Radion vs. AI Sol

[unclesalty]

I have owned both fixtures at the same time and I also own a par meter and a power meter. IMO Radion is a far superior light in every way possible except the AI par is a wee bit better. The AI has been around for a couple years and is old school in comparison to the Radion. You will need almost 2 AI fixtures to 1 Radion fixture so Radion is a better buy. The new AI Vega fixture might compare with the Radion when its released but not current AI model. Before you buy do your research and you will find out what the better fixture is. If someone tells you the AI is a better fixture tell them to put down the crack pipe!

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by fishytime

If you have a profilux.......if you dont then you need the profilux $500, you need the ai control module $100(just guessing), you need the vortech control module $285, you need the red/green sim leds$200 and then the AI soll at $400.....for a grand total of 1500 to do what a radion does.....even if you already have the profilux unit itself then thats about $600 worth of add on goodies you will need......


if your a tech junkie then you might find this appealing .....I have my radion programmed to do this.....orange sunrise in the AM (just a lipstick do nothing feature, but it looks cool) ....then the light slowly ramps up in intensity to somewhere between 6700k and 10000k into the middle of the afternoon (really ugly yellow looking grow the bejeebers out of your coral spectrum.... but hey I dont care cuz Im at work)....then I have the spectrum slowly change from 10000k to close to 20000k from the late afternoon to the late evening (for when Im home looking at the tank)....then it goes to 22000k briefly and then dims down to 2% through the night for moonlight effect.......I get the best of all spectrums...... do that with an AI.......if the SOLs where the shizz then why is an upgraded AI unit comparable to the radion in the works???......lets not forget about the wireless connectivity between the units, wireless communication with the vortech pumps, soon to be Mac compatible, the ability to program the unit from your PC with a nice big screen and spectral graphs, soon to be wireless programing from your PC.....I could go on but.........

Its kinda like skimmers......you can get by quite nicely with a vertex or reef octopus, but what you really want is the Bubble King

OP has a Profilux hence my comment, for AI connection you just need an inexpensive cable not module. The other things are just options but with the AI starting at half the price makes buying such things easier and there purpose goes far beyond just matching a Radion.

And btw the Radion is not the BK of LEDs, it's the vortech of LEDs with comparable models like Tunze with what's better only coming down to personal preference. BKs are timeless, Radions will be obsolete in less than a year.

[apexifd]

Originally Posted by fishytime

If you have a profilux.......if you dont then you need the profilux $500, you need the ai control module $100(just guessing), you need the vortech control module $285, you need the red/green sim leds$200 and then the AI soll at $400.....for a grand total of 1500 to do what a radion does.....even if you already have the profilux unit itself then thats about $600 worth of add on goodies you will need......

profilux will only need a $30 cable to control AI Sol. and Vortech module is $200.

If you already have a Profilux, then AI may be a good choice. I have 3 modules over my 210 right now, and it's enough for sps and lps. and it's half the price of the Radion.

[tim the toolman]

I'm pretty sure that you can order the SOL system with altered angels on some of the LEDs which will help increase the coverage. There is a link online somewhere that I will post of a company that ran 3 different brands of LEDs together and ran comparisons. The sol was the clear winner in almost every category, but especially in the price category. They also include some neat built in features like thunderstorm modes and full upgradeability as new options become available. I will definitely be going sol when I upgrade.

PS I just helped my buddy set up a 5 module sol system on his 250 this week and he is loving both the coverage and the programability. I think it has something like 16 different timers available that run into one another so you can really control the intensities and variances.

[Borderjumper]

I have two Radions over my 48" tank and love them I've never seen a SOL, so I can't compare them or really comment.

I have been thinking of going LED over my 16" cube tank.. I'm actually considering one SOL as I think a radion is overkill for that small of a tank.

Looking at Ocean Aquatics webpage, it looks like the SOL comes in two color choices.. The white which is 12-14K and the blue which is 20k.. What are people using? And am I correct that the K color can not be adjusted to suite your eye?
How about intensity? Can that be adjusted?

[jorjef]

I'm using two super blue. I can adjust individually the intensity of all three White, royal blue and regular blue which gives quite a wide range visually to choice from.

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by Borderjumper

I have two Radions over my 48" tank and love them I've never seen a SOL, so I can't compare them or really comment.

I have been thinking of going LED over my 16" cube tank.. I'm actually considering one SOL as I think a radion is overkill for that small of a tank.

Looking at Ocean Aquatics webpage, it looks like the SOL comes in two color choices.. The white which is 12-14K and the blue which is 20k.. What are people using? And am I correct that the K color can not be adjusted to suite your eye?
How about intensity? Can that be adjusted?

with the 80 dollar ai controller or third party controller you can adjust intensity of each of the 3 colors to adjust the color

[Aquattro]

Shelley, from what I read, the AI comes in the SOL white and super blue. The difference is that each has a different range of color. I believe the other features are all the same.
For me, I would be using my Apex to run them, so whatever that does, is good, I suppose

My concern tho, is on my tank, I figure I've got a rectangular area containing corals about 18" x 60"ish. Are three of either good enough for this area, with some corals being 24" deep.
Some site I read compared the AI to a 400w MH, but AI's site doesn't mention that anywhere I can see.

[Raf]

Set up both brands up for many clients and like both BUT. given the price difference my preferance would be for the AI. Although the Radion does have more features and tech advantages(like wireless communication vs messy wires between fixtures), has better spread(although not better depth) and replicates the full color spectrum more adequetly. Also, not sure if the AI's come in black, but the white on silver is not my first choice for a light fixture...

Some up sides to the AI is that its fan is located near the top of the unit rather than the bottom....for those without a glass top, the salt will eventually find its way into that Radion fan. Also the ability to add legs and not just be limited to hanging kits as with the Radion.