Radions or hydras??

Reefbreeders led are made by evergrow, they share the same form factor as their horticulture led just with different led layout. The reasons that they are more affordable are due to the much much larger production volume, and well, less profit for the manufacture, supplier and retailers as though.


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I am on my way home from Dong's and if I didn' see it I wouldn' believe it. I have radions and love them, but with the quality of coral Dong has I know he wouldn't risk using an inferior light.
I agree. Dong has some sweet corals. Question for Dong. Since I can no longer do t5 since the wife squashed that idea, what is the best option over my 36”x 10” display? I currently have a hydra 26 and 2 primes. Is it worth changing to a photon 24”?
 
You can also consider three hydra 26 instead of two hydra 52. Cost less money for the same overall wattage and you will get better coverage because you can spread them out more.

Might be less par directly under the fixture but less shadowing.
 
I agree. Dong has some sweet corals. Question for Dong. Since I can no longer do t5 since the wife squashed that idea, what is the best option over my 36”x 10” display? I currently have a hydra 26 and 2 primes. Is it worth changing to a photon 24”?

Sunce you already have a Hydra 26 and two prime, you are all set IMHO.
Shadowing only affect branching and tabling sps, it wont happen on zoas and most lps.


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You can also consider three hydra 26 instead of two hydra 52. Cost less money for the same overall wattage and you will get better coverage because you can spread them out more.

Might be less par directly under the fixture but less shadowing.

Agree!
Also hydra 26 is running at 90w, hydra 52 is 120w, two 26 will beat one 52.




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Sunce you already have a Hydra 26 and two prime, you are all set IMHO.
Shadowing only affect branching and tabling sps, it wont happen on zoas and most lps.


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I’m going lot more sps now, but probably not a big enough difference to switch lights.
 
Due to your tank is narrow, I dont think there is a big difference


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28.105.3.GIF

In order to minimize shadow, the extended light source needs to be larger than the object it is illuminating.
In our case, the object is a group of coral. So the the actual light source should have an area that is bigger than the group of coral.
Put a frosted lens over a point source (Kessil)/clustered light (Hydra, Radion)can only work if the lens is bigger than the group of coral it shines on.
 
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Ok so I have been doing a lot more research on options. Appears that the orphek v4’s have been getting amazing reviews as well. Only problem I see is that I would more than likely need two and that is a big expensive. The orphek v4 compact are intriguing because doing two of those would seem to work fine. Anyone running the orphek v4 compacts?
 
I don't know anything about the Orpheks, but the new light diffusers that just came out for the Radions are supposed to be a game changer. I was very impressed with the review done by BRS on YouTube and ordered mine last week. All the lights mentioned are good and will grow coral for you, but if your going to put down the $$$, I would go with the newest technology.
 
Bill, did you decide on a light yet? I have been eyeing lights for the new build as well and I also came across the orphek via brs review.

Price wise, orphek and ecotech appear to be in the same ballpark give or take a couple of hundred dollars.

The variety of bulbs to cover more of the spectrum seems pretty nice as well! Though ... not sure if that should be a make or break factor if I stick with a hybrid system of leds and t5s...

I'm not too concerned about the shadowing effect with radions because the t5s will take care of that. And if I ditch the t5s, then I'll end up adding more radions to cover the tank front to back anyway, so shouldn't be a huge deal.

My biggest hesitation in "trying out" these $900 lamps, is the reviews regarding support. Ecotech support is top notch ... I've been reading some not so positive reviews about Orphek support. I'll try to get a hold of their distributor and try to get a sense how things will be if I decide to go that route. Basically arrogance test and market knowledge test .. if he is down to earth, knowledgeable, helpful, and willing to go the extra mile for customers, I'll feel far more comfortable making the investment..

Do keep us posted on which way you decide to go .. I think I am about a month or so out from setting up my tank.

- Archit

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Bill, did you decide on a light yet? I have been eyeing lights for the new build as well and I also came across the orphek via brs review.

Price wise, orphek and ecotech appear to be in the same ballpark give or take a couple of hundred dollars.

The variety of bulbs to cover more of the spectrum seems pretty nice as well! Though ... not sure if that should be a make or break factor if I stick with a hybrid system of leds and t5s...

I'm not too concerned about the shadowing effect with radions because the t5s will take care of that. And if I ditch the t5s, then I'll end up adding more radions to cover the tank front to back anyway, so shouldn't be a huge deal.

My biggest hesitation in "trying out" these $900 lamps, is the reviews regarding support. Ecotech support is top notch ... I've been reading some not so positive reviews about Orphek support. I'll try to get a hold of their distributor and try to get a sense how things will be if I decide to go that route. Basically arrogance test and market knowledge test .. if he is down to earth, knowledgeable, helpful, and willing to go the extra mile for customers, I'll feel far more comfortable making the investment..

Do keep us posted on which way you decide to go .. I think I am about a month or so out from setting up my tank.

- Archit

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I ended up going with the v4 compacts. One v4 I didn’t think would be adequate so I decided to go with two impacts instead. So far they answered my emails in a very timely manner. I ordered them last Wednesday. Appears I picked a bad time to order as they ship from China and I guess there is a big holiday for two weeks coming up. They told me they were shipping out tomorrow so haven’t actually used them yet.
 
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