Radion or Orphek

[reefscapestudio]

Hi everyone! I have started my first reef tank and want to do SPS dominant. Between Radion and Orphek. Which lights are better? I see many tanks in YouTube tank tours now that all rock the Orphek lights. Are the color better? They seem to be getting popular but I’m also afraid of low quality (not saying they are).

 

[reef’r]

For every tank you see running Orpheks there is 5 more running Radions. I wouldn’t say either is “better” they both are top of the line lights I never have considered Orpheks to be poor quality, but they both have their differences. A lot of people with more experience say the past couple generations of the radions were better than the new g6 and when I was looking at adding another radion to my lighting (currently running an xr15) I was looking for a gen 5 xr30. I am happy with my gen 6 pro but for the money they are weak lights. You didn’t mention what size tank your running which is the most important factor in getting a more accurate answer. I just added two Orphek or4 bars to my tank and will say the color they produce is beautiful and I prefer it to ecotech blue but other than that I have no other experience with Orphek I just got mine hung yesterday. There’s a thread on here for the natura icon and it’s a beautiful light that seems to be doing really well plus I think they look killer if I was setting up a new tank I would be very intrigued to go all Orphek. Sorry to ramble but tbh there really isn’t a wrong way to go they both will produce what your looking for…… price is another thing but I’m sure you’ve already noticed that if you’ve been shopping around

 

[reefscapestudio]

For every tank you see running Orpheks there is 5 more running Radions. I wouldn’t say either is “better” they both are top of the line lights I never have considered Orpheks to be poor quality, but they both have their differences. A lot of people with more experience say the past couple generations of the radions were better than the new g6 and when I was looking at adding another radion to my lighting (currently running an xr15) I was looking for a gen 5 xr30. I am happy with my gen 6 pro but for the money they are weak lights. You didn’t mention what size tank your running which is the most important factor in getting a more accurate answer. I just added two Orphek or4 bars to my tank and will say the color they produce is beautiful and I prefer it to ecotech blue but other than that I have no other experience with Orphek I just got mine hung yesterday. There’s a thread on here for the natura icon and it’s a beautiful light that seems to be doing really well plus I think they look killer if I was setting up a new tank I would be very intrigued to go all Orphek. Sorry to ramble but tbh there really isn’t a wrong way to go they both will produce what your looking for…… price is another thing but I’m sure you’ve already noticed that if you’ve been shopping around

Great info! I have a 120 gallon and going to do a 300 gallon next. My TikTok is @reefscapestudio
I’m not worried about the price I just want a blanket of lights and a good mounting system. The new Natura icon seem really nice I just don’t know what size I would get. I haven’t dug that deep yet but I do notice they are on sale so thinking about picking them up

 

[exnisstech]

Radions are over hyped over priced and under powered IMO. I have gen4 radions on the shelf.
Any reason why you are only considering those two? I find most YouTube videos are not much more than infomercials.
I like the results I'm getting from my reef breeders photons and the meridian is supposed be even better.

I also run noopsyche k7 III pros and have compared them to Gen 4 XR15s in a par test and they made the radions look pretty bad. The Gen 5s and 6s are supposed to be even weaker.

PS. Ive not heard anything bad about orphek but have no experience with them.

 

[reef’r]

Great info! I have a 120 gallon and going to do a 300 gallon next. My TikTok is @reefscapestudio
I’m not worried about the price I just want a blanket of lights and a good mounting system. The new Natura icon seem really nice I just don’t know what size I would get. I haven’t dug that deep yet but I do notice they are on sale so thinking about picking them up

For a tank in the 300g range you might like into the Orphek atlantik more so than the Natura. If I’m not mistaken in Orpheks line up is goes Atlantik, Natura, and then they have a smaller footprint of the Natura. Over a 300 SPS dominant you’d probably be looking at 4-6 radions. Could probably cut that down to 3-4 of the Orphek options simply because they are a much larger panel style light. I would also look heavily into t5/LED hybrid. Lighting is definitely a rabbit hole that I am in way too often

 

[backbayreef]

I have G6 Blues on the 150g, G4 Pros on the 90g, and Orphek OR3 & OR4 on the 450g.

