Radion vs. AI Sol

subman · #1 03-04-2012, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkoD

If you compare 2 sols to one radion, the sols win in my books.

I understand why your comparing 2 vs 1 price wise but is that a fair comparison?

mark · #2 03-04-2012, 11:05 PM

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

fishytime · #3 03-04-2012, 11:17 PM

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 · #4 03-04-2012, 11:40 PM

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 · #5 03-05-2012, 12:04 AM

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 · #6 03-05-2012, 12:05 AM

Quote:

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

MarkoD · #7 03-05-2012, 12:04 AM

Quote:

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.

jorjef · #8 03-05-2012, 12:16 AM

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 · #9 03-05-2012, 12:24 AM

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.

fishytime · #10 03-05-2012, 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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