Radions or Orphek Atlantik's?

[bubbaque]

Hi
I have 3 gen 4 xr 30s over a similar sized frag tank (48x24x12) in my garage. They replaced t5s which were getting too hot similar to yours. They have been working great, and are much cooler. The diffusers help with hot spots/shadowing.

These were supposed to be temporary, but the build there were meant for has been on hold for a bit.

I think some of the bonuses for the radions are the preset configurations like AB+, they have a nice acclimation setting, and like others said, they have been tested by WWCs etc which can remove some of the doubt if a particular setting/spectrum is viable.
Jason

Nice setup! Do you feel all 3 were
needed? I was going with the 4 xr15 and going to go length wise down the tank.

 

[Caravanshaka]

man that's a lot of $ for a 48x24 frag tank lighting!!

@gig 'em had an older v1 or v2 maybe and I remember when I got to his house I thought he had halides. When he opened the hood I was shocked to see LED's in there.

I originally had dual 250w radiums with dual 36" XHO actinics and dual 54w Blue + t5's over my tank. I was at the point where I wanted to change the 36" XHO's to 48" since my tank is now 54" wide, but after seeing the Orphek in person I decided to research them instead. I got an open-box full size v4 from BRS and a 1 month old used v4 compact with gateway and only spend about $1,200 total. I'm now running those 2 lights with just the dual 54w t5's going a few hours a day at peak. I'm very happy with the even spread and overall color of the tank. Orphek has the best color rendering with all channels at 100%, so they are much more efficent than almost every other manufactured LED out there. I've had Radions, AI's, Kessils, Nanobox Reef, Complete custom, custom Blue-acro....you name it and I have probably tried out. My top 2 after all of these are currently Orphek, then Nanobox....but for SPS I would say Orphek all the way.

Tank is 54x30x24 and is all evenly lit even without the t5's on. I need to get some par measurements still....

(don't mind the ugliness in the tank, this was right after I got the lights up, but also right before I started a battle with Dino's)

 

[JPK]

Nice setup! Do you feel all 3 were
needed? I was going with the 4 xr15 and going to go length wise down the tank.

You could easily get by with 4 xr 15s mounted a bit higher , my system is overkill. Like I said, I got these lights for a different (larger) tank that was put on hold due to life
J

 

[bubbaque]

man that's a lot of $ for a 48x24 frag tank lighting!!

@gig 'em had an older v1 or v2 maybe and I remember when I got to his house I thought he had halides. When he opened the hood I was shocked to see LED's in there.

I originally had dual 250w radiums with dual 36" XHO actinics and dual 54w Blue + t5's over my tank. I was at the point where I wanted to change the 36" XHO's to 48" since my tank is now 54" wide, but after seeing the Orphek in person I decided to research them instead. I got an open-box full size v4 from BRS and a 1 month old used v4 compact with gateway and only spend about $1,200 total. I'm now running those 2 lights with just the dual 54w t5's going a few hours a day at peak. I'm very happy with the even spread and overall color of the tank. Orphek has the best color rendering with all channels at 100%, so they are much more efficent than almost every other manufactured LED out there. I've had Radions, AI's, Kessils, Nanobox Reef, Complete custom, custom Blue-acro....you name it and I have probably tried out. My top 2 after all of these are currently Orphek, then Nanobox....but for SPS I would say Orphek all the way.

Tank is 54x30x24 and is all evenly lit even without the t5's on. I need to get some par measurements still....

(don't mind the ugliness in the tank, this was right after I got the lights up, but also right before I started a battle with Dino's)

Thats a nice setup! Without being open boxes that setup is roughly $1600, which puts it at the same cost of the radions. I totally agree with that's a lot of money to light a frag tank but that seems to be around the going cost with led and this tank footprint.

I didn't know gigem ran the orphiks. His tank and growth looks very impressive.

 

[FarmerTy]

Thats a nice setup! Without being open boxes that setup is roughly $1600, which puts it at the same cost of the radions. I totally agree with that's a lot of money to light a frag tank but that seems to be around the going cost with led and this tank footprint.

