T5+Kessil vs Radions

[NorthFLreefer]

I am currently running a 4 bulb Aquatic Life T5 fixture hung from ceiling with (2) Kessil A160we mounted on the tank via gooseneck in front of them over a 40 gallon Breeder.
The Kessils are obviously more for visual appeal and some supplemental lighting to the T5’s
I have been contemplating selling this setup and getting (2) Radion XR15W pros. As opposed to one XR30w pro (thinking down the road if/when i upgrade to a larger tank)
I am running an Apex Classic and also wondering if I go this route, should I go with Reeflink or the WXM module for controllability . Currently have (2) MP10 wireless and a Vectra pump also (don’t see the need to control the Vectra pump and won this in a raffle at a LFS)
I don’t have a PAR meter. The Radions seem well documented through BRS on YouTube on what their PAR is, etc.. and the Kessil A160’s not so much

But am I going to be giving up that Nice Shimmer that everyone comments on when they look at the tank?

 

[hart24601]

What makes you think you don't have enough PAR and is that the only reason you want to switch?

That kessil/t5 combo is probably the single best light in the hobby imo....


I assume you run the kessils at 100%? Would you run the radions higher? How long of fixture is the t5?

The a160s are 40w each for 80w of LED, the t5 are 24w each for 24" for total of 96w plus the 80 from the kessils are 176w. Now there are plenty of arguments about efficiency of t5 vs LED but for most people they are not too far apart.

The radions 15 pro are 95W each for a total of 190w if you want to run them at 100% which is quite white for all channels.

So really getting the 2 radions, to me, seems like a step backwards as even if you get 14W more power, you will probably want to run sps ab plus program which turns the whites and colored leds down quite a bit. Then you have disco colors on the sand as well which bugs some people like me.

 

[NorthFLreefer]

Currently I’m only running the Kessils at 50% max intensity during the day for 4 hours, rest of the time Jax is ramping up. Because the T5’s are programmed through the fixture and can’t have multiple on/off times per each light. The T5’s are 36”, so 39W x4
Was mainly looking at the Radions to streamline everything and of course, the hype has me wondering if they wouldn’t be a better fit with less fixtures and a little more features

 

[Highgrade]

I've ran T5 with Kessils. Both ATI and Aquatic Life fixtures. Seems the older Aquatic life fixtures ballast are not as powerful as the ATI. As for the Shimmer with the Kessils I don't think you will get that with Radions.

With that Said I went away from T5 and went solely to LED. I mainly run Radion G4's, Kessil's and AI over several tanks. Love the shimmer of the Kessils and I love the Radion G4's but the shimmer is different. The AI's do the trick but not what I like out of an LED. Other than the wireless programming. I've thought about adding a couple Kessil's to my Radion's to see if the shimmer improves.

Either way you cant go wrong with the Kessil/T5 combo or just Radions.

 

[NorthFLreefer]

The T5 fixture is 36” so 39w x 4
I am currently running the Kessils at 50% max intensity, with ramp up and down times through Apex.
The Aquatic life fixture isn’t the new one that just came out, it’s an older model with programming built into the front via a lcd screen. Can’t program multiple. on/off times throughout the day for white and blues, is why I run the Kessils at 50%, since they run at the same time, I don’t want to overdo it and bleach any corals
Just the Radion hype and streamlining the setup + a little more features with the Radions like controlling each channel, etc. have me intrigued

 

[hart24601]

There is no doubt the radion programming will sure be easier and you will have more control. I am not sure how the kessil spectral controller works but that might be something you might want to look in to?

Really if you are not after more PAR and just want more controllability and cleaner looks that is a heck of a lot of money to spend! It will sure looks clean and you can play with it more, but there will be worse color blending and more shading going to 2 point sources from T5/kessil and honestly I think you would be worse off overall. Maybe wait until the new aquaticlife fixture comes with a160 mounts in the next month or two and add the spectral controller If you want to change the blues during the day.

I think most reefers now would agree that aside from the aesthetics with a fixture and two goosenecks, for a 40B you have one of the very best setups possible lightwise. I would hate to see you drop that money and end up not as happy. But if it's not a big deal for the money go for it! Big sps colonies might eventually have some shading issues if that is a goal with just 2 clusters so might want to watch that.

 

[Highgrade]

The T5 fixture is 36” so 39w x 4
I am currently running the Kessils at 50% max intensity, with ramp up and down times through Apex.
The Aquatic life fixture isn’t the new one that just came out, it’s an older model with programming built into the front via a lcd screen. Can’t program multiple. on/off times throughout the day for white and blues, is why I run the Kessils at 50%, since they run at the same time, I don’t want to overdo it and bleach any corals
Just the Radion hype and streamlining the setup + a little more features with the Radions like controlling each channel, etc. have me intrigued

Those were the same Aquatic life fixtures I used. Side by side comparison with ATI there is a big difference. With the Aquatic Life fixture its like your only seeing half the power of the ATI fixture.

No Hype with the Radion's. I found my corals had better colors when switching over to Radion's. Only issue with any LED is shadowing.

 

[NorthFLreefer]

There is no doubt the radion programming will sure be easier and you will have more control. I am not sure how the kessil spectral controller works but that might be something you might want to look in to?

