Ecotech Radion ~vs~ AquaIllumination SOL ~vs~ Vertex Illumina

im very interested in seeing the results of your PAR grid. make sure you go through a huge range of distances, to get the "sweet spot" of each light, as discussed above (maybe start at 1' and end at 4' from the bottom of the fixture, taking measurements every 4"). It will be a tremendous amount of work but that is what is necessary, of course.

please make lots of pretty charts with the results. a series of 2D cross sections is the most useful (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/3/aafeature_album/fig14-regent-150de-top.gif). Those 3d graphs that sanjay and others (people on nanoreef) have used are pretty worthless in comparison.

but like i said, dont use the distances sanjay used. I have no idea why he tested MH reflectors at 6, 9, and 12 inches. and thats distance from the center of the lamp. who the heck cares what my PAR is 6" from the bulb. thats barely outside of most MH reflectors. Most people dont have a single coral 12" from their MH bulb. im rambling now, but you get my point. you have the opportunity here to make the most applicable and comprehensive examination ever of light fixtures in our hobby.
 
I think I'm going to drop by PA tomorrow and check out the fixtures. You going to be around Jeremy?

False alarm. Headed out of town because sister in law went into labor early this morning. Really hope the fixtures will be in place next weekend...

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I'm thinking about picking up sol and radion and then leaving my halide/t5 fixture on different quarters of frag tank and testing out for 6-8 months while I save for dt more! If I do so going to have to see about getting par meter and 3 different frags with progression picks.

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i am overflowing with curiosity....I am starting to see some radions popping up for sale on my local club sites members stating they are unhappy with the penetration on deeper tanks.
 
i am overflowing with curiosity....I am starting to see some radions popping up for sale on my local club sites members stating they are unhappy with the penetration on deeper tanks.

I don't doubt that at all. With the factory LED cluster I wouldn't use them on anything over 24" deep.

I'm excited to see what Jeremy and the guys at PA come up with.
 
I'm considering a pair of radions over a 30" deep tank so I'm curious to see the visual results. It seems to me that considering the fact that those with halides have to dim the tar out of these to keep from bleaching their corals, the intensity would more sufficient to keep things 24-30" down at full strength, even if it seemed to look a little dimmer...
 
It seems like the guys with wider and deeper tanks are having problems. They all say the fixtures are great but to get a good spread they have to raise them higher but then they are sacrificing the penetration.
 
My tank I'm planning for is 96X36X30. I'd expect to use eight fixtures on it with two deep and four across. I'll just have to watch what kind of spread other builds are getting on similar dimensions.
 
Just stopped by Vivid to see their 800G show tank with half MH and half Radions (12 of them). They were just getting ready to start adding the livestock today so it was just full of live rock but quite honestly, I couldn't tell which side was which. It is at least 30" deep. Of course, 12 Radions are going to provide a lot of light no matter what and I'm not talking PAR but visually, they looked identical to me. It will be interesting to see how it compares when it's stocked (by this weekend they said). Apparently Vivid is chronicling their MH vs. Radion test on their Facebook page. I haven't tried to find it yet.
 
Hi everyone, sorry I haven't had a chance yet to get anymore updates here until now. I did get a chance to test power consumption this evening, as well as take PAR measurements in water with the fixtures at both 12" and 6" above the water surface. All information below is with each module running at 100% intensity on all channels. The data is as follows:

Power Consumtion

AquaIllumination
Wattage: 73
Amperage: 1.04
Power Factor: .59

Vertex Illumina
Wattage: 81
Amperage: .69
Power Factor: .98

Ecotech Radion
Wattage: 121
Amperage: 1.51
Power Factor: .65

PAR numbers in the water, as well as photos at 12" and 6" will follow...
 
First for the PAR measurements in the water I kept this pretty plain and simple. All pendants were 12" from the surface of the water for this first measurement. I took a PAR reading directly under the center of the module. I then took a measurement that was 6" to the left of center of the module, then 12" to the front of the module. The reason I went with 6" is because the AI drops off to far going further than that, and for comparison sake it just didn't make sense for this test. You could also argue that the way I have the Illumina and Radion hanging is actually front to back, instead of left to right. Take it for what you want, but the numbers give you an idea.

AI12.jpg

Illumina12.jpg

Radion12.jpg


PAR Numbers

AquaIllumination
Center: 510
6" Left: 180
12" Forward: 120

Vertex Illumina
Center: 118
6" Left: 113
12" Forward: 109

Ecotech Radion
Center: 215
6" Left: 148
12" Forward: 130

From the conclusion through water at this height you can definitely tell what a difference directional optics can make.

The Illumina is not meant to be ran high off the water since it does not use any primary or secondary optics. If you have to run your fixture high up, I would not suggest going this route.

The Ecotech, while not using the typical optics we are familiar with, does use them and it's a good blend of good par values and spread at 12".

For SPS junkies that need to run their fixture high up off the surface of the water the AI would be the best choice here. While you can see the drop of PAR once you get out underneath the module itself, it's a real beast when you're directly under it. The downside is that you do need to run quite a few modules butted up together if you want a more smooth distribution of PAR levels within the tank. This could be both good and bad depending upon placement of corals in the tank.
 
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