jservedio Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 tl;wr: 2x Radion XR30 Pros, 6x AI Prime 16HD, or ??? over an IM 50g Lagoon -- The time has come for me to upgrade my lighting for the first time since....2012... I had originally planned on retrofitting a 4x24w T5HO kit to my Radion XR30 Pro G2, but I just don't think this will be the ideal solution for me moving forward since I would like to not change lights again for another 10 years, and honestly I'm just not convinced ATI will be making T5 bulbs in another 10 years from now. I'd like to spend less than $1,000 up front to supplement my current Radion since it's still got life left in it and has been doing a fantastic job for such a long time and see two main options, but am open to any others: Pick up a 2nd brand new Radion XR30pro and run them side by side - when my old Radion craps out, grab another new one. Total would be $839 now, and double that in another 2-5 years for a 2nd when my current Radion dies for a total of $1,678. Pick up 4x AI Prime 16HDs to supplement my Radion. I'd mount the Radion dead center but rotated 90 degrees and run a prime in each corner of the tank. Total price is exactly the same at $839, but in 2-5 years when my current Radion dies, instead of getting another Radion, just add two more AI Prime 16 HDs to replace it for a total of 6 and a total price of $1,259 - so quite a bit of savings over the long term Does anyone have any other ideas or opinions? The tank is 30 x 24 x 16 My main problem today is coverage and shading - my Radion provides more than enough light to keep colored up acros on the sandbed, but on a 30x24" tank, I'm just asking too much out of it. I get massive shading even directly below the fixture like this and it will only get worse as things continue to get bigger and bigger: 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 @Cannedfish would tell you to go for 10 Primes, 🤣 But I vote for 6 Primes only because you will have more adjustability with placement, and even potentially providing slightly varying level of light by certain units. plus the 4+1 existing, centered Radion will likely be easier setup wise vs one G2 and one G5 side-by-side, that's gonna be quite a headache matching colors and intensity due to led quantity changed significantly over the 3 generations. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment
jservedio Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 19 minutes ago, mitten_reef said: @Cannedfish would tell you to go for 10 Primes, 🤣 But I vote for 6 Primes only because you will have more adjustability with placement, and even potentially providing slightly varying level of light by certain units. plus the 4+1 existing, centered Radion will likely be easier setup wise vs one G2 and one G5 side-by-side, that's gonna be quite a headache matching colors and intensity due to led quantity changed significantly over the 3 generations. I didn't bother to tag cannedfish because I knew exactly what he'd say. Also, your calculation is a little off - with my square footage I'd need 22 AI Prime 16 HDs to match his coverage of 32.5 square inches per prime. 2 Quote Link to comment
aclman88 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 The other option would be to just give me that old useless Gen 2 and just get two new G5s (maybe lightly used G4s and save some money?) 😉 I tend to agree with @mitten_reef that the primes might be the way to go. I have 3 on my 20 high now. By spreading out pucks, you will reduce shading more. the G5s still might leave you with some shading if colonies start to grow in, depending on your aquascape. 1 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 1 hour ago, jservedio said: I didn't bother to tag cannedfish because I knew exactly what he'd say. Also, your calculation is a little off - with my square footage I'd need 22 AI Prime 16 HDs to match his coverage of 32.5 square inches per prime. Honestly, I think you could get away with only like 16, maybe 18 Primes... 😂 Is that per square inch number correct? I've never thought about it like that... and it's kinda blowing my mind. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
jservedio Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 18 minutes ago, Cannedfish said: Honestly, I think you could get away with only like 16, maybe 18 Primes... 😂 Is that per square inch number correct? I've never thought about it like that... and it's kinda blowing my mind. I'm pretty sure I'd need to wear sunscreen and sunglasses in the office if I were that insane. I could probably open up another revenue stream as a tanning salon. Also, this is an accurate depiction of what my power meter would look like: From the specs I saw, the Fusion 10 has roughly an 11.4 x 11.4 inch display area, and you've got...one...two...three...FOUR Primes over that glorified betta tank, so yeah... that'd be 32.49 square inches per AI prime! 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 I feel like Primes would be good. But I also feel like there is enough people running t5's around the world that t5's will still be a thing in 10 years. I bet within the next 5 years,we will even seen new spectra of bulbs. But then again,I feel like in 10 years we will see a new type of lighting for our reefs. I truly do. Quote Link to comment
Jakesaw Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Reefkid88 said: But I also feel like there is enough people running t5's around the world that t5's will still be a thing in 10 years. Government mandates for energy efficient lighting may deem them obsolete whether people want them or not. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.