I'm looking at buying one of the 8x24 for my 50g that will be all mixed with sps, lps and zoas. Besides the dimming option, are there any other advantages to go with the dimmable one? I have an apex so I can control them. Am I better off saving the extra money and getting the non-dimmable one?
ATI Dimmable VS Non-Dimmable?
- Thread starter dzel
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The Dimmable unit has a single cord. The Dimmable unit has active cooling - the speed of the fan is controlled by the temperature instead of manually setting the speed like on the non-dimmable. This, also, gives a longer bulb life.
I have the ATI dimmable set up on my tank. I checked the par when I got the fixture at 80% White 90% blue and it was 700 at the waterline and 18 inches down sand bed 250 this is with the lights 8 inches off the water line. I checked the par six months after and got 670 and 225. been this way for 4 months now. I had black boxes on my tank before I upgraded to this fixture. I'll probably never go back to LEDs with the colors I'm getting out of the T5.
I meant to say after the first six months I bumped the lights up to 95% white in 100% blue and it's been that way for four months. I'm going to go to my LF S and get their par meter soon and test again. Yes you can run the lights at 100% all the time if you would like. The only thing I don't like about using the dimmable feature on these lights is you have to break the bulbs in for 50 hours before you use The double feature.
Tegridy Reef
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adhd_nerd
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Not sure if you plan on using the dimming features. I have both dimmable and non-dimmable version. I never really use the dimming features. Nice thing about the non-dimmable if you have a controller, it makes programming much simpler. I would go non-dimming and use apex.
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Some people change out bulbs at 9 to 12 months; . That is the normal time frame. If your bulbs operate at a higher temperature than the manufacturer suggested, you will get way less than the recommended. There have been people only getting 3 months out of the bulbs because they burned them out from extreme heat.
I just purchased the 60" 8 bulb non dimmable (they don't make a dimmable 60" version) The only thing I could have seen myself using the dimming feature for was acclimating my corals to the light as it is much more powerful than my old lights. The only thing that surprised me was that the fan has a separate plug and you have to set it on a timer otherwise it runs non stop. Given that this is not a cheap fixture I was surprised at that. Otherwise it is a great fixture.
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I would say it can but it will still place you in the recommended timeframe for bulb change instead of what extreme heat can do. The dimmable feature is meant for sunrise and sunset. If you feel the need to dim the the bulbs due to too much light, you can simply just raise the fixture. Just set it to 1min increment after you want it to turn on and 1min before you turn off ( 12:00 - ON, 12:01 - 100% 23:59 - 100%, 00:00 OFF)
I don't really think I'll be using the dimming features, the only reason I'm considering the dimmable one is because of it's active cooling option which would monitor the temp and run the fans according to the temp itself.
So the fan has a cord of it's own on the non-dimmable? That means I could have the fan plug plugged into my apex and have it turn on only when the lights go on right? This way the fan won't be running all the time. If that's the case I might go with the non-dimmable one instead
Do you know if that's only on the dimmable on or on the non dimmable as well?
So pretty much changing the light schedule would be a lot easier to just do it via my apex?
