Why is everyone selling their Radions

[Halal Hotdog]

We have about 300 Radion G4 Pros in our farm, we love them and they do a pretty awesome job at making SPS look amazing for us. We will usually rotate through lights especially the ones we bring to shows as they get a little more abuse than the rest of them but aside from that I think its just the sheer volume of lights sold.
Theres also lots of people that purchase 5 and end up only using 4 but their builds are like a year after purchasing the lights.

I'm curious, wouldn't it be significantly more cost effective to build your own LED lights? With such volume I imagine Ecotech is giving a pretty hefty discount.

 

[lexinverts]

It looks like the Radion is on a higher setting on that photo?

It actually isn’t. It’s the coraline on the back wall of his tank on the ReeFi side that makes it look like that. The left side also looks brighter in his recent photos with two ReeFis.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

I hated the side glare as well having the radions for 3 years trying different lighting profiles I could never get them to be perfect even with adding t5 corals looked good just never grew that great. I switched to the kessils because they just looked amazing and no dico or color separation on the sand bed. growth has been awesome as well as color. and no t5 I have 3 a360we over a 4 foot 120. I will upgrade to the newer kessils over the summer for the added uv led will make the corals pop better

 

[RJKain-777]

I hated the side glare as well having the radions for 3 years trying different lighting profiles I could never get them to be perfect even with adding t5 corals looked good just never grew that great. I switched to the kessils because they just looked amazing and no dico or color separation on the sand bed. growth has been awesome as well as color. and no t5 I have 3 a360we over a 4 foot 120. I will upgrade to the newer kessils over the summer for the added uv led will make the corals pop better

Could just get orphek OR Bars with the UV spectrum. Cheaper then upgrading your kessils if that’s the only reason you want to upgrade

 

[RJKain-777]

Double post

 

[djray77]

I sold mine cause I think they are overrated and overpriced.

 

[Mark Gray]

I sold the gen 4 I had I like Orphek now

 

[dadnjesse]

Seem like for every Radion I see for sale I also see a Kessil for sale

 

[Sjaako]

It’s going to depend on the hobbiest. This is my first tank, only in the hobby for 20 months now. I “threw” over $10K into my tank, extensive Apex setup, and high-end equipment because I didn’t want to upgrade and upgrade. I did my research in advance, sought advice here on R2R before making a single purchase, and detailed my plans before starting my build. My tank is now thriving, and the only equipment I have replaced were my Radions because I didn’t like the side glare.

Now I’m on the board of directors at my local aquarist club, and have written the 8-part Apex programming tutorial series here on R2R.

I’d say my inexperience has blossomed into a great experience.

Your tank looks absolutly fabulous, is this foto taken under moon light (uv?) the colors are popping.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Your tank looks absolutly fabulous, is this foto taken under moon light (uv?) the colors are popping.

Thanks!

That photo was taken at 10am, when the lights were still ramping up for the day. Here's the schedule I use:

 

[Scape]

Like djray77 said they are overpriced and over rated, personally I think people are becoming more clued on towards whats being sold to them by giant aquatic companies or what's being told to them at their LFS, from my own experience though they are good lights you can achieve the same results for alot cheaper, I also had a radion and a cheap equivalent side by side the radion packed up first then I bought another to replace it and put the new one next the the old cheaper equivalent one and after 8 months the new radion started giving me problems whilst the cheaper one stayed there working perfectly through everything this experience made me slightly loose faith on these larger companies.

 

[Bob Weigant]

I’ll be the only kid on the other side of the room who likes the Radions. Since upgrading my lights my corals never looked better. I’m good with that

 

[DSC reef]

I'm curious, wouldn't it be significantly more cost effective to build your own LED lights? With such volume I imagine Ecotech is giving a pretty hefty discount.

I suspect the same. Many years ago top shelf sold a Chinese black box that they said they built or had a hand in design when my wife and I visited often.

 

[wrasse hole]

I'm curious, wouldn't it be significantly more cost effective to build your own LED lights? With such volume I imagine Ecotech is giving a pretty hefty discount.

I've always assumed these large coral vendors have a deal with Ecotech, but I'm also curious to know since there are so many more cost effective options that are just as effective.

I know Battle Corals uses the Reefbreeders Photon V2 which sounds like a much more obvious choice for coral farms.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

It looks like the Radion is on a higher setting on that photo?

I think it has a lot to do with the diffuser capturing the light to make it look brighter. The left side looks like there's a lot more white light than the other. PAR may be the same but the color spectrum don't look like they're the same.

 

[Christopher Peters]

Radions are sold the most because they are purchased the most. I have them and i have no complaints.

Yeah me

Radions are sold the most because they are purchased the most. I have them and i have no complaints.

They're on like half of the WWC tanks, and that's good enough for me. They also have some AI's which is a sister company to Ecotech anyway. I'm sticking with mine lol.

 

[Christopher Peters]

Practically half of the coral farms use them..... and the other half use t5's, and halides. I've rarely seen them use any other brand of led. Sometimes AI which is a sister company anyway. They're just a more complex light to program. Kessil tends to be easier, because there is less to screw up.

 

[PlasmaBoy]

Every light has there positive and negatives. I agree that the reason there are so many radions for sale is because it’s either the 1st or 2nd most used light on the market. There’s a reason the top growers (Wwc, Tsa, vivid, unique corals) all use radions. Plain and simple they just work. you can find success with any light on the market but with so many big players like the lfs listed above and brs pushing Ecotech so hard of course people are going to lean that way.

These businesses would see a deep discount for choosing Radions I would think. As a business owner it's a win win, specially if they can also sell them in store Product placement works every time. if you have a reasonable product it works even better.

The best product ecotech ever made was/is the MP wavemakers those you won't see too many deep discounts on for placement those I can't DIY for $100

 

[Fuat Çakmak]

I have gen4 pro and i am satisfied

 

[Jon Fishman]

I'm on a budget..... I have kids to feed..... I wanted to get one of the "big boy" lights so I could have the bells and whistles of programming etc, the proven success from @WWC amongst others, etc. etc.

I ended up scooping up 4 Gen3 Pro's for a good deal, so it left enough room in the budget to add a couple aquatic Life hybrid fixtures...... I'm pretty happy with them..... if LEDs start going out etc, Gen 5's will probably be on the market, or something else...... Either way, I love the way my tank looks now..... I really wanted new lights for the way they look (when not on) for programability, and that would allow me to use a hybrid fixture..... The actual LOOK of the tank with the lights on, is pretty amazing to me.

I'm not married to any brand though...... next lights could be AI Prime (have one on another tank) the new Red Sea lights, Kessils….. who knows..... maybe new radions.