- Today on BRSTV Investigates,
is the latest Radion G5 XR30 Pro
the right light for your tank?
If you want to find out how the XR30 G5 Pro performs
and get answers to the most important questions you have
when considering this new light, then this video is for you.
(upbeat percussive music)
Hi, I am Randy with this Friday's BRSTV Investigates
where we put popular reefing gear, theories, and methods
to the test by experimenting on our own tanks
so you don't have to experiment on yours.
And today we're giving you data-backed answers
to your top questions about the Radion G5 XR30 Pro
including how high do you mount them,
how many you need, how do you properly space them,
and most importantly, what are the BRS recommended
spectrum and intensity settings
for the two most common tank types, predominately LPS
or SPS dominated systems, but that's not all.
Before we finish today's testing and BRS recommendations
I'll let you in our overall thoughts and impressions
about these latest Radion XR30 Pros
including why you might choose the XR30 Pro
over the XR30 Blue, and what sets
those two lighting options apart.
Regardless of your tank size and shape,
using well over 1,000 data points and multiple types
of tests, our BRS recommendations for mounting height,
spacing, photoperiods, spectrum settings and intensities
are exactly the information you're looking for
to take your XR30 Pro out of the box, set it up,
and trust that you got this lighting thing done right.
The first step we're going to take today to get started
is a test we developed to identify our BRS
recommended mounting height where we raised the light
and test the light fixture until we find
a mounting height the effectively reduces PAR hotspot
directly under the center of the light
and increase the coverage near the outer edges
with the goal of keeping efficiency loss
or light spill into the surrounding room
as minimal as possible.
To find our sweet spot we mounted this G5 XR30 Pro
at six inches above the water surface
in our two square foot test tank,
took a grid of measurements at the top of the tank,
then raised the light one inch at a time
while we tested changes in PAR
where we reach our ideal mounting height
when we've reduced the center hotspot
until the PAR in the outer edges see diminished returns
or until there's a 15% or more reduction
in overall average PAR.
With all eight channels and 100 LEDs set to max,
our first test at six inches shows a center hotspot
of 986 PAR, and an outer ring of 406
where its immediately apparent that the redesign layout
of the individual LEDs acrossed a wider area,
in combination with the HEI Optics,
create a wider light spread across the tank
from left to right, and already showing solid performance.
One inch higher at seven inches
we've reduced the center hotspot by 192 PAR to 794
and gained 52 PAR in the outer ring to 458,
improving the distribution even more.
And moving up to eight inches, again,
we make significant reductions in the center,
down to 663 with an outer ring gaining 65 PAR to 471.
If we look at the points in the center compared
to some on the outer edges at eight inches,
we've now reached a point where some of them
are within 50 Par or less of each other.
And when we raise the light one more inch to nine inches,
some of those same points in the outer ring
are now higher than the center, and we've gone too far,
which makes an 8 inch mounting height
for the G5 XR30 Pro our BRS recommended mounting height,
and what we'll use going forward
with the rest of our testing.
For the next round of testing we've developed
a test to help determine the optimal spacing
between multiple light fixtures.
But before we jump into that data,
first, we need to know if we need
multiple lights to begin with.
In all of our light testing we base our tests
on two most popular tank types.
Either a tank that's predominantly lower light demand corals
such as LPS and softies, or a tank filled with wall to wall
SPS corals that have higher light demands.
For our BRS recommendation of using Radion G5 RX30 Pros
for LPS tanks with an overall PAR goal
of achieving 75 to 150 PAR throughout the entire tank,
we see that a single fixture will get the job done
in a two square foot area cube.
Meaning that we'd recommend two fixtures for tanks similar
to our two foot by four foot 120 gallon system,
or one fixture per every 24 inches of tank.
Our BRS recommendation for XR30 Pros
over SPS dominated systems with PAR goals
of 200 to 350 throughout as much of the tank as possible,
means that we will be using three G5 Pros
over our same four foot 120 gallon tank,
or in this case, one every 16 to 18 inches of tank length.
So whether you're planning ahead for your tank
full of frags growing out to larger established colonies,
or for those who already have reached that point
and are swapping out your current lighting set up,
our recommendation for three XR30s in this configuration
comes from the goal of blanketing the tank
in as much even light as possible
like you expect from historical lighting options
in order to reduce shadowing under large SPS colonies
or within the inner branches of established ones.
With that we now begin our light spacing test
where we attempt to find the ideal spacing
between multiple light fixtures by reducing
the higher PAR in the center where the lights intersect.
At the same, increasing the PAR in the outer edges
of the tank to optimize the overall PAR spread
across the tank as a whole with the goal of getting
the average PAR on the outer edges within 75%
of the center PAR average.
In order to do this we developed test
where we divide our four foot tank up evenly,
mount our lights centered at our BRS recommended
mounting height, turn all the channels on at 100%,
and test the PAR as we spaced the lights further apart,
moving them towards the left and right edges
until we reach that 75% goal.
Starting with two XR30 Pros spaced at 16 inches on center
from the left and right edges
the average PAR on the outer edges is only 52%
of the center PAR, and what we consider to be spaced
too closely together as we can clearly see
from the heat map underneath.
