Maybe you have too much light coming from the Radion?...I went from a 200W PS BP LED fixture, to the two Radions...I ran the PS @ 90%, I put the Radions over the tank initially at 90% @ the same height and burnt a couple coral right away...I now run My Radions at a max Of 60% for about 3 hrs a day... everything is growing fast and happy.

Those are peculiar results as the PAR test's I have read rank the AI to be higher than the Radion (Having the Radion @ a lower intensity should only compound this effect). If less light is getting to the zoas then they should become more expanded, they shouldn't close due to photo shock.

Anything else change in the tank or anything that could be irritating them? Have any photos?

Gah, I need a PAR meter to get some actual numbers here as what the box say's and what others are measuring seem to be different.

I am not saying AI are garbage either. I was going to go with Vertex Illumina or AI until the Radions came into the picture and myself like many others prefer the Radion over the AI. Different strokes for different folks I guess one could say.

I figured since radions are almost double the power of ai I'd lower it in the beginning. But I have Zoas in the tank just totally under the sols and they're wide open and expanding.

I guess in a few days I'll have my answer now that I've swapped the lights

I'll take photos tonight

Before any LEDs I had 4x250 mh and 4x 39 t5

I was going to buy a PAR meter but now I'm looking for a Spectrograph so I can measure the PUR which doesn't show up with the PAR meter...

I was also running 250w MH and T5 before switching to the PS LED,...I started the PS fixture @ 50% and slowly worked my way up to the 90%...then I assumed the Radion was less W Than the PS and there should be no shock when switching the two LED fixtures as previously stated above...I was wrong... LED's are really new in this hobby and from what I have read, we are making a mistake by measuring LED fixtures with PAR....PAR undergrades the blue light spectrums and focus's more on the white/yellows...Higher end LED's used for reef lighting have no yellow as fould in traditional lighting (MH, T5, PC etc) thus measuring in PAR is old tech and not the correct tool for the job when measuring LED...this is also why less expensive 1W LED show more PAR, they have more yellow spectrum to measure yet this yellow is not usable light in reef corals...I think we'll see more about PUR (as oposed to PAR) as the LED fixtures become more common place in this hobby...


Stolen quote:

So how do you really measure the light then if par is irrelevant? I am just wondering cause I am getting an AI for my new tank, and going from t5's to AI will be a huge change, I know I have to start it low, but how low is low lol? might seem like a dumb question

Thanks for the post Cale, that clears up some misconceptions in my head!

It's been the opposite in my world. Every person that I've demonstrated the lightning storms to has looked at me like there's something wrong. Then when I explain, several have asked if the fish are harmed by this. Uhhh.... pretty sure there is lightning in nature.

Ive had people ask if it's doing that cuz the bulbs are burning out.
Lol

from the thunderstorms? remind me not to use that feature

I think it's really a case by case basis and there is no easy answer unless you have a Spectrograph. Start with considering what you currently house in your glass box atm, either way, popular consensus say to ease your system into the new lighting, watch your corals for undesired changes while increasing the intensity of the LED fixture.

The next big question comes when adding new coral to the system, this is why I’m going to use the same lighting on my frag tank as the DT, this way I can ramp the intensity up and match the photo period while acclimatizing the coral/frag to match my DT.

here are pictures.

first picture is the zoa colony under the ai sols
http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...2at50007PM.png


and this one use to be a colony but since i put the radion over that side of the tank they've all disappeared. all i've got is one here and there and theyre closed up into little balls

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...2at50018PM.png

yikes that sucks Marko, I wonder if the radion was too much for them?

it was only 65% power

they were previously under 90% power ai

maybe another reason then? I have heard zoo's can melt sometimes

Radions are twice the power of Ai's and full spectrum.

start at 40% and work your way up over two weeks.

Under Ai's I never got any colour this is one miracle change since adding a Radion

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/IMG_7051.jpg

it has now gone onto to be super dark purple:mrgreen:

ummmmmmm you have a moorish idol in your tank.....they have been know to eat polyps


the feature I like about the radions is......you can start the morning off with the red spectrum (which BTW is beneficial for you coral ) to simulate a sunrise effect, then have the spectrum change to natural sunlight during the day when your not home to see the yellow-ness, then have the color change to more of a blue in the evening when you are home to see tank.....I'll agree that the thunderstorm feature is more for the user than the reef

I've never seen it pick at any polyps. But even if it did, why would he only go for the ones under the radions?

Before the radion, these same zoas were under the ai and open all day.

And how do you figure that 12 watts of red LEDs are beneficial to corals?

This weekend I'm going to try this out. I'm gonna have the reds on only, for the first 5 hours of the day. And I'll take a time lapse video of a zoa frag to see if it'll even react (open,close,twitch) at the red light

that'll be a very interesting video! I love time lapse haha.

