Radion pro not up to par. Whaaat?

[david p.]

Don't know how I screwed that response up. Smh. Her is my current setup.

If you can see I am at 65% output but 100% on left slider.

i'm ramping up to that. I have been running at 65% instead of 100% and still have nice color and growth. I have some coral where i would like to increase coloration, i hope increasing lighning will help.
if you look at the 3rd graph at 100%, it's the same setting that you are showing. so around 300-500 PAR at ~8'' under water .

at coral level 100%:

 

[smokin'reefer]

i'm ramping up to that. I have been running at 65% instead of 100% and still have nice color and growth. I have some coral where i would like to increase coloration, i hope increasing lighning will help.
if you look at the 3rd graph at 100%, it's the same setting that you are showing. so around 300-500 PAR at ~8'' under water .

I understand better now. So plenty of par with lights. With Coral Lab setting should have a good spectrum. Wide angle lens should help give a "softer" light, more like t5's. Although they state I might lose some par, I'm feeling better about having that to spare. So thankful for everyone's input so I can avoid a knee jerk reaction to original chart and spend money before exhausting all options with radions.

 

[david p.]

ok, did mesurements at 100% at my coral level with the wide lense.

here'S a Front and side view representation of the tank

, that translate from higher value from left to rigth for the top section.
Mid section are pretty much at the same height, row 2-3 in table. pretty even light distribution.
the lower PAR data in the bottom row are at sand level,.
The values are an average over 2 sets of data at 100%. Clearly there is a decrease in PAR, i don't have the 400-500 i had with the other lenses.

i don't knwo if it helps.
on my side, i will have to do some more reading on PAR requierments for Acro, think the regular lenses are fine with the 400-500 PAR with a good aclimatation

 

[david p.]

after reading this:
http://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Ecotech_CoralLab_WP1.pdf
it seems that at 200-300 PAR, if i understand well, achieve good result... so i guess the wide lense are a reasonable option... but i'm no expert. conditions are different but PAR reading similar.

 

[smokin'reefer]

Thanks again. Definitely some usable info. Numbers are promising that there is enough par. Out of 6 or so acros that I recently purchased, 2 never lost there color and are coloring up as they acclimate to my tank. The others are slowly gaining, but I wanted to double check that I had enough light after I found radion par calculator that was showing that they were weak.

 

[reefwiser]

After running a Radion now for two years. I have found that shadowing effect of the straight down lighting of LED lighting. Effects my SPS corals in a negative way. Will be looking at the new G4 at MACNA next week. But the lenses only spread the light and do not effect the shadowing effect of the LED source. Will be going back to T5's as I am mostly a SPS person having kept them since 1990.

 

[mcarroll]

sorry, i did not ment to critisize you, you defend your points, i defend mine.

PM would be the best place for this vs the OP's thread.

 

[smokin'reefer]

After running a Radion now for two years. I have found that shadowing effect of the straight down lighting of LED lighting. Effects my SPS corals in a negative way. Will be looking at the new G4 at MACNA next week. But the lenses only spread the light and do not effect the shadowing effect of the LED source. Will be going back to T5's as I am mostly a SPS person having kept them since 1990.

I wonder if throwing an xr15 pro in the middle would help with shadowing. Having 5 pucks across a 5ft tank spreads it out from more "points" giving an overlap to wash out shadowing.? Do you find that the light quality and intensity to be sufficient from the radions? With the only drawback being source "points" caused shadowing.

 

[mcarroll]

If the shadows are a real issues to you (you tell us), then more fixtures is only a bandaid.

Having more cuts the size and intensity of the shadows, it does not change the fundamental character of the fixtures. Lenses are in the same boat.

Here's a pair of examples with a third fixture that shows the side-view so you can see what happens to the coverage zones. You can visualize the shadow zones – wish there was an easy way to depict them.

​

You can see below that with a third fixture, coverage from the top down is much more complete. Plus there are many more light zones that can catch a given coral - at least 5 vs 3 - so shading is reduced somewhat. Usually average fixture intensity can be less with an additional unit in play – that also dampens the effect of shadows by making them less stark. (You will still have shadows compared to a T5 or strip solution.)

