Looking for some guidance on radions verses kessil

[MNK9569]

Have been a avid kessil user have them all  started a nano to house some stuff after taking down display originally used a a360we on a jbj 24 Nano wanted to try a radion so got one on trade a XR15w pro gen 3 just want honest opinions if someone has used both to compare kessil doesn’t have features thevradion does but it’s proven to work for me I’m running the coral lab lps program hammer just doesn’t seem as happy as it was under kessil 

[Mazzy21]

I have the same Radion. I have no experience with Kessils. What I can tell you is that I feel like I've had the same experience with the Radion - things just aren't super happy with it. Even dialed down it is just a beast of a light and in my biocube, which was 24" deep, I just couldn't seem to get the corals far enough away from the light to be happy. Acros bleached within days, even under the assimilate function. Zoas did well but only at sandbed level. The only 'creature' that was happy with the light was the anemone and even he only climbed up to reach more light after I finally gave up and turned the whites down to literally nothing so I had just the overly-blue look going on in my tank, which I don't actually like (I like the bluish tint but not to where it is a solid deep blue like I had to have it to make everyone happy and not bleach out).

 

The Radion is a fantastic light, but I think even the XR15 needs a bigger tank than the biocube size. Maybe a 40ish cube??

[Mazzy21]

FYI - was just on BRS and see EcoTech has created a "diffuser" for the XR15. It causes 20% less light but that is def not an issue for me. I actually think it may makea pretty drastic improvement to the light if it's a little less intense but a little better on spread.

[blasterman]

Quick addition to this: I want to make sure we are sticking to the laws of physics here, and not blaming lights for what is a water issue.

 

The diffuser (I just looked it up) will not improve coverage. Coverage is determined by the size of the emission area....not if it's diffused or not.  For instance, if I have a fluorescent tube two feet long, and a strip of LEDs two feet long they both have the same coverage. Because you are projecting light through milky plastic does not make photons move in round arcs. You need a black hole to do that.

 

The diffuser here will help blending, as per stated on the site. Nothing else.  My own snarky opinion on that is if you designed your light properly you wouldn't need a piece of .50  cent sanded or pebbled acrylic to help an already expensive light to perform right. Aka, my $100 Mars aqua doesn't exhibit color blending  issues,  and this is yet another reason I stick to black boxes and avoid Radions.

 

A hammer coral won't care if it's under a Kessil or Radion or Mars Aqua provided the intensity is the same. Unlike SPS, softies and LPS Corals don't mind specular light sources because they continually bob around in the current. The light is not your problem here unless you've got it turned down as far as it will go.

 

You buy a Kessil because you like the shimmer that a single LED source provides.  You get a Radion, IMO, because of all the color settings and controls you can fiddle with (that consequently has no bearing on coral growth). Radions in other respect are great lights....just very pricey. If either light is too bright, then turn it down. Again, softies and LPS like Euphyllia ( hammer coral) won't care about either light provided the intensity is turned the same. Stop blaming the light for what is being caused by other issues.

[Reefkid88]

I think 20% loss of light in a Kessil would be super upsetting loss in usable light. Radion I wouldn't worry about it really. IF you can swing the money,go with Radion. 

[DCUEVAS74]

I just had a Radion Gen 4 pro on my lagoon 25.  I had various corals that did well.  I was a little disappointed in how some of my zoas did but also some did well.  All three of my acans did well and grew.  On the other hand, I had a awesome torch frag which grew multiple heads over the course of a year.  I am about to do a kessil A360WE with t5s on my new setup.  I would imagine they're both great lights.  I have found over the years that with LEDs you can have whatever mix of colors you want, it's the intensity that can make a difference.  On my Radion, I think I did not go over 25% for about 6 months and slowly started increasing each month but never go over 35%.  With these setups, there are so many variables that contribute to the success and failures of our corals/livestock such as stability in parameters, temp, flow, water changes etc etc.  Not to mention sometimes corals just do not acclimate well to the setup.  In my experience, the intensity of the light is important but for the most part it really is last on my list when attributing success or failure of my corals.