Overkill light coverage ?

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Hi! I know there has been a lot of thread about this but....

Im just wondering why people "for example" could buy 8 radion xr30 pro g4 for their 72 inches long tank?

Personally.... i think its so overkill... you know, these lights cost a lot of money... and ive seen people in some threads recomending to put like 8 of these lights on a 72" tank... its so wrong... only the xr15 g4 pro can produce a spread of 24 inches wide... im currently planning to buy 3 of these on my 6 foot tank and i will be growing acros in it. I know i could put 4 but 3 is enough, tell me if im wrong. Of course its a 6 foot long tank but all the rock and corals are like 6 inches away from each sides of the tank. Just let me know your thoughts. I wanna know if im the only one who thinks like this.

Im currently running the ic loop from current usa and i can tell you my acros are growing but slowly tho... good news is... everything's thriving

Waters · Oct 3, 2019

Lumberjack 0077 said:
Hi! I know there has been a lot of thread about this but....

Im just wondering why people "for example" could buy 8 radion xr30 pro g4 for their 72 inches long tank?

Personally.... i think its so overkill... you know, these lights cost a lot of money... and ive seen people in some threads recomending to put like 8 of these lights on a 72" tank... its so wrong... only the xr15 g4 pro can produce a spread of 24 inches wide... im currently planning to buy 3 of these on my 6 foot tank and i will be growing acros in it. I know i could put 4 but 3 is enough, tell me if im wrong. Of course its a 6 foot long tank but all the rock and corals are like 6 inches away from each sides of the tank. Just let me know your thoughts. I wanna know if im the only one who thinks like this.

Im currently running the ic loop from current usa and i can tell you my acros are growing but slowly tho... good news is... everything's thriving

Some people use more than recommended for better light coverage. Even though Ecotech says the xr15 can spread 24 inches for example, it isn't the same light intensity from the inside to the outside of that coverage range...unless you are overlapping Radions. I agree with you though....I only have two over my 4 foot tank (although I am in the process of adding 4 T5 bulbs also

)

Dvanlier05 · Oct 3, 2019

Lumberjack 0077 said:
Hi! I know there has been a lot of thread about this but....

Im just wondering why people "for example" could buy 8 radion xr30 pro g4 for their 72 inches long tank?

Personally.... i think its so overkill... you know, these lights cost a lot of money... and ive seen people in some threads recomending to put like 8 of these lights on a 72" tank... its so wrong... only the xr15 g4 pro can produce a spread of 24 inches wide... im currently planning to buy 3 of these on my 6 foot tank and i will be growing acros in it. I know i could put 4 but 3 is enough, tell me if im wrong. Of course its a 6 foot long tank but all the rock and corals are like 6 inches away from each sides of the tank. Just let me know your thoughts. I wanna know if im the only one who thinks like this.

Im currently running the ic loop from current usa and i can tell you my acros are growing but slowly tho... good news is... everything's thriving

On my 120 I have 2 Gen3 XR15, 1 Gen4 XR30 and 4 48" T5 bulbs. You will probably want to look into adding some T5 too

MrsBugmaster · Oct 3, 2019

I think with LED lights there can be shadowing as the corals grow. Therefore, some corals are not getting the light they need all the way down to the bottom and back side of the coral. I've had some that will turn brown at the base because of this. We do not have this problem with T5 because they blacket the tank with more even coverage of light. And the huge reflectors on metal halide also prevent this problem. That's why people put more led's on their tank.

Dvanlier05 · Oct 3, 2019

MrsBugmaster said:
I think with LED lights there can be shadowing as the corals grow. Therefore, some corals are not getting the light they need all the way down to the bottom and back side of the coral. I've had some that will turn brown at the base because of this. We do not have this problem with T5 because they blacket the tank with more even coverage of light. And the huge reflectors on metal halide also prevent this problem.

That's why people try to put as many LEDS as possible over big tanks. Using supplemental T5 gives corals enough light to grow and LEDs provide the pop when I'm home to look at the tank.

Fishfinder · Oct 3, 2019

Lumberjack 0077 said:
Hi! I know there has been a lot of thread about this but....

Im just wondering why people "for example" could buy 8 radion xr30 pro g4 for their 72 inches long tank?

Personally.... i think its so overkill... you know, these lights cost a lot of money... and ive seen people in some threads recomending to put like 8 of these lights on a 72" tank... its so wrong... only the xr15 g4 pro can produce a spread of 24 inches wide... im currently planning to buy 3 of these on my 6 foot tank and i will be growing acros in it. I know i could put 4 but 3 is enough, tell me if im wrong. Of course its a 6 foot long tank but all the rock and corals are like 6 inches away from each sides of the tank. Just let me know your thoughts. I wanna know if im the only one who thinks like this.

Im currently running the ic loop from current usa and i can tell you my acros are growing but slowly tho... good news is... everything's thriving

Your putting 3 xr15 or 3 xr30?

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Fishfinder said:
Your putting 3 xr15 or 3 xr30?

I would put 3 xr15 g4 on my 6 foot tank, i have 6inches on both sides of the tank with no rock.

Fishfinder · Oct 3, 2019

Lumberjack 0077 said:
I would put 3 xr15 g4 on my 6 foot tank, i have 6inches on both sides of the tank with no rock.

