Attention Radion Owners

soccerbag · Dec 20, 2011

I'm curious what you think would be the maximum light spread for 1 Radion fixture over a tank? I understand that a lot of it has to do with height over the water. Thinking about putting one of these over my frag tank which is 40" x 30" x 9". Current T5 fixture is about 16"+ over the water line. Would likely hang the Radion at this level or higher if needed.

What are your thoughts on spread here? Sufficient light spread to cover the 40" x 30" footprint or would 2 fixtures be necessary?

This is not a thread to discuss different types of LED fixtures or DIY. Just curious about spread. Thanks in advance! :bigsmile:

STL · Dec 20, 2011

Hmm... hard to say. Mine are each lighting a 2' x 2' space about 7" off the water. I'd say post a question on ecotech's support forum - they should know!

soccerbag · Dec 20, 2011

Just did that but figured that some of the folks running them around here may have some insight as well. Thank you : )

thewackyreefer · Jan 11, 2012

Anybody else have any input? Curious about this as well.

chestnud · Jan 11, 2012

In my experience I would say 30x30 is the max they can spread effectively.

reefknight · Jan 15, 2012

chestnud said:
In my experience I would say 30x30 is the max they can spread effectively.

Would you say that two Radion fixtures would effectively cover a 60x30x25 display?

pumarjr · Jan 25, 2012

Eco-Tech told me over the phone that for my 36" reef, i would need two for recommended coverage. they told me that 1 would do it, but 2 was preferred.

returnofsid · Jan 25, 2012

Craig, do you want full intensity coverage over the entire 40" our are you willing to accept some"fall off" at the ends, say for lower light demanding corals, and if so, how much?

soccerbag · Jan 25, 2012

I was closely considering the Radions as I LOVE my Vortechs and really like the customization of the lighting patterns with the Radions. I spoke with the guys at Ecotech and they recommended 2 instead of 1. The more I thought about it, the T5's I have are doing a great job. If I could get away with one, I may have switched. But needing two (for the full coverage I would desire) made my decision much easier - to wait until they drop in cost. And this was just for my frag tank so it was an unnecessary cost.

Thanks for the comments guys. Perhaps this will help some others who are considering switching over. They are great lights, but much more than I am looking to spend at the moment.

laynframe · Jan 28, 2012

Im curious as well. I have a Leemar 30x24x24 cube and currently running 2 AI's for full coverage, but wanted to up it to 1 radion, but now Im not too sure.

GACOSTA · Sep 26, 2013

I have in mind a 30x24x24 tank as well and I am looking for a single LED module that would be good enough to keep sps on top of the aquascaping.

Sent from my HTC One X+ at AT&T

DragKnee · Sep 26, 2013

GACOSTA said:
I have in mind a 30x24x24 tank as well and I am looking for a single LED module that would be good enough to keep sps on top of the aquascaping.

Sent from my HTC One X+ at AT&T

May want to look at the 160W Maxspect R420R

erndog · Sep 26, 2013

soccerbag said:
I was closely considering the Radions as I LOVE my Vortechs and really like the customization of the lighting patterns with the Radions. I spoke with the guys at Ecotech and they recommended 2 instead of 1. The more I thought about it, the T5's I have are doing a great job. If I could get away with one, I may have switched. But needing two (for the full coverage I would desire) made my decision much easier - to wait until they drop in cost. And this was just for my frag tank so it was an unnecessary cost.

Thanks for the comments guys. Perhaps this will help some others who are considering switching over. They are great lights, but much more than I am looking to spend at the moment.

Ok I know I am very late into the conversation here. But I'll toss in my two cents anyways bc I own 2 of them. Yes. To get the best coverage over that footprint you would need 2. Although 1 WOULD do the job. Its comes down to what kinds of corals are under them.
Here's the down side atm. the software to customize the lighting is very buggy right now. You have to use a certain computer with a certain browser blah blah blah. They make it look pretty. In reality it gets kind of ugly. You have to be somewhat computer savvy or spend a lot of time on the phone. I'll say this. It seems to work better on a Mac than on a PC.
And the Thunderstorm simulations are pretty cool. But it's very clear that whoever wrote the thing had absolutely no clue what a real one looks like. The simulation itself is excellent. Albeit the same every time. There's no randomness built into it. And when its over Its over. You go from very low light (cloudiness) to full sunlight instantly.

All that being said. I can't complain about the lights themselves. they are great lights. Hope this helps Good Luck