Radion Light Spread

[pandaparties]

How much do the XR15's and XR30's spread at 12 inches up? I am getting a tank thats 96x30x24 and i am wondering how many i need? Also is it going to be better to get a more of the X15s or fewer of the X30's?

 

[BlennyTime]

Why are you planning to have in your tank, coral-wise? That will determine how many/what configuration you need.

 

[pandaparties]

Why are you planning to have in your tank, coral-wise? That will determine how many/what configuration you need.

I plan on just a mixed reef, probably SPS/Acro dominant but with some LPS/Softies thrown in

 

[Hydrored]

I ran 5 G5 XR30 Blues for a similar sized tank just not as wide, I no longer run these lights but here is a pic from my build thread when I transferred the tank last year-

 

[pandaparties]

I ran 5 G5 XR30 Blues for a similar sized tank just not as wide, I no longer run these lights but here is a pic from my build thread when I transferred the tank last year-

Dang! That's more than i was expecting! What do you run now? I have heard good things about ReeFi as well

 

[Hydrored]

Dang! That's more than i was expecting! What do you run now? I have heard good things about ReeFi as well

I have also ran 5 ReeFi's for a short period over this tank, they are great lights but need to be mounted at least 12 inches off of the water, I run 4 Stratons now.

Day the tank swap was done with only 4 lights, added a 5th then went to radions.

 

[pandaparties]

I have also ran ReeFi's, they are great lights but need to be mounted at least 12 inches off of the water, I run 4 Stratons now.

Which were you getting the best growth with out of the three? Any advantages on Straton, haven't heard much on them

 

[Hydrored]

Which were you getting the best growth with out of the three? Any advantages on Straton, haven't heard much on them

You can check out my build thread or hit up the Straton thread where there is tons of data. Growth and colors have been better with Stratons, I have documented the corals coloring up.

ATI Straton LED Light - Comments, Review, PAR, Coverage, Discuss...

ATI.DE is being very conservative with production / availability of these, not sure why ultimately but yeah..

www.reef2reef.com

I’m not trying to talk you out of Radions, people grow amazing coral with them. I just prefer the sound of silence and the coverage with the Stratons over Radions

here is a photo from a couple months ago, I let the tank settle in for 6 months and get stable then started adding tons of frags after the tank swap

 

[Bruce60]

I have two XR15's (G4) along with four 48" T5's over a 60" x 24" x 24" display. I recently rented a PAR meter and ran multiple tests with each type of light separately and together, as well as the LED's at different power levels. The fixture is mounted 8" above the display.
With the LED's on at 80% power (at either 14K or 16K) and the T's off, PAR readings are in the range for SPS (250-350) in a 1 square foot area at a depth of 6" to 10". That continues to spread and dissipate as you go deeper, but there are significant shadowing issues from LED alone.
When I add the T5's, I don't add much PAR to the region under the LED's, but it spreads the SPS region a bit wider and creates a strong LPS region (150-250) PAR most everywhere else.
Based on my experiences I would strongly recommend you investigate a LED/T5 solution. The T5's provides steady diffuse lighting across the display and the LED's provide focused growing areas for specific types of corals. Otherwise, you need a lot of LED's that will provide enough overlap to minimize the shadowing effect. If the 30" measurement is front-back, you need to consider if a single row of LED's will throw enough light.

 

[Bruce60]

I’m not trying to talk you out of Radions, people grow amazing coral with them. I just prefer the sound of silence and the coverage with the Stratons over Radions

I have XR15's (G4) and they are silent. Cant speak to the XR30's

 

[pandaparties]

Thanks everyone, lots of great advice here!