Mike de Leon
New member
Who's had success raising sps. Please share your experience, and of course some pics.
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance
Calling all Radion users!
- Thread starter Mike de Leon
- Start date
Radions will *not* replace your MH man, I saw your other thread..
I had a Radion, I really liked it. Then I added a cheap POS aquatic life 2x24w T5. The reflectors were crap, the ballast was cheap, and the ATI Blue+ bulbs looked underpowered and slightly green..
Literally the next day, best explosion of color and growth I've ever seen from my SPS.
Radions are great light. They *will not* replace T5's. And they can't even be compared to MH. Each light source brings something different to the table. Bare minimum, you will need high quality T5 retrofits *and* radions. You will also very likely need 3-4 Radion G4's for your sized tank. The best LED lit tanks typically have 1 thing in common ---- Supplemental T5
The savings aren't there, dude, and neither are the results.
If you want straight up performance? Get 2 400w Radiums and T5's. If you want Simplicity, gets T5's. If you want LED, space a Radion every 12" and add T5's.
I had a Radion, I really liked it. Then I added a cheap POS aquatic life 2x24w T5. The reflectors were crap, the ballast was cheap, and the ATI Blue+ bulbs looked underpowered and slightly green..
Literally the next day, best explosion of color and growth I've ever seen from my SPS.
Radions are great light. They *will not* replace T5's. And they can't even be compared to MH. Each light source brings something different to the table. Bare minimum, you will need high quality T5 retrofits *and* radions. You will also very likely need 3-4 Radion G4's for your sized tank. The best LED lit tanks typically have 1 thing in common ---- Supplemental T5
The savings aren't there, dude, and neither are the results.
If you want straight up performance? Get 2 400w Radiums and T5's. If you want Simplicity, gets T5's. If you want LED, space a Radion every 12" and add T5's.
mannyhernz
Member
There's some tanks that look great with radions only. Just depends what you want to squeeze out of your sps.
Used MH, used t5, and now radions.
Don't have the color that MH gives, nor the full light spread of t5. But I am happy with the radions.
Search around and make the choice based on your best interest
Sent from my LG-ls990 using Tapatalk
Used MH, used t5, and now radions.
Don't have the color that MH gives, nor the full light spread of t5. But I am happy with the radions.
Search around and make the choice based on your best interest
Sent from my LG-ls990 using Tapatalk
organism
code monkey
This.
There are tons of tanks on here using just Radions with crazy nice colors, hopefully some of them will chime in. imo Radion + a couple T5's is the way to go, it's what I'm saving up for at the moment after seeing some ridiculous tanks using that combo.
Exactly. That's the winning combo right there.
That said, OP has some THICK SPS colonies lit by 250w MH and T5's, and specifically for him, going straight to Radions *only* will probably negatively affect his SPS colonies.
Mike de Leon
New member
With the G4, there is a lot of spread, which hopefully fixes the issue of a lot of shading. That's generally the reason for the T5s. I really like the dusk to dawn on the LED's, instead of on and off. I have owned a fixture with the 400w radiums and four t5's. They are hard to beat.
Thanks
I guess I am thinking of keeping the halide then slowly transition to the Radions. Hopefully this will help.
I feel where you're coming from, and you're right, the G4 is GREATLY improved. Although maybe still not improved enough for a full SPS tank. There haven't been any great quality G4 growth threads yet, but I suspect other lighting sources still offer things that others don't.
They all bring something different to the table.
They all bring something different to the table.
Hentz
New member
I previously ran the Radion XR15w G3 on my Fusion 40.
My SPS did great with the XR15. Though a friend was selling his 4 bulb t5 and let me use it before I bought it. So I set it up over my tank along with my Radion so I ran a hybrid. Within 24 hours, my SPS had much better polyp extension. Now that being said, I was still in the works of finding that sweet spot with my tank and Radion.
I've heard such great things about the G4. Like Rakie said, they're greatly improved.
If I were to go back to LED's, which I may with a possible downgrade I may need to do... Radion G4 would be my ideal choice.
As much as I love my ATI T5 fixtures, bulb replacement does kinda suck (not much of an issue though), but definitely lacks the awesome controlability that LED's have.
I'd say go for the Radion move. Try it out. Worst case, you don't like it. You can sell them and replace them with the MH/T5 you have.
My SPS did great with the XR15. Though a friend was selling his 4 bulb t5 and let me use it before I bought it. So I set it up over my tank along with my Radion so I ran a hybrid. Within 24 hours, my SPS had much better polyp extension. Now that being said, I was still in the works of finding that sweet spot with my tank and Radion.
I've heard such great things about the G4. Like Rakie said, they're greatly improved.
If I were to go back to LED's, which I may with a possible downgrade I may need to do... Radion G4 would be my ideal choice.
As much as I love my ATI T5 fixtures, bulb replacement does kinda suck (not much of an issue though), but definitely lacks the awesome controlability that LED's have.
I'd say go for the Radion move. Try it out. Worst case, you don't like it. You can sell them and replace them with the MH/T5 you have.
Since you know what MH can do, this could be a downgrade. You also might love it. The only thing that is certain is that the tank won't be the same, so keep your old lights for at least six months just in case you want to go back. LED can do a really good job of illuminating colors that coral got under a different light source and can take months to shift color to the long-term LED colors to where the hobbyist might not like the new lights... by then, the old lights are long gone for a fraction of the cost to replace them with new stuff.
Mike de Leon
New member
So we'll see how the G4 performs. I have seen a few ppl with the Radions here. They say that this light does not need as much acclimatizing as the other leds.
Your current system is working well. I would look at some Reefbrite LEDs and use them for sunrise/sunset and let the MH bake your SPS
I may be pulling my Radions off for my 400 watt halide.
rds85
New member
I just started a new 260 SPS dominate build with strictly radions to start. The color was doing good but not great. The previous year I had a 120 with just radions and everything was healthy and in good color. The shadowing also drove me a little bananas, as well as the overall visual brightness of the new 260 tank. So I tried the hybrid method with supplemental T5 and it has been good so far... I will say once I added the 4 T5's I did burn two nice mini colonies of SPS (even with 4 weeks of acclimation of starting at 1hr and adding increments of 30 minutes). So I turned my radions down from 40%-35% As well as moved those specific corals down in the aquascape. My tank is too young to make the judgment call that the T5's improved color or health. IMO the tank would have to be at-least 8 months old with just radions from the start, then you add T5's and then the results shared would be valid. I also believe water chemistry has a lot to do with colors. to answer the original post. Radions can grow SPS just fine by themselves.
Here is my new setup:
This coral in particular went from receding (shipped to a friend in this state) and dull color to recovering and coloring up in my tank. I can't just say it is only the lights on the tank because every tank is different, but I am certain they helped.
Here is my new setup:
This coral in particular went from receding (shipped to a friend in this state) and dull color to recovering and coloring up in my tank. I can't just say it is only the lights on the tank because every tank is different, but I am certain they helped.
