Need some help deciding on lights.

[ncaldwell]

I have kessil on one tank and radions gen4s on another, if you like simplicity I'd get the kessil. I love both but the kessil is definitely easier out of the box. If you like to tinker then the radions are fun. In a 24in cube the kessil would be the winner imo

 

[Daniel Waters]

Thanks for all the replies, I just saw a tank with kessels tonight and going to look at a tank with Radions tomorrow night hopefully that will help me decide, I really like the idea of the Radion with a diffuser.

You're doing the right thing to view each. I've owned both the XR15 and Kessil A360W. Here are my thoughts: The shimmer on the Kessil is more natural and I notice no color separation. The radion does have some disco ball and bothers me somewhat but it's not horrible. However, I have heard that the diffusers reduce this color separation. You really would just need to view each to make up your mind if one of these things is a deal breaker. While I like the shimmer best from Kessil, I do find it can be a bit much so a radion with a diffuser might be preferable (I run T5's also with my LED's and that reduces the shimmer to a tolerable level for me).

As far as power, my radion XR15w are by far more powerful. However, if you plan to add a diffuser, this will limit this advantage.

As far as the spectrum, setting the Kessil is easy. Put it to the color you like and not worry about it. That was one of the reasons I bought the A360 years ago as I felt overwhelmed by all the choices and so forth. Yes, the radions with 8 color channels can be intimidating, but there are plenty of proven pre-sets you can run and not have to worry about that. Plus, with forums like this, you can get plenty of great advice where If you're going to be the type who wants to constantly tinker with your light settings, though, the radion might be a curse in disguise.