Radion G5 XR30 Pro...BRStv Investigates style! The ins & outs of EcoTech's newest light!

DTz · Mar 8, 2020

Tim at EcoTech said:
A truly packed SPS tank at full maturity can benefit by as much light as you can possibly throw at it. My recommendation is based on starting the grow process or those willing to sacrifice small amounts of par for the benefit of saving money. BRS’s recommendations for three is for the truly packed out system. I’ve seen people who ran twin 400w MH’s PLUS T5s over systems like that. At this point we are talking about 1% of tanks. There’s a place for it, absolutely. We just want to be clear about when and why. In general we would rather you buy fewer of our lights and use the most out of them, but there is a time and a place for more more more.

If youre starting a 180gal then I would start with three XR30s and add one or two more when your tank reaches the 1% mark.

hi, im currently looking at upgrading my led lights. i have a 4ftx2ft sps tank (mostly frags and small colony atm). my return box in my aquarium is on the right handside of the tank which is 12inchx6inch. im thinking to start with 3x xr15s blue, will that b sufficient enough as the return box is taking too much space on the right which i dun need that much light for. or should i just shoot for 2 xr30s ?

btw. i notice that the xr15s have the same amount of uv bulbs as the xr30 and the other bulbs r exactly half. does that means running 2 xr15s is better than 1 xr30?

Reefkter · May 8, 2020

Tim at EcoTech said:
I think Randy and Ryan did a great job explaining the difference between a PRO and Blue: basically that you buy the Blue if you prefer a bluer looking tank and you buy the Pro if you prefer more of a MH look. Although when all the sliders are maxed the XR30 Pro is actually more like 14k or higher though, not 10k. You are right that BRS’s use of the AB+ spectrum to illustrate best practices for the Pro is not ideal. While Ryan and Randy prefer that spectrum, we know the market across the world is pretty well split, and both spectrum’s grow corals very well. The recommendations for the Pro model should have been based on a spectrum most optimal from the Pro model, and the AB+ spectrum left for the Blue. That said, you can do either spectrums with either model, but its not as cost efficient (dollar per PAR) for our customers.

We also don’t recommend three G5 XR30s over a 120gallon. As shown in BRS’s recommendations, they turned the power of the units down to 40% to avoid a hot spot in the middle. Instead, if you were to accept some absolutely minor compromises of having slightly lower PAR at the outer most edges, installing two XR30s over the same aquarium running at a higher power would achieve the same results at a substantial monetary discount versus buying three. You can look at this this way: At 40% on three G5 XR30s you are using only 264w total when each light is capable of 220w. Its not an efficient use of your money and we do not recommend it.

If you do want to use multiple Radions and spread the light over the tank to achieve a very uniform look, I totally understand and support that mindset! But do it with XR15s or some combination of XR15s and XR30s. Youll save money and get the look youre going for. Plus you can buy fewer XR15s in the beginning and then add more as your SPS fill in.

I cannot say I understand the need to talk about the size of the fixture with respect to the characteristics of the light it produces. These characteristics do not uniformly go hand-in-hand. Using technology that we have designed, developed, tested, and manufactured, we have overcome enormous obstacles that were once considered impossible. For example, it was believed that to achieve perfect color mixing either a diffusor was required or a COB style LED emitter was required. Or that wide, uniform spread cant be achieved without spreading LED’s out over a wide area. Contrary to comparisons of a black box, our LED’s are still constrained within a fixture the exact size of our original Radion that launched in 2011. In order to do that we couldnt use two clusters anymore, there was no room. So the G5 was born as a single cluster. That is all, no mystery beyond that. The real technology is in our driving of the LED’s themselves, the thermal management, and most importantly our proprietary optics and coatings.

The G5 offers incredible color mixing, outstanding PAR, convenient form factor, quiet operation, improved water resistance, better control, easy mounting options, and multiple product options spread across four unique models. We have only touched the surface of what this new generation will accomplish and I cant wait to see what you guys all achieve with them.

@Tim at EcoTech
Thanks for the clearer explanation.
the light of a g5 pro with AB+ is the same visually of a light of a g5 blue?
If a have a tank with 2 G5, the pro on the left (AB+) and the blue on the right, i see differences?
Thanks