ai 26 hydra vs radion xr15w pro

John Killion · Sep 7, 2015

Hey everyone I'm new here but i skimmed through and didn't come across a comparison of these 2 so I figured I'd just ask real quick..

I have a 55g mixed reef tank that I plan on going to more sps after this light upgrade. Currently I have a 175wMH and 2 cheap Chinese leds over it right now and I was wondering if you guys thought 2 hydra 26's or 2 xr15w pros would be best to upgrade to. I only have about an $800 budget so I'd like to get the best I can get. Third possibility would be just do a DIY with rapid led and get their controller and all that but I'd like to hear from you guys.

Thanks for the insight and please explain your reasoning for which one you would choose.

Joeganja · Sep 8, 2015

Listen to me. I'm not going to dish on Ecotech Marine because they are amazing. But 2 Hydra 26s are what I have on my 90 gallon tank. It's a mixed reef with sps, Lps, and softies. With 2 hydra 26s you'll have 4 pucks and you'll spend around $700 rather than have 2 pucks from radion xr15w pro and spend $349 a piece for them and not be strong enough to grow sps. They say they have the Same coverage but they don't match up to the pucks. Aquaillumination LEDs are amazing! And they are owned by Ecotech marine lol. Amazing lights!

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aquapod24 · Dec 28, 2015

Both of the Hydra 26 and radion XR15w Pro have an extremely similar mix of LED colors in cool white, blue, deep blue, red, green and UV LEDs which are powered to a near identical level of intensity at 85 watts for the Radion and 90 watts for the Hydra 26.
The size and form factor of both the Hydra 26 and Radion XR15w Pro are right about the same size, both are an inch and half thick, with the Radion R15w Pro being a seven inch square and the Hydra 26 being a seven by five inch rectangle. The Hydra 26 has twenty-six LEDs spread across two clusters and seven channels while the Radion XR15w Pro has 21 LEDs in a single cluster and six channels of color control.
The other major difference between the Hydra 26 and Radion XR15w Pro is in how they are controlled. Out of the box, the Radion XR15w Pro has a few presets that can be cycled through using the onboard press-able buttons, and intensity can be adjusted to be brighter and dimmer. Meanwhile, the Hydra 26 has no such control available in the fixture right out of the box.
Either way, buyers of the Radion XR15w Pro or Hydra 26 will want to invest in the associated controllers for each platform in order to unlock the full programming and functionality of either light. At $399 for the Radion XR15w Pro and $349 for the Hydra 26, choosing one light over the other is going to be a hard decision to make.
The real fork in the road between the smaller Hydra and Radion is in their choice of lenses. The Radion XR15w comes stock with a 120 degree TIR lens and also has an included 90 degree lens for focusing the output a little bit. Meanwhile, there is only an 80 degree lens available for the Hydra 26 and no other beam angels are available.