Radion vs. AI Sol

[mark]

seems lots saying better spread for the Radion, Sol better for depth

[fishytime]

I think the program-ability and the spectrum range of the radions kick arse on the AIs.....AIs price kicks arse on the radions....

[Aquattro]

The big question is does one SOL equal one Radion for coverage? Some have suggested that you need 2 SOLs to equal one Radion. Which is it? I know for me, if/when I switch to LED, price will be a big factor. If I can buy 3 SOL for 1200 and that puts out equivalent light to 3 Radion at 2500, there's really nothing left to talk about.
I don't need reds and greens, and I don't need programmability. I need lights to come on, grow coral, go off, repeat.

[subman]

I see what your saying Brad, and after reading the side by side comparison by Marko I'm even more confused. It looks as though the sol and radion are close in light to me, but I think if the Radion was positioned higher up it would have more coverage.

So in my mind it would be either be 2 Radions vs 3 sols over my 4ft tank. In that case price difference becomes negligible.

(I'm also a technology junkie so all the extra bells and whistles on the Radion are very appealing )

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

The big question is does one SOL equal one Radion for coverage? Some have suggested that you need 2 SOLs to equal one Radion. Which is it? I know for me, if/when I switch to LED, price will be a big factor. If I can buy 3 SOL for 1200 and that puts out equivalent light to 3 Radion at 2500, there's really nothing left to talk about.
I don't need reds and greens, and I don't need programmability. I need lights to come on, grow coral, go off, repeat.

Lol we actually agree on something.

I had a radion for a month and the novelty features wore off after a week.

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by subman

I see what your saying Brad, and after reading the side by side comparison by Marko I'm even more confused. It looks as though the sol and radion are close in light to me, but I think if the Radion was positioned higher up it would have more coverage.

So in my mind it would be either be 2 Radions vs 3 sols over my 4ft tank. In that case price difference becomes negligible.

You can also move sols higher to get more spread too

[jorjef]

I think the only time the spread argument is valid is when a person only needs one light on a cube or possibly when a tank is greater than 24" front to back. In a traditional shaped tank one Radion would never be able to cover the same area as 2 Sols and visa versa so a person would need two of either lights. If price is an issue (which it was for me) there really wasn't much to decide. I don't think anyone could find a Radion user with one light on a 48" wide tank and 2 Sols will suffice on that same tank. My decision was done.

Not sure how the goofy purple face got there but for the people that pay attention to these things I'm "not" unhappy lol

[sphelps]

If you have a Profilux the sols seem like the logical choice. Profilux control for the AI should do everything the Radion does unless I'm not aware of something. If you're looking for intergration with your vortechs, get the profilux vortech control module. If you're looking for red/green add profilux sim LEDs. Looking for better spread, consider the sol 70/70 optic version so all optics are 70 degree.

[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?