Radion owners speak up..

[jorjef]

Okay lets hear from the people that own them. There has to be a bunch of you out there!! What do you have to say, good, bad? meets expectations or left a little dissappointed. No arm chair experts, if you didn't shell out the cash hold your comments please. Will be interesting to see how quiet this thread may or may not be.

[Harpo]

Here is a link to Radion for anyone that was just wondering what RADION was and what they are talking about. At least I think...Please correct me if I'm wrong.

http://ecotechmarine.com/products/radion/

[jorjef]

Thanks, but what I was shooting for was first hand reviews from people that have purchased the light.

[Aquattro]

Wonder how many here have purchased yet, since all the vendors just received stock. Might take a few more days for shipping, etc..

[jorjef]

Could be, I saw a pic of a stack of them that I assumed were in a store either in Calgary or Edmonton and also assumed a good amount would have been pre-sold, could be wrong on both accounts. A couple of people seem to have them on this site. Just a bit interesting that there are no "Wow factor" posts from them.

[unclesalty]

Originally Posted by jorjef

Thanks, but what I was shooting for was first hand reviews from people that have purchased the light.

Jeff, you can check mine out in person next week as my tracking number was emailed to me today so it won't be long now!! Also bought a PAR meter to do some LED testing. Also I ended up getting the 4 Radions for even cheaper than what I told you earlier through a different company! If the spread is as good as Ecotech say it is, I will have 1 extra fixture for sale. If I don't like them I will have 4 for sale and buy some more AI Sol blues and call it a done deal!

[jorjef]

Sounds good, let me know when you have them powered up! Still need first hand reviews don't be shy, people are waiting to hear if the product met the hype for you!

[unclesalty]

Originally Posted by jorjef

Sounds good, let me know when you have them powered up! Still need first hand reviews don't be shy, people are waiting to hear if the product met the hype for you!

Sounds good Jeff. I will also have to buy a piece of flat bar to bolt them all to and I have 2 of the premium hanging kits ordered also to attach to each end. Hopefully they are worth the wait as I have been waiting a few months for these! One bad thing is I recently switch to a Mac computer so no adanced settings will be availble for now I've heard owning a Mac

[amuvor]

Originally Posted by jorjef

Okay lets hear from the people that own them. There has to be a bunch of you out there!! What do you have to say, good, bad? meets expectations or left a little dissappointed. No arm chair experts, if you didn't shell out the cash hold your comments please. Will be interesting to see how quiet this thread may or may not be.

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I purchased two Radion fixtures from Concept Aquatics. Thank you Dave and Brad.

I have hanged them from the ceiling temporarily, with rope.

My tank is 4feet long, but it’s 38” wide, and shallow: 22”. The water column, however, sand excluded, is only 18”.

Initially, I experimented hanging the Radions 6 inches away from the water surface, but I got an unlit portion in the middle of the tank, and marked shadows.

At 12” from the water (see pics) the shadows disappear and the tank appears more homogeneously lit.

I used the spectral plots reported in Advanced Aquarist by Sanjai Joshi for Iwasaki and Radium 250W bulbs to guide me in programming spectral peaks and lows for the Radion. I followed Riddle’s work to manage the red part of the spectrum.

The measurements below were taken at noon, when I programmed the fixture to display the highest relative intensity.

Average PAR measurements (Apogee) on the mid to upper reef (12 measurements) is 305; range: 170-455.

Note on expectations:

The tank appears dimmer than it did under MH / Compact combo, even though PAR measurements are on par.

The reds, pinks, and blues appear washed; mute, a little bland.

Glitter lines do compare to MH’s.

Software does not include natural mode; only artificial. I experienced problems with launching speed. Overall, the interface feels underdeveloped, not as user friendly as it could be.

[unclesalty]

Originally Posted by amuvor

---------------

I purchased two Radion fixtures from Concept Aquatics. Thank you Dave and Brad.

I have hanged them from the ceiling temporarily, with rope.

My tank is 4feet long, but it’s 38” wide, and shallow: 22”. The water column, however, sand excluded, is only 18”.

Initially, I experimented hanging the Radions 6 inches away from the water surface, but I got an unlit portion in the middle of the tank, and marked shadows.

At 12” from the water (see pics) the shadows disappear and the tank appears more homogeneously lit.

I used the spectral plots reported in Advanced Aquarist by Sanjai Joshi for Iwasaki and Radium 250W bulbs to guide me in programming spectral peaks and lows for the Radion. I followed Riddle’s work to manage the red part of the spectrum.

The measurements below were taken at noon, when I programmed the fixture to display the highest relative intensity.

Average PAR measurements (Apogee) on the mid to upper reef (12 measurements) is 305; range: 170-455.

Note on expectations:

The tank appears dimmer than it did under MH / Compact combo, even though PAR measurements are on par.

The reds, pinks, and blues appear washed; mute, a little bland.

Glitter lines do compare to MH’s.

Software does not include natural mode; only artificial. I experienced problems with launching speed. Overall, the interface feels underdeveloped, not as user friendly as it could be.

I was hoping to use the natural mode too but I also noticed its not in the software. Setting up color, %, and intesity and at what time, seems like it might take a little while to set up. Still waiting for my hanging kits but I do have a tracking number for them so early next week they will be here. They seem way brighter lights than my (3 weeks old)AI Sol Blue module- by far! Jeremy at Premium Aquatics thinks the opposite at his first glance??? Once I get my hanging kits I will test them with par readings side by side in my 120gal.