VR28man
Valuable Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2017
- Messages
- 1,178
- Reaction score
- 1,052
- What state or country do you live in
- Virginia
I'm quite satisfied with this fixture. This is a fairly cheap fixture that takes two T5 HO bulbs. 48" ones are available at my local petco; I got a 36" one on Amazon for $100.
There's not much to say about this: a very basic 36 inch two bulb T5 fixture. It comes with a 6500k and actinic bulb; PAR about 4 inches below the waterline directly under the Coralife bulbs was around 120. I assume this is meant for planted freshwater tanks; it will fit on top of standard (e.g. aqueon) rimmed tanks up to 36" in length (eg 40 breeders) quite securely.
Nevertheless, even those had a beneficial effect on acropora growth compared to my baseline kessils.* While the kessils did zoas, softies, war coral, and monti cap well; acroporas became easily shaded and often grew indifferently.
I replaced the standard bulbs with an @ATI North America coralplus and blue plus. Now the par measurement 4" below the waterline directly under the blubs is about 250 (ETA: I re-measured today, and I got 180. I can’t explain the difference in measurements). Acro growth continues to be good so far; I'll see how they are after a few weeks.
In all, I'm quite satisfied. With an $80 implied cost of the fixture (assuming you can sell the kit bulbs to someone for $20), it seems to provide an excellent basic light. I'm sure the $500 ATI sunpower is has many more useful features, better reflectors and ballasts, but I'm not sure how much objectively "better" it is for someone just starting out. In fact, if a 40 breeder is recommended as the best easy way to get into reefing, two of these fixtures would be my recommendation for lights. The lights will easily cover the 40 breeder; you could time one set with more blues to come on early, and then a whiter one to come on later, if you want something approaching the "sunrise" effect of LEDs.
I'll post further thoughts after a month or so of use.
* When I first got the two kessils and a tank that strived for ULN, the acros survived OK, but after a tank crash (when I was out of town for a week) the surviving frags never recovered. Another time when I left town for a week I came home to a massively overfed tank with loads of algae growth.... but this nutrient overloaded tank had some frag growth, so I started feeding them 2-3 times a week. Now with the T5s and feeding going for two weeks, those frags are really beginning to recover in a way they never did with the kessils.
There's not much to say about this: a very basic 36 inch two bulb T5 fixture. It comes with a 6500k and actinic bulb; PAR about 4 inches below the waterline directly under the Coralife bulbs was around 120. I assume this is meant for planted freshwater tanks; it will fit on top of standard (e.g. aqueon) rimmed tanks up to 36" in length (eg 40 breeders) quite securely.
Nevertheless, even those had a beneficial effect on acropora growth compared to my baseline kessils.* While the kessils did zoas, softies, war coral, and monti cap well; acroporas became easily shaded and often grew indifferently.
I replaced the standard bulbs with an @ATI North America coralplus and blue plus. Now the par measurement 4" below the waterline directly under the blubs is about 250 (ETA: I re-measured today, and I got 180. I can’t explain the difference in measurements). Acro growth continues to be good so far; I'll see how they are after a few weeks.
In all, I'm quite satisfied. With an $80 implied cost of the fixture (assuming you can sell the kit bulbs to someone for $20), it seems to provide an excellent basic light. I'm sure the $500 ATI sunpower is has many more useful features, better reflectors and ballasts, but I'm not sure how much objectively "better" it is for someone just starting out. In fact, if a 40 breeder is recommended as the best easy way to get into reefing, two of these fixtures would be my recommendation for lights. The lights will easily cover the 40 breeder; you could time one set with more blues to come on early, and then a whiter one to come on later, if you want something approaching the "sunrise" effect of LEDs.
I'll post further thoughts after a month or so of use.
* When I first got the two kessils and a tank that strived for ULN, the acros survived OK, but after a tank crash (when I was out of town for a week) the surviving frags never recovered. Another time when I left town for a week I came home to a massively overfed tank with loads of algae growth.... but this nutrient overloaded tank had some frag growth, so I started feeding them 2-3 times a week. Now with the T5s and feeding going for two weeks, those frags are really beginning to recover in a way they never did with the kessils.
Last edited:
