What to get

Matthew Cautero · Mar 3, 2022

I just bought a Waterbox 35.2 Gallon Tank I am looking into all options with the Radion, Hydra, and the AI Prime. What do you guys think and why.

vetteguy53081 · Mar 3, 2022

Matthew Cautero said:
I just bought a Waterbox 35.2 Gallon Tank I am looking into all options with the Radion, Hydra, and the AI Prime. What do you guys think and why.

Ai hydra 26 or 32 will do well

Bpb · Mar 3, 2022

Either a pair of hydra32 or a pair or xr15. Pick your poison. Budget would honestly be my determining factor between the two options

Matthew Cautero · Mar 3, 2022

Bpb said:
Either a pair of hydra32 or a pair or xr15. Pick your poison. Budget would honestly be my determining factor between the two options

You think 2 of them for a 35 gallon tank?

nereefpat · Mar 3, 2022

Looks like these are the dimensions of the tank? 23.6"×4.7"×17.7"

What corals do you want to keep?

Edit: 24.6 x 14.7". I copy and pasted those dimensions, so I don't know why that happened.

Matthew Cautero · Mar 3, 2022

nereefpat said:
Looks like these are the dimensions of the tank? 23.6"×4.7"×17.7"

What corals do you want to keep?

I wanna do a solid mixture of everything

Bpb · Mar 3, 2022

Then yes two. May not be apparent right out of the gate, but a single light source over a 24” length will create a degree of shadowing that would be detrimental to stony coral growth. You could do just as well with a pair of AI primes though honestly. That is the direction I’d go honestly. Nice even spread, not excessive wattage. And the least expensive way to do it

nereefpat · Mar 3, 2022

With any 'puck' style, you'll want 2 for sticks.

There are more 'panel type' lights where 1 would work. Like a black box, or Reefbreeders Photon, or Gen 5 Radion30.

This is assuming you want LED. A 4-6 bulb T5 fixture or a 150 watt MH pendant would work well too. But you mentioned specific LED fixtures.

Matthew Cautero · Mar 3, 2022

nereefpat said:
With any 'puck' style, you'll want 2 for sticks.

There are more 'panel type' lights where 1 would work. Like a black box, or Reefbreeders Photon, or Gen 5 Radion30.

This is assuming you want LED. A 4-6 bulb T5 fixture or a 150 watt MH pendant would work well too. But you mentioned specific LED fixtures.

How high off the tank would you suggest

nereefpat · Mar 3, 2022

Matthew Cautero said:
How high off the tank would you suggest

That's a good question. It depends on the fixture. I would hang them as highish until you get too much light spill. I'm not really an LED guy, however.

Spare time · Mar 3, 2022

Matthew Cautero said:
I just bought a Waterbox 35.2 Gallon Tank I am looking into all options with the Radion, Hydra, and the AI Prime. What do you guys think and why.

I prefer the radion x15 as you don't have to worry about the lenses melting like you do with AI's products. Plus it seems like radions last a long time.

Sean Clark · Mar 3, 2022

You could cross your fingers and enter this contest for Orphek. The new smaller pannel would work well.

Thread 'THE GREAT ORPHEK GIVEAWAY!! We're drawing 10 WINNERS!!' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-great-orphek-giveaway-were-drawing-10-winners.894381/

dedragon · Mar 3, 2022

radion>ai pretty much any day for me, but i would also look at the orphek icon compact and reefi unos

Matthew Cautero · Mar 3, 2022

I have read that 2 AI prime equal one Hydra 32 would I be able to get away with one Hydra or 1 Radion

Matthew Cautero · Mar 3, 2022

Spare time said:
I prefer the radion x15 as you don't have to worry about the lenses melting like you do with AI's products. Plus it seems like radions last a long time.

You think I could get away with one of them or would I need two these are the tank dimensions 23.6"×4.7"×17.7"

dedragon · Mar 3, 2022

2 primes wud be better as you can move the lights around where u want them too but i have heard more problems with the prime lights than the hydra lights (though, this is more likely to be due to primes being cheaper and them selling more of them)