How Long Radion/hydra Led’s Last?

[Koi Valley]

I’ve been toying with the idea of picking up some Radion or Hydras which are second hand, but I can’t help to wonder how long they might last before I will have to start repairing them.

If anyone out there has either of these lights, how long have they lasted for you?

Also, if anyone has had to repair them what went wrong and what kind of cost was there to repair them?

Any comments are appreciated.

 

[TORX]

Radions typically outlast most hobbyists. I have seen several threads across the different forums and FB pages where people are still running Gen 1 and 2 Radions. They typically have a very good track record. The most popular repair, but not saying it happens a lot, is just the fan. It is cheap and easy to do if it ever needs replacement. Life expectancy on most LED fixtures is 8-10 years or longer, especially if they are only run at 60% like most people run their Radions. I do not know anything about Hydras.

 

[Matt1997]

I’ve had all the gens at least once. I can say I sold them off due to setting up something different long before they broke down. Can’t say I’ve heard of anyone having to replace the led pucks on a radion. As for the hydras I can’t speak for the newer models yet but I can say I had the older Vega model catch fire.

 

[Koi Valley]

Yikes!!! Catch Fire!
I was thinking no lower than Gen 3 either the Radions or Hydras. Although some of them don’t have HD option.

I’m thinking of picking up a hybrid system so I would have four HO T5’s and then adding the older generation Radions or Hydras which are a little more affordable for me. I’m hoping this will give me the PAR I need to grow some of the tougher Acropora I would like to try down the road.

I’m currently using 8 T5’s and although they’re giving me 440 PAR at the water surface, I’m only getting 210- 260 where 90% of my live rock is. 200 PAR at the bottom. Bulbs are 5 months old.

I just don’t want to buy something that might break down a year later.

 

[Winks]

Before I bought my Radions, I did a lot of research on many different lighting systems. There was not one bad review that I could find on the Radions themselves. I saw a lot of issues, whether they be user or product, with things like Reeflink hooking up to the Radions, not hooking to the internet, etc, but not one bad thing could I find on the Radion Light itself. JMHO

 

[Tim A]

I have 2 Gen 2 xr30’s I believe they do ok. I want to check the par levels on them to see if there is a need for me or advantage of upgrading tongen 3 or 4.

 

[WiredWeasel]

.

 

[Matt1997]

My new system will be using hydra HD’s. We will see how they go

 

[Koi Valley]

I wonder if Hydras have the power to reach down to the bottom of a 90 Gal tank (24”) with enough power to give Acropora the PAR they need to colour up. That’s why I was thinking of using T5’s with the older Radions or Hydras. Really they only need to go down 18” where most of the live rock is and put “lower light” corals at the bottom.

 

[AdInfinitum]

8xT5HO should easily give you 50% more PAR than you are seeing currently if bulbs are under 12-18 months old and a "normal" mix of colours. Perhaps your reflectors or ballasts need attention. Not meaning to sidetrack from the LED supplement question....

 

[Koi Valley]

The system I’m currently using is a Sun System Tek-Light Elite T5. The lights appear to be running with a bright appearance. Not dull. Reflectors seem ok.
Can a ballast be worn down yet make the bulbs appear bright?

I was considering using this T5 unit on a frag tank as they tend to only be 8-10” deep which would give me stronger PAR.

Is there any visual indicators which would let me know if it’s time to change my ballasts?

 

[Matt1997]

200 par on sandbed using blue plus and purple plus should get you solid growth for SPS. I would consider having the rock structure reach higher up in the tank and placing the SPS higher

 

[Chef G]

You'll be fine with Hydras, if your worried go with the newer HD ones even better as whatever "extra" power you have from color channels you don't have set to 100% you can carry over to the other channels that are set to 100%. Example: If your whites are only at 35% and your blues are all set 100%, the remaining 65% power from your whites you can now add that to your other color channels giving you numbers above the 100%.

Ive always loved my hydras cant see myself switching to radions anytime soon.
My two cents

 

[Koi Valley]

200 par on sandbed using blue plus and purple plus should get you solid growth for SPS. I would consider having the rock structure reach higher up in the tank and placing the SPS higher

I bought a couple cheap Acropora last weekend. Put one high and other around middle of tank.
I figure if they both grow and keep their colour by August then I’ll try some more expensive ones.
If not, then I’ll up grade my lights.