I didn't know gigem ran the orphiks. His tank and growth looks very impressive.

Yeah, he's got one Ocean Revive fixture exactly like mine because we modified them together in my garage over beers and then he has an old Orphek V1 that recently died on him. It had a good run but mainly died because it rusted out. Condensation settled on it nightly because he had a closed canopy and it was close to the water surface.

 

[FarmerTy]

man that's a lot of $ for a 48x24 frag tank lighting!!

@gig 'em had an older v1 or v2 maybe and I remember when I got to his house I thought he had halides. When he opened the hood I was shocked to see LED's in there.

I originally had dual 250w radiums with dual 36" XHO actinics and dual 54w Blue + t5's over my tank. I was at the point where I wanted to change the 36" XHO's to 48" since my tank is now 54" wide, but after seeing the Orphek in person I decided to research them instead. I got an open-box full size v4 from BRS and a 1 month old used v4 compact with gateway and only spend about $1,200 total. I'm now running those 2 lights with just the dual 54w t5's going a few hours a day at peak. I'm very happy with the even spread and overall color of the tank. Orphek has the best color rendering with all channels at 100%, so they are much more efficent than almost every other manufactured LED out there. I've had Radions, AI's, Kessils, Nanobox Reef, Complete custom, custom Blue-acro....you name it and I have probably tried out. My top 2 after all of these are currently Orphek, then Nanobox....but for SPS I would say Orphek all the way.

Tank is 54x30x24 and is all evenly lit even without the t5's on. I need to get some par measurements still....

(don't mind the ugliness in the tank, this was right after I got the lights up, but also right before I started a battle with Dino's)

Joe, you think one full-sized Orphek would cover the 48"x 24" of the frag tank? It says recommended for tanks up to 48" x 35".

 

[Caravanshaka]

Thats a nice setup! Without being open boxes that setup is roughly $1600, which puts it at the same cost of the radions. I totally agree with that's a lot of money to light a frag tank but that seems to be around the going cost with led and this tank footprint.

I didn't know gigem ran the orphiks. His tank and growth looks very impressive.

Let me put it this way, I ran 3x Radion XR15’s over a 30g Nuvo because I didn’t think 2 was enough light due to major shading. On a 48x24 footprint, I think if you did 3, you will need 2-4x t5’s to fill in light and get a little more par on the edges. With shadows, the XR15’s cover 18-24”...without shadows I would say closer to 12”-18”

You do have the benefit of it being shallow, which means you can really raise them up. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help a ton with shadows. The light source is still the same size, and you end up with less light reflecting off the glass and back into the tank at another angle.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Joe, you think one full-sized Orphek would cover the 48"x 24" of the frag tank? It says recommended for tanks up to 48" x 35".

There is a video of a full size Orphek over a 48x24 tank and it seems to have great coverage. It’s worth looking, I think it is called something like “why the Orphek is the best light in the world”.

I would lean more towards 2 compacts for a little better spacing, but at the same time I think on a frag tank it will be fine. Similar to the Radions, you can keep it pretty high and get great coverage. You can also run all channels 100% and still have a great color, which you can’t on a Radion.

If my choice was 3x XR15’s or one full size Orphek, I would go with the Orphek. It’s going to cover front to back better and have less shading. You may lose some punch in the far ends for 3-5”, but those are prime spots for Gyres and not frag racks anyway!

 

[Rakie]

Let me put it this way, I ran 3x Radion XR15’s over a 30g Nuvo because I didn’t think 2 was enough light

Yet world wide corals runs 5 on a 10' long 900g SPS reef. And they run 3 on their 300g SPS dominant reef they keep Casper in.

Different strokes and all.

 

[c.poindexter]

I am working on setting up a frag tank and have been debating this same thing. I used to have 2 x XR30’s Pro G4 over my 48 x 18 x 20 and definitely needed to add a third.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Yet world wide corals runs 5 on a 10' long 900g SPS reef. And they run 3 on their 300g SPS dominant reef they keep Casper in.

