Ecotech Radion xr30w initial impressions

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 04:41 PM

Got the first two radions for 180 build. I am not sure if anyone has noticed, but these lights are dim. i still have my 250 w radium bulb in lumen max elite pendant powered by galaxy ballast and both color and brightness are superior on metal halide. Maybe i am new to the LEDs but i am starting to feel like maybe i have made a wrong choice. I will turn this thread into full review eventually, but just wanted to see what other radion users have to say first.

spinoleo · 12/27/2011, 04:49 PM

mine are the same as 250w radium at the 20k setting I have 2 over my 120g 4x2x2

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 04:53 PM

What ballast are they on?

chadfarmer · 12/27/2011, 04:55 PM

they look dim if you want a brighter tank i would suggest adding a few t5s

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadfarmer

they look dim if you want a brighter tank i would suggest adding a few t5s

Blue or white?

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 04:58 PM

What about a mix of ai sols and radions? Sols for ble and par

SkullV · 12/27/2011, 05:01 PM

The dimness is an LED thing not a Radion thing. It took me a few weeks to get used to them coming from T5, but you do get used to it. What are your settings on the Radions?

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkullV

The dimness is an LED thing not a Radion thing. It took me a few weeks to get used to them coming from T5, but you do get used to it. What are your settings on the Radions?

Skullv, glad to see you post, i read all of your posts about leds before pulling the trigger!!
But what about par? I read that par is not the greatest either... I am going all acro/mille/monti in this tank

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkullV

The dimness is an LED thing not a Radion thing. It took me a few weeks to get used to them coming from T5, but you do get used to it. What are your settings on the Radions?

Skullv, glad to see you post, i read all of your posts about leds before pulling the trigger!!
But what about par? I read that par is not the greatest either... I am going all acro/mille/monti in this tank

chadfarmer · 12/27/2011, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Essencereef

Blue or white?

depends on what you like color wise (cant judge lighting everyone is different)

jfingers8 · 12/27/2011, 06:13 PM

It's just weird how everyone wants to make their tank as natural as possible, but don't like the dimness of leds. If you dive on a reef, the light on a reef doesn't pop out at you. As stated before leds are dimmer than t-5 and metal halides. Hopefully you get used to them because it's a nice fixture. Your not going to find a led fixture that has the brightness of t-5 or metal halide. I don't think 2 is enough either for a 180. 3 or 4 would be better if you want it to be brighter.

96p993 · 12/27/2011, 06:20 PM

I think the key is people have decided Par and bright are the same thing, this just isnt the case...

Personally I love the way mine look. I dont want or need my light making my house look like a titty bar. I want my light to light up my tank and keep the inhabitants happy, the rest is just a waste

SkullV · 12/27/2011, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Essencereef

Skullv, glad to see you post, i read all of your posts about leds before pulling the trigger!!
But what about par? I read that par is not the greatest either... I am going all acro/mille/monti in this tank

The PAR is better than most 250w MH fixtures. You just need to get the appropriate amount of fixtures for your tank. For yours I would personally run 4-6 fixtures.

SoLiD · 12/27/2011, 07:28 PM

Also if you are putting the fixtures on a tank to test them out without sand they will appear dimmer. Add white aragonite sand and some of the light will bounce back from the sand giving a brighter apperence. Like SkullIV metioned; add the appropriate amount of fixtures and then check again. I have 4 AI SOL Blue modules on my 40 Gallon Breeder (36Lx18Wx16H) when they recommend only 3. Now that's bright!!!

The Codfather · 12/27/2011, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkullV

The PAR is better than most 250w MH fixtures. You just need to get the appropriate amount of fixtures for your tank. For yours I would personally run 4-6 fixtures.

Id have to agree, 2 are not nearly enough.

Kamisxy · 12/27/2011, 09:24 PM

yea i was going to get radions also till seeing them in person and it was easy after that...ended up getting an ATI T5 8 bulber instead

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfingers8

It's just weird how everyone wants to make their tank as natural as possible, but don't like the dimness of leds. If you dive on a reef, the light on a reef doesn't pop out at you. As stated before leds are dimmer than t-5 and metal halides. Hopefully you get used to them because it's a nice fixture. Your not going to find a led fixture that has the brightness of t-5 or metal halide. I don't think 2 is enough either for a 180. 3 or 4 would be better if you want it to be brighter.

The intent is to have 3, but i couldnt afford all 3 after spending cash...

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96p993

I think the key is people have decided Par and bright are the same thing, this just isnt the case...

