From Radions to ATI T5 Fixture?

[Skynyrd Fish]

I’m running a six bulb ati. A six bulb ati will work great, and will also have more power to be put on a bigger tank in the future.

 

[nickkohrn]

I’m running a six bulb ati. A six bulb ati will work great, and will also have more power to be put on a bigger tank in the future.

That's why I thought that an 8-bulb would be a good choice. However, it seems like a 4- or 6-bulb will be best. Now, T5 or T5/Radion hybrid? Sometimes, decisions are incredibly difficult for me in this hobby.

 

[mfinn]

I do have two Radion XR15 Gen 3s, so maybe it would be best to get the new Aquatic Life fixture... But Big E's results are so encouraging with T5-only.

My main concern is health and growth. Other than that, I just don't want corals looking washed out, regardless of what color they are. I hate when my blues are on and my blue/purple coals disappear.

There are sooo many awesome sps tanks with just Radions over them so thinking it's just the T5's that's doing it is over simplifying it. You mentioned you were close to this guy, maybe it would be a good idea to contact him and see if he would accept visitors. Go pick his brain and see what else he is doing.
I see people who doing the led thing successfully add T5's just to keep the shadowing down.
But I also think it's funny seeing more people switch back to T5's.
When I decided to do it, I had several people question why I would go back to outdated tech. lol

 

[Crustaceon]

I would honestly run a six bulb with a 50/50 split of Blue Plus and Coral Plus over a 40 breeder. IMO 8-bulb setups are overkill in most cases and I’ve seen too many systems where the keeper had to remove two bulbs. You’ll start weighing tank width vs. install height with that many bulbs to not melt everything which would go against your desire to not monkey with settings and at the point, many people just go with a t-5 + led/halide hybrid setup or run radions anyways.

 

[nickkohrn]

There are sooo many awesome sps tanks with just Radions over them so thinking it's just the T5's that's doing it is over simplifying it. You mentioned you were close to this guy, maybe it would be a good idea to contact him and see if he would accept visitors. Go pick his brain and see what else he is doing.
I see people who doing the led thing successfully add T5's just to keep the shadowing down.
But I also think it's funny seeing more people switch back to T5's.
When I decided to do it, I had several people question why I would go back to outdated tech. lol

I think part of my intrigue with T5s is that I don't have experience with them. I love my Radions, but I want something that's simpler and T5s have a proven record of lighting gorgeous tanks. Even though I have diffusers on my Radions, I want to eliminate the hot spots that are there, and I want an even blanket of light that T5s seem to produce. There's something to be said about using reliable technologies. I'm a software developer that's always into the latest tech, and I know how quickly things change. It's nice to still have the option to go back to a reliable technology.

 

[X-37B]

Like I said before I run a 6 bulb ati on my 120. The lfs I frequent runs all Radions on all the frag tanks and display.
The 500 display is the only tank with b+ added to the radions. All the tanks grow coral well.
It comes down to what you like visually as they all grow coral.

 

[nickkohrn]

I ordered the 36" 6x39w ATI SunPower fixture with three Blue Plus bulbs and three Coral Plus bulbs. I appreciate the help, insights, experiences, recommendations, and thoughts that everyone has provided!

 

[X-37B]

I ordered the 36" 6x39w ATI SunPower fixture with three Blue Plus bulbs and three Coral Plus bulbs. I appreciate the help, insights, experiences, recommendations, and thoughts that everyone has provided!

Nice! Pics when its setup.

 

[TX_Punisher]

6 bulb is plenty. I have an 8 bulb over my 750 and it’s a par monster. I can’t raise it much higher than 11” awl due to spill into a living area.

The 6 bulb will do well.

 

[Big E]

I ordered the 36" 6x39w ATI SunPower fixture with three Blue Plus bulbs and three Coral Plus bulbs. I appreciate the help, insights, experiences, recommendations, and thoughts that everyone has provided!

Good choice, that's what I would do..................you'll be very happy you went with six bulbs. If you set it about 6- 8" from the water surface that will give you pleny of par. Fyi, my four bulb setup is over driven so it produces much more par than standard driven bulbs.........it's why I can get away with less bulbs but I still have to keep the corals mainly under the narrow width of the 4 bulbs.

Coral+ & Blue+ combo covers the whole spectral distribution from 400-600nm and by setting them in alternating fashion you have a consistent spectrum across the whole tank. That means you can place any acro anywhere in the tank. All that's left is to create the right intensity (height placement) for each coral. Most of the nicer known corals have favorite spots and others you will have to experiment some. You really don't need a par meter.....use your eyes and watch the corals as they grow. It's easy to tell by color intensity & growth whether the coral needs more par or not.

Keep flow in mind as well............that's the third component and just as important.

Thanks for all the mentions everyone

 

[nickkohrn]

Good choice, that's what I would do..................you'll be very happy you went with six bulbs. If you set it about 6- 8" from the water surface that will give you pleny of par. Fyi, my four bulb setup is over driven so it produces much more par than standard driven bulbs.........it's why I can get away with less bulbs but I still have to keep the corals mainly under the narrow width of the 4 bulbs.

Coral+ & Blue+ combo covers the whole spectral distribution from 400-600nm and by setting them in alternating fashion you have a consistent spectrum across the whole tank. That means you can place any acro anywhere in the tank. All that's left is to create the right intensity (height placement) for each coral. Most of the nicer known corals have favorite spots and others you will have to experiment some. You really don't need a par meter.....use your eyes and watch the corals as they grow. It's easy to tell by color intensity & growth whether the coral needs more par or not.

Keep flow in mind as well............that's the third component and just as important.

Thanks for all the mentions everyone

Thanks so much for your response! I appreciate your feedback and insight.

Regarding flow, I’ll be moving two MP40s over from my Waterbox during the transition, as I dismantle the Waterbox. I should have plenty to keep them happy.