It has been five years since Ecotech released the Radion line of LED lighting to the Reef Aquarium world. In that time the Radion has become a standard against which all other LED lights are measured.
LED lighting has become accepted as a legitimate lighting source in the reef aquarium hobby due to the advance features the Radion series of lights offers. We have come to expect WiFi control of our lights from our smart phones. When Ecotech introduced UV LEDs in the Radion we found out how important it was to have full spectrum in our lighting. With the Radion it became easy for owners to share their lighting schedules with each other online by exporting and importing lighting schedule files. It became easy for hobbyists to set up their light with a spectrum that would promote coral growth.
With each passing upgrade to the Radion Ecotech has set the bar higher and higher for other manufacturers as well as themselves. That brings us to this week and the introduction of the new Radion XR30 w G4 lighting fixture. Hobbyists have been waiting for a new Radion for quite a while now, wanting to see what new features such as lighting spectrum that the new Radion will bring to the table. So let’s get into the feature set of the new Radion G4 and what it has to offer. With each new Radion Ecotech has pushed the envelope of what it means to be the best LED light for the reef aquarium. With the new G4 Ecotech took a look at how they could improve the lighting spread. One of the liabilities that Metal Halide lighting proponents bring up with LED lighting is the spread and shading that LED lights can give off. So Ecotech spent time researching how to create a wider spread lens for the new Radion G4. They developed an all new lens system called HEI that stands for Hemispherical Edge Illumination. This new lens design spreads the Par out wider and even more than the previous G3 Radions. I know from using G3 Pros on my tank the Radion light puts out a serious Par reading. However it does it in a smaller area than the new G4 light. Using the wider spread will give you a more usable coverage of PAR in your reef. With the new lenses Ecotech has changed the LED mix too.
The G3 Pro LED’s
• Cool White: 8 Cree XP-G2 (40W)
• Deep Blue: 8 Osram Oslon Square (40W )
• Blue: 8 Cree XP-E (24W)
• Green: 4 Cree XP-E (14W)
• Hyper Red: 4 Osram Oslon SSL (12W)
• Yellow: 2 Osram Oslon SSL (6W)
• Indigo: 4 SemiLEDs (10W)
• UV: 4 SemiLEDs (10W)
The G4 pro LED’s
Cool White: 8
Deep Blue:8
Blue:8
Green: 4
Photo Red :4
UV: 8
Violet:4
Warm White: 2
In the new Radion we see that Ecotech has added 4 more UV LEDs and 4 violet LEDs to help increase color of the corals we keep. So with the new LEDs and the new HEI optics the Radion moves to the next level in LED lighting.
The next area where users wanted to see improvement was noise. I myself feel the G3 was quiet but Ecotech was not satisfied and wanted to make the light on the market even more quiet. So to do that they had to redesign the whole cooling structure of the Radion fixture. They have built a new heat sink to efficiently cool the new high power LED pucks. This new design also made the fan run quieter. With the new LED pucks and HEI lens and the new heat sink design comes the loss of upgrade ability we as Radion users have come to expect with Ecotech on this new design. With the G4 you cannot upgrade the pucks from the G1,G2 and G3 to the new G4 design. Sometimes to move a product forward a company has to change a design so much that some features have to fall away. So we have to realize that and decide for ourselves how we want to move forward. In the new G4 Radion Ecotech has set the bar high for all other manufacturers to reach. Ecotech is always striving to move the limits forward in all their products and with the new G4 they have done that.
So here is the FAQ
When can I get my hands on one?
Look for lights to be available by the end of August.
Will my old mount of my G3 work with the new G4?
Yes All RMS and classic mounting solutions such as the hanging kit and classic rails will work with G4 Radions.
Can I run a G3 and G4 together?
Yes you can but you will need to calibrate the light to match the level and may need to do some adjustments in EcoSmart Live.
So the future of LED lighting is here and it is bright. With the new G4 Radion we get a wider spectrum of LED lights. A more even HEI lens system will give LED users a wider and more even spread of light. I look forward to using this new light in the future and enjoying the all the new features of the Radion G4 series and continuing to grow more colorful corals in the future.