Different strokes and all.

I was there in March, they have beautiful tanks. However, they don’t run XR15’s, they run XR30’s. They also run them perpendicular to the front glass so they can get coverage front to back. I personally would think 4 on that tank would be better than 3, but 3 is fine if you don’t mind some shadowing.

Watch the video on their 300g again, there are quite a few shadows. Particularly right after they say they are going to show you some corals and they turn off the flow. I would also call that tank a mixed Reef, not SPS dominant....a lot of LPS and Zoas.

I know the OP is a major stickhead, so I am just warning on the shadows. You can easily cover a big tank with very few fixtures at the right height, but to get the right growth patterns in SPS the shadows need to be minimized.

 

[FarmerTy]

There is a video of a full size Orphek over a 48x24 tank and it seems to have great coverage. It’s worth looking, I think it is called something like “why the Orphek is the best light in the world”.

I would lean more towards 2 compacts for a little better spacing, but at the same time I think on a frag tank it will be fine. Similar to the Radions, you can keep it pretty high and get great coverage. You can also run all channels 100% and still have a great color, which you can’t on a Radion.

If my choice was 3x XR15’s or one full size Orphek, I would go with the Orphek. It’s going to cover front to back better and have less shading. You may lose some punch in the far ends for 3-5”, but those are prime spots for Gyres and not frag racks anyway!

Thanks Joe! You might have just made my decision for me. [emoji106][emoji106]

 

[bubbaque]

I was there in March, they have beautiful tanks. However, they don’t run XR15’s, they run XR30’s. They also run them perpendicular to the front glass so they can get coverage front to back. I personally would think 4 on that tank would be better than 3, but 3 is fine if you don’t mind some shadowing.

Watch the video on their 300g again, there are quite a few shadows. Particularly right after they say they are going to show you some corals and they turn off the flow. I would also call that tank a mixed Reef, not SPS dominant....a lot of LPS and Zoas.

I know the OP is a major stickhead, so I am just warning on the shadows. You can easily cover a big tank with very few fixtures at the right height, but to get the right growth patterns in SPS the shadows need to be minimized.

Thanks for all your help!

In my case I was thinking of using four radions not three. If I was going Orphek I was also going to run two of them. As you know I love the sticks and want to be able to place them anywhere in the tank. My current frag tank is packed end to end, all the way up the gyres.

This is what I'm thinking for cost.

4 radions and a reef link - $1700
2 orpheks and the gateway - $1920

The cost is very similar, so that's not really any major decision maker.

One of the biggest reason I think I'm going with radion is just because it's proven. I was calling around to several fish stores yesterday to get their opinion on the two lights. One of the stores said something that stuck out to me. The guy told me radions are the light choice people use who are researching coral spawning. It made me feel like I can't go wrong with radions.

 

[jda]

There are a lot of great reasons to choose either, but the word from a LFS employee about some generic study probably not one of them. What a retail shop does, or a research institution (allegedly?) is using when not directly testing a light is really of no consequence. If the dude/gal did give you some specifics, I would LOVE to read about some coral spawning research - the only stuff that I know about is in Hawaii and Fiji and they use natural sun and 1000w MH.

If you want the best SPS and are non-LED inclined, then you can learn more by studying Copps, Steve Weast's old tank (this is a great read, BTW, if you have not read about it in a while), Ed, etc. If you are LED inclined, then Dr. Joshi, JPK in this thread, Orion N, and many others, are good. Non large-retail farmers that have frag tanks that grow and profit can be good too, but they still have nuance that a hobbyist does not... Jason Fox, Boom, BattleCorals, Rocky Mountain Frags and many others.

You can totally go wrong with the Radions, but it will not be because you choose them over the Atlantik v4. You might decide that you do not like the colors that they bring out, the coverage or shadowing.... all things that you know are possible. My guess is that in a tank like this, if you do not like the one, you would not have really like the other either... or if you do like one, then you would have probably liked the other. This shallow tank with mostly frags is not a hard nut to crack and either can likely handle the job... and you should be happy if you are inclined to like what LED does (it is different than your T5s).

