To replace or wait

[smallcrpt]

I wanted to see what others think about my current lights. I've got my 120 display that's been running over a year. I've got 2 Hydra 26 and a Radion gen3 over the tank. I've got solid coral growth, it's a mixed reef, but I'm not sure if newer lights would change that.
Is anyone else here running 10 year old LEDs? Or even older? Are they past their useful life?

 

[VintageReefer]

I wanted to see what others think about my current lights. I've got my 120 display that's been running over a year. I've got 2 Hydra 26 and a Radion gen3 over the tank. I've got solid coral growth, it's a mixed reef, but I'm not sure if newer lights would change that.
Is anyone else here running 10 year old LEDs? Or even older? Are they past their useful life?

i wouldn’t change anything. Your tank looks great. The corals have great color

All they have done with the radion since gen 3 is make it worse lol

The time to replace the lights is after they break

 

[Hooz]

I run all (older) Prime HDs and Hydra 26HDs on my tanks, but I've upgraded all the LEDs to Luxdium. With the new pucks, and now their new lenses, they give a whole new life to the older lights, for a fraction of the cost of new lights.

I actually track down and buy the older AI lights for my tanks, just to upgrade them. They're all I run currently.

 

[smallcrpt]

I run all (older) Prime HDs and Hydra 26HDs on my tanks, but I've upgraded all the LEDs to Luxdium. With the new pucks, and now their new lenses, they give a whole new life to the older lights, for a fraction of the cost of new lights.

I actually track down and buy the older AI lights for my tanks, just to upgrade them. They're all I run currently.

I've been close to pulling the trigger on them. Which puck color did you get?

 

[Hooz]

I've been close to pulling the trigger on them. Which puck color did you get?

I've been running them almost 5 years. I started in the beta test when "Gold" was the only option. Since then I've settled on "Cyan" as my favorite.

I'm patiently waiting to get some of the new ones to try.

 

[Red_Beard]

I am running 2 gen 3 radions still. The lenses over the uv and a couple whites are cooked and ive been thining of replacing them. Those upgrade pucks look neat, i am going to look into those a little harder

 

[Faurek]

If the lights are good don't change first thing I saw was a big acro, that light is more then enough. New radions are more adjusted for LPS if you want to call that way, lower par with wider lens. Could you put a new gen radion replacing the older? Probably. But the result will be the same you have now.
You have 3 lights that should be enough to not have hard shading.

 

[Faurek]

all they have done with the radion since gen 3 is make it worse lol

The time to replace the lights is after they break.

1. Well, yes and no, a wider lens will help with shading, bit on big tanks you will need multiple anyways. They are going with the market. Expensive LPS is the thing now, so radions are meant for LPS that need less par.

2. Agree, if it's working no need to change.

 

[VintageReefer]

1. Well, yes and no, a wider lens will help with shading, bit on big tanks you will need multiple anyways. They are going with the market. Expensive LPS is the thing now, so radions are meant for LPS that need less par.

2. Agree, if it's working no need to change.

I dunno. Could make it capable of higher par and blending and then just run it at a lower percent if you want to keep lps only and prolong the life of the fixture.

 

[BryanM]

If my tank looked like that I wouldnt be changing anything.

 

[Faurek]

I dunno. Could make it capable of higher par and blending and then just run it at a lower percent if you want to keep lps only and prolong the life of the fixture.

That's the thing with lenses, the wider you go the less par you get, but you get more blend in return, the difference between 60° and 100° is enormous, and I think gen 6 go wider then that, narrower lense more penetration. For example a single 3w royal blue led with a lens of 60° get 16par at 40cm, while 100° gets around 4 and no lens get less then 2.
So from a gen 3 to the gen 6 to get the same par at you need a lot more LED's, which will make it less power efficient, if you just go no lens you get something really similar to t5 in blend but even less efficient raltive to par.