Radion Size and Qty Opinions For New Build

[vortexreef]

Looking for some opinions

Waterbox 150.4 (48.2" x 25.3" x 21.7")

Looking to be able to keep a bit of everything in a true mixed reef, as time progress potentially transition to more of an SPS/Acro dominated tank.

Looking for an opinion on which would be best for spread and par
(3) XR15s or
(2) XR30s or
(1) XR30 and (2) XR15s or
?? What are your thoughts for

 

[VintageReefer]

For that size you would likely need
4 x XR15
Or
2 x xr30

Both may need led supplement bars.

Is this the only company lights you are considering ? It’s a good product but it’s expensive and adds up, and other companies could provide equal results for less money

 

[vortexreef]

For that size you would likely need
4 x XR15
Or
2 x xr30

Both may need led supplement bars.

Is this the only company lights you are considering ? It’s a good product but it’s expensive and adds up, and other companies could provide equal results for less money

Thank you for the input! I'm open to other options and I've glanced at a few, just keep finding myself coming back to considering Radion. There are some others out there I don't particularly care for the look of the fixture itself, which is playing a roll in this decision as well

 

[VintageReefer]

Thank you for the input! I'm open to other options and I've glanced at a few, just keep finding myself coming back to considering Radion. There are some others out there I don't particularly care for the look of the fixture itself, which is playing a roll in this decision as well

You could have one sleek fixture that could keep sps anywhere in the tank

Coverage Area SPS:
48"x24"
Coverage Area Mixed Reef:
58" x 24"
Coverage Area Softy/FOWLR:
65" x 24"

Photon 48-V2 Pro

Control your aquarium lighting like a pro with the Photon 48-V2 Pro and Reef Nexus app. Optimize with presets or custom programs.

reefbreeders.com

Ignore my crap on top of it. It comes with the tank mount legs and a hanging kit so you could choose either method. And after you become a successful sps keeper with football colonies it supports attaching led bars as supplements

 

[Poochaku]

reefi uno2.0 or quanta bars are better than the other options by a good margin imo. radions are like maserati. expensive and outperformed

 

[X-37B]

My old 80 running 4 xr15 gen 5 blue and my ext 170.
You could do a RB 48 or 50.
Im doing 2 RB 50's on my 59×30×21.7.
For radions do 3 xr30's.
My 80 was only 16" tall so 13" surface to bottom.

 

[JNalley]

A Single Kessil AP9X will cover the full 48" for a Mixed reef. I have one over a 36" tank and have to run it at 25% and still get over 400 par 9" below the surface of the water (it's mounted 7.5" off the water). Once the colonies become big the plan is to put on 2 lightbars, unless I upgrade to a 6' tank, then it will be 2 AP9X's and lightbars (probably ReefBreeders LumenBars). There's 0 chance I would run 3-4 XR15's over a single AP9X.

EDIT:
Here's a video, first 30 seconds is slight blue, second 30 seconds has a bunch more red in it (it's that way for an hour each day for sunrise), the light in the video is not at full intensity, you're seeing the morning ramp up. Also, the noise in the background is an old AC Pump in my mixing container, not fans or anything in my tank.


And they are capable of going ultra-blue if that's your thing:

*Note, the yellow in the water is RedSea AB+

 

[KC2020]

Looking to be able to keep a bit of everything in a true mixed reef, as time progress potentially transition to more of an SPS/Acro dominated tank.

The only advantage of the XR-30 over the XR-15 is with a very deep tank which the WB150 is not. If you use the XR-15 you could start with 2 and add more or other supplemental lights as your reef matures and it's ready for SPS.

By starting with less light than you may ultimately need/want you'll be able to answer your own question based on your own experience.

 

[JNalley]

The only advantage of the XR-30 over the XR-15 is with a very deep tank which the WB150 is not. If you use the XR-15 you could start with 2 and add more or other supplemental lights as your reef matures and it's ready for SPS.

By starting with less light than you may ultimately need/want you'll be able to answer your own question based on your own experience.

This is the second or third time I've read someone state this. Can you explain why you think this? The Panels are twice as long, meaning they also cover more length. It's not like they focused more light in the same area through reflectors (Like the difference between a Kessil A360X and an A500X)...

XR15 Rated Max Light Coverage:

Max. Light Coverage (Length)	36 in.
Max. Light Coverage (Width)	36 in.

XR30 Rated Max Light Coverage:

Max. Light Coverage (Length)	48 in.
Max. Light Coverage (Width)	48 in.

I have no idea why EcoTech thinks they will cover more width since the width didn't change, but the Length certainly makes sense, considering it's just two XR15 panels fused together with the LEDs rearranged, with the same lens arrays...

I am not saying you're wrong, just showing you what EcoTech has to say about it. I am genuinely curious what experience you've had that says they're meant for more depth only and not more length also...

 

[VintageReefer]

Those coverage measurements seem greatly exaggerated

 

[JNalley]

Those coverage measurements seem greatly exaggerated

They're "Max Spread" coverages, which I take to mean "The furthest it will reach while still having effective PAR for some commonly kept photosynthetic organisms in reef tanks."


I would say XR15 is probably 24 x 24, while XR30 is more like 36 x 24. Sort of like the difference between an AI Hydra 32HD and Hydra 64HD.

