A lot of negative feedback about radions?

[Bob Weigant]

I dont have any issues with radion's. Been using them for years

 

[apb03]

Radions are a dang good light, they are widely used in the hobby with a proven track record. That said, they have some software issues and apteture isn't on the best of terms with the community right now.

Regarding price, they are expensive, but they are also made in the US so it won't be nearly as inexpensive as brands manufactured in China. That's true for virtually any market.

I'm actually quite surprised that Ecotech has kept their market share this long. I guess niche markets can play by different rules.

 

[Jasonak]

I ran gen 3 for about 6-7 years before they gave up the ghost and I sent them in and they couldn't fix them but gave me I think half off on gen 5s or something like that. I use them side by side with viparspectra seems to work well for me.

 

[rtparty]

I have 3 over my 5ft and that barely covers the whole tank so it's not too far off

You don’t need 3 XR30s for a 48*18 tank. It would be a sweet setup for sure but not needed.

2 XR30s is more than enough

 

[moorea reef]

Reliability of Radion is horrible. All my 3 gen 5 died within 3 years. Now 1 of the gen 4 is dead as well. On top of that, fans are super noisy.

For your pleasure of reading - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/radions-worst-light-fixtures-in-its-class.1065216/

At the same time, other fixtures ATI, reef breeders are all going like a champ. Overpriced, poor design and low reliability sums it.

Sam

my gen 2 is still running great, as well as my year old gen 6, never had a single problem

 

[alindell]

The only problem I've had is with the update time. Sometimes the update I thinks screws up the time on the lights

 

[VintageReefer]

You don’t need 3 XR30s for a 48*18 tank. It would be a sweet setup for sure but not needed.

2 XR30s is more than enough

Maybe they meant xr15?

For 48” tank I thought people reported good results with 3 xr15 or 2 xr30

For all you thinking I have some dire hatred for radions, I have a 48x20x20 build and dual xr30 blue is actually in the top choices for my lights. That or reefi. Noopsyche k7 pro has my attention as well.

 

[rtparty]

Maybe they meant xr15?

For 48” tank I thought people reported good results with 3 xr15 or 2 xr30

For all you thinking I have some dire hatred for radions, I have a 48x20x20 build and dual xr30 blue is actually in the top choices for my lights. That or reefi. Noopsyche k7 pro has my attention as well.

The pros are better than the blues IMO. More options, more PAR, and more customization

 

[VintageReefer]

The pros are better than the blues IMO. More options, more PAR, and more customization

I’ve heard, but also heard the blue is designed better for AB+ I also tend to run blue heavy

I’m mainly lps so I’m not after crazy par and if I got sps I’d mount them high

 

[alindell]

I’ve heard, but also heard the blue is designed better for AB+ I also tend to run blue heavy

I’m mainly lps so I’m not after crazy par and if I got sps I’d mount them high

The blues with a white balance t5s look pretty good

 

[VintageReefer]

The blues with a white balance t5s look pretty good

I’m not opposed. But I definitely would be shopping for used ones, not hard to find

 

[Gudhjem]

I have a couple of Gen5 XR30s over one of my tanks. They're the last Radions I'll buy. The software is crap, and I like the look of my AIs and my Reefbreeders more anyway (and the Reefbreeders cost much less).

 

[Dorsetsteve]

I went with a single xr15 over my 24x24x20 cube. It’s an AIO tank so realistically it’s 24x20, which should be in the range of the light. A couple weeks ago I decided to add an aquatic life t5 hybrid fixture to the tank and thought I would see some definite bleaching or at least some kind of negative reaction from the corals due to essentially doubling the lighting over the tank. What I found was absolutely nothing, no bleaching, no closed up corals, nothing. I say all that to say if I was to go ecotech again it would be an xr30 unless I had a very small tank or was prepared to put more xr15s over a tank than you think you need…. Or I would just go another route.

This is probably more to do with the way T5s light an aquarium rather than the LED being inadequate. They have a far more diffuse way about them and anecdotally less likely to bleach corals. I would be careful how you bump up the LED from here out. That said, I think the hobby does have a tendency to overthink the whole light adaptation thing.

 

[rtparty]

I’ve heard, but also heard the blue is designed better for AB+ I also tend to run blue heavy

I’m mainly lps so I’m not after crazy par and if I got sps I’d mount them high

The AB+ from the Blues doesn’t match the original AB+ they created years ago. But you may enjoy the look

 

[VintageReefer]

I have a couple of Gen5 XR30s over one of my tanks. They're the last Radions I'll buy. The software is crap, and I like the look of my AIs and my Reefbreeders more anyway (and the Reefbreeders cost much less).

I do love my photon48v2. And prior I had a v1 photon 48 and 32. I’ve always liked them and had good results.

I’m just looking for a change on the new build and the meridians don’t really jump out to me. The whole advantage of RB was pricing and the meridians are a huge bump up and ruins the value aspect imo

 

[steveschuerger]

I do love my photon48v2. And prior I had a v1 photon 48 and 32. I’ve always liked them and had good results.

I’m just looking for a change on the new build and the meridians don’t really jump out to me. The whole advantage of RB was pricing and the meridians are a huge bump up and ruins the value aspect imo

Funny you mention the RB vs others. Since I run a mixed lighting over my 48” 90 gal, with 32” Photon 2, a ReeFi Uno 2.0 on the left end and a RB lumen bar with the photon, I’ve been thinking of simplifying the setup. I think the best 2 choices are, get another ReeFi (the 2.1 series is out now) or save some money and run with 1 or 2 Noopsych K7 in addition to the ReeFi . Meridian looks incredible, with Adam from Battlecorals getting early release ones that he’s said he really likes, just too expensive.

 

[VintageReefer]

Get the reefi and sell the old stuff

Maybe keep the lumen bar and rig it in

 

[FishTruck]

right now I have radions orphek Atlantics and bars, and a refi Uno. I think the refi Uno most unique / different light from the others and it’s definitely worth considering. As far as the spread goes for a big tank, I like the footprint of the Orphic Atlantic and the price per square foot coverage is about the same between the Atlantic in the Uno when I last looked . I have had issues with the the orphek with the boards burning out over and over again - an issue, which is now resolved I think.

If I’d had a crystal ball and had foreseen the orphek hassles, I might’ve done a whole bunch of refi Unos or Radions depending on the price per square foot coverage.

I do admit, though that I initially went cheap and went on the minimum number of fixtures and ran them near 100% at times. In retrospect it’s better to buy more lights so you can run them at 50 or 70% if you want them to last IME.

 

[dr_vinnie_boombatz]

Had great customer service from EcoTech, really like my XR15 blue. They've sent me replacement parts without fuss. No issues with Mobius for me; I did initially with time drift, however, concluded it was due to the scenes (removed feed scene and it has been solid since)

 

[areefer01]

Haters gonna hate.

Welcome to life 101.

Pick the one that fits your budget and what you want

This is more or less it.