​

 

[smokin'reefer]

If the shadows are a real issues to you (you tell us), then more fixtures is only a bandaid.

Having more cuts the size and intensity of the shadows, it does not change the fundamental character of the fixtures. Lenses are in the same boat.

Here's a pair of examples with a third fixture that shows the side-view so you can see what happens to the coverage zones. You can visualize the shadow zones – wish there was an easy way to depict them.

​

You can see below that with a third fixture, coverage from the top down is much more complete. Plus there are many more light zones that can catch a given coral - at least 5 vs 3 - so shading is reduced somewhat. Usually average fixture intensity can be less with an additional unit in play – that also dampens the effect of shadows by making them less stark. (You will still have shadows compared to a T5 or strip solution.)

​

Thanks again for the response. I'm not sure yet shadowing is gonna be an issue as I am just now starting with acros. I was curious of reefwiser experience with his radions over the past two years. I want to try every angle (no pun intended) before I scrap the radions. Big rookie mistake wanting to buy the "latest" technology thinking it would make me a better reefer. Just like that $500 driver didn't make me a better golfer. But it keeps me occupied while I am learning and eliminates the natural tendency to blame the equipment. I think you have a valid point that LED puck shadowing will still be there regardless of how many pucks. More info for me to digest while I wait for the corals to give me the final analysis.

 

[mcarroll]

I'm not sure yet shadowing is gonna be an issue as I am just now starting with acros.

You are more likely to care about this than your corals are. ;) Shadowing is natural....it just bothers some folks.

 

[reefwiser]

Actually shadowing effects the corals as the area not getting light dies off. This area then is area where alages can grow or infections can take place. Causing RTN or STN of a coral. An led is a flat chip that emits light. Ecotech and others try to spread the light with len's. While this defuses the light. It doesn't stop the problem of shadowing of the LED. It will take some out of the box thinking to solve that issue. Example Tunze makes a LED fixture the can be mounted under water.

As far as mounting a XR15 it would have to be mounted an angle facing towards the corals to help with shading. An unless it is in a hood I don't think it would look that cool.

 

[smokin'reefer]

Thanks for everyone opinions and experiences. I'll get the tir wide lenses fro Marine Depot today. I can't believe they got them here so quickly. Ordered yesterday morning with free ship option and tracking says they are on truck for delivery. What a great time we live in.

 

[d2mini]

You can see below that with a third fixture, coverage from the top down is much more complete. Plus there are many more light zones that can catch a given coral - at least 5 vs 3 - so shading is reduced somewhat. Usually average fixture intensity can be less with an additional unit in play – that also dampens the effect of shadows by making them less stark. (You will still have shadows compared to a T5 or strip solution.)

​

This is how i'm running my tank. Three G3 Pros (mounted front to back with standard lenses) across a 47" tank. Waiting for my G4's.
They are mounted 16.5" off the water for better spread.
At around 10" below the water line I have PAR in the high 200's. Running the AB+ program at around 90-95% intensity.

 

[smokin'reefer]

This is how i'm running my tank. Three G3 Pros (mounted front to back with standard lenses) across a 47" tank. Waiting for my G4's.
They are mounted 16.5" off the water for better spread.
At around 10" below the water line I have PAR in the high 200's. Running the AB+ program at around 90-95% intensity.

Are they xr30's? Do you have any acros? If so are you getting good coloration?

 

[d2mini]

Are they xr30's? Do you have any acros? If so are you getting good coloration?

Right now they are just frags but yes yes and yes. And they've all come from every kind of lighting available. One or two were "rescues" and they are coloring up too.
Only time will tell how they do when they are colonies and shadowing comes into play.

 

[smokin'reefer]

Right now they are just frags but yes yes and yes. And they've all come from every kind of lighting available. One or two were "rescues" and they are coloring up too.
Only time will tell how they do when they are colonies and shadowing comes into play.

Thanks. I might consider adding another radion. If you have 3 on a 4' tank. I could throw a G4 in the mix and help a little. Reassuring to know they have the par to get the job done.

Right now they are just frags but yes yes and yes. And they've all come from every kind of lighting available. One or two were "rescues" and they are coloring up too.
Only time will tell how they do when they are colonies and shadowing comes into play.