# Ecotech Radion XR15FW PAR Measurement



## Harry Muscle (Mar 13, 2007)

What size tank do you have this light on? Any pictures?

Thanks,
Harry


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## kilauea91 (Sep 19, 2013)

I have them over 120P(48"x18"x18"). Measurement is on 1 single fixture only.










Video:

https://youtu.be/bJW6TYpWvWY


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Is that 3 of them on the tank?


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## kilauea91 (Sep 19, 2013)

plantbrain said:


> Is that 3 of them on the tank?


Yes, had to put the third one in the center to eliminate the shade in between the stones. I am only running them @ 45% to avoid GDA. It's giving 40~50 PAR @45% on all 3 measured at the the front edge substrate. But then the actual PAR could be a bit higher due to the 2 660nm LED per fixture were not 100% accounted for.


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

Hi kilauea91, Great looking tank! Thank you for posting these data! 

I purchased one of these lights last summer and have somehow spent almost a year working on getting the tank set-up, but it's almost there now. I was wondering what your lighting schedule looks like. Are you running 6500K @ 45%?

Thanks!


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## kilauea91 (Sep 19, 2013)

Thanks LRJ. 

I picked the single color which is suitable for planted tank regarded by most, only to measure PAR for reference. 
With 6 color channels that you are able to customize, it'll take tremendous effort to cover all dimensions. 

My schedule started out by creating points with the kelvin template in Ecosmart, from 3000K(sunrise/sunset) transit to 8000K(mid day), 
and manually tweak individual colors and intensity to my liking. Then the universal intensity bar to adjust the strength. 
It took some practice and observation of the plant/algae growth to find the balance. I have 3 fixtures over 48x18x18 to eliminate 
the shade in between 2 big rocks in my scape(I did feel dumb for not foreseeing this when I realized had to buy the third to 
place in the middle).

shade between rocks 

As you can see the picture below, my 3 fixtures peaked only at 54W during mid-day, 2 would be enough for most over a 4' tank. 
This fixture has too much power in purple-blue spectrum that one will ever need for planted tank. 
But I did find turning up royal blue a bit does help bring out the color of my 20+ neon blue Rasboras

You surely have some patience to spend a year to setup the tank! Please share with us once you have it up and running.














LRJ said:


> Hi kilauea91, Great looking tank! Thank you for posting these data!
> 
> I purchased one of these lights last summer and have somehow spent almost a year working on getting the tank set-up, but it's almost there now. I was wondering what your lighting schedule looks like. Are you running 6500K @ 45%?
> 
> Thanks!


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

Thank you for the information! That's very helpful. I will be sure to circle back and share once it's up and planted.


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## Reefer94 (Jul 8, 2015)

Thanks for this info. Sorry to bring the thread back from the dead, but I have a couple of questions.

The 54w total reading you get at 45% intensity, is that total for all three units? Or is each running @54w? I'm dialing in my light now, but I only have one unit over a 60p (24x18x18). I'm looking for a good starting point.

I run a 6hr photoperiod now, 25w to 35w peak on the single unit, running at avg 50% intensity. That's with a custom light mix, using that as a starting point. If you are pushing 54w total between all three I may be in the right ballpark. If that's per unit I may throttle up. 

Just want to get an idea of how everyone is running this light in terms of power. I started conservatively due to my irrational fear of algae  , But I'm noticing some issues on lower parts of my stems and am considering turning up the light.


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## kilauea91 (Sep 19, 2013)

It was 54W combined for all 3 units. A few changes I have made since then. Biggest change is I swapped out the lens to the regular 80degree because there was too much light spill on my tank from 
the wide angle lens that was originally equipped in the fast batch of XR15FW sold. I also changed the universal intensity control to 100% removing the cap on 660nm LED max potential. Hoppy par meter measured 45~120 umol/m^2/s at day max(all 3) in my tank depending on the location. My Blyxa has dark red tint on leaves like they are getting sunburn. No visible algae on plants.

Radion's adjustability certainly helped a lot in finding the right balance in the tank.


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## Reefer94 (Jul 8, 2015)

So in layman's terms you are diminishing the other colors and maximizing the output of the 660nm, so most of your watts are coming from the red, right? Basically maxing the intensity slider, getting the red where you want it, and then tuning the remaining bulbs to equal your desired wattage? Interesting idea, I was wondering how much red/white I was losing when I turned up my UV (for fish color purposes). My light is currently topped out at 40w, red white and UV maxed at the high point.

