Radions: To get or not to get

[Reloadeddevil]

Please share any pros and cons for this light because i will be purchasing the Radions in couple of days. If you can tell me how the SPS and LPS grow under these lights i would really appreciate, or would u rather have MH or T5. Thanks.

 

[Paul C.]

I'll be honest, im still up in the air.....My tank is mostly Chalice and zoas/palys... I have them turned down to 30% power, and running the white at 10% levels to avoid bleaching......Alot of options as reflected in the price....Wait another week or two, and i might sell ya mine...

 

[kuyatwo]

If you can wait there might be a price drop after macna when ai vega comes out as the sol blues dropped $100 after macna when the radion came out last year


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[JSB]

I have chalices, zoas, and palys in a 24" deep tank. I also have SPS, LPS, and clams. I run the lights at 100% individual intensity on all colors except red (50%) and green (40%), and 100% overall intensity for 8 hours a day. I don't bleach, and I get good growth ( as long as I can keep my alk in check [unrelated to the radions]). If you bring the intensity up about 10% a week, you should not see any bleaching. these really are great lights. I am planning a larger tank, and will buy them again, and I don't think I will ever go back to MH again. The pros for me are no heat issues, low cost to operate, infinite controllability, and styling. The cons are apparent high entry costs, however, if you compare that to the energy savings, and the fact that you replace the bulbs in 5-10 years as opposed to every 6 months, they turn out cheaper.

 

[ghostman]

I had radions after trying the AI sols. The sols were too icy colored for me, I wanted the fuller spectrum of the radions. I had great growth with the sols though, just odd colors IMO. I had nothing but problems with the radions. I blame most of the problems I had on the radion software. IMO, it is buggy, requires frequent reboots and reinstalls of the firmware, and was not up to the quality of the light itself. After a few months of frustration and losing several high end corals, I ended my experiment and went back to T5. Sure, I replace a lot of bulbs each year, but thats cheaper than the chalices and SPS I lost with the radions.

 

[creefer]

I had radions after trying the AI sols. The sols were too icy colored for me, I wanted the fuller spectrum of the radions. I had great growth with the sols though, just odd colors IMO. I had nothing but problems with the radions. I blame most of the problems I had on the radion software. IMO, it is buggy, requires frequent reboots and reinstalls of the firmware, and was not up to the quality of the light itself. After a few months of frustration and losing several high end corals, I ended my experiment and went back to T5. Sure, I replace a lot of bulbs each year, but thats cheaper than the chalices and SPS I lost with the radions.

Great information. I, like the OP, have been toying with this idea as well.

Thanks to Reloadeddevil for starting the thread.

 

[JSB]

Its funny, as I have had my radion since they first came out, running the software on a Windows virtual machine on my MAC, and have never really had any issue at all with it. To me honest, I changed the settings each week for the first couple of months, but after that, I rarely ever mess with them, unless I am acclimating something sensitive. yeah, it take a bit to understand how the software works initially, but I would have never called it buggy. It just goes to show, "your mileage may vary".

 

[kevinf]

I haven't really tinkered with mine. I set mine up with John from EcoTech's graph & tweaked it a bit.. runs great for me. I have it hooked up to my mp10's & battery backup.

 

[Reloadeddevil]

Thanks a lot everyone for your very informative inputs. The reason i was asking because i saw a lot Radions going on resale here at R2R and i was wondering as to why since they have been out close to a year now which should yield pretty solid results as to sps, lps and zoas growth and coloration.

 

[Troylee]

Thanks a lot everyone for your very informative inputs. The reason i was asking because i saw a lot Radions going on resale here at R2R and i was wondering as to why since they have been out close to a year now which should yield pretty solid results as to sps, lps and zoas growth and coloration.

I was wandering the same thing... Great thread..:xd:

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

If you can afford them go for it. I prefer diy to radions, as you can add 420nm violets, different reds, etc. for about half the price. If looks is you concern, then just shell out some more cah for the radion, lol

 

[Reloadeddevil]

Can anyone here please explain the difference between Radions and AI Vega Color which i know is not out but as far as if you understand the color spectrum which one will have more color pop to it and depth penetration.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Can anyone here please explain the difference between Radions and AI Vega Color which i know is not out but as far as if you understand the color spectrum which one will have more color pop to it and depth penetration.

From what I can tell, the vega will only have 20 LEDs. With the violet LEDs, the vega is a clear winner, if it has more than 20 LEDs, that is.

 

[Reloadeddevil]

So i think i will go with AI Vega color. There is always a first time for everything.

 

[huuta]

only complaint i have with the radion is it turn my red acan into o.j

 

[ghostman]

To add to my previous post, I did have major issues with the radions, and have read several threads on other boards where members experienced similar things. A common element to many of the issues was having multiple radion units ( I had 6 of them ) not behaving the same. Single radion owners may not experience the problems or software issues related to grouping, etc. A reboot and reinstallation of the firmware is easy on a single light, but a pain in the butt for six of them I spent hours and hours trying to get them to work in unison. In the end, they didn't.
I am going to try a Vega color on a frag tank, as I enjoyed the AI sols but wanted more colors. I'm still not selling my T5s yet though...