Spreading the XR30s one inch further apart
from each other to 15 inches on center,
we've increased the average to 60%,
but still hot in the center,
as is the case at 14 inches on center
where we've made noticeable gains in the outer edges,
but still short of our 75% goal,
coming in at only 69%.
It isn't until we spaced our lights out to 13 inches
on center from the left and right edges
where we finally surpass our 75% goal
where at this BRS recommended spacing for two G5 XR30 Pros
we see 79% of the PAR on the out edges within the center,
making a majority of the light now evenly spread
across the entire tank.
Conducting the same spacing test
for three XR30 Pro fixtures and our SPS dominated tank goal,
we evenly divided the tank and spaced three lights
at the starting point of 12, 24, and 12 inches on center,
which yielded an average PAR in the outer edges
at only 62% of the center
with significant hotspots at the light intersection points.
Sliding the lights out further apart to 11, 24, and 11
inches on center, there's a slight gain in the outer edges
to 69%, yet still room to improve.
While with them space at 10, 24, and 10 inches on center,
we're able to reduce the hotspot intersection
almost right on the nose of our goal to 76%,
which at the same time reduces the average Par difference
between the center and outer edges
from 400 when we started down to just 200
at our new BRS recommended light spacing
of 10, 24, and 10 inches on center.
Our spectrum testing is next,
and in order to give you a better idea
of what the lights we test have to offer
in terms of overall spectrum and tunability,
we set all controllable channels to 100%
and then measured the overall spectrum availability
against the spectrum produced by the ATI Blue Plus bulb,
which has been known as the historical gold standard.
Then, if available, we control individual color channels
to look at each channel's spectrum individually
at their max setting.
To wrap up our spectrum offering testing
we get an idea of how well the light fixture blends
the individual channels together cohesively
and how that could be interpreted in terms of shimmer
by measuring the subtle changes in spectrum underwater
when tested in a normal aquarium environment
with water surface agitation.
So with that and all channels of the Radion G5 XR30 Pro
set to 100%, we see a pretty wide spectral band
form about 430 to 480, which is about as wide
as the ATI Blue Plus T5 bulb spectrum
in that same range, but with a higher and wider peak
focused around the 445 to 455 range.
Cycling through each controllable channel individually,
there are eight controllable color channels available
in the Radion G5 Pro with two sets of UV LEDs
for a total of eight that provide one of the widest UV
offerings I've seen tested so far.
Followed by four violet LEDs with peaks around 425,
a royal blue channel of 32 LEDs that peak near 445,
16 blue channel diodes around 465,
six green LEDs spanning 500 to 540,
four photo red channel red LEDs
that give us a peak near 660.
Finally, six warm white and 24 cool white LEDs
that round out the overall spectrum offering,
intentionally giving the G5 Pro more spectrum control
in that white range over its brother,
the Radion G5 XR30 Blue,
which we'll discuss further in just a bit.
Now let's see how well the wider LED placement
in this new G5 Radion and advanced HEI Optics
blend all 100 LEDs together into one cohesive spectrum.
With our dynamic spectrum test underwater,
where again we're looking for very subtle changes
to the spectrum over 10 testing points,
indicating a color blending performance
where individual spectrum colors
go unnoticed inside the tank.
Cycling through our 10 testing points
for the Gen 5 Radion XR30 Pro we see exactly that,
very nominal shifts in the overall spectrum.
Meaning that with this light mounted over your average tank,
the chances that we'll see individual colors
shooting around the tank is very low to almost nonexistent.
I'll say that this is one major improvement
that I've personally noticed over an undiffused G4 Radion.
But before I give too much away about
my personal overall thoughts, let's first get to the meat
of today's testing and share with you
our BRS recommendations for photoperiod length,
spectrum settings, and intensity settings,
both for our LPS tank type and our SPS dominated tank types
for each of our 60 gallon and 120 gallon test tanks.
We already determined our BRS recommendation
for mounting height and spacing multiple lights,
but when it comes to choosing the right photoperiod
and how long to run your lights, this is one of those
conversations where it's difficult to say definitively
whether a best photoperiod option exists.
So we rely on years of knowledge and experience here at BRS
to develop our BRS recommended lighting period.
For each of the settings and intensity scenarios
we're about to share,
we recommend creating a nine hour photoperiod
with a 30 minute ramp up and ramp down schedule.
This is a similar schedule to many of the tanks here
where they are lit during the time
we're actually in the office,
so with that in mind I definitely suggest you adjust
your own schedule to a time when you are most around
to enjoy your tank, keeping in mind that you can adjust
the ramp and ramp down times to extend
your viewing time as you like.
That covers the basics for how we recommend mounting,
spacing, and lighting your tank with the Radion G5 Pro,
but what about spectrum settings and intensities
for those LPS and SPS tank types?
The info we're about to share next
are the BRS recommended settings that we would use
if we were installing this G5 XR30 Pro
over one of our own tanks.
And for those of you with different tank sizes,
all you would need to implement the same recommendations
are some minor adjustments and a PAR meter.