But if you are cranking 66w total, that's only ~22 per unit. I'm sure there is some crossover though. The adjustability is a double-edged sword I suppose 

That's an interesting idea, considering you seem to be getting great par with that strategy. I need to bite the bullet and invest in a PAR meter.

Bump: I've also got the 120 degree. This is on a 24x18x18 32g.


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## kilauea91 (Sep 19, 2013)

Yes you got my point roud:. And I am sure the wattage is consumed mostly by the white LEDs out numbered the color ones 2.5:1. Maximizing red give warmer color and make red plants pop. It's really a subjective matter and may very well depend on mood or even time of the year(warm color for winter). There is a balance between visual appearance and useful spectrum to grow plants with color adjustable fixtures. 

Those "not so true UV's" are really purple in 405 and 415nm wave length can be efficiently used by plants too. Cranking it up doesn't affect visual appearance too much like the blue one does, and yes it does help to bring out the color of the fish.

Do you use their mounting arm? I think one fixture with 120degree lens should cover 24" length well enough on the mounting arm but light spill is obvious for 18" depth.



Reefer94 said:


> So in layman's terms you are diminishing the other colors and maximizing the output of the 660nm, so most of your watts are coming from the red, right? Basically maxing the intensity slider, getting the red where you want it, and then tuning the remaining bulbs to equal your desired wattage? Interesting idea, I was wondering how much red/white I was losing when I turned up my UV (for fish color purposes). My light is currently topped out at 40w, red white and UV maxed at the high point.
> 
> But if you are cranking 66w total, that's only ~22 per unit. I'm sure there is some crossover though. The adjustability is a double-edged sword I suppose
> 
> ...


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## Reefer94 (Jul 8, 2015)

Yeah I have the mounting arm, like the streamlined look of it. I was concerned with the height, so far the coverage seems ok. Previously, this was on my 20g crypt tank, and was dramatically under-used lol. I had a 10w peak on that tank. A few weeks ago I built out a new tank and put this on it, now I'm trying to find the growth threshold. 

Started off running it @25w for 5 hours... did that about a week (algae paranoia, lol). Bumped the photoperiod up by an hour for the following week to 6 hours. After that went with a 35w mid-day peak. After about 3 weeks or so running it that way, I'm starting to notice some lower stem issues and problems with HC growing upwards in the corners of the tank, so now I'm up to the graph posted above, 7ish hours on the photoperiod with a 25w - 40w peak.

My day/night transition is pretty abrupt while I get a feel for the light. I may modify that, right now it's basically 30m at 1w and then it ramps up to photoperiod lighting in another 30. Don't trust the moonlight cycle just yet.


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

I have two of these with the 120 degree lenses over a 32 g 24x18x18. I've been running them at a constant output of 40% (about 30 watts) over an 8 hour photo period. This gives me 45-60 PAR at the substrate (lot's of variance though as I have fern covered driftwood that blocks a substantial amount of light). This has worked out pretty well for me I think, although I'm not really keeping light hungry plants. I do think I'm going to try what kilauea91 is doing, lifting the cap to 100% and pushing the red. You should definitely play around with the post photo-period lighting - I tried uploading my schedule for reference, but the fie extension is not allowed.


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## Reefer94 (Jul 8, 2015)

LRJ said:


> I have two of these with the 120 degree lenses over a 32 g 24x18x18. I've been running them at a constant output of 40% (about 30 watts) over an 8 hour photo period. This gives me 45-60 PAR at the substrate (lot's of variance though as I have fern covered driftwood that blocks a substantial amount of light). This has worked out pretty well for me I think, although I'm not really keeping light hungry plants. I do think I'm going to try what kilauea91 is doing, lifting the cap to 100% and pushing the red. You should definitely play around with the post photo-period lighting - I tried uploading my schedule for reference, but the fie extension is not allowed.


Wow, 2 of them on a 32g? That's my tank (24x18x18), that seems like a ton! I suppose it's just for coverage, basically making the spotlight into a more traditional "bar" setup. 

Really wish they made an XR30 for the FW. And I hope they introduce some new puck options with more reds/yellows, maybe a Gen2. 

I'm going to give the existing configuration a couple of weeks most likely, and go from there. I have to push the spotlight higher to give me good PAR in the corners, whereas with two you have more control over that I suppose. Trouble is, in doing that I get massive light floods in the center.

On the 20g, the night cycle was giving me algae problems. They went away when I cut it off. Of course, it was crypts, very low light demand and very slow growing. This new tank might not have that issue, but I probably need to wait for some things to grow in and finalize my stock.

Great input guys, thanks!!


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