Reef tank looks horrible with Radions. Is it me, or the best it gets, or????

[ninjamyst]

Ok boomer

 

[jmichaelh7]

Just enjoy what you like, that’s why we have these options

 

[pelicansreef]

Lighting choices are like Life mate choices. They come in every variation you can think of and several you may have never thought about. Each variation has benefits and each has drawbacks. Your personality dictates which benefits you want and which drawbacks you can live with. None of the lighting combinations will fill all your dreams. You have to decide which is the right fit for your tank and which you want to live with. Just like a life mate

 

[xiaoxiy]

I'm surprised you don't get good coverage with 2 Radions over a 55 gallon at 100%. Are they the XR15s or 30s?

Give the PHX-14K setting a try with the Radions. While it doesn't visually recreate a Pheonix 14k bulb, the setting is fairly visually appealing. I've included the setting below as well as a clip of what it looks like in person.

 

[hart24601]

It is too bad you are unhappy, that really sucks and there really is nothing worse than spending a lot of money just to be very disappointed. Thankfully they have good resale if you go that route after not being happy.

For anyone shopping for lights and looking to spend a lot of money do attempt to see them in person especially if switching types. Doesn’t help the OP, but a drive of even a couple hours to a lfs is worth not being happy and dropping thousands.

it’s good we have options. Not everyone likes the same thing. I myself can’t imagine running anything other than leds only, i really didn’t love mh or t5 even back in the day when that was all we had although I made the best of it.

for the OP the schedule above is a good one, but if it’s not what you like hopefully you can get some of your money back reselling.

 

[DHill6]

It was a toss up between Kessil and Radion. After looking them over and comparing them, and with the Radions having more PAR, I went with them.

Really tempted t try Kessil but the Radions left a bad taste. ;Rage

Kessil 500x, very nice light!

 

[bigfish1152]

Not exactly sure why you're out here posting a boo-hoo buyer remorse story

There you are. I KNEW you would pop your head up eventually.

I live 40 miles one way form the city. Come to my house, spend 2 weeks here and drive me around 800 miles to all these places, or, st*u!

Has nothing to do with buyers remorse, they are chump change to me. When someone tells you something taste like lobster and then actually taste like a sewer drain, starts to make you wonder whats wrong with peoples opinions. THATS my issue!!

 

[ZoWhat]

There you are. I KNEW you would pop your head up eventually.

I live 40 miles one way form the city. Come to my house, spend 2 weeks here and drive me around 800 miles to all these places, or, ****!

Has nothing to do with buyers remorse, they are chump change to me. When someone tells you something taste like lobster and then actually taste like a sewer drain, starts to make you wonder whats wrong with peoples opinions. THATS my issue!!

Try the lobster bisque instead
'Tis wonderful

 

[bigfish1152]

From what I have seen, if they actually

"Newest fad"? I'm not sure I would say LED's are a fad at this point...

From what I have seen, and, I call a spade a spade, if they look that bad as to all the supposed hype, its a fad, for now. Hopefully something better will come along before they do away with the old lighting options and screw the next generaton of reefers over, never knowing there was better.

 

[Devin6871]

I used to run metal halide back in the day with the old power compact supplementals.

When I returned to the hobby last year I started with 4 kessil a360we over my reefer 525xl. After the first 6 months with decent results I added a 4 bulb t5 supplement to help grow my sps more evenly.

Just last month I replaced that entire setup with 4 radion xr30 g5 pro.

I find the ability to customize the radions nice and my coral seem to like it as much as my previous setup, although I am only running them at about 40 percent intensity currently.

I guess all this is just a really long winded way to say; As long as your coral like it, and so do you, the lighting that you choose is mostly just a matter of opinion.

 

[jmichaelh7]

There you are. I KNEW you would pop your head up eventually.

I live 40 miles one way form the city. Come to my house, spend 2 weeks here and drive me around 800 miles to all these places, or, ****!