I would still make this decision based on coverage and your willingness to add T5s later if you find out what so many others have found about shadowing.

 

[hart24601]

I have used radions in the past and while I preferred AI hydras, I would ditch both and go with orphek if building a system now without question. I really think for the moment they orphek is ahead of the curve when it comes to LED lights. Next gen radions will probably catch back up.

I wouldn’t just go with radions because they are proven, heck all the big names are. I personally feel confident that I can grow coral with any of the major lighting types and brands. It’s not that big of an issue.

 

[bubbaque]

There are a lot of great reasons to choose either, but the word from a LFS employee about some generic study probably not one of them. What a retail shop does, or a research institution (allegedly?) is using when not directly testing a light is really of no consequence. If the dude/gal did give you some specifics, I would LOVE to read about some coral spawning research - the only stuff that I know about is in Hawaii and Fiji and they use natural sun and 1000w MH.

If you want the best SPS and are non-LED inclined, then you can learn more by studying Copps, Steve Weast's old tank (this is a great read, BTW, if you have not read about it in a while), Ed, etc. If you are LED inclined, then Dr. Joshi, JPK in this thread, Orion N, and many others, are good. Non large-retail farmers that have frag tanks that grow and profit can be good too, but they still have nuance that a hobbyist does not... Jason Fox, Boom, BattleCorals, Rocky Mountain Frags and many others.

You can totally go wrong with the Radions, but it will not be because you choose them over the Atlantik v4. You might decide that you do not like the colors that they bring out, the coverage or shadowing.... all things that you know are possible. My guess is that in a tank like this, if you do not like the one, you would not have really like the other either... or if you do like one, then you would have probably liked the other. This shallow tank with mostly frags is not a hard nut to crack and either can likely handle the job... and you should be happy if you are inclined to like what LED does (it is different than your T5s).

I would still make this decision based on coverage and your willingness to add T5s later if you find out what so many others have found about shadowing.

Here is an article Mike Paletta wrote about coral spawning. I don't think it specifically mentions radions but about half way down you can see that's what they are using.

 

[jschultzbass]

Thanks for all your help!

In my case I was thinking of using four radions not three. If I was going Orphek I was also going to run two of them. As you know I love the sticks and want to be able to place them anywhere in the tank. My current frag tank is packed end to end, all the way up the gyres.

This is what I'm thinking for cost.

4 radions and a reef link - $1700
2 orpheks and the gateway - $1920

The cost is very similar, so that's not really any major decision maker.

One of the biggest reason I think I'm going with radion is just because it's proven. I was calling around to several fish stores yesterday to get their opinion on the two lights. One of the stores said something that stuck out to me. The guy told me radions are the light choice people use who are researching coral spawning. It made me feel like I can't go wrong with radions.

For Orphek, For that size tank you don't need two fullsize, that is WAY overkill. You'd need one full size and one compact. which brings the price down a couple hundred. Trust me on that. Radions have the volume in sales but the Orphek is amazing. Perfectly even coverage.

 

[Mortie31]

I have 3 Orphek 2.1bs over my 66 x 30(f-b), I get about 400 par on my high corals and 200 on the sand.. my one observation is that these run on the white side, I know the picture looks blue but I’ve just taken it on my iPad, this is something they have corrected on the V4, I’ve ordered 2 of those.. to get a better colour.

 

[BoomCorals]

I had 3x XR15s over a low boy. It was not enough spread. Any sps not in the middle area suffered. You’d have to do 3x xr30s.

 

[bubbaque]

I had 3x XR15s over a low boy. It was not enough spread. Any sps not in the middle area suffered. You’d have to do 3x xr30s.

Thanks Boom. I am not sure why the 3 xr15's keeps coming up, it's 4 that I would be using. What's your thoughts on the 4? You have the exact tank I am using so you probably have the best input on spread.