2 Hydra 26 hd's or ATI t5 fixture

Acrofiend · Apr 15, 2017

^^^^^^ what do you guys think?

sromero287 · Apr 15, 2017

Ati all the way down, LEDs are nice just to complement T fives

Acrofiend · Apr 15, 2017

Would you say led and t5 hybrid? Or just t5 by itself? Mainly looking for growth.

sromero287 · Apr 15, 2017

I was with T fives, then I moved to Radion's then I went back to a floating canopy where i mixed both, for me there's nothing better than this combination. Not only for the look of the corals it's for growth as well!!!

Front to back:
B+
Actinic
RADIONS
Actinic
B+

nervousmonkey · Apr 15, 2017

I would get both, nothing beats an ATI for growth. The Radions provide extra PAR for corals so you can dial the light fixtures up and down to get the PAR you want.

Acrofiend · Apr 15, 2017

Okay cool. I've decided to go with the a nanobox retro kit.

nervousmonkey · Apr 15, 2017

i'm unfamiliar with that light. What types of corals are you trying to grow?

Christopher Davis · Apr 15, 2017

Hybrid! Love me my ATI bulbs! T5HO with current pro. Low end led.

gacolt · Apr 15, 2017

ATI fixture.

Acrofiend · Apr 16, 2017

nervousmonkey said:
i'm unfamiliar with that light. What types of corals are you trying to grow?

It's an ATI sun power with a Nanobox led retrofit kit. Look up the nanobox website.
I'm looking to keep high end sps and some lps on the bottom of the tank.

Acrofiend · Apr 16, 2017

I would go with the power module but that's way out of my budget

nervousmonkey · Apr 16, 2017

Nice choice! May I suggest looking at the Reefbrite LED's. They won't force you to take bulbs out of the center of the ATI fixture where most of your power comes from, not the LED's. The ReefBrite XHO strips work super well, I have them on my ATI and I keep the power of 8 bulbs. Just want you to have all the options without taking away PAR, which you will definitely do if you remove bulbs from the ATI. Nice choice on the ATI, and you don't even have to add LED's to it, at least not now. It looks great as it is. Use Blue+, Actinic and Coral+, and it will look good. I usually add one Purple+ because I like the color. Depends on how many bulbs you are getting for the ATI. Definitely don't remove bulbs, it is seriously taking away PAR. @saltyfilmfolks ?? what do you think as lighting expert?

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 16, 2017

nervousmonkey said:
it is seriously taking away PAR. @saltyfilmfolks ?? what do you think as lighting expert?

about 150 -200 or so at 12 14 in... (depending on height reflector etc..).

nervousmonkey · Apr 16, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
about 150 -200 or so at 12 14 in... (depending on height reflector etc..).

That's the PAR that would be reduced from removing bulbs?

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 16, 2017

nervousmonkey said:
That's the PAR that would be reduced from removing bulbs?

I should have specified. about 200 at the top. an ati in an ati fixture at about 12in is about 200 or just under. so a rule of thumb I've been using is 200 per tube. an 8X hits about 900 ish dead center of the fixture....
cant find the chart right now.

nervousmonkey · Apr 16, 2017

Awesome, thanks Salty! @nanoreefer562 just be aware that taking out tubes will affect your PAR and your system, the nanobox retrofit will not replace that amount of PAR that you will definitely need for SPS growth, even the ability to survive...

Acrofiend · Apr 16, 2017

Awesome! Thanks for the replies! I will definitely consider that. I might end up just going to ati/reefbrite route.

nervousmonkey · Apr 16, 2017

I think you'll like it a lot. You'll be increasing PAR instead of decreasing it and the blue only XHO strips are phenomenal for bringing out the fluorescence, or "pop" as many like to call it. I run that combo and it's amazing.