Hybrid Reef Lighting: How interested are you?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Hybrid Reef Lighting: A mixture of LED, T5 or Metal Halide lighting.

LED aquarium lighting rules the day in terms of the percent of reefers who use LED lighting on their tanks versus other types of lighting. Years ago though, at the introduction of LED lighting to the reef hobby, LED was used in "hybrid fashion" as supplement lighting with other types of lighting such as Metal Halide, T5, VHO, etc. That slowly transitioned and now LED leads the market by a long shot probably to never look back again. BUT does that mean there is now no market for Hybrid Reef Lighting? Let's talk about it today?

How interested are you in some type of Hybrid Reef Lighting?

If you are interested in it what would be your favorite combination of lighting?

 

[homer1475]

I'm a die hard T5 guy....hate the look of leds, just me and my opinion. I do understand and can appericiate those that use and like LEDs though

With that said, I used to run a 6 bulb ATI sunpower with reefbrite strips for the added par. I now run an 8 bulb powermodule with 2 led clusters(par monster over my 80g cube).

I just prefer the look of T5's over LEDCube, but do like the look of a hybrid setup. T5's for the heavy lifting, and leds for supplemental, and shimmer.

 

[MaxTremors]

I voted not interested. If I had a larger tank going, I would consider it, but for a nano it’s not hard to get the PAR and coverage needed with just LEDs.

 

[undermind]

I run MH, LED and T5 all together. I've spent years dialing in a combination of power, spread and color. I don't know how it could get any better for me.

I find usefulness in all lighting types and have various lights over multiple tanks.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I run MH, LED and T5 all together. I've spent years dialing in a combination of power, spread and color. I don't know how it could get any better for me.

I find usefulness in all lighting types and have various lights over multiple tanks.

Do you have a photo of your lighting you could share?

 

[Jeffcb]

Happy with LEDs

 

[HBtank]

The part of the hobby that confuses me right now is the combinatiion of minimalist rimless tanks with realistic lighting options. These beautiful rimless tanks end up being covered in several separate light fixtures suspended and mounted on it, and I am left thinking, what’s the point?

I think my next large tank will definitely have a canopy, because that allows for all sorts of solutions, like hybrid, without what ends up looking like a mess to me on rimless tanks.

 

[DJF]

Recently switched from hybrid t5/led to stratons. I thought it was great and I had fantastic growth with both t5 & led but with the stratons I get the same blanketed coverage without the added heat and my corals are doing great; coloring up better than my combo. I love love love my stratons. I think these larger led panels that spread out the light are the ticket for replacing t5s.

 

[Aspect]

I use 4 6' LED lights over my 360 gallon just for soft and LPS.

 

[MtnDewMan]

If I had my wishes based on past success, I would have metal halide with VHO lighting over my tank. Now though, based on cost and heat and such a small tank, I compromised with hybrid LED with T5HO lighting.

 

[SpSDrew]

LED/LED Hybrid

I run 3 kessil 360x on my 90 gallon tank with the quad reefbrite fixture. The kessils run around 70% and give a good shimmer and coverage. The reef brites run for 3 hours at the peak of the light cycle and gives a full coverage of spread.

 

[Gedxin]

Just started a tank last month with T5/LED hybrid setup. Really loving the spread the T5s give! Shadow is practically non-existent.

 

[JNalley]

The part of the hobby that confuses me right now is the combinatiion of minimalist rimless tanks with realistic lighting options. These beautiful rimless tanks end up being covered in several separate light fixtures suspended and mounted on it, and I am left thinking, what’s the point?

I think my next large tank will definitely have a canopy, because that allows for all sorts of solutions, like hybrid, without what ends up looking like a mess to me on rimless tanks.

I guess it's an aesthetic choice... I personally think that this:

looks better than this:

or this:

That's just me though... To each their own.

 

[Karen00]

I voted not interested only because my tank is too small. Having said that I would probably look into a hybrid solution if I had a bigger tank and it made sense to do so.

 

[HBtank]

I guess it's an aesthetic choice... I personally think that this:

looks better than this:

or this:

That's just me though... To each their own.

I rarely see single fixtures suspended like that over a rimless tank, that would be the exception and the way to bring out the best in rimless.

Though I would be remiss to not mention the lack of a screen cover, which also makes the rimless drop down a notch in visual appeal when added. Anyone without one is just asking for fish to go carpet surfing. A must for me and another reason I like canopies.

 

[Koh23]

Very interested....

 

[undermind]

Do you have a photo of your lighting you could share?

Sure, here are a few pics from September after my last bulb swap.

It's a Hamilton MH / T5 fixture with Reefbrite XHO strip lights on the front and back edge. I built a simple mounting bracket that utilizes some existing screw holes. The Reefbrites can be swiveled as needed. The LEDs really blanket light into areas that are shadowed without them.

 

[KrisReef]

I'm a die hard T5 guy....hate the look of leds, just me and my opinion. I do understand and can appericiate those that use and like LEDs though

With that said, I used to run a 6 bulb ATI sunpower with reefbrite strips for the added par. I now run an 8 bulb powermodule with 2 led clusters(par monster over my 80g cube).

I just prefer the look of T5's over LEDCube, but do like the look of a hybrid setup. T5's for the heavy lifting, and leds for supplemental, and shimmer.

Isn’t T5 with leds “Hybrid?”
I’m using 250mh and T5s myself..

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

The part of the hobby that confuses me right now is the combinatiion of minimalist rimless tanks with realistic lighting options. These beautiful rimless tanks end up being covered in several separate light fixtures suspended and mounted on it, and I am left thinking, what’s the point?

I think my next large tank will definitely have a canopy, because that allows for all sorts of solutions, like hybrid, without what ends up looking like a mess to me on rimless tanks.

Exactly this. That’s why I wish Kessil would come up with a streamlined fixture that includes some sort of led strip lighting. Maybe even a large halo ring around their puck for more diffused lighting. Something that looks nice, without a bunch of cords. Even a valance or facade to hide everything, like those plastic engine covers on newer vehicles.

 

[SPS2020]

AquaticLife DX18 Dimmable T5's and AI Hydra 32HD LED combination for me.