The Radion XR15 is equivalent to a Kessil A360 so as long as you're swapping one for one, there wont be any issues. Having owned the XR15 (G3) and the Kessils, I kept the Kessils and ditched the Radions but that was a matter of personal preference; both can grow corals but the shimmer and wider spread of the Kessil are the reasons I stuck with them (had no desire to mount the lights a foot and half off the tank to get the same spread). As for the bad move comment, that is likely coming from a user that lacks experience with one or both of the arrays mentioned (both are plenty capable).
I've had the A360's for almost two years now. On paper, yes there are the "same" as an XR15, but in reality they're far away from eachother. First of all, the Kessil has great shimmer, and that's about the only + for it. Let's see the negatives:
1, In reality it puts out less PAR's (around 2/3) as the XR15pro (not to mention the 160, which is only 50% as powerful)
2, It has a somewhat predifined spectrum, so if you want just a hint more red or purple for a picture maybe or just see where your corals are the most happy at? Yep, you won't get that. It just doesn't have the needed leds for that in it's matrix array. The Radion on the other hand is fully customizable spectrum wise
3, It has horrible cut-off (or shading). It's basicly a single-point light source (hence the great shimmer effect), but the corals don't care that much about shimmer, they care if they get light or not. Before adding the T5's the base of the corals were dying because they were not getting light.
(+1, It has an arrogant and delusional fan base, but so does the Ecotech club, so that's not really a thing to bring up against Kessil
D)
All 3 "issues" are solveable with a T5 - Kessil hybrid setup (that's how I use mine), but then you're really keeping the Kessils just for the shimmer and as a poor par (compared to other options) base light, and set the spectrum/color (once) with the T5's, which you would need to swap every year or so. This might get ugly & access/space limiting unless you're using something like the AquaticLife fixture, which is also not on the cheap side for what it is. You don't have moonlight, weather simulation either - if that's something you'd like.
Ooor, for about the same price as 4 t5 bulbs, aquaticlife fixture, 2x a360we, spectral controller, you could get 3 XR15's with the diffusers, and have the same par and coverage, but with less energy consumption + a tidyer setup + no need to replace bulbs + be able to set the spectrum whenever and however you want.
I'm not saying I'm right, I'm just saying that if you let go of the fan-hype for a minute & look around on the internet, you'll see the results (and a lot of them) with the Radions, and won't see a single full blown away SPS tank with Kessils only. There must be a reason to this.
