Radion owners speak up..

[babyreef]

BLANK

[cale262]

Well I bought two of them, First i have to figure out how I'm going to mount them over the tank, I have some idea's I'm going to play around with on Sunday. I'm also running three other LED units, a Pacsun Black Python 200W which will be replaced by the ecotech's since I have to send this unit back to Poland for warranty reasons..., a 180w Reeftech Prometheous and a EcoXotic 24" fixture, so it will be nice to compare between the three units...so far the Ecotech are the most aesthetically pleasing and i'm really looking forward to the different colors the Ecotech has to offer.

[cale262]

Originally Posted by unclesalty

... 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

All my computers are macs aswell but I bought a cheap Toshiba a while back just to use for the Aquarium stuff, you can get one for less than $300 new, or finding a used one for less shouldn't be too hard.

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by cale262

Well I bought two of them, First i have to figure out how I'm going to mount them over the tank, I have some idea's I'm going to play around with on Sunday. I'm also running three other LED units, a Pacsun Black Python 200W which will be replaced by the ecotech's since I have to send this unit back to Poland for warranty reasons..., a 180w Reeftech Prometheous and a EcoXotic 24" fixture, so it will be nice to compare between the three units...so far the Ecotech are the most aesthetically pleasing and i'm really looking forward to the different colors the Ecotech has to offer.

Dude, your are crazy, I can't believe you got all 4 fixtures... must too be nice to have money.
one question, pacsun compare to reeftech. which one do you prefer and which one gets better results as far as coral growth and color? ultimately which one do you like it better.
Thanks for the feed back.

[cale262]

Originally Posted by Bblinks

...one question, pacsun compare to reeftech. which one do you prefer and which one gets better results as far as coral growth and color? ultimately which one do you like it better.
Thanks for the feed back.

Can't really compare the two in this respect as the pacsun is over the SPS tank and the Reeftech is over a softy tank...the SPS tank was growing like crazy until I started to have issues with the pacsun about a month ago, since then things have really gone down hill quickly...So I'm hoping to turn things around with the Ecotech units over this tank >Crossing fingers< Other than that I think the pacsun and reeftech are pretty much the same in most repects except for software, the reeftech software was a huge let down, they may have sorted it out now but I've been running them with the 1.2 beta SW since i recieved them as the production software never worked for me.

[nrosdal]

Originally Posted by Rice Reef

Soon to make a decision of whether to go with Radion or AI Sol Blues so I'm tagging along

By the way, any suggestions in how to hang these up to the ceiling with the wiring kit? Do I need two or three radion over a 4 ft long tank ( either 90 (48x18x24 or 120 gallon 48x24x24) and the same if I were to go AI Sols?

the radions cover 24"x24" each, so 2 would be fine for a 4 footer. Here is a very good preview/alot of info and a look at how the after market hanging kit will look in use.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog...radion-preview

[unclesalty]

Originally Posted by cale262

All my computers are macs aswell but I bought a cheap Toshiba a while back just to use for the Aquarium stuff, you can get one for less than $300 new, or finding a used one for less shouldn't be too hard.

Since my tank is in basement I think thats what I will do is buy a cheap used laptop.

[Lampshade]

You mac guys check out:
https://www.virtualbox.org/

Lets you boot up a windows XP inside of a screen on your mac. I did it on my old XP to boot a Linux. Worked great. Might let you install and run the radion software. You can find XP's around for free....

Buying the laptop is a good idea too. I just got this one for $350 refurbished from besybuy. Runs great, even plays new video games pretty well. I was shocked.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...44b926890aen02

[unclesalty]

Originally Posted by Lampshade

You mac guys check out:
https://www.virtualbox.org/

Lets you boot up a windows XP inside of a screen on your mac. I did it on my old XP to boot a Linux. Worked great. Might let you install and run the radion software. You can find XP's around for free....

Buying the laptop is a good idea too. I just got this one for $350 refurbished from besybuy. Runs great, even plays new video games pretty well. I was shocked.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...44b926890aen02

Thanks for the info with different options!

[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.

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

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.