Who's running Radions, AI Sols, or Vegas?

Capt_Cully

Capt_Cully

Active member
Lets just say I'm in the exploration phase and expounding on Greg (Tropills) thread. FWIW, I'm running Sols, the blues. I would not run them alone. Too blue. Looking to see if the Radions or Vegas are comparable to running actinics and 14-20k halides. I'm already convinced of coral response. I am terrified of the expense......:eek1:
 
Radions on a newly set up 120.....You can program the radions to what ever spectrum you like.....Very nice and so far I'm extremely happy....Hopefully Justin chimes in because he is more of a veteran than me.
 
That's kind of what I was expecting. They seem to have the jump (and higher price) on the Vegas.

Justin is an enabler. He redid his kitchen and my wife saw the pics. Cost me THOUSANDS redoing ours. Now he's only going to force me to spend more on Radions??? I need new friends..
 
What a jerk. You should get even by getting radion pros. Get 2 dozen of them so that you only need to turn them up to 10% to light your tank. That'll teach him.

I've really liked the radion. I tried the MP40 a while back and found myself in the minority of people that weren't impressed with them. I was skeptical that I'd need the kind of features that the radion has, but I couldn't be happier. I tried a par38 bulbs (meh) and I tried a custom build that had a bulb configuration similar to the radion and vega, but neither did well for me.

I even struggled with the radion for a bit. Austin (Eastamherstbias) gave me some great advice for getting started and I've settled in on settings, a schedule, and distance from the surface that is working very well. I've got mine 13" from the surface, running 20K for a 9 hour schedule, starting at 15% and peaking at 45%, with the exception of 1 hour of full spectrum at 20%.
 
I have 1 Pro & 1 Gen 2 over my 120g. Over my basement 40BR frag tank, I have 2x Gen 1s with TIR and over my mangrove tank I have 1 Gen 1. They seem to be working pretty well for me. They are growing Sps and toadstools well. The key is to not over do it by blasting the coral with light.
 
I've been running AI Sol Blues for 3 years, Radion Gen 1 for 1.5 years, AI Vega color for 7 months, and Radion Pro for 3 months, as well as GHL's Mitras for 7 months. Also have a few coral tanks using exclusively Reef Brites.
They all work well and grow coral.

I have to say my least favorite is the Vega. The color banding is the worst from this light and the spread is not as even as it is with the Sol Blue.

If money was no object, the Radion Pro or GHL Mitras would be my choice.

Sol Blue is a great bang for the buck. If you want more color choices without compromising power, a move to Radion Gen 2's would work well.
 
RandyO said:
I've been running AI Sol Blues for 3 years, Radion Gen 1 for 1.5 years, AI Vega color for 7 months, and Radion Pro for 3 months, as well as GHL's Mitras for 7 months. Also have a few coral tanks using exclusively Reef Brites.
They all work well and grow coral.

I have to say my least favorite is the Vega. The color banding is the worst from this light and the spread is not as even as it is with the Sol Blue.

If money was no object, the Radion Pro or GHL Mitras would be my choice.

Sol Blue is a great bang for the buck. If you want more color choices without compromising power, a move to Radion Gen 2's would work well.
Click to expand...

I agree. If money was no object I would go Pros. If money is tight the gen 2 works and you can always upgrade it in the future.
 
Thinking of ditching my MHs. Time to leap. Problem is those Radions are so expensive. $650 for gen 2s. I'd need 2, maybe 3 of them. Definitely 3 if I change back to a 180. That's a monster price tag. It's not like they go on sale either....

I'm convinced, from my own experience that SPS will do fine. They produce the desired shimmer effect. Lower energy. Lower profile. No bulbs to change. Less heat. What's not to like.
 
I'm not sure I'm ready to buy yet. I'm looking at June/July. Gonna do a tank swap. Are you ready to go? Or do you have time?
 
I've got time, so June/July would be perfect, might have to do a couple side jobs anyways to get the extra 1400 bucks to buy them .. hahahaha
 
I hear that! I can check with ABC Reefs, see if they can get us a deal on 4 or 5 of them. I'm thinking I need at least 2, but probably 3. They might be able to do something, can't hurt to ask. Meantime, keep looking for used ones here & there. I can't see needing the pro model, can you imagine? $900 a pop??? Yikes!
 
I buried my new bow and some guns in there.... Too many hobbies. Painted myself in a corner in that one.

She is actually the driving force behind going back to a 180. She liked the old tank better. What's a guy to do? I'm sure I'll bury a few things into the new tank build :thumbsup:
 
I hear that one cully, my new girl was the driving force for this new build.. she's like, get what you need honey ...
 
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