Led / t5 combo ideas?

geckoejon · Mar 18, 2015

Hello,

I'm trying to plan my next upgrade to a 180g rimless tank. Dimensions are 72x24x24. I would like to go with some kind of floating hood w/ an led t5 combo that will grow pretty much anything.

I would appreciate some ideas or pointers. I'm trying to design everything out before I start purchasing.

My current idea....

3 x rapid led dual aurora pucks
4 x 60" t5's

Thought about running 2 t5's on front / back and the pucks spaced evenly down the center. Thoughts?

Thoughts on t5 ballast or type to go with?

Thoughts on aurora pucks? Any other led suggestions?

Any ideas on a floating canopy?

Any pics of anyone's similar setup?

Thanks!

LukeV · Mar 18, 2015

I don't know about the floating canopy, but I have a newly set up 250 gallon dd 60x36x27. I went with 2 radion fan 3 pros and 6 t5 5' bulbs. I have 3 in the front and 3 in the back, and the Radions have 1 foot i between each other.

ThaBeast · Mar 18, 2015

Tagging along, would like to see what you come up with

Latinreefer · Mar 18, 2015

ATI Hybrid Fixture, you can't go wrong. ATI is a proven company to create awesome equipment mainly light fixtures.
Good Luck with your build !!

wangspeed · Mar 18, 2015

IMO, LED should go on the outside and T5 on the inside. T5 has a ton of spillage, and the LEDs are much more focused, even with a wide angle lens. This way you can put LEDs in the front and back and get efficient coverage on the corals. Just my 2 cents. Here's mine.

ThaBeast · Mar 19, 2015

Wangspeed, what led strips are those?

wangspeed · Mar 19, 2015

HndMafia said:
Wangspeed, what led strips are those?

It's the 21LEDUSA low powered bars.

ReefBar 453 nm Deep Actinic Blue Aquarium LED Light 9W/Ft Coral Lunar Moon

In retrospect, I should have gone with the pro bars, which are extremely similar to Reef Brites, but cheaper, but these are getting the job done. I love that they don't have too much crazy disco effect. Just a nice subtle shimmer when they are on without the T5. The T5 drown out the shimmer, for the most part.

geckoejon · Mar 20, 2015

Wangspeed, I kind of like your led / t5 arrangement. T5's to have a ton of light spillage. I might end up going that route. I think I would go with different LEDs though. Thanks...

fungia_fiend · Mar 20, 2015

I've got an ATI 6 bulb. I am just waiting on a good reef brite sale to add a pair of reef brites to the hood.

wangspeed · Mar 20, 2015

Don't dismiss the Reefbar Pro from 2ledusa. They're just as powerful as reef Brites and way cheaper. Edit: and more easily dimmable, which was a huge plus to me.

fungia_fiend · Mar 21, 2015

wangspeed said:
Don't dismiss the Reefbar Pro from 2ledusa. They're just as powerful as reef Brites and way cheaper. Edit: and more easily dimmable, which was a huge plus to me.

Do they mount easily to the ATI Sunpower fixtures?

wangspeed · Mar 21, 2015

It's not a bolt on fit. You'll have to get some flat aluminum strips from Home Depot and bend them a little then drill some holes and mount. Similar to what I did with mine.

sgresham · Mar 21, 2015

I just purchased 4 48 inch 8 bulb ATI hybrid fixtures for a new build I am starting, and while they are pretty pricey, I haven't seen anything built as well as these fixtures. in addition, the amount of light these fixtures put out is incredible.

joekool · Mar 21, 2015

Just wondering why you want to do both. I have seen nice hybrid setups and they were using them mainly because there led lighting wasn't very good.

I went from mh combo to led and haven't been happier. I did however change out LEDs to get them just right. I also like being able to ramp lighting up and down and give a high noon effect which my corals seem to love.

Just seem like a lot of money and effort and long term replacement of bulb costs for me but hey it's only my opinion and if you go this route I'm sure it will look and work great as long as you get the right setup.

