LED lighting

[cordeiro]

Hello,

We are starting up another salt water tank as we got out of it about a year ago and miss it, however we are stuck on which LED lighting to go with just thought I would get other peoples options on which they have or what works best for them. My husband wants the radion for all it's features but I thought we should ask around first
Thanks in advance

[Aquattro]

For a quick overview, we do have dozens of existing threads on the topic. Just use search and you'll find tons of info.

[Aquattro]

Latest from today

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=81744

[cordeiro]

Thanks I will do that
I did see that thread but I'm not so much looking for the spread difference but it did help
Thanks

[Aquattro]

If you read through it, it discusses personal thoughts on each product, software interfaces, etc. That poster thinks SOL are best. Other threads think Radion is best. Vertex gets a lot of votes.

Really, anything said in this new thread has been discussed before

I've decided that once MH bulbs are no longer obtainable, I will go with the Radions. I've seen them in person, and so far are the only LED I would put over my tank.

[sphelps]

In terms of testimonials for Radions it's simply too early to get anything overly meaningful. Radion owners have really at most only had these fixtures installed for a month or two which isn't long enough to really express how great they are. They are impressive and I have no doubt they will do as expected but still it's too early.

The AI sols on the other hand have been out long enough for such testimonials and I've seen impressive tanks and growth from using these fixtures. They have also released upgrade kits which a good sign. People do tend to think the Radions are better given that they have better controllability and features as well as they are a less expensive option. I tend to disagree, although I don't own either fixture I have seen both and seriously considered both a one point.

AI sols have more power/$ than Radions. Typically 1 Radion is compared to 2 sols while really for most tanks 3 sols are about equal to 2 Radions, and some might even agree the spread from 3 sols is better than 2 Radions in most situations. The red and green LEDs in Radions eat up some of the wattage so their full rating can't compare to sol blues.

In terms of controllers the sols are external and purchased separately which might seem like a disadvantage compared to Radions but it allows you to skip the basic controller and save the money for something better. The sols are compatible with other controllers such as Profilux which will do virtually everything the Radion controllers do, if not even more.

So personally for a typical size tank I'd go with 3 sol blues over 2 Radions and take the extra $400 in savings and put it towards a profilux. Then I'd probably also add a Profilux SIMU-L Effects LED Light Bar to fill any effects missing. Honestly in terms of effects and value this package is better, IMO.

[cordeiro]

I am looking through the other threads should have done that prior to this thread!
Thank you for your opionions
My husband wants to radion for its features (the lighting storms and such) do the sol have any thing like that or is that what the profilux remotes would be for?

[Aquattro]

Personally, even if I go with Radions, I've instructed my wife to kill me if I ever setup a lightning storm
I also don't care about reds and greens, I more like the light itself. It doesn't give the disco ball effect any other light I've looked at, it's stylish, which on my display in the living room counts for a lot. I would set the sun up, lights on, and sunset, then never touch it again.
The sols sound good, but haven't seen one, and I don't like the look of them. I do like that I can use my Apex to run them, and I suppose that would do all the neato tricks some people like.
For me, it's about the growth and color of my corals, combined with the look they give to my tank as a whole. Yes, I'd pay more for the styling. I'm vain that way I don't need red or green, or lightning, or any of that other silly (IMO) stuff. I need strong light, of a color that suits my taste, and which works best for my corals.

[Nano]

the sol has thunderstorm programs as well and can be pared up with lots of different controllers, if your going for led, imo I'm on the SOL's team. I just bought one and I love it so far, there is no red or green leds, but thats an easy cheap retrofit if its really necessary. a couple of people have done threads on here comparing the sol and radion side by side, and its a very close race, in fact lots of people vote the sol the winner in some threads. I agree with shelps, the reds and green eat up a lot of power in terms of wattage comparison. theres a lot of debates on which is really the better fixture, but I still feel the sol is the winner, if you could do 3 solls compared to 2 radions and save half a thousand dollars, and get the same if not better results, why not? and like I said if the reds and greens are a must, its an easy retrofit, and probably pretty cheap, and Martin at modularled.ca could hook you up no problems.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by nanomano

, if you could do 3 solls compared to 2 radions and save half a thousand dollars, and get the same if not better results, why not?

for me, the extra pays for the styling (because that's all you're really paying extra for )