They are both great lights; however, I actually prefer more blues so G6 Blues make corals pop more. The things I like about Orphek — good color, great build quality, water resistant, etc. My fish look better on Orphek though since I don’t run lot of blues. However, Orphek’s mobile app is horrible - Mobius is better, believe it or not!

Again, you can’t go wrong with these but I heard that Quanta, Meridian, etc are better & cheaper.

 

[GSPClown94]

I would not even recommend Radions to my worst enemies due to the ongoing clock errors they refuse to fix. I have no experience with Orpheks.

 

[mycoralswontgrow]

Orpheks are excellent for me. Natura has the newest tech and will be supported going forward. While the atlantik are larger the difference in power isn’t that much.

I have 2 naturas and 2 or4 bars.

Honestly if you’re looking at orphek also looks at meridians/quanta’s especially for sps any of these would be fine

 

[backbayreef]

I would not even recommend Radions to my worst enemies due to the ongoing clock errors they refuse to fix. I have no experience with Orpheks.

Just during daylight time change (twice a year) or all the time? I have 5 Radions and never had any issues, except the clock is skewed twice a year.

 

[MikeyG]

I have never used Radion's so can't tell you how well they work. However, all of the guys who I buy corals from that's primarily what day use and supplement it with t5s and Reef rights. For $900 bucks for a G6. It's a stretch considering you have to add supplemental lights. I have seen the Orphek lights up close and they are impressive. I can't see how well they support coral growth, but I would imagine they can't be any worse than the radions. Myself I use Kessil. The Ap9x has proven to be a very strong light, great color, the programming is simple. I don't have to tinker around too many color spectrums to get it to look great

 

[GSPClown94]

Just during daylight time change (twice a year) or all the time? I have 5 Radions and never had any issues, except the clock is skewed twice a year.

It seems to be completely random happening at least a few times each month and not linked to any specific event one would normally associate with clock errors like power outages, daylight savings, or leap day.
Here is a screenshot of the Mobius app showing the wild clock error my radions have been plagued with. I must have been in a coma for a long time, I didn’t realize it was already 2066.

 

[mycoralswontgrow]

These are growing with orpheks

Honestly you’ll be happy with a lot of different brands out there.

 

[bcampbe1]

These are growing with orpheks

Honestly you’ll be happy with a lot of different brands out there.

Your corals are amazing! Would you mind sharing your lighting schedule?
Thanks,

 

[reefscapestudio]

These are growing with orpheks

Honestly you’ll be happy with a lot of different brands out there.

Wow that looks amazing. I currently have a Nyos Opus 440 and want to put enough Natura lights to cover the system for SPS. Do you recommend how many I should get?

 

[mycoralswontgrow]

Your corals are amazing! Would you mind sharing your lighting schedule?
Thanks,

This is my current. Slowly been bumping up the whites. I scorch my acros though the top of tank is pretty much 400-500 all the way across.

Sand is 200-250 unless under and overhang.

 

[mycoralswontgrow]

Wow that looks amazing. I currently have a Nyos Opus 440 and want to put enough Natura lights to cover the system for SPS. Do you recommend how many I should get?

Probably not much different than mine. 2 naturas should be fine if you’re wanting to grow sps closer to the sand I’d add a couple bars.

My setup is overkill for the size, but I wanted to truly blanket the corals.

 

[DrkNMighty]

It seems to be completely random happening at least a few times each month and not linked to any specific event one would normally associate with clock errors like power outages, daylight savings, or leap day.
Here is a screenshot of the Mobius app showing the wild clock error my radions have been plagued with. I must have been in a coma for a long time, I didn’t realize it was already 2066.

This is the exact reason I only have mp40s and not any main lights that run through mobius. It is such an annoying issue that is completely unpredictable.

 

[Big E]

Orpheks are my choice............not even close. Radions couldn't make my top ten in choices for lighting that are available.

 

[Steven Garland]

Orphek's all day,400 days a year.

 

[reefscapestudio]

Probably not much different than mine. 2 naturas should be fine if you’re wanting to grow sps closer to the sand I’d add a couple bars.

My setup is overkill for the size, but I wanted to truly blanket the corals.

How did you mount the lights? I had a custom lid from top lids made that I have two cut outs for a mounting system for Radions. But I can’t see anything they sell with just a. Single arm holding up the lights. I don’t mind mounting on the wall or ceiling but also want to add the light bars as well so just trying to plan that out