 

[VintageReefer]

Yea. And even still that’s probably if you run at 100% and want to cut a couple years off the lifespan of the light.

Very common for people to run a xr15 every 12-18” for sps tanks

 

[JNalley]

Yea. And even still that’s probably if you run at 100% and want to cut a couple years off the lifespan of the light.

Very common for people to run a xr15 every 12-18” for sps tanks

Totally, we're definitely on the same page here. I didn't make the Max Spread claims, Ecotech did... I was just using them to illustrate that a length increase is not only logical, but also dictated by the manufacturer, so I was curious why they believed that depth was the ONLY benefit by going up to the 30 from the 15.

 

[VintageReefer]

Totally, we're definitely on the same page here. I didn't make the Max Spread claims, Ecotech did... I was just using them to illustrate that a length increase is not only logical, but also dictated by the manufacturer, so I was curious why they believed that depth was the ONLY benefit by going up to the 30 from the 15.

If anything spreading the leds out a bit more would make par at lower depths worse so their logic confused me as well

 

[JNalley]

If anything spreading the leds out a bit more would make par at lower depths worse so their logic confused me as well

Well, if I think about what they are, which is functionally two XR15's directly next to each other, it makes sense that the central hotspot would be hotter, therefore giving you more depth. It would be akin to the difference between using 2 Prime 16HDs spread apart vs using a Hydra 32HD. You won't get as much "Spread" as the two primes spaced far apart, but you will get some, AND you'll get a higher central hotspot increasing penetration in the center between the two pucks. Same principal really applies here, but you definitely also increase length as a result.

 

[mfinn]

Looking for some opinions

Waterbox 150.4 (48.2" x 25.3" x 21.7")

Looking to be able to keep a bit of everything in a true mixed reef, as time progress potentially transition to more of an SPS/Acro dominated tank.

Looking for an opinion on which would be best for spread and par
(3) XR15s or
(2) XR30s or
(1) XR30 and (2) XR15s or
?? What are your thoughts for

My choice would be 2 XR30's.

 

[exnisstech]

I wouldn't spend a penny on radions. Mobius can't even keep time correctly. Nothing like waking up at 3am and the lights are on. This has been an ongoing problem with mobius and I haven't heard that it has been fixed. I loved my gen 4 XR15s until I upgraded to mobius.
I'll add another vote for reefbreeders photon. I have two 32s and a 24. The photons smoke the gen4xr15 radions in a par test.

 

[X-37B]

Yea. And even still that’s probably if you run at 100% and want to cut a couple years off the lifespan of the light.

Very common for people to run a xr15 every 12-18” for sps tanks

I ran 2 xr15 gen 5 blue' in a 24×24 pattern for sps. 4 total on a 48×24.
The issue is depth, imo. I was going to run 5 in a hybrid fixture but decided on the 2 RB Photon's instead. Main reason was par and the fact that I did not want to run T5's anymore.
The xr15's ×2 will work well for my frag system which is 30×24×16. Actual depth to the bottom frag rack will be 12.5" the same as my 80. Par will be 200-250 running ab+ at 100/100. I also have 3 backup so my frag system is covered for quite some time.
Note: I purchased all 5 used but with low hours. One died and it was replaced as it was still under warranty. All were had for around $300 so not a bad price.
The gen 5 xr15 blues are designed to run at 100/100.
With the RB Photon 50's I am currently running at 50% and getting 250 par across the rockwork.
From what I have measured on the gen 5 xr15 running at 100/100
They do well for acros in a 18×18 area. Par falls off outside that area but works for aclimating or lower level corals.
Some acro pics from the old 80.
I would still go with 3 xr30's on the op's system if running Radions for the depth and spread if its going to be an acro based system.
However, if I did not already have 5 xr15's I would opt for the RB Photon's as they are par monsters with a nice spectrum, imo.

 

[KC2020]

This is the second or third time I've read someone state this. Can you explain why you think this? The Panels are twice as long, meaning they also cover more length. It's not like they focused more light in the same area through reflectors (Like the difference between a Kessil A360X and an A500X)...

I don't just think it. I own the lights and have measured their effective coverage and falloff. I know, whacky me, but after 40+ years in this hobby I only speak from experience.

I bought XR30s and found that while they do have a greater coverage when you set them high enough to have a useful PAR at the edge of their coverage the hot spot they create and the gradation of light to the edge of the coverage creates a very uneven light in the reef. Running them high enough to get a useful PAR at the edge also means a lot more heat concentrated directly under the light.

By using more lights, the XR-15, I can cover the same area with some overlap and a more shadow free, consistent light. You can also fine tune the light for the type of corals they're over. Frag rack on one end of the tank has a higher light level etc..

 

[KC2020]

I wouldn't spend a penny on radions. Mobius can't even keep time correctly. Nothing like waking up at 3am and the lights are on. This has been an ongoing problem with mobius and I haven't heard that it has been fixed. I loved my gen 4 XR15s until I upgraded to mobius.
I'll add another vote for reefbreeders photon. I have two 32s and a 24. The photons smoke the gen4 radions in a par test.

I have had no issues with Mobius. My router/access point is about 15 feet from the tanks so maybe that's why. And I'm using Gen 6 XR-15 so maybe they've resolved some issues since the Gen 4.