Really if you are not after more PAR and just want more controllability and cleaner looks that is a heck of a lot of money to spend! It will sure looks clean and you can play with it more, but there will be worse color blending and more shading going to 2 point sources from T5/kessil and honestly I think you would be worse off overall. Maybe wait until the new aquaticlife fixture comes with a160 mounts in the next month or two and add the spectral controller If you want to change the blues during the day.

I think most reefers now would agree that aside from the aesthetics with a fixture and two goosenecks, for a 40B you have one of the very best setups possible lightwise. I would hate to see you drop that money and end up not as happy. But if it's not a big deal for the money go for it! Big sps colonies might eventually have some shading issues if that is a goal with just 2 clusters so might want to watch that.

Yea. It’s definitely a good chunk of money, that’s where the hesitation is! Is the money worth the upgrade/change
I’ve got the Kessils programmed through Apex Fusion. Does the same as the spectral controller, ramping color and intensity. I run the blues longer in the morning and at night.
I asked BRS about A160 mounts for the new Aquatic Life because it is a fairly cheap fixture, and would streamline the setup also. No dice so far. Also thought about buying that fixture and modifying it from the 360mounts, it’s about 1.5” difference in diameter.

 

[Big rig steve a tron]

Yolo get the radions. Put the other stuff up for sale and be done with it. Oh and get the reef link too. Take care and keep the nitrates low.

 

[hart24601]

FWIW I had two xr30s over my 60cube and hated them. I think the rockwork just was too tall and it made the color separation really bad. Funny as I had AI hydra 26s and loved those.

Here was the 60 cube with radions when I 1st set it up and my 120 with 5 AI hydra 26s which I loved the color. That being said I still think your T5 kessil is the best.... and modifying bracket with new hybrid fixture would be nice. I thought I saw they were working on brackets for a160? But maybe I made that up.

 

[NorthFLreefer]

FWIW I had two xr30s over my 60cube and hated them. I think the rockwork just was too tall and it made the color separation really bad. Funny as I had AI hydra 26s and loved those.

Here was the 60 cube with radions when I 1st set it up and my 120 with 5 AI hydra 26s which I loved the color. That being said I still think your T5 kessil is the best.... and modifying bracket with new hybrid fixture would be nice. I thought I saw they were working on brackets for a160? But maybe I made that up.

Man that bottom tank looks awesome!

 

[madweazl]

I picked up a pair Gen3 Radions a couple weeks ago because they were priced well and I'm setting up another tank so I thought I'd give them a shot. I configured them with the AB+ settings and absolutely hate how blue they are compared to the A360s I have running at 60% color on the 75g. While that configuration may be popular for growth and coral coloration, if you don't like an extremely blue tank, you will not like that look. With that said, the fixtures are clean and the Reeflink interface is pretty nice (though I'd never use it after initial configuration).

I also dislike the look over the 75g after adding a pair of T5s (Blue+ and Coral+), it looks washed out and drab after running only the Kessils for a year. I'll likely dump the Radions and go with Kessil over the 150g as well but that is purely a matter of personal preference vs what the Radion is capable of doing (I could adjust the spectrum to mimic the current settings on the Kessils).

 

[Daniel Waters]

I run T5, radions, and kessils. Here are my thoughts: neither Kessil nor radions on their own will provide you the even distribution of T5 lighting. Shadowing is just a natural effect of point source lighting. Turn your t5s off with just your kessils on and ask yourself if you prefer that look.

As far as radions vs kessils, the radions are going to provide you much more power, but it sounds like you're not using your full intensity as it is. Color from both kessils and radions are comparable. The radions have much more controlability, but honestly, you shouldn't be screwing with your lighting that much after you have it dialed in. All those features may be nice to have, but I'm not sure if a switch is warranted just for that reason. As far as shimmer, the kessils win hands down. The Kessil shimmer is natural looking to me, while the radion is a bit of disco ball / color separation showing.

 

[BoomCorals]

I run T5, radions, and kessils. Here are my thoughts: neither Kessil nor radions on their own will provide you the even distribution of T5 lighting. Shadowing is just a natural effect of point source lighting. Turn your t5s off with just your kessils on and ask yourself if you prefer that look.

As far as radions vs kessils, the radions are going to provide you much more power, but it sounds like you're not using your full intensity as it is. Color from both kessils and radions are comparable. The radions have much more controlability, but honestly, you shouldn't be screwing with your lighting that much after you have it dialed in. All those features may be nice to have, but I'm not sure if a switch is warranted just for that reason. As far as shimmer, the kessils win hands down. The Kessil shimmer is natural looking to me, while the radion is a bit of disco ball / color separation showing.

Couldn't say it any better.

 

[NorthFLreefer]

Thanks for the input. I ended up just hanging my Kessils from the ceiling to remove the goosenecks. Gonna stick with these for awhile. Maybe until Aquatic Life releases their hybrid with the A160 brackets. Their website says coming soon.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I'm getting 100-130 PAR on the sand in a 20" cube with 2 A160s... you have plenty of light in a 40 breeder. I'm really interested in that Aquatic Life with the 160s also.

 

[NorthFLreefer]

I'm getting 100-130 PAR on the sand in a 20" cube with 2 A160s... you have plenty of light in a 40 breeder. I'm really interested in that Aquatic Life with the 160s also.

Set to what intensity?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Set to what intensity?

100%. Any bigger tank than a 30g cube or a 40 breeder I would go with the 360s.