ATI Sunpower 6x39 watt info?

RedReefer · Jan 24, 2014

I want to hear what others have to say on this topic. Mainly you ATI sunpower t5 owners.

RedReefer · Jan 24, 2014

I'm at 8.5 "(light distance/to top of water)on a 18" tank depth including the sand bed. 36" ati sunpower/ati bulbs.

josh4107 · Jan 25, 2014

Installed mine righ after Christmas. Switched from ai sols. Love this light. My tank is shallow at 12 inches deep. I run it at about 13 inches off the waterline. I have the 36 inch 6x39 fixture. I started out my bulbs as follows front to back: coral+, blue +, blue +, purple+, blue+, blue+. I kind of felt like it was kind of overkill so I recently got 2 giesemann pure actinic bulbs and swapped out the purple+ and a blue+. I like te color but might switch out an actinic and put back in a blue+ I'm not sure. But this is a great fixture and I plan on sticking with it for a while.

josh4107 · Jan 25, 2014

Pic before I put in the actinics.

RedReefer · Jan 25, 2014

Thanks for the info. So we run them at about the same height from the bottom of the fixture to the top of the sand bed since your tank is 12" deep and mine is 18" deep. My bulb combo is similar front to back: kz Fiji purple,blue+,aqua blue special,blue +, true actinic,blue +. Do you have any chalice under this light? If so how are they reacting to the t5's vs leds. I also switched from leds back to t5's a whiles back. My chalice always looked better under leds.

josh4107 · Jan 25, 2014

I have a couple chalices in my tank an Oregon mummy eye which was pure neon green under the LEDs ad has changed to look more like an original mummy eye now but still looks good and is growing. My other chalice is a no name and it looks about the same under the new t5s. Acans is where I saw the biggest change. Here's a before and after pic. Led pic is with my phone but u can get the idea.
LEDs

T5

RedReefer · Jan 25, 2014

I had the same change in my acans. The color and growth is much better. How do you like that bare bottom ?

RedReefer · Jan 25, 2014

So here is the question I'm looking to answer. My tank is 18" deep top of water to top of sand bed. I have my 6 bulb 36" ATI sunpower hanging 8.5" off the water. Should I raise it? Lower it? Or leave it?

RedReefer · Jan 31, 2014

Bump anyone?

MBG75 · Feb 1, 2014

I have an 8 bulb 48" on my 75. Currently 6" over the water. SPS growth is phenomenal. I have chalice on the sand bed. It took time for them to acclimate.

RedReefer · Feb 1, 2014

That's a lot of light on a 75. Very nice! At only 6" it makes me confident that I'm not burning anything at 9". Post pics.

RedReefer · May 28, 2014

So I'm going to bump this back up. I ended up at 12.5" off the water to get everything to color back up. These lights are super strong! I also added two geismann actinic + bulbs to the mix. According to ATI with my tank being only 18" deep I could raise it up to 14" off the water with no problems. I've come to the conclusion that a ATI 4 x 39 watt is plenty for a 57 rimless. I'm only running 8.5 hours two dusk to dawn bulbs and 4.5 hours on the main four bulbs.