New LED's for 2012. Is the Radion on the ropes and ready to go down?

The LED market is certainly heating up for 2012. I think it's safe to say that the Ecotech Radion was at the top of the heap last year but this year there seems to be a lot of new challengers poised to unseat the current champ. What do you guys think of the advantages and disadvantages of these new fixtures vs. the Ecotech Radion?

Maxspect Razor
AI Vega
AI Vega Color
GHL Mitras
Reeftech Marine Poseidon

I'm really looking forward to hearing more about these and others coming out soon and being displayed at Interzoo. Please feel free to bring up any other new fixtures that may be introduced as well!

 

Considering that I went from AI's to Radion lighting, I hope AI made more adjustments other than new color chips. The Razor is intriguing to say the least!

I love the Radions features and so have my corals. From AI to Radions, my SPS have become much more full of colors, and the growth rate has increased immensely.

 

How many AI units did you have and how many Radion units do you have now?

 

Had 2 AI Sols to my single Radion. The AI's were great for deeper tanks and the PAR numbers were solid...but spread was always an issue for me. 1 would not get light to the edges of a 40B (36" wide) unless the fixture was hung 14" above. Similar to Orphek, but not as bad. Control was nice, but added to the price. And color rendition was always a problem with them, as I had to supplement with 2 T5HO (one Twilight and one Purple Plus) along with some UV LED's (410nm).

I see that the Vega seems to have tackled the previous shortcomings and am curious to see it in action.

 

Well,

For the price vs. performance difference, I'll take my TaoTronics 55LED- 120W anyday!

 

I can't say I have big complaints about the Sol except that they should have offered them with 70 degree optics all the way around. I think more people would have enjoyed them had that been the default option. placing all those 40 degree optics in the center was only so they could achieve a high max PAR when hobbyist tested it. Another way they could have done it would have been to alternate the optics which would have given spread and PAR however the max PAR would not have been as great since there would be no overlap of 40 degree optics. I know a guy in England that did that in his tank with his AI Sols and is having great results with no hot spots.

The only problem I had with the Radion is that they dedicated way to many LEDs to the RGB feature. They could have gotten away with half that. In fact they could have saved room and went with true RGB diodes. The RGB was added to tweek the color only. They could have had the extra diodes be dedicated to produce more PAR or even added some violet. That being said, I still feel it is the best mass produced LED fixture available!

 

#1 the Taotronics is not anything new. This thread was intended to discuss the new fixtures that may challenge the Ecotec Radion

It is just a rehash of many other fixtures sold by many other companies (Evolution, Blue Moon Aquatics, ect... For me there are more thing involed in quantifying performance than what the TaoTronics offers. Will it work? Yes. Will it grow corals? Again yes!

To me that's like putting a V8 in a Pinto and blowing the doors off a Porsche. It's fun to know its fast but in the end it's just a Pinto.

 

lolol

 

I like both the Ai Vega Color and the GHL Mitras. I would prefer the Vega Color due to it being modular and if i upgrade then i would just need another unit. Cant really say the same for the GHL. Before making a decision i would have to see these over a tank to see the color they are getting. Both are working with 8 different color LED's but they vary between the two units. Im excited to see what they look like

 

I am actually more intrigued by the Reeftech and the Maxpect Razor.

The Reeftech is limiting it's reliance of the RGB by reducing the green and red LED ratio. And adding neutral white which also helpd with color rendition. They just don't feel that users will turn up the green and red to equal ratios with the blue so they reduced their numbers to allow for more power PAR producing diodes. One of my gripes with the Radion was that no one would ever turn it up 100% so users don't really get the full power that the unit can supply. Plus the fact that it is a 200+ watt fixture using premium quality LEDs, it just might be what the large tank, MH using, SPS tank owners are looking for. At $1000, it may coist more that the Radion, but could provide far more usable output to the average hobbyists.

The Maxspect Razor took a whole different route. The simplified the issue by ditching the current trend of RGB and just added 3000k warm white LEDs. Many SPS guys like myself have long wondered why LED manufacuturers have always mixed cool white LEDs with blue. The most inrtuiging thing about this fixture is the price coming in at $500 for a 160 watt fixture using premium LEDs and controllability.

Nearly all of the new fixtures listed above also included violet LEDs which is something the Radion lacks.