LED lighting has become accepted as a legitimate lighting source in the reef aquarium hobby due to the advance features the Radion series of lights offers. We have come to expect WiFi control of our lights from our smart phones. When Ecotech introduced UV LEDs in the Radion we found out how important it was to have full spectrum in our lighting. With the Radion it became easy for owners to share their lighting schedules with each other online by exporting and importing lighting schedule files. It became easy for hobbyists to set up their light with a spectrum that would promote coral growth.
With each passing upgrade to the Radion Ecotech has set the bar higher and higher for other manufacturers as well as themselves. That brings us to this week and the introduction of the new Radion XR30 w G4 lighting fixture. Hobbyists have been waiting for a new Radion for quite a while now, wanting to see what new features such as lighting spectrum that the new Radion will bring to the table. So let’s get into the feature set of the new Radion G4 and what it has to offer. With each new Radion Ecotech has pushed the envelope of what it means to be the best LED light for the reef aquarium. With the new G4 Ecotech took a look at how they could improve the lighting spread. One of the liabilities that Metal Halide lighting proponents bring up with LED lighting is the spread and shading that LED lights can give off. So Ecotech spent time researching how to create a wider spread lens for the new Radion G4. They developed an all new lens system called HEI that stands for Hemispherical Edge Illumination. This new lens design spreads the Par out wider and even more than the previous G3 Radions. I know from using G3 Pros on my tank the Radion light puts out a serious Par reading. However it does it in a smaller area than the new G4 light. Using the wider spread will give you a more usable coverage of PAR in your reef. With the new lenses Ecotech has changed the LED mix too.
The G3 Pro LED’s
• Cool White: 8 Cree XP-G2 (40W)
• Deep Blue: 8 Osram Oslon Square (40W )
• Blue: 8 Cree XP-E (24W)
• Green: 4 Cree XP-E (14W)
• Hyper Red: 4 Osram Oslon SSL (12W)
• Yellow: 2 Osram Oslon SSL (6W)
• Indigo: 4 SemiLEDs (10W)
• UV: 4 SemiLEDs (10W)
The G4 pro LED’s
Cool White: 8
Deep Blue:8
Blue:8
Green: 4
Photo Red :4
UV: 8
Violet:4
Warm White: 2
In the new Radion we see that Ecotech has added 4 more UV LEDs and 4 violet LEDs to help increase color of the corals we keep. So with the new LEDs and the new HEI optics the Radion moves to the next level in LED lighting.
The next area where users wanted to see improvement was noise. I myself feel the G3 was quiet but Ecotech was not satisfied and wanted to make the light on the market even more quiet. So to do that they had to redesign the whole cooling structure of the Radion fixture. They have built a new heat sink to efficiently cool the new high power LED pucks. This new design also made the fan run quieter. With the new LED pucks and HEI lens and the new heat sink design comes the loss of upgrade ability we as Radion users have come to expect with Ecotech on this new design. With the G4 you cannot upgrade the pucks from the G1,G2 and G3 to the new G4 design. Sometimes to move a product forward a company has to change a design so much that some features have to fall away. So we have to realize that and decide for ourselves how we want to move forward. In the new G4 Radion Ecotech has set the bar high for all other manufacturers to reach. Ecotech is always striving to move the limits forward in all their products and with the new G4 they have done that.
So here is the FAQ
When can I get my hands on one?
Look for lights to be available by the end of August.
Will my old mount of my G3 work with the new G4?
Yes All RMS and classic mounting solutions such as the hanging kit and classic rails will work with G4 Radions.
Can I run a G3 and G4 together?
Yes you can but you will need to calibrate the light to match the level and may need to do some adjustments in EcoSmart Live.
So the future of LED lighting is here and it is bright. With the new G4 Radion we get a wider spectrum of LED lights. A more even HEI lens system will give LED users a wider and more even spread of light. I look forward to using this new light in the future and enjoying the all the new features of the Radion G4 series and continuing to grow more colorful corals in the future.
