Considering Radions... from a guy who hates LED's

[jlnielsen13]

As the title suggests, I am considering purchasing Radion G3 Pros for my 140 gallon and eventually my 300 gallon tank as well. I have unique perspective as the 140 gallon has had almost every type of lighting on it already over its 10+ year existance. Ran metal halides a decade ago and jumped on the LED craze with the AI SOL Blues when they first came out. I loved the color and was so happy with my purchase.... Months later my 2500$ investment demolished my reef and I had to bite the bullet and sell my AI SOLs.

THrough much research I settled on going "backwards" in technology and bought an ATI dimmable sunpower. Although the initial color didn't have the same pop, my corals quickly recouped and flourished under this 8 bulb fixture for years now.

The reason I started this thread is that one of my ballasts went out tonight. I know I am going to need to replace it, but it got me thinking. ... These t5 lights are amazing !! Can't be happier with the "living" results but there are some huge drawbacks!!

The heat from these units is off the charts, so much so that before the failsafe broke on the units they auto dimmed down constantly. In fact, even with a fish room in the basement and 500 gallons of water the lights heat the water up 3-4 degrees over a 12 hour cycle.

Also, the bulb cost is getting extravagant. At 25$ a bulb it costs me 200$ every six months, 400$ a year just to run these.... Not to mention the electric bill!!

Although I "hate" LED's maybe they have come a long way since my first experience and maybe I should give them another shot??

Honestly considering Radions, especially because I own an APEX...

The loss of heat alone is what really sways me along with the bulb costs, which I used to blow off as not a big deal but after 3 years and thousands in bulbs I am starting to reconsider (3 units over 300 gallon and 140 gallon).

Here's my tank- I guess the "happiness" of these animals is the biggest concern!

value my fellow reefer's opinion... what do you guys think?

Thanks
Jim

 

[jimrawr]

Jim your tank looks amazing and i wouldnt change a thing. How many years of bulb changes will it take to recoup the cost of leds? Then do you really expect to even be using those lights after x years? Probably not going to save you much money if any

 

[rffanat1c]

Had radions. Sold radions. Regret it every day.

 

[johnmiller81]

When you say regret... do you mean regret selling them?

 

[daquan44]

I have Radions on my tank. They grow corals well. Make sure you have enough for coverage. The best setup is to have the Radions and T-5's. Use a 2 bulb T-5 fixture to prevent shadowing. That configuration should cut down on cost and heat transfer.

 

[johnmiller81]

What T5 bulb type are you using?

 

[getindavan]

A few months ago I went to an LFS who has a tank lit with radions. He had all gen 1 radions, but recently replaced one of them with a gen 3 pro(a month or so), in the short amount of time that the gen 3 had been there you can see a significant difference in growth. Some colonies are being lit with both the gen 1 and gen 3 and you can see a difference. I think gen 1 radions will keep a tank alive and growing but a gen 3 pro will make it thrive a lot faster.

 

[josbur63]

I understand your heat concerns,but do t-5's lose considerable par requiring change at 6 months.Seems you should be getting at least a year before a change is needed.

 

[Sapelo]

We run radions over our 300 after using t5s on our previous tank.
I am a fan of the radions for control, cost and less heat which is a big factor for us.
Having said that, I do feel like I have learned and am still learning the best schedule at which to run them.
Two contributors that you might check out: this month's TOTM is on radions and I am extremely interested in their lighting schedule which originated from a schedule over a frag tank.
Also I know that Sk8r changed to radions this year. I haven't seen a recent update on her experience but you might look Into that thread too.

 

[skiwez]

I think 3 radions for the 300 would not be enough especially how full your tank is. I think you will get much better result with 6 but that is going to be very painful to the wallet

 

[jlnielsen13]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

Actually have made the decision tougher... Not sure if I need a new ballast or relay or something else if I stick with the t5's.

I probably do get a little more than 6 months out of them and don't change them all at the same time but rather on a rotation schedule around 2 bulbs every other month. Problem is having 3 ATI fixtures!

I use all ATI bulbs so the cost gets up there and like I mentioned I don't feel like getting a chiller and the heat from these things is approaching metal halide heat I feel !!
I also have canopies though which doesn't help.
Here is a video of my entire 500 gallon system including the fish room.
Excuse the nerdy narration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJV51diLq5M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJV51diLq5M


JIM

 

[javimarino]

nice videos, thanks for that!

I always had sun system's Tek light t5's lamp fixtures, 4 bulb over de the 40g breeder with a reef brite led bar and now the 8 bulb ligth over my 75g. I love my tek light. I dont use MH because of heat and electric bill. No experience on led system, seen lots of long run fauliers on the forum, as well some success. Think the combination idea of both t5 led is a great one and the way to go,IMO.

 

[anbosu]

I think 2 Radions plus 2 T5 bulbs would work great on your 140 gallon. That said, as good as that looks, I don't think I would change it.

I would try running it with either a more open canopy or no canopy to see if that helps with the heat.

 

[Vapour1ze]

Had Radions, sold radions, bought ATI T5, sold ATI T5, now back to Radions... Miss my T5s but LEDs are pretty, just gotta make sure you're giving equal par.

Measure par of T5 now, then when you switch you can match intensities for minimal issues.

 

[anbosu]

I think probably the biggest mistake people make when switching to LEDs is not properly acclimating the corals to the lights. The PAR idea is a good one.

 

[username in use]

The PAR idea is a good one.

Be careful. Many par meters have trouble reading certain spectrums. It's fine with Metal Halides and even most T5 setups as it is a full, balanced spectrum. The issue with LEDS is it may be under reading a certain spectrum causing you to increase the intensity beyond what it should be.

That could have been OP's issue with his first LEDs back in the day.

 

[Vapour1ze]

Be careful. Many par meters have trouble reading certain spectrums. It's fine with Metal Halides and even most T5 setups as it is a full, balanced spectrum. The issue with LEDS is it may be under reading a certain spectrum causing you to increase the intensity beyond what it should be.

That could have been OP's issue with his first LEDs back in the day.

While this is true, there is adjustment charts. Specifically, from Apogee. (My PAR meter brand) Which recommends that you multiple the output readings of Radions by 15% to get a more actual PAR number... I recently switched back to Radions, from T5s, matched my PAR (with the 15% addition) and I am not noticing any bleaching/burning/browning... The "Blues" I believe, is the hardest to read from a PAR perspective...

Good tip though.

 

[username in use]

While this is true, there is adjustment charts. Specifically, from Apogee. (My PAR meter brand) Which recommends that you multiple the output readings of Radions by 15% to get a more actual PAR number... I recently switched back to Radions, from T5s, matched my PAR (with the 15% addition) and I am not noticing any bleaching/burning/browning... The "Blues" I believe, is the hardest to read from a PAR perspective...

Good tip though.

I didn't know they had adjustment charts, thats great. Any links?

 

[Vapour1ze]

I didn't know they had adjustment charts, thats great. Any links?

Eee. An old buddy sent me it a while back. Let me do some digging. :hammer::hammer:

 

[rffanat1c]

When you say regret... do you mean regret selling them?

Regret selling them. Loved those lights but hungry for some quick cash and convinced myself I didn't need them.