100 iso, 1/90 1.5 F stop, white balance maxed.

47.5 x 33 x 20 approximately
Two xr30 blue 50% intensity
8.5" AWL

I had to unplug xr 15 and slide lights towards center when No3 bottomed out and will most likely put it on a frag tank. I would be able to comment on growth and color a lot better if this didnt happen but it is a good sign. Just added a bunch of classics yesterday so dont judge the sticks. 500 efflo, oregon, blue matrix, cherry blossom, garf, MOP,etc... they all are loving the light. Picture at the bottom is closest to what my eyes see but corals look terrible.

 

[HolySmoke]

Thanks @The Camaro Show for your perspective. I dont know the right answer and I think It would be a good color growth showdown. It would have to be ab+ compared to ab+ and then ab+(blue) to higher whites on pro.

Just forgot to mention these weren't to try and sway you by any means. You seem to know you like a whiter tank bc growth is your main goal it sounds like. Kinda like the old school debate 6500k for growth 20k + VHO for color except newschool. I cant wait to see if the blue fixture can pull off both exceptionally well. I am going to fire up the cal rx soon and then I will see what they can do.

I posted these pics to help people try and decide if the blue is too blue for them. I cleaned the glass a touch and just added a couple more pictures.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

I plan to run my 2 xr30s G5 pro with the aquatic life t5 hybrid on one of my grow out tanks

 

[HolySmoke]

80% at 14" above waterline. 4 lights over 6ft by 30" wide tank

Btw @maharsreef I wanted to thank you for posting this and also get a little more info from you if possible. I threw out efficiency of G5 radions and raised them up high to experiment and the corals look even happier than they already did. One of the main reasons I did this was because I continue to dose NaNo3 and the tank cant seem to get enough of it.

In the past I have always run my radions incredibly high because the corals seemed to like the light better but more apparent was the tank just looked better to my eyes due to the better blending and less shadowing .

I haven't broke out the par meter since I made the change but would love to know the spacing and orientation you on your units and where you keep No3 P04

TIA

 

[maharsreef]

Btw @maharsreef I wanted to thank you for posting this and also get a little more info from you if possible. I threw out efficiency of G5 radions and raised them up high to experiment and the corals look even happier than they already did. One of the main reasons I did this was because I continue to dose NaNo3 and the tank cant seem to get enough of it.

In the past I have always run my radions incredibly high because the corals seemed to like the light better but more apparent was the tank just looked better to my eyes due to the better blending and less shadowing .

I haven't broke out the par meter since I made the change but would love to know the spacing and orientation you on your units and where you keep No3 P04

TIA

Sure, no problem. I keep my lights 14" above water because they are mounted in a "floating" canopy. I need to get my head and hands in there if needed. I have seen the BRS recommend height, but this works best for me. I have a par meter and measure 500 par at top of rocks where sps sit. They love it. I have the lights equally spread across the tank like this
1 1 1 1. Again, I've seen BRS vids, but I gotta do it my way...lol. Also, I dose an incredible amount of potassium nitrate since running higher par. I seems the more I dose, the cleaner my tank looks, all algae has disappeared.

 

[HolySmoke]

Thanks for that detailed response and I figured you were at that height due to your setup.

I made up a stock solution with NaNo3 and have been dosing it with the dos. It has helped but it is disappearing so fast and I am NaNo3 limited again and corals start to lighten up. I usually have pretty low No3 in my systems bc of Barebottom but never struggled like this before to get it up.
Waste away is some amazing stuff. Dosed a tiny bit and it cleaned my tank too well.

I need to make the solution probably 3 times as strong and I can turn the lights back up again. Growth has actually been pretty good but I know growth/color can be way better.

Thanks again