Radion vs Ethereal programming

jwt1603 · Feb 14, 2018

I'm relatively new to SW. I've got a RS 525 with 3 Maxspect Ethereal lights on it and I don't seem to be able to get it dialed in right. I tried their customer service but they weren't helpful with the light settings. Probably didn't want to take responsibility so I get it.

Anyway, I've got an EcoTech M1 and two EcoTech MP40's on the tank already. I was thinking of switching to the Radion XR30 G4 Pro lights and putting it all on their ReefLink program. Are they easier to understand / program the time and spectrum for someone who is not a professional lighting engineer?

On a related note, when I spoke with EcoTech they said three of the 15's or two of the 30's. Since Red Sea sells the tank with three Hydra 26 units I would have thought this tank would need three of the 30's. Tank is 59 inches long 22 inches front to back and 22 inches deep. Mostly LPS and softies for now. Maybe some SPS later once I get more comfortable in the hobby. Which set up would give better light / even light for the tank?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

PmCarbrey · Feb 14, 2018

You would be better off with 3 xr30's to avoid shadowing.

Ecotech lights are very easy to program, you can do it the simple way and just use one of their preset programs (which all work great) or adjust each color LED to look how you want it throughout the day. The only problems I've ever had were in older units where the RF module was on the way out.

Ecotech's mobile app is also pretty easy to use for quick changes (IE turning the lights up or down for a photo), the website is much better suited to the fine tuning side though.

jwt1603 · Feb 15, 2018

PmCarbrey said:
You would be better off with 3 xr30's to avoid shadowing.

Ecotech lights are very easy to program, you can do it the simple way and just use one of their preset programs (which all work great) or adjust each color LED to look how you want it throughout the day. The only problems I've ever had were in older units where the RF module was on the way out.

Ecotech's mobile app is also pretty easy to use for quick changes (IE turning the lights up or down for a photo), the website is much better suited to the fine tuning side though.

Thanks.

mfarris2 · Jun 21, 2018

They are NOT! I purchased 3 ea of the Gen 4 Pro's. On day one,...I went to plug in one of their power supply's. My GFI receptacle kept tripping. They sent me a new power supply with return label.
Perhaps a week later, that light failed. They sent me another light with return label.
Meanwhile,....I kept fighting to keep their Reef Link connected. After a couple of weeks,....they had me send them my logs. After a review they sent me back an Email that stated I n
had to have my cable provider (Spectrum) set something to Google. They refused. I now had to go spend a few hundred dollars on cable/networking equipment to do this myself. (Would have been nice to know about this BEFORE purchasing the lights.
Now a month later, I come home and yet another light is not working. I went to check the wires and touched the wire from the power supply to the light fixture. So hot that the plastic/rubber shield between the connector had melted and burnt my finger as I tried to unplug them. (They had welded together.) They sent me another light with return label. In setting this up,.....I contacted Ecotech,....they set up the lights Via the Reef Link. Not 10 minutes later,.....yet another light failed. Now they had me send ALL three lights back to them,.....leaving my reef tank with NO lights.
Everyone I talk to says these are great lights. My experience,......$3000 of junk!

jwt1603 · Jun 21, 2018

Wow, that stinks. My Radions haven't had an issue.

The Reeflink was easy to set up. And I'm no programmer. Only thing I noticed was it doesn't want to work with Internet Explorer but it works fine with Chrome. I can access it from any of my devices.