soo ive had my new tank set up for a few months now with no major issues so its time to ditch my cheap t5 set up and go led the tank is 36"long 18 wide and 20 deep with a overflow in the center now i was ready to buy the radion but from what i understand 1 will be a little underpowered but 2 will be a little too much for the tank. thats when i found the 52 that claims to be able to handle a 36x36 tank.. has anyone confirmed this ? id love to be able to only have to buy 1 light instead if 1300 for 2 radions .. thanks for the help in advance
hydra 52 or radion g3s
- Thread starter mongo
- Start date
On a tank that size, you better figure about 1 fixture to cover 18" of your tank. Using less would tend to result in dim areas. In some systems, if your looking for a special effect, that might be exactly what you want, but for most, it's not going to look right.
In place of the Hydra 52, you could consider two of the regular hydras.
In place of the Hydra 52, you could consider two of the regular hydras.
DSP
Member
One fixture to cover 18 inches?? No way man were talking about hydra's and radions not ai sols lol, The stock lenses on one Radion will cover a 36x24x18 tank very very well, The hydra 52 would cover it even better but it's really not needed, Now if someone wanted even more coverage they could just put on the tir lenses so to say one fixture to cover 18 inches is just false info.
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DSP
Member
Mongo either fixture would light your tank very very good, I personally would go with the radion because the upgradeability, reeflink, customer service, All the amazing reefs using them so there proven, My tank is 36x24x18 and one Radion Gen 3 Pro covers the tank completely with no sign of shadowing and that's with the stock lenses on, And I keep an sps dominated tank,I would be the first to tell you that you would need more the one fixture but it would just be a waste imo, My fixture is set at only 65 percent overall intensity, If some reason you did want more coverage(which you won't trust me) the u could just put on the wide angle lenses and be done but like I mentioned it's just not needed.
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reefer gladness
Well-Known Member
Sorry, I must disagree. The PAR measurements on AI's own website are all the proof one needs, they provided PAR measurements on a 36x36 cube measured at 24 inches of depth. The peak PAR of 304 uMol isn't a very impressive number to begin with and it falls off to less than 50 PAR at the edges.
http://www.aquaillumination.com/lighting/hydra/fiftytwo.html#top
Showing PAR measurements on 36x36 cube doesn't mean it's a suitable light for a 36 inch tank. They're showing you this information so you can make an educated decision depending on your individual lighting requirements and tank dimensions.
DSP
Member
I'm not going by what ai says or claims man I'm speaking from experience, And I would not choose the hydra anyway like I mentioned above I would choose the radion because it's proven, If you are trying to say one Hydra 52 or radion Gen 3 won't cover his tank then that is just simply false information.
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DSP
Member
The radion Gen 3 covers a 36x24x18 tank and the hydra has even better spread so I don't see how someone can disagree and say that he needs more then one fixture,comments like that make people weiry of buying the fixtures and instead they should be very very happy and excited because there is absolutely no doubt it will work very well.
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reefer gladness
Well-Known Member
I own a PAR meter and trust measurements not my eyes 
DSP
Member
Well you should know par meters don't work well with leds then right? I trust coral growth more then a par meter measuring ledsI own a PAR meter and trust measurements not my eyes
, And btw we sale both radions and hydra's at the store but I still won't tell people they need to buy more fixtures then what they need. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
DSP
Member
I own a PAR meter and trust measurements not my eyes
And do you have a thread of you measuring the hydra 52 and the radion Gen 3 pro? I'd like to check it out anyways.
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Keep in mind that everyone is entitled to their own opinion in this hobby. It's ok to not agree with someone, but you have made posts getting very defensive because other people here don't happen to agree with you. Just because you think that a single fixture will do the job, doesn't mean everyone else does.
I stand by my original post. It's asking a lot of any fixture to evenly light a span of 36" no mater how powerful it is or what lens arrangement you use, and depending on placement one part or another of the tank is going to look dim compared with the other parts. Would a single fixture work, well, maybe if you were going to place lower light requirement corals in the dimmer areas, but to me it would never going to look quite right.
DSP
Member
The only reason im getting defensive is because people comment on stuff they have not tried and that isn't Ok, All that does is scare people away,Yes everyone is entitled to there own opinion but when that's false info being givin then somebody needs to point it out correct? I don't think it will work I KNOW it will work because I am doing it, and that's the difference in opinions here because you guys are going by what you THINK. Instead of trying it yourself,If I can help the op save $700 I will do that as I have done it all over the forums instead of telling people they need to buy more fixtures when there not needed.
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CodyWarner92
Member
t5 all the way !!!!! lol
!!!!! lol
DSP
Member
DSP
Member
I'm not trying to be rude to anyone and no hard feelings toward anyone but I will always call someone out when there giving false info, I won't post anymore on this thread don't want people getting angry this isn't what reef sanctuary is about, Just please try stuff yourself before giving a big opinion on it. Op feel free to message me anytime.
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puffermike
Active Member
I'd personally buy whatever is in your price range that you can afford. You'd be suprised at what one of those fixtures can cover. I've seen some stores with 1 and also 2 on 36 cubes. Doubling them up makes it extremely bright and there is almost no shadowing at all. On the flip side the singles do push out some shadowing around the edges. Personally, I like depth and shadows with lighting. I do accent lighting for a living and I LOVE the way a silhouette looks. I actually run some MR16 LED spotlights in my tanks to shine on showcase corals because these spotlights create shadows. I just use the warm white color to accent them apart from normal coral lighting. They look like sunlight. Anyways, my point is that both setups will "work" one will be bright and one will obviously be brighter. They'll both grow corals though.
I think you'll be happy. I love mine