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Radion, Prime and WRGBII debate

sh4d0w

sh4d0w

Member
Joined
30 Jun 2020
Messages
73
Location
Stockport, Greater Manchester
Hello folks,
Its time for me to get back into the hobby now that i have built my extension, my tank has just been existing for the last 12 months while the house build was completed, we are finally done and i am ready to move the tank to its new home. I will be adding a bunch of posts under the relevant sub forums so please look out for them.

Whilst doing this, i want to re-scape and also address a few issues i have come across since running my planted tank.
One being lighting, i run the Eheim Incpiria 330L (100cm x 60cm x 60cm) with OEM Lights, i am sure that the Eheim lights are under powered, PARrrrnts!
I ended up with some very leggy plants with nothing at the bottom.
I am torn between a pair of XR15s - £1000 with mount
A Pair of AI Primes - £568 with mount
or a Chihiros WRGBII pro - £382
Keep my Eheim Daylight and Plant lights but add an Eheim Controller - £194

Can anyone advise on this dilemma, ideally with actual experience of the lights and not just "Ive got X so this is the best".
I dont fancy wasting cash, i want best for my situation.
I will be running CO2 and will be Dosing my ferts - see other posts relating to both.

How i am now (Minus the cyno as i whacked that with Cyno RX)

IMG_5479.jpg



How i was 15 months ago, a mess!
planted.jpg


i am looking to create a nice dense scape using the height, like this:
2022-12-30 16_12_10-(1) Facebook.png


or maybe
91008904_10157942743564827_9002485236075855872_n.jpg
 
Wow, never seen cyano that bad before.
Your tank 15 months ago looks awesome, jungle style. Perhaps light isn't really the issue. Poor CO2 implementation could be a more likely culprit.
Were you getting a lime green drop checker at lights on and all the way till lights off?
 
sh4d0w said:
How i was 15 months ago, a mess!
Click to expand...
I think the mess looks pretty good. Maybe just add a controller as it’s the cheapest option, although considering the growth you had previously I’d be tempted to save my money and change nothing.

Never seen a full cyno carpet!

Cheers
 
I quite like ur jungly tank tbf.

If you look at your inspiration pics, the densely planted with height has a whole bunch of plants in it that wouldn’t be asking for high light. For the carpet version, this might be asking for a bit more, but seems like you’d got a carpet going in ur old tank….it’s a wee bit scruffy maybe, but it’s growing for sure.

I suspect you could achieve either look, with the lights you have now and the right husbandry, and keep ur pennies for plants. 😊

Unless you really want new lights of course…..cos there’s nothing wrong with shopping. 😂
 
Thanks guys, this does throw a curveball into the mix for me.
I have it in my head that part of my issues are down to Light, part Nutrient, Part dead spots in the water and Part Co2 managment.

The jungle was in the healthy prime to be fair, it wasnt always like that, i dived into an algae invested death trap not long after, BBA, Hair and Whitespot to name a few. Ended up pulling plants out and then everything started to get crappy.

9th Jan 2022

IMG_8255.jpg


IMG_8256.jpg


IMG_0019.jpg

IMG_0020.jpg
 
I wouldn't put it past your lights being an issue even with the success you had in the past. Maybe they were just enough and degraded slightly over time. Maybe they were just enough and the overgrowth created shadows which detonated a chain reaction of plants suffering and algae blossoming.
 
oreo57 said:
Since you are considering the AI/Radion family of lights you may want to check out the new offering..

Blade Freshwater - AquaIllumination

www.aquaillumination.com www.aquaillumination.com

Blade-Freshwater-spectrum.png
Click to expand...
Ooo had no idea AI were bringing out new lights. They also seem to be doing light fixtures too. Even one specifically for macroalgae 👀.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, thanks Oreo that may end up being the new light for my 90 project👍. As you know I want to try a high end one on it just to see if it's worth the extreme price increase over some of the great low cost options these days.

I will say that in my experience so far in this hobby, there is no need for high end lighting on a Low tech tank(at least not one that isn't excessively deep). Some of the budget WRGB lights on the market are more then enough to grow healthy, vibrant, and amazing looking tanks. Heck, I haven't had to use more then 30-40% intensity on any of my tanks(I won't say they are all amazing though lol). They all look great colour rendition wise as well(I picked lights with higher CRI). I'm starting to doubt the need for high end lighting in all but the most bleeding edge high tech setups(or ones where the owner wants the most exaggerated contrast/saturation or bragging rights) as well but, will get some experience with both high tech and high end lights before I cast my full opinion on that...
 
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