Radion and color

[Mirkus]

How do you like the radion so far? I would supplement radion with 4 bulb t5. If I ran a couple led strips with my t5 and mh setup would that change the color at all? I have 1 actinic 2 blue plus and 1 purple plus now.

So far so good with the radions. The biggest downside to them is the cost. I chose to go full LED, so I have 4 fixtures over a 5 foot tank. Hardly, economical if ask me. I did not change over expecting some kind of ROI. I just wanted to switch things up, and I was tired of the flat look of t5's.

 

[29bonsaireef]

Would not recommend Radions, unless supplemented with a few T5bulbs. Tried them out for about a month, not impressed. Corals were not happy under them. I noticed lots of shaded areas on colonies, underside of SPS turning pale and polyps receding while the top portion was getting baked by light. If you're looking for a more efficient alternative try T5 fixture with reefbrites or some supplemental LED. Ive been running a 6 bulb ATI with reefbrites for 2.5 yrs now and have never been happier with color/growth

 

[Mirkus]

Would not recommend Radions, unless supplemented with a few T5bulbs. Tried them out for about a month, not impressed. Corals were not happy under them. I noticed lots of shaded areas on colonies, underside of SPS turning pale and polyps receding while the top portion was getting baked by light. If you're looking for a more efficient alternative try T5 fixture with reefbrites or some supplemental LED. Ive been running a 6 bulb ATI with reefbrites for 2.5 yrs now and have never been happier with color/growth

I had shading with my t5's and have similar shading with radions. My corals have shown no ill effects from the lighting change. The one thing I have noticed is the chemical warfare between my corals has intensified or the corals are more susceptible to chemical war. You can't make a statement about the effectiveness of lighting after one month. If you tried out for a year on an already established tank (1-2 years old) and noticed a change then maybe you could pin it on the lights. There are so many variables in play.

 

[oysterk]

Everybody's tank is different, there are plenty of LED only/Radion only SPS tanks that look amazing. Personally, I am running only a Nanobox Quad, a 4 puck LED system that's complete overkill for my tank. If you could afford a T5-LED combo though, that's really the best of both worlds.

 

[tqui]

here's my radion's results:

 

[29bonsaireef]

I had shading with my t5's and have similar shading with radions. My corals have shown no ill effects from the lighting change. The one thing I have noticed is the chemical warfare between my corals has intensified or the corals are more susceptible to chemical war. You can't make a statement about the effectiveness of lighting after one month. If you tried out for a year on an already established tank (1-2 years old) and noticed a change then maybe you could pin it on the lights. There are so many variables in play.

I agree, there are many variables that come into play. However, my point being more so that I would not make a switch from MH to Radion for color alone. My tank was 3yrs old at the time I tried them. Im afraid if I would of left them over my tank for a year it would of been the end of most my sps. Its similar to the way mariculture pieces tend to take forever to color up. They come out of the ocean growing under natural sun and are thrown in to artificial lighting and it takes them a while to adjust, if they ever do. You take corals grown under MH and throw them under LEDs.. a totally different lighting, you get my point. Maybe, if you were to start from the beginning with frags grown under LED they would be better adapted to that kind of lighting. I have friends with amazing reefs lit by Radions but they used them from the get go.

Making a full switch from MH to LED for just for color is risky and your corals WILL encounter stress, if they recover from it.. that will depend on your individual corals. If the electric bill isn't hurting you from the MH, I would say stick with them. You can achieve the same excellent coloration under MH with a 20k bulb and some T5 blue+ or LED strips for that extra pop and it won't be as stressful for the tank. In the end overall tank health, stability, and water params count for coloration just as much as the lighting.

 

[mtraylor]

here's my radion's results:

Very beautiful aquarium. Great job! How big is your aquarium and how many units you hang over the top?

 

[tqui]

Very beautiful aquarium. Great job! How big is your aquarium and how many units you hang over the top?

thanks.
105gallon tank w/40gal sump-
2 radion g4 pro.... i also have 4 tubes of t5 (actinic).. but before the g4 upgrades--i've ran radion g3 pro exclusively (same results)

 

[BoomCorals]

I read all the hype about the radions and how they color up sps better than mh so that has me wanting to make the switch. I still don’t know what I want to do. Leaning toward staying with my mh setup.

I’ve owned both. For me, the radions (g4 pro) did not color up coral any better than MH / T5. If anything, it was not as good as the radions. I honestly would just stay with the halide unless you’re having heat problems.

 

[BoomCorals]

if you are sticking with the halide... i suggest 20k radium bulbs with t5 actinic or blue plus bulbs, that was my best combo

I run exactly this and it’s great.

 

[RedSox81]

Thanks everyone for your input I really appreciate it. Looks like I will stay with the radiums with t5. Now I have to search for cheaper led blue supplement strips.