Personally I love the way mine look. I dont want or need my light making my house look like a titty bar. I want my light to light up my tank and keep the inhabitants happy, the rest is just a waste

I am aware of brightness vs. par, but whats disappointing is that it seems as though radion has less par at almost double the electricity draw of ai sols... I was ok with that until i saw that they are also quite dim too...

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkullV

The PAR is better than most 250w MH fixtures. You just need to get the appropriate amount of fixtures for your tank. For yours I would personally run 4-6 fixtures.

i planned to have 3, but now it seems like i am in deep: $3750 deep

as i will need 5 to satisfy the types of sps i am planning to have...

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoLiD

Also if you are putting the fixtures on a tank to test them out without sand they will appear dimmer. Add white aragonite sand and some of the light will bounce back from the sand giving a brighter apperence. Like SkullIV metioned; add the appropriate amount of fixtures and then check again. I have 4 AI SOL Blue modules on my 40 Gallon Breeder (36Lx18Wx16H) when they recommend only 3. Now that's bright!!!

But what about electricity savings, i would be almost at the same wattage as metal halides

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamisxy

yea i was going to get radions also till seeing them in person and it was easy after that...ended up getting an ATI T5 8 bulber instead

My thing is heat and electricity though, plus leds are much closer to my beloved halides

SoLiD · 12/27/2011, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamisxy

yea i was going to get radions also till seeing them in person and it was easy after that...ended up getting an ATI T5 8 bulber instead

It's everyones own choice which lighting they choose for "Their Private Reef"

. In my case, I've done the Metal Halide and the T5 thing for years. Changing out Halide 3 $100 bulbs every 10 months to a year wasn't too much fun, but changing out 6 $30 T5 bulbs every 8 months Got Old Real "FAST". Nothing else would infuriate me more than breaking those delicate T5 Bulbs.

Boooo

SoLiD · 12/27/2011, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Essencereef

But what about electricity savings, i would be almost at the same wattage as metal halides

Um... no one that I know of runs their LED's at 100% for more than an hour. At my peak usage I consume around 92 Watts of LED power.

My thing is heat and electricity though, plus leds are much closer to my beloved halides

Once more.... even at 100% on all 3 channels (White, Blue, Royal Blue) does the heat come close to my coolest T5 set up. These LEDs raise my tank water by .3 degrees Fahrenheit in a 12 hour period. Instead of a chiller I now run a titanium 250 watt heater. There is simply not enough heat coming from these LED's or my pumps to make considerable addition of heat to my very energy efficient system. Nothing but Tunze and AI products on my system.

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoLiD

Once more.... even at 100% on all 3 channels (White, Blue, Royal Blue) does the heat come close to my coolest T5 set up. These LEDs raise my tank water by .3 degrees Fahrenheit in a 12 hour period. Instead of a chiller I now run a titanium 250 watt heater. There is simply not enough heat coming from these LED's or my pumps to make considerable addition of heat to my very energy efficient system. Nothing but Tunze and AI products on my system.

True, but you are running ai sol lights- the par monsters that almost double the par of Radions. i would have to run my lights for at least 5 hours a day on full power to even try to touch that. Overall, i am starting to wonder: how did Ecotech manage to make a light that runs at almost double the wattage, costing almost double the cash and putting out only half the par as ai sol?????? Hypothetically speaking, is this even possible???

BuckeyeTodd · 12/27/2011, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Essencereef

True, but you are running ai sol lights- the par monsters that almost double the par of Radions. i would have to run my lights for at least 5 hours a day on full power to even try to touch that. Overall, i am starting to wonder: how did Ecotech manage to make a light that runs at almost double the wattage, costing almost double the cash and putting out only half the par as ai sol?????? Hypothetically speaking, is this even possible???

This does sound like a lousy proposition.

Essencereef · 12/27/2011, 11:49 PM

I am not trying to do anything more than reason here. And my question for Radion users is: is this a "$750 softies light?". I own it now, but the debate is whether i should have ignored the hype and bought ai's instead, should i buy more Radions for sps, or should i do a mix of 3 ai's and 2 Radions???

96p993 · 12/28/2011, 02:08 AM

I would like to see where you are getting the par numbers for both as well as the coverage for both...Is this just a optics situation? Are we really comparing apples to apples?

Essencereef · 12/28/2011, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96p993

I would like to see where you are getting the par numbers for both as well as the coverage for both...Is this just a optics situation? Are we really comparing apples to apples?

