d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build

[newe70]

Tagging a long with your update progress on ur G4 Pros. I'm planning on swapping out 3 hydra 52 non-HD for 3 G4 Pros also.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Got one Radion G4 Pro installed tonite so I could compare them side by side.
Unfortunately, I don't have a par meter handy at the moment so this is just a visual comparison.
Later I'll test my par with all three and see how they stack up to the old numbers.

First, I was curious about the new power bricks.
On the left is the recent downsized brick from the G3 Pro. Some of you may already be familiar with these.
On the right is the new G4 brick. Obvious size difference.

Now here is a shot showing the G3 Pro on the left and G4 Pro on the right.
I went into Ecosmart live and made the new violet channel the same as the other blues and made the new white channel the same as the other white.
First thing I noticed is the overall brightness. The G4 definitely appears brighter to me.
Part of this is the fact that the lens hangs down below case. If you look at up at the lights, the G4 is a bit blinding. Actually, it almost makes you wonder if the G3 is turned on.
But the tank does appear more illuminated on that side.
Next, I noticed that the spread on the screen top is most definitely wider with the G4.
The lights are 16" off the top of the screen for reference.
And third, personally my favorite difference from a visual standpoint, is the color.
The best way I can describe it is the G4 feels more "full spectrum".
The white channel adds more of the yellow or white side of the spectrum and the violet seems to add more pink.
Running the Coral Lab AB+ program and like I said earlier, adding in the two extra channels on the G4, the G3 has that kind of washed out windex look where the G4 just has richer colors. You can see it in the rock. The rock on the left looks blue, and the rock on the right looks purple.
When both lights are on, it's subtle, but it's definitely there.

Now comes the fun part... lighting them up individually.
Both shots are taken with the same exact exposure, wb, etc.
No photoshopping, just a couple minor adjustments and the exact same adjustments applied to both photos.
The first pic is the G3, second is the G4.
The G3 barely lights up half the tank adequately, whereas the G4 is lighting up more like 3/4 of the tank.
There is obviously a lot more spread.
And now, you can really see the color difference.
You can probably tweak the channels to get the G3 closer to the G4, this is just me keeping the same AB+ program and adding in the two new colors.
Also, notice the spread front to back. The sand bed at the front is dark in pic 1, but lit up bright in pic 2.
Another thing to keep in mind is that my lights are hung front to back, so when just one is lit up, that's really just a one puck width.
The tank is 47" long.

That's it for now.
I'll get the others installed tomorrow.

Nice initial review!

 

[locito277]

Do you think they will
Work well together with G3? I have 4 G3 and want to add an additional 4 G4s for my 720.

 

[d2mini]

Do you think they will
Work well together with G3? I have 4 G3 and want to add an additional 4 G4s for my 720.

Yeah, I don't see why not. They'll work together fine. Alternate them and the extra spread and extra color channels will blend with the light from the G3's.

 

[locito277]

I'm also adding 2 48" ATI 4 bulb units so that should also help

 

[NCreefguy]

Looks great!! Have you had a chance to get any par readings yet? I'm interested to see watch you're getting.

 

[d2mini]

Looks great!! Have you had a chance to get any par readings yet? I'm interested to see watch you're getting.

Not yet. I need to borrow the meter again.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Any progress on the patio?

 

[d2mini]

Any progress on the patio?

Yep, done!
Got the mixing station hooked all back up Sunday. Now if it would just stop raining maybe I could take a pic!

 

[eg8r210]

Yep, done!
Got the mixing station hooked all back up Sunday. Now if it would just stop raining maybe I could take a pic!

I can't wait to see all that new tile painted blue again. Just kidding, I really liked the blue deck.

 

[Cleo642]

Are you done with metal halides? I know Radions look awesome, but I am sure they have some benefits over mh, like energy costs.

 

[locito277]

D2 do you. Price a nicer shimmer with the G4?

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Got one Radion G4 Pro installed tonite so I could compare them side by side.
Unfortunately, I don't have a par meter handy at the moment so this is just a visual comparison.
Later I'll test my par with all three and see how they stack up to the old numbers.

First, I was curious about the new power bricks.
On the left is the recent downsized brick from the G3 Pro. Some of you may already be familiar with these.
On the right is the new G4 brick. Obvious size difference.

