Radion XR15w Pro Vs. Gen 1 Radion over 60 Cube

skyon888

skyon888

Member
I'm looking to upgrade from my Gen 1 Radion and was looking to get a Gen 3 XR30w Pro. But While researching I found that the XR15w Pro actually covers an area of 24"x24" with max Par of 825. The numbers seem comparable, if not better than the Gen 1 plus I'll get the yellows, indigos and UV leds.


My tank is a mixed reef with various SPS up high, and everything has been growing very well even with the Gen 1 dialed back a bit.


Does anybody have an XR15w over a 60 cube? How's the coverage? I searched the internet without much results.


I'm tempted to pull the trigger on the XR15 and keep my gen 1 as backup, but wanted to hear some of your opinions on such a setup.
 
Just an update on this if anybody searches for something similar in the future.

1 xr15pro is enough to keep a 60 cube with softies/lps, and will even keep some lower light SPS alive. But I wound up getting a 2nd which seems necessary for SPS to thrive. Plus I wanted the redundancy knowing that 1 light can keep everything alive until another can be sourced. Plus I don't have to run them at 100% with 2.
 
I have just 1 XR15w @ 60% output about 8 inches over water level on my 45g 24L x 24D x 19H its doing fine for LPS and SPS. Birdsnest and blue green acro are growing at a fair rate. Some LPS have already split creating more heads on such corals like hammers and torches.

I see why you went with 2 rather than 1. Seeing that just with one is sufficient, but your display of corals and rock have to be centered and and below the light within the stock lens 80 degree's radius range at 24 inches of depth with intensity of 70%-90%. Having the light suspended at 8-12 inches above water level with 80 degree lens on a 24 by 24 area will still have a few dark areas that the light barely hits which is the outer most areas of that radius the lens creates. With the 120 lens just with 1 XR15w could cover those dark spots but I feel like when the angle of the light is increased so does the intensity output has to increase so it can reach the 24 inch depth.

I know there is an equation or better educated answer for the light output considering depth, height and intensity that equals x amount of coverage area. I have the idea but not really hitting the nail in the head at the moment.

Maybe this helps

http://ecotechmarine.com/products/radion-tir-lenses

The best thing I can think of is creating a simulation, by taking a cardboard box that is identical to the tank in its foot print. Painting the inside of the box to all black to simulate complete darkness of being under water with no light. Taking one of the XR15w and trying different scenarios such as changing the height of the light above the tank with the stock lens or changing it to the 120 while increasing light intensity output etc... to see at what settings best suits the tank.

Just my 2 cents...to get this thread going.
 
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