No even close to enough light

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Fishfinder said:
No even close to enough light

Ecotech told me it would be good enough, they also told me their lights covers 24"x24" and i only need 58 inches of coverage... i still dont understand why people spend thats much money to put like 8 of these lights on a 6 foot tank i just cant understand that... thats just so wrong. Especially when the majority of people doesnt even want to try to grow acros. Im actually having very good success growing acros with a single 72 inch long ic loop led light from current usa wich is like 30 watts. I just dont get it... " put 8 xr30 on your 6 foot tank you need it" is like telling people to spend 7000$ on lights where you dont need it, its just so wrong...

Fishfinder · Oct 3, 2019

Lumberjack 0077 said:
Ecotech told me it would be good enough, they also told me their lights covers 24"x24" and i only need 58 inches of coverage... i still dont understand why people spend thats much money to put like 8 of these lights on a 6 foot tank i just cant understand that... thats just so wrong. Especially when the majority of people doesnt even want to try to grow acros. Im actually having very good success growing acros with a single 72 inch long ic loop led light from current usa wich is like 30 watts. I just dont get it... " put 8 xr30 on your 6 foot tank you need it" is like telling people to spend 7000$ on lights where you dont need it, its just so wrong...

You asked for advice. Don’t get mad at me. But 3 xr15 on a 6 foot tank that is probably 24” deep will not be enough

Fishfinder · Oct 3, 2019

It seems like you're here to argue, not get help

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Fishfinder said:
It seems like you're here to argue, not get help

Im sorry, its a misunderstanding, i didnt say you said that dont worry, i expressed myself in the wrong way. of course i want your thoughts about this but i just called ecotech and they told me that 3 is enough, they didnt say its plenty enough but just ok, i just dont like the way people tells to others to put that much.... im serious haha ive seen on other forums, people recommending an enormous amount of light fixtures to make them spend that much money only on lights.... im just sharing what ive seen with you

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Lumberjack 0077 said:
Im sorry, its a misunderstanding, i didnt say you said that dont worry, i expressed myself in the wrong way. of course i want your thoughts about this but i just called ecotech and they told me that 3 is enough, they didnt say its plenty enough but just ok, i just dont like the way people tells to others to put that much.... im serious haha ive seen on other forums, people recommending an enormous amount of light fixtures to make them spend that much money only on lights.... im just sharing what ive seen with you

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Fishfinder said:
You asked for advice. Don’t get mad at me. But 3 xr15 on a 6 foot tank that is probably 24” deep will not be enough

I will put acros on top very close to the lights and the less light demanding corals at the bottom,it should help i think ?

Dave Cureton · Oct 3, 2019

I had 3 XR15 3rd gen on a 5’ tank. They worked well until the corals started growing. The bottom half of my tank ended up very dark. I now run a 8 bulb ATI sunpower and 2 sbreef sbars. No more shadowing. It really depends on what you want to grow. You mention your tank is growing corals well now. Why change it up?

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Dave Cureton said:
I had 3 XR15 3rd gen on a 5’ tank. They worked well until the corals started growing. The bottom half of my tank ended up very dark. I now run a 8 bulb ATI sunpower and 2 sbreef sbars. No more shadowing. It really depends on what you want to grow. You mention your tank is growing corals well now. Why change it up?

They definitly grow but i would like even more growth xD and also for the color pop

but i havent thought about when the corals will be too big enough.... maybe adding 4 of them instead?

Jon Fishman · Oct 3, 2019

Lumberjack 0077 said:
... im serious haha ive seen on other forums, people recommending an enormous amount of light fixtures to make them spend that much money only on lights....

I would tell everyone that Black-Box lights with T5’s grow everything and the tank looks amazing, but if these people aren’t buying Radions by the dozen, how will I feed my kids?

Fishfinder · Oct 3, 2019

Lumberjack 0077 said:
They definitly grow but i would like even more growth xD and also for the color pop but i havent thought about when the corals will be too big enough.... maybe adding 4 of them instead?

The problem with three lights is now you only have three points in your tank where light is coming from. So when something grows between your light and an acro it is now in a shadow. With only three points of light you will have a lot of shadowing.

Also eco-tech is going to recommend the maximum possible spread on these lights. It’s their product. They won’t tell you it can’t do something. They’re going to tell you it’s the greatest best spread light in the world.

Third recommended spread is based on 100% for every channel. Not many people run 100% every channel. On AB plus you’ll get much less par output than they say

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Jon Fishman said:
I would tell everyone that Black-Box lights with T5’s grow everything and the tank looks amazing, but if these people aren’t buying Radions by the dozen, how will I feed my kids?

Youre right aboit the t5 and the black boxes

and yes those radions are so expensive!

Lumberjack 0077 · Oct 3, 2019

Fishfinder said:
The problem with three lights is now you only have three points in your tank where light is coming from. So when something grows between your light and an acro it is now in a shadow. With only three points of light you will have a lot of shadowing.

Also eco-tech is going to recommend the maximum possible spread on these lights. It’s their product. They won’t tell you it can’t do something. They’re going to tell you it’s the greatest best spread light in the world.

Third recommended spread is based on 100% for every channel. Not many people run 100% every channel. On AB plus you’ll get much less par output than they say

Ive seen some people talking about the ab+ feature but what it is ? What it does more than the 100% turned on ?