Now here is a shot showing the G3 Pro on the left and G4 Pro on the right.
I went into Ecosmart live and made the new violet channel the same as the other blues and made the new white channel the same as the other white.
First thing I noticed is the overall brightness. The G4 definitely appears brighter to me.
Part of this is the fact that the lens hangs down below case. If you look at up at the lights, the G4 is a bit blinding. Actually, it almost makes you wonder if the G3 is turned on.
But the tank does appear more illuminated on that side.
Next, I noticed that the spread on the screen top is most definitely wider with the G4.
The lights are 16" off the top of the screen for reference.
And third, personally my favorite difference from a visual standpoint, is the color.
The best way I can describe it is the G4 feels more "full spectrum".
The white channel adds more of the yellow or white side of the spectrum and the violet seems to add more pink.
Running the Coral Lab AB+ program and like I said earlier, adding in the two extra channels on the G4, the G3 has that kind of washed out windex look where the G4 just has richer colors. You can see it in the rock. The rock on the left looks blue, and the rock on the right looks purple.
When both lights are on, it's subtle, but it's definitely there.

Now comes the fun part... lighting them up individually.
Both shots are taken with the same exact exposure, wb, etc.
No photoshopping, just a couple minor adjustments and the exact same adjustments applied to both photos.
The first pic is the G3, second is the G4.
The G3 barely lights up half the tank adequately, whereas the G4 is lighting up more like 3/4 of the tank.
There is obviously a lot more spread.
And now, you can really see the color difference.
You can probably tweak the channels to get the G3 closer to the G4, this is just me keeping the same AB+ program and adding in the two new colors.
Also, notice the spread front to back. The sand bed at the front is dark in pic 1, but lit up bright in pic 2.
Another thing to keep in mind is that my lights are hung front to back, so when just one is lit up, that's really just a one puck width.
The tank is 47" long.

That's it for now.
I'll get the others installed tomorrow.

Dennis, does your G3 have a wide-angle lens on it? I'm wondering if the spread would be closer if the upgraded TIR lens is used, or is that actually WITH the upgraded lens?

 

[locito277]

D2 do you. Price a nicer shimmer with the G4?

Spellcheck!! What the heck?! Meant to ask if you notice a nice shimmer on the G4s?

 

[d2mini]

Are you done with metal halides? I know Radions look awesome, but I am sure they have some benefits over mh, like energy costs.

Done for now!
Things are looking good so far. Will see how it goes long term.

Dennis, does your G3 have a wide-angle lens on it? I'm wondering if the spread would be closer if the upgraded TIR lens is used, or is that actually WITH the upgraded lens?

Standard lenses in the G3's.
FWIW, they were running at 95% overall intensity. WA would have dropped my PAR.
But yeah, would have closed the gap a bit. I've run WA before and wouldn't consider them an "upgrade".

Spellcheck!! What the heck?! Meant to ask if you notice a nice shimmer on the G4s?

I looked at that, and as far as I could tell, shimmer seemed to be about the same between the two.
It's no halide or kessil (crazy) shimmer, but there is some there. Depends on your water movement too.

 

[locito277]

The Kessils definitely have that boom shimmer. I considered adding three in between the 8 Radions but went the T5 route. Could always add 2-3 MH in the future lol

 

[d2mini]

Having a little fun with the refugium.

 

[Brett H whitt]

Nice Video. I would defiantly consider drilling a few holes in the top of your sump baffle. This will act as an overflow to prevent
The water from breaching the top of your sump. That is a ton of algae.

I want to do the triton method but my sumps algae volume is too small. I will either have to replace the sump or pull my
Skimmer out and use the skimmer section as an additional algae bed. I can run my life Reef as an external unit as well. I have spent enough on lighting
for this month, so I will wait a month or two before I decide. I did preform a Triton test and my water parameters are perfect, slightly low levels of phosphate and nitrate.

 

[d2mini]

Thanks. The sump baffle has slots all the way across the top.
I've been keeping an eye on it and the algae seems to have come to a stopping point as far as how high it's getting/how much of the teeth it's blocking.
But I'm still watching just in case.

 

[d2mini]

Any progress on the patio?

Here ya go, dude.
HUGE thank you to @Diesel !!!