side by side Radion /250W XM 10k/250W Radium comparison

[kevensquint]

A final test to compare. Today I placed the sensor 9" deep in the center of the tank with lights 10" above the water. Without touching the sensor at all, I changed the canopies so we can see where the Radion sits with a few popular MH bulbs (SE). I have an XM 10k 250 watt bulb, new and a Radium 250 watt bulb new, they had run a few hours to burn before testing. Both are on a galaxy electronic ballast and in a reeflux II reflector also all new and all tested alone one at a time.

Radion at 100% all channels :330 PAR and 53000 lux at water surface sensor not submerged

XM 10K :365 PAR and 56000 lux at water surface sensor not submerged

Radium 20k : 255 PAR and 34000 lux at water surface sensor not submerged

Just not sure about the lux because my meter was set to the 50 000, I assume it was measuring in the tens of thousands, either way we can compare the difference.

[kevensquint]

PS, I had to off set the Reflector a bit to get the highest reading on the MH bulbs because directly under the bulb was not the highest. But the height of the bulb off the water was not changed

[James77]

Radiums run best on HQI ballasts, and wod have about 25-30% more PAR.

Which looked best?

[karsseboom]

Yep WRONG BALLAST for the radiums considering they have highest par from almost all the 250 out.

[Mel-E-Mel]

Doesnt the kelvin rating affect the par as well?

[tkeracer619]

a radium runs just fine on a galaxy ballast but are more blue so it will skew the results even further.

[karsseboom]

Heres what a real radium 250 run on the proper ballast with a good reflector will give you.


this is 9 inches down



this is 18 inches down

[aandfsoccr04]

Like others have said, you need the magnetic ballast not the electronic to run the 250w radiums properly...

[tinkerman]

Wrong ballast for radium. Why not use a good reflecter for your test instead of a crappy spider reflecter.

[GSMguy]

Originally Posted by karsseboom

Heres what a real radium 250 run on the proper ballast with a good reflector will give you.


this is 9 inches down



this is 18 inches down

You win

Those are great numbers.

[Alex T.]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

a radium runs just fine on a galaxy ballast but are more blue so it will skew the results even further.

It may run it just fine to your eye, but even on the HQI setting of the Galaxy ballast the bulb is not run to spec. The bulb requires an ANSI M80 HQi ballast. This ballast fires the 250 watt Radium at 333 watts....its' required output to get 10 months to a year of life. Under/Over driving any bulb will yield about a 6 month lifespan of the bulb. IMHO, they are just too expensive to not run on the proper ballast combination.

[tkeracer619]

You don't need 100% output for them to be effective.

My last set of radiums were on my tank for 14 months using 5 year old coralvue ballasts. My sps never looked better. I am using custom sized luminarc reflectors with hammertone. I never put a par meter on the tank but might have to hunt one down just out of curiosity.

Half of karsseboom's par would grow sps on the bottom especially if you have clean water. Spider reflectors

[kevensquint]

Wow, Radium users seem to take their light very seriously. Either way I like all the lights I own and I did'nt set out to prove anything. These are the lights I own and so I took some readings,Thats all.

[tkeracer619]

Radiums are serious business.

[Alex T.]

It's funny how this all started from comparing a Radion to a Radium. Ecotech Marine seems to be quite the marketing machine by "coincidentally" having them sound similar phonetically.

Only time will tell if the Radium cult following will translate into a perennial success with the Radion.

To be perfectly fair to the Radium Metal Halide 250 and 400 watt bulbs, it must be noted that Sanjay's tests of the Radion and other led fixtures proved less than favorable for SPS keepers and "acceptable" for mixed reef and LPS/Soft coral tanks. Numbers don't lie. For PAR at depth halide is still the reigning king...and the Radium is a 20k at that. If we threw a 250 watt 10k XM or a CoralVue Reeflux 12k on any ballast it would designate the Radion as a $750 paper weight to SPS keepers.

I want LED technology to work just as much as everyone else, but until I see SPS tanks with corals growing off the bottom three inches of the rock work and out of the tank like some of the TOTM winners, I'm sticking with Radiums. It's really no comparison yet...but I digress.

[bif24701]

This is my ballast for my HQI 150 fixture. Will it fire the radium or XM 10k well?

[sirreal63]

No matter about how Radium users are with their lights, (I am one too) I would be curious to see the PAR readings from some place other than the water surface, I have yet to see any Acro's that grow at the surface in the air. PAR readings from 12", 18" and 24" below the water surface are more meaning than what the Radion does where no corals grow. I like the light, having just seen one but I don't think it will be on my shopping list.

I applaud you for doing the work you have done so far, but don't stop there, post up a FTS with the PAR readings from different locations around the tank. I don't care about the MH ones, we all already know what MH can do, but the Radion is still elusive.

[Jacwil]

Might be interesting for some...although I understand the OP didn't try a Radium.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2114973

[Alex T.]

Originally Posted by Jacwil

Might be interesting for some...although I understand the OP didn't try a Radium.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2114973

After seeing these numbers, I'm glad I stuck with my halides. I like having Maxima and Crocea clams on the sandbed. Also, I like SPS tabling acros growing out in the lower third of my tank. These fixtures would definitely not support that. I'm sure for people that have mixed reefs with LPS and soft corals on the sandbed that this would be fine. Even some zooanthids would do better on the sandbed with more light than the Radion can provide.

[Jacwil]

Yep..obviously all depends on what youre keeping.

My two Radions over my 150gTall will be perfect for my stocking plans.

I can honestly say I won't EVER go back to MH.

[naldopr]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

You don't need 100% output for them to be effective.

My last set of radiums were on my tank for 14 months using 5 year old coralvue ballasts. My sps never looked better. I am using custom sized luminarc reflectors with hammertone. I never put a par meter on the tank but might have to hunt one down just out of curiosity.

Half of karsseboom's par would grow sps on the bottom especially if you have clean water. Spider reflectors

same here I also had mine that long on a coralvue ballast this bulb are the best thing at least for me. all my sps where so better. the sps that where brown on my reeflux 20k came blue or green with this bulb. definitely will add this in my new tank

[aandfsoccr04]

I'll take the radium driven on the proper ballast any day of the week over any other metal halide bulb.