As I said above the Radion is double the power and full spectrum totally different beast. I loved my Ai's at full bore, the radion is way brighter at 130w vs 70w i run one radion now where as before i was running two ai's

I never said that running all red would give great results, or be the miracle coral growth formula (in fact it wont).....but you said that. the red and green LEDs were useless, which they arent.....the red spectum gets filtered out of the water very quickly so deeper water corals tend to not take to red very well, but shallower water corals will benefit from lower color temperatures....the radion provides probably the closest to full spectrum lighting as wee can get atm

Thats exactly what I've read. Sea water partials absorb red and green light.

So how deep do you figure red light from 12 watts of led will penetrate?

I just want to see if a coral will recognize the fact that light is available

This is why the Radion was a no brainer choice for me as the price works out to be close to the same by the time you buy 2 AI's. Also no wires, nicer looking, better spectrum and better programming and features. The Radion still has some bugs to be worked out and things added to software but I'd live with them the way they are right now, no problem whatsoever!

there is no way that 1 light source can be better than 2 light sources.

with 2 AI sols i can light a coral from 2 directions with 140 watts of power and you can only light it from 1 direction.

and with this:

• 8x Cree XP-G Cool White LEDs run at 5W each
• 8x Cree XP-E Blue LEDs run at 3W each
• 10x Cree XP-E Royal Blue LEDs run at 3W each
• 4x Cree XP-E Green LEDs run at 3W each
• 4x Osram Oslon SSL Hyper Red LEDs run at 3W each

when added up, radions are only 118 watts. and when you subtract the 12 watts of red and 12 watts of green (which are not proven yet to make any kind of difference to coral growth) you're only at 94 watts of proven coral growing power.

even if red and green are beneficial to corals, the penetration and usable light at a reasonable depth would be almost nothing

they also both advertise full spectrum.

sol

http://www.aquaillumination.com/img/perf_spectral.png

radion

http://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/...trum-right.png

Hear Hear

No way was 2 AI's enough for my 120g for my liking from what I saw. IMO 3 or 4 AI's for sure would of been enough. 2 Radions look awesome!

Yeah so if you're comparing price. You can get 2 ai for 1 radion.

And with 2 ai you'd get better spread and more power and "larger" light source with less shadow. So on a 120 gallon you'd run 4

You'd sacrifice the red and green tho

I'm with you on this one Marko, I mean for better spread (sleaker look IMO) and price wise, AI takes the cake, and if the red and green are really that important long term, there are tons of led strip lights that could be retro fitted, though I dont know how necessary it really is. I understand they have different spectrums and diferent spectrums have diferent funtions on different corals lol. I'd personally get 2 AI before I got one Radion.

Sh*t I'm at the top of the page again.. sry...

From what I have seen the red and the green on them seem to give the Radions such a nicer colour even tho they are such little wattage

Personally I think the total complete opposite! The AI's are big thick and bulky with cables everywhere- no comparison in looks!

The AI's have better spread? hmm I must of bought a faulty par meter! lol

not trying to arue with you cause I really dont have the knowledge to do so, I'm just going from what I have read and seen in person. lol if that makes sense. And after seeing the comparison between AI and halide and AI and Radion online here, to me, the AI looks a bit brighter, but I'm not stating that is is for the record ;)

also I remember seeing on here earlier about par meters not being 100% accurate for leds cause they measure the yellow light? I could be mistaken

I am not a journeyman light guy either but you are right the AI had a bit better par but it spotlights and then you don't get the proper coverage compared to the Radion

Yes you are right as they are not accurate with LEDS in comparison to MH, but I compared LED readings vs LED readings

I think the spot lighting might be from how you suspend it though partially, it seems the SOL are usually mounted a bit higher then radions cause the have lenses, I'm not sure that radions do, so the light doesnt get the spotlight effect with the Radion

If you want to add red and green LEDs to an AI set up just go onto modularled's web site and they have the kits for under $40 and using all Cree bulbs instead of lesser makes. If you don't like it or it just proves to be an algae producer you're only out $40 not an extra $400. The only reason to spend a lot of money on lights is to grow coral otherwise any cheap fixture would do. You can see pictures and tank journals from hundreds of successful coral growers that have been using the AIs for years and I'm sure at one point in the future the Radion's will prove to grow coral equally well but I doubt one will grow coral better than the other. They are both nice products and you can't really go wrong with either one. And if you can find a Radion that doesn't have a power cord like the ugly cords on the AI as pointed out on an earlier post then even better, it must just kill batteries though!

My Ai you wont see the cords, cause the arm will have holes drilled hopefully large enough to fish the wires through. outta sight outta mind.

but +1 you hit the nail there