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

[Dustin1300]

Not trying to give a hard time Guess I just assumed the busy season was Q4 and Q1 was a little slower! We'll be patiently awaiting

 

[fishsticks4sale]

hey jeremy, id like to say by far this is the best thread about LED's ive read. in 2 weeks, payday ... i will be picking up a LED fixture for my 18x18x16 cube, and i was going along with the AI Sol but now that ive run into this thread its a complete tossup now. :/ i was wondering if you can inform us of how the coral colors look. which fixture seems to bring out the colors much better? do those red and green lights really make a difference? or are the ai super blues really doing the job? thanks again

 

[steevareno2002]

subscribed

 

[92reefer]

just adding my opinion. I went and picked up the Radion and Love the fixture so far. I'm running a 60G cube and spread is great. Colors, ease of programming and flexibility are the highlights. I however don't think you can go wrong with any of the 3 choices. It's just a matter of options, programs etc. and pricepoint. At least for me..

 

[steevareno2002]

I love my AI Sol blue. It fits perfectly in my Aquatinics T5 fixture and i'm seeing new growth tips on my stag in only 3 days! PLus the colors showing up on my Acans are amazing. I'm still using 2 T5's(blue plus and purple plus) and overall they go great with each other. I may switch to all 70 degree optics though. Does anyone know how much that will cost per 12" fixture?

 

[Jeremy B.]

For anyone with the Illumina that is waiting on the UV pads, Vertex just announced that they are being built and should be here in about 4-6 weeks.

 

[scottkel]

What about these units under a canopy? I have a 180g that I am looking to replace 3-250whqi's with LED's but they will be under a hood (about 10-12" above water level). Do these units put off a lot of heat? would 3 AI units be enough? Thanks.

Scott

 

[nrapp33]

I would like to hear opinions on the software side of this thread. Ai hooks in with Neptunes but not the Ecotech pumps where the radions do but don't work (last I heard) with Neptunes. Where does everyone stand on this?

 

[Mixed_Reef]

What about these units under a canopy? I have a 180g that I am looking to replace 3-250whqi's with LED's but they will be under a hood (about 10-12" above water level). Do these units put off a lot of heat? would 3 AI units be enough? Thanks.

Scott

Deff not a lot of heat. Compared to ur MH their gonna be ice cold lol I mean u can stick your hand right under the LED pucks and they will only b warm. 10''-12" above water is the Ideal for the AI Sols but for the Ecotech Radions I would say 6" and the Vertex right on top of ur water since they have no optics! 3 units for a 180 is deff not enough u need at least 5 ideally 8 depending on how u place them. (vert/horiz)

 

[Mixed_Reef]

I love my AI Sol blue. It fits perfectly in my Aquatinics T5 fixture and i'm seeing new growth tips on my stag in only 3 days! PLus the colors showing up on my Acans are amazing. I'm still using 2 T5's(blue plus and purple plus) and overall they go great with each other. I may switch to all 70 degree optics though. Does anyone know how much that will cost per 12" fixture?

I heard something like $25 per fixture.

 

[gatorrx98]

What about these units under a canopy? I have a 180g that I am looking to replace 3-250whqi's with LED's but they will be under a hood (about 10-12" above water level). Do these units put off a lot of heat? would 3 AI units be enough? Thanks.

Scott

It depends on what you have in your tank. I ran 3 parallel to the front of the tank on my 180, but I had very little sps. The tank was well lit fro. An aesthetics point of view. The lights were 14" above the water line as recommended by AI. I'm setting up a 320 and plan to run 8 most likely. I also had them under a canopy and replaced (3) 250 watt mh's. I removed my vho's and chiller when I installed them.

 

[Jeremy B.]

I would like to hear opinions on the software side of this thread. Ai hooks in with Neptunes but not the Ecotech pumps where the radions do but don't work (last I heard) with Neptunes. Where does everyone stand on this?

It all really depends on what you want specifically for your own functionality. Some don't mind having separate systems running, where others want everything running through one main unit, such as an Apex. Personally, I do not see the Radion / Vortech functionality as that big of a deal, but it is a cool thing to have I guess. Having said that, I think you'll see more develop in terms of control from Ecotech in the future. I'm not saying they will come out with a full blown controller, but I think there will be more to it than just integration of the lighting and pumps.

 

[RtReef]

I love my AI Sol blue. It fits perfectly in my Aquatinics T5 fixture and i'm seeing new growth tips on my stag in only 3 days! PLus the colors showing up on my Acans are amazing. I'm still using 2 T5's(blue plus and purple plus) and overall they go great with each other. I may switch to all 70 degree optics though. Does anyone know how much that will cost per 12" fixture?

It's $25 and it is extremely easy to do. I think my 13 yr old sister can do it. 4 screws and the plastic case pops right off. That's one of the things I love most about the SOL is that it's extremely easy to use. In 3 short months my acan frag only had 5 nickel sized heads, now there is 6 additional heads growing. I love how you can make the SOL go from a 5,000K color to a 20,000K color in just a few clicks.
This is solely my opinion but the Radion is more of hype/fad fixture that jumped in the market to get all the tech junkies attention kinda like what Apple does with the iPhone. The red and green is only a sales tactic and highly overpriced at $350 more than the sol. Break it down you are actually paying additional $175 for each red and green color. You be the judge

 

[steevareno2002]

Thanks I have them coming any day now. I got a Radion yesterday too and they are a great quality light as well. Expensive but not a hype/fad fixture IMO.

 

[c-me-fish]

I really appreciate the comparison Jeremy! They all seem like great fixtures. I too would like to know what the par is on the AI SOL blue fixture using 70 degree optics. My new tank is a 250g Marineland DD tank, and am now trying to price out my lighting... Thanks!

 

[Jeremy B.]

I'll try to test with 70* optics in the near future.

 

[Steve S]

Thanks for the testing!

 

[chris88]

Question. How is it that red spectrum is so important in coral photosynthesis yet most people on hear keep stating that the red LEDs In the radion are useless. Where do you think all of the success the Fiji purple and purple plus bulbs came from. If you actually look at the photosynthetic peak for corals it's mostly in the blue and red spectrum. The radion is the only fixture of the three that fills that gap. White LEDs alone do not have enough red in their spectrum. Someone please jump in and try to explain to me why some people are saying the red LEDs do not add to par or pur and are useless.

 

[Mixed_Reef]

Question. How is it that red spectrum is so important in coral photosynthesis yet most people on hear keep stating that the red LEDs In the radion are useless. Where do you think all of the success the Fiji purple and purple plus bulbs came from. If you actually look at the photosynthetic peak for corals it's mostly in the blue and red spectrum. The radion is the only fixture of the three that fills that gap. White LEDs alone do not have enough red in their spectrum. Someone please jump in and try to explain to me why some people are saying the red LEDs do not add to par or pur and are useless.

Why do oceans look blue and light green? Cause the red and yellow colors do not punch down very deep and are the first colors to go. The deeper the water the bluer it gets cause that is the strongest penetrating color. Maybe in a shallow aquarium u won't really notice the red color drop but in deeper tanks u won't c red. Therefore I c no use for it as in nature it's useless.

 

[bluebastion]

Also, as a Vertex Illumina owner I will have to chime in that there are available red auxiliary led pads that can be added on the fixture. I am not going to be purchasing one as I am holding out for the soon to come UV led add-on. To say that the Radion is the only fixture to have red LED's is only half right... since right-out-of-the-box the Illumina only has Royal Blues, Blue, and White LED's... but you do have the modular options of add on colors.