Starting with our BRS recommended spectrum settings
we derive our spectrum recommendations one of two ways.
First, if there are templates or recommended settings
direct from the manufacturer we will use them,
or in the absence of manufacturer's guidance
we create our own settings by turning
all available blue channels to max
then adding in some white until its pleasing to the eye
and then use available green and red spectrums sparingly.
In the case of our XR30 G5 Pro,
we followed a hybrid approach to choosing
the BRS recommended spectrum
where we used the AB+ template
from EcoTech that defaults the blue channels to 100%
and cool white at 35% as a base.
Then we added in more cool white and warm white as well
as a little green and red, which landed us on settings
of UV, violet, royal blue, and blue set to 100%,
green and reds at 15%, warm white at 20%
and cool whites up to 50%.
Using those custom BRS recommended settings
we set out to test the PAR output next
and find the right intensity settings that achieve
our PAR goals for SPS and LPS tanks
where we're looking for 70% or more
of the tank from top to bottom to be
within our target PAR ranges.
It's this test that Mobius Control really shined for me
because all we had to do was set the sliders
to our BRS custom spectrum, then use
the point intensity slider to tune the intensity
up or down until we hit our target PAR goals
all while maintaining the integrity
of our custom spectrum across all channels.
You know, I have to say that this is a feature
I haven't seen on a lot of other light-controlled platforms
and my favorite part is that EcoTech
added the ability to manual enter intensity numbers
instead of me trying to fat finger the sliders
until I set my desired intensity.
All that aside, getting to our BRS recommended settings
for those lower light demand corals like LPS and softies,
in this 60 gallon cube tank we set the point intensity
to 25% and test 90 out of 108 testing points,
or 83% from top to bottom within
our target PAR range of 75 to 150 PAR.
Most notably here is the middle of the tank
at 12 inches underwater where 100% of the points
fall within that same target range.
For our BRS recommended LPS settings
in 120 four foot by two foot tank, like this,
we used our BRS recommended mounting height and spacing
and spectrum settings with and overall intensity set to 25%.
Where in this case we're able to achieve 76%
of the entire tank within our target goal, again,
with the middle and bottom of the tank each close
to 90% optimized for those lower PAR demand corals.
Moving on to our BRS recommend intensity settings
for SPS dominated 60 and 120 gallon tanks
where, again, our target is 200 to 350 PAR
throughout 70% of the tank or more.
This time with the single XR30 Pro over our 60 gallon cube,
we increased the BRS recommended spectrum intensity
to 75%, and found 78 out of 108 points within our goal
yielding 72% of the tank optimized for SPS corals.
As for our 120 gallon tank with three lights
for that long term SPS dominated tank type,
we set our point intensity to 40% to overcome the higher PAR
where the lights intersect, and tested 149 out of 198 points
in our 200 to 350 range for a total tank average
of 75% from top to bottom and side to side.
Again, if you have different sized tanks
you can use these BRS recommendations
for the G5 XR30 Pro as a solid starting point
and then tweak them using a PAR meter to dial
in those settings for your systems, but we know
that what you're really itching to find out
about these lights is whether the G5 XR30 Pro
is the right choice for you in the first place,
which we're going to help you decide next.
So the real question here is should you go with
the G5 XR30 Pro or the XR30 Blue, and many might get
overwhelmed in the details trying to figure out
which on to decide to go with.
Well, I'm here to tell you that the answer
is actually far easier than you might think.
And just by looking at how the LEDs are optimized
for each the Pro and the Blue Radion,
choosing the right one for you is simple.
If you like a more white tank then go with the Pro
because its optimized for that spectrum range.
If you like a more Blue tank
and the look of the AB+ spectrum,
go with the XR30 Blue, which is optimized in that direction.
In either case, both the Pro and the Blue
are capable of being adjusted to be more white or more blue,
but in the end make the choice simple
by going with what looks better to your own eye.
This feeds directly into some of my overall thoughts
about the Radion G5 XR30 Pro.
First is that although I would've hoped
for a larger form factor fixture,
I feel that spreading the LEDs in this fashion
is a step in the right direction
of achieving an LED lighting option
that mimics the tried and true diffused
and even spread of a T5 fixture.
That said, there is no mistaking the improved performance
of the XR30 G5 Pro in terms of even spread
where our height testing showed
that with this light we no longer need to mount it upwards
of 12 inches to reduce that center hotspot
and achieve ideal even spread,
which is a huge win in my book.
Another big win here is the introduction of Mobius control
within the EcoTech EcoSphere.
I've set up a lot of Radions in my own tanks
and tanks around here in the office.
And hands down, controlling and setting up the G5 Radion
using Mobius has been the fastest, most simple process
I've been through yet.
I have to say that this was even easier and quicker
with the AB+ template right up front
for me to choose, set my intensity, and then step away.
Sure, this is something we tweaked slightly
for our BRS recommend spectrum setting
for the Radion XR30 Pro, but for those who like
that AB+ blue tinge to the tank,
choosing this template is as close to plug and play,
especially when used with the AB+ optimized
Radion G5 XR30 Blu, which we tested and shared the results
in this playlist right over here.