Enough PAR from upgraded cheap T5 fixture?

[Dsantamaria29]

Greetings,

About a month ago I purchased a Hydrofarm Agrobrite 48" 6 bulb T5 fixture from Amazon to replace my retrofit T5 as the reflectors became rusted and looked terrible. I pulled the ballasts off those (ATI HEP replacement ballasts) and put them inside this fixture, as well as placed two computer fans on top of the fixture and set the fixture on a piece of plexiglass glass to protect the reflectors.

Im running 3 Blue +, 1 giesemann 6500K, 1 actinic and 1 coral plus.

I've been throwing around the idea of buying a 8 bulb ATI SunPower fixture. To justify this purchase I rented an apogee PAR meter from BRS to prove to myself I wasn't getting enough PAR

PAR measurements are around 250-320 on the top portion of my rocks (about 12" down) and 190-220 on the sand bed. From what I've read these numbers should support a mixed reef with SPS on the upper end and zoa's / LPS on the lower end, correct?

I just wanted to get some input from those with more experience to see if it is worth it to upgrade to the ATI or to stick with what I've already got?

 

[P-Dub]

IMHO, you have the PAR.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

ATI are junk man, totally overpriced junk. They have noisy $2 chinese fans in them and junk ballast that go out regularly. If you want to upgrade just go to the 8 bulb version of the Agro-brite you have now. The PAR you have is fine anyway, but man, I am no fan of ATI after using two of their fixtures over the years. People claim 10% PAR increase with ATI over the Agro-Brite, 10% is nothing. You're talking 320 versus 350 PAR, you would see zero actual difference in corals from 10%. Don't waste your money.

 

[Steve Erekson]

As an Agrobrite Designer owner who has yet to tear open the fixture I'm curious what ballasts you found inside the stock fixture? Workhorse?

 

[Dsantamaria29]

If I remember right I think they were. I just cleaned out my garage so I can’t even check to be sure.

 

[Scorpius]

ATI are junk man, totally overpriced junk. They have noisy $2 chinese fans in them and junk ballast that go out regularly. If you want to upgrade just go to the 8 bulb version of the Agro-brite you have now. The PAR you have is fine anyway, but man, I am no fan of ATI after using two of their fixtures over the years. People claim 10% PAR increase with ATI over the Agro-Brite, 10% is nothing. You're talking 320 versus 350 PAR, you would see zero actual difference in corals from 10%. Don't waste your money.

Cool story bro. You're the first I've heard complain about ATI T5fixtures. Mine is quiet and trouble free.

 

[Steve Erekson]

If I remember right I think they were. I just cleaned out my garage so I can’t even check to be sure.

Just opened my 4x24w to check. Workhorse 5. Of course 4x24w isn't a combo on the spec sheet for Workhorse 5 so I can't get a ballast factor to see if I'm leaving any light on the table with this.

 

[Dsantamaria29]

Just opened my 4x24w to check. Workhorse 5. Of course 4x24w isn't a combo on the spec sheet for Workhorse 5 so I can't get a ballast factor to see if I'm leaving any light on the table with this.

Makes sense, my 6 bulb was a 2x54 and a 4x54. I drilled the body and ran three separate power cords to control the 3 2x54 HEP ballast. I like the ability to turn two bulbs on at a time

 

[Steve Erekson]

Makes sense, my 6 bulb was a 2x54 and a 4x54. I drilled the body and ran three separate power cords to control the 3 2x54 HEP ballast. I like the ability to turn two bulbs on at a time

Probably a Workhorse 5 and Workhorse 7. The 5 does a decent job with the 54w bulbs with a 1.07 ballast factor while the 7 only has a .84 so it's a little weak in output. Personally I don't care too much about the bulb control aspect but I can see why you'd choose it. I'll end up doing it anyway it looks like since 4x24w T5HO ballasts don't seem to exist.

 

[jda]

That is enough PAR. I have a few of those cheap Chinese fixtures and they are about 75-80% of ATI. Sure, an ATI will be more, but if you don't need it, then you don't need it. I use them for fuge and frag tank lights and they are more than good enough for chaeto and even high light acropora in a shallow tank.

 

[Steve Erekson]

Just opened my 4x24w to check. Workhorse 5. Of course 4x24w isn't a combo on the spec sheet for Workhorse 5 so I can't get a ballast factor to see if I'm leaving any light on the table with this.

Well I got an answer from Fulham support. My ballast factor is 0.83 for 4x24w on a Workhorse 5. Meaning along with the reduced bulb life of a rapid start ballast I'm getting 83% of the light that a spec T5 ballast would produce. While it still grows corals, I'll probably swap it out for a pair of spec ballasts in a few months. They'll run me $20-$25 each so a $50 upgrade still puts me at like $140 for my 4 bulb fixture which still isnt bad.