The par numbers come from here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...2088048&page=4

And granted, the spread is slightly better on Radion, but still even with ai hung much heigher than radion: 75w vs. 130w. $400 vs. $750 510 umol vs. 395 umol. Nothing seems to add up

strange33w · 12/28/2011, 08:47 AM

has anyone been using the radion over an SPS tank for a while now and can give some actual results.

12/27/2011, 04:41 PM	#1
Essencereef Moved On Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 159	Ecotech Radion xr30w initial impressions Got the first two radions for 180 build. I am not sure if anyone has noticed, but these lights are dim. i still have my 250 w radium bulb in lumen max elite pendant powered by galaxy ballast and both color and brightness are superior on metal halide. Maybe i am new to the LEDs but i am starting to feel like maybe i have made a wrong choice. I will turn this thread into full review eventually, but just wanted to see what other radion users have to say first.

12/27/2011, 04:49 PM	#2
spinoleo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: orchard park, NY Posts: 916	mine are the same as 250w radium at the 20k setting I have 2 over my 120g 4x2x2 __________________ I used to be a human lawn dart Current Tank Info: 120rr, octo nw-200 ,3x radions basement sump,mp40s

12/27/2011, 04:53 PM	#3
Essencereef Moved On Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 159	What ballast? What ballast are they on?

12/27/2011, 04:55 PM	#4
chadfarmer Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: ST Charles, MO far from nanook Posts: 11,045 Blog Entries: 1	they look dim if you want a brighter tank i would suggest adding a few t5s __________________ If you think you know the answer than ask 3 more people the question Current Tank Info: 200 Gal RR,ATB medium, 4 AI blue sol,230 LBS LIVE ROCK, no sand , 40 GAL sump, airstar1800, 3 tunze 6105 1- 6205 1-6305, Geo 818, profilux3ex with toys

12/27/2011, 05:01 PM	#7
SkullV They Got My Number Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 6,898	The dimness is an LED thing not a Radion thing. It took me a few weeks to get used to them coming from T5, but you do get used to it. What are your settings on the Radions? __________________ -Ted- Be cautious of those willing to share their "knowledge" but not their results.

12/27/2011, 04:58 PM	#6
Essencereef Moved On Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 159	What about a mix of ai sols and radions? Sols for ble and par

12/27/2011, 06:13 PM	#11
jfingers8 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: MA Posts: 562	It's just weird how everyone wants to make their tank as natural as possible, but don't like the dimness of leds. If you dive on a reef, the light on a reef doesn't pop out at you. As stated before leds are dimmer than t-5 and metal halides. Hopefully you get used to them because it's a nice fixture. Your not going to find a led fixture that has the brightness of t-5 or metal halide. I don't think 2 is enough either for a 180. 3 or 4 would be better if you want it to be brighter.

12/27/2011, 06:20 PM	#12
96p993 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Mckinney, Tx Posts: 1,130	I think the key is people have decided Par and bright are the same thing, this just isnt the case... Personally I love the way mine look. I dont want or need my light making my house look like a titty bar. I want my light to light up my tank and keep the inhabitants happy, the rest is just a waste

12/27/2011, 07:28 PM	#14
SoLiD -=Snake=- Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Corpus Christi, TX Posts: 999	Also if you are putting the fixtures on a tank to test them out without sand they will appear dimmer. Add white aragonite sand and some of the light will bounce back from the sand giving a brighter apperence. Like SkullIV metioned; add the appropriate amount of fixtures and then check again. I have 4 AI SOL Blue modules on my 40 Gallon Breeder (36Lx18Wx16H) when they recommend only 3. Now that's bright!!! __________________ -David 40 Gallon Breeder on Steroids!!! Current Tank Info: Where you'll find an Acan and Orange Ricordea Garden in Bloom...

12/27/2011, 09:24 PM	#16
Kamisxy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 173	yea i was going to get radions also till seeing them in person and it was easy after that...ended up getting an ATI T5 8 bulber instead

12/27/2011, 11:49 PM	#22
Essencereef Moved On Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 159	I am not trying to do anything more than reason here. And my question for Radion users is: is this a "$750 softies light?". I own it now, but the debate is whether i should have ignored the hype and bought ai's instead, should i buy more Radions for sps, or should i do a mix of 3 ai's and 2 Radions???

12/28/2011, 02:08 AM	#23
96p993 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Mckinney, Tx Posts: 1,130	I would like to see where you are getting the par numbers for both as well as the coverage for both...Is this just a optics situation? Are we really comparing apples to apples?

12/28/2011, 08:47 AM	#25
strange33w Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: North Carolina Posts: 66	has anyone been using the radion over an SPS tank for a while now and can give some actual results.

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