Has nothing to do with buyers remorse, they are chump change to me. When someone tells you something taste like lobster and then actually taste like a sewer drain, starts to make you wonder whats wrong with peoples opinions. THATS my issue!!

Lol. “there you are”

 

[bigfish1152]

Just sell it and get a ATI fixture. You can later add led bars if you want some led in there.

If the leds are causing strain then the kessil type shimmer may be worse. Probably worth seeing someone else’s tank in person first. They shouldn’t disco but you may need a lot of them to get a blanket light since you like that. Puck leds can cause shadows.

I think "shadows" is a misnomer. When someone says shadows, I think of a shadow on a wall with a flashlight, making duck silhouettes. I guess shadow could also mean lower light than original light, but that was never defined in describing LEDS. Everything seemed lit up, but, not so bright. Confusing a 55w T5 directionaly pointed down 60 degrees away from an object could fill the places an LED could not touch right over head. I mean, I kind of get get but never would have believed it till I saw it.

Shimmer would not bother me if Kessil could blanket like the T5, but, in general I dont like shimmer to begin with. Never bothered me with my Halides.

Just might have to go with a hybrid fixture of some sort. As long as the tank is in the AB+ mode, LEDs are okay I guess as I dont use that for viewing. When I set it to a crisp white for viewing pleasure, it blows. I do like playing with the LED color schemes, not to mention instant red to catch fish at night is a plus. I just dont know if $900 is worth catching fish, lol.

 

[bigfish1152]

I'll trade you two kessil A360x for them if you want. I can take those terrible nausea inducing things off your hands

I might do that, but, I am waiting for zoa what to drive me around, as he suggested, to all those places he talked about so I can make an educated purchase next time. Hold that thought.

 

[sante21079]

What settings are you running with the radions? Care to share a picture of your tank?

 

[bigfish1152]

Try running a known good preset like AB+ or radiant color maybe instead of just dicking around with color channels?

AB+ is okay to view, if all the lights in the house are out. I like a crisp white with a hint of blue for viewing. For some reason, it just doesnt look bright. Who knows, maybe my corals are screwed, lol, but, to get the brightness close to what I need/like with the Radions, they would be fried like eggs over easy in an instant.

I will play with it tomorrow some more, one more time.

 

[stacksoner]

Terrible take and analogy

Lol

Now, here is the rub.......... If I have all 3 on (L+R G4 & T5-HO) The whole tank is enveloped and blanked in light, it just knocked my socks off!!

I can't tell if this is a troll post

 

[bigfish1152]

Lol

I can't tell if this is a troll post

If your eye sight isnt that sensative to see the actual difference, consider yourself lucky and go buy a flashlight to light your tank. You will save yourself a whole lot of money!!

 

[Arthacker87]

It seems like he wants to vent and that's OK. Your hamburger to steak analogy was dumb. It's comparing lights to a skimmer. If you said top sirloin vs prime or filled, it makes more sense. But I get it. Personally I have xr30s and freaking love them. I also have 4 ATI t5 bulb fixture with an orphek led bar supp and I get better coloration from my marsaqua than the t5s. Like everyone is saying it's all part of the experience and what you take from it. Also I'm sure you did some research, made a decision, didn't like that choice. Doesn't mean you should come on here saying everyone's dumb to like leds. Ask opinions and comments for sure. This just seems kinda whiney. Play with the fixture some if ya hate it tons of people love them, you can get rid of em quick. I run a ab+ with a little variation of my own pleasing.

 

[Arthacker87]

Fillet* dang auto correct

 

[bigfish1152]

Lol. “there you are”

Not quite. I did a whoooooooole lot of research on what leds were supposed to offer compared to other lighting options. Just like Halides, just like Halides!! I knew it was going to be worse that what people said, but, holy h<ll, not THAT bad (as far as looks go).

solid red okay. Solid green okay, Blues to UV, not too bad (cant see much in blues anyways). Crisp white with an extreme hint of blue for viewing?? Sucks donkey kong!!