Like the other guy said you can buy a t5 fixture and then add led strips to the sides. I have no experience with pre made led strip lights but you could allways do DIY strips bridglux 3watt LEDs are $1.50 each just use thermal cement on an aluminum square tube and a dim able driver.

sgresham · Mar 23, 2015

joekool said:
Just wondering why you want to do both. I have seen nice hybrid setups and they were using them mainly because there led lighting wasn't very good.

I went from mh combo to led and haven't been happier. I did however change out LEDs to get them just right. I also like being able to ramp lighting up and down and give a high noon effect which my corals seem to love.

Just seem like a lot of money and effort and long term replacement of bulb costs for me but hey it's only my opinion and if you go this route I'm sure it will look and work great as long as you get the right setup.

Like the other guy said you can buy a t5 fixture and then add led strips to the sides. I have no experience with pre made led strip lights but you could allways do DIY strips bridglux 3watt LEDs are $1.50 each just use thermal cement on an aluminum square tube and a dim able driver.

Hybrid fixtures are pretty expensive, and you can do them yourself with some led strips on the sides of the t5 fixtures, but imo, the point of LED/T5 is to try to get the best of both worlds in one fixture. Leds seem to offer amazing coloration, but, many people believe growth is a bit stunted by LEDs. T5s are proven for growth, and they offer good coloration as well, but many think the light is very bland, when compared to LED or Halide shimmer. Hopefully, a hybrid fixture will handle coloration, fast growth, and shimmer.

geckoejon · Mar 24, 2015

joekool said:
Just wondering why you want to do both. I have seen nice hybrid setups and they were using them mainly because there led lighting wasn't very good.

I went from mh combo to led and haven't been happier. I did however change out LEDs to get them just right. I also like being able to ramp lighting up and down and give a high noon effect which my corals seem to love.

Just seem like a lot of money and effort and long term replacement of bulb costs for me but hey it's only my opinion and if you go this route I'm sure it will look and work great as long as you get the right setup.

Like the other guy said you can buy a t5 fixture and then add led strips to the sides. I have no experience with pre made led strip lights but you could allways do DIY strips bridglux 3watt LEDs are $1.50 each just use thermal cement on an aluminum square tube and a dim able driver.

I have a couple reasons that I would like to go with a hybrid.

First, is color. I currently have reef breeder led's on both of my tanks. The color is alright and the growth is decent. I had a radion side by side for awhile, and it made the colors in the tank so much more vibrant. It was an amazing difference. I don't like the radion controls at all. I sold the fixture. I figure that by doing a hybrid with Cree led's I can get the color spectrum I'm looking for.

Second, would be the proven t5 results. I have seen some nice tanks with led's and some amazing tanks / coral with t5's. I started looking at what some of the larger shops like wwc use for their tanks as well. Makes me want to go with the tried and true t5's and try to get the pop from the led's.

I know that it would be more expensive to initially build and maintain. My theory is the long term results will make it worth the cost.

Any others using a hybrid?

srva80xx · Mar 24, 2015

I have a 8 bulb 60" T5 fixture that I picked up on craigslist, I disassembled it an mounted the ballasts and the (4) outer reflectors to my canopy and I have (4) Kessil A360WE's hanging from hooks in the middle. This is on a 135, 72"x18". I cant speak of any growth because I haven't added any corals yet but... I'm not worried about being able to grow anything.

The first (3) pictures are before I added (2) more Kessils..

The other tank shots are with all (4) Kessils

eklapp · Mar 24, 2015

geckoejon said:
I have a couple reasons that I would like to go with a hybrid.

First, is color. I currently have reef breeder led's on both of my tanks. The color is alright and the growth is decent. I had a radion side by side for awhile, and it made the colors in the tank so much more vibrant. It was an amazing difference. I don't like the radion controls at all. I sold the fixture. I figure that by doing a hybrid with Cree led's I can get the color spectrum I'm looking for.

Second, would be the proven t5 results. I have seen some nice tanks with led's and some amazing tanks / coral with t5's. I started looking at what some of the larger shops like wwc use for their tanks as well. Makes me want to go with the tried and true t5's and try to get the pop from the led's.

I know that it would be more expensive to initially build and maintain. My theory is the long term results will make it worth the cost.

Any others using a hybrid?

This is why I added t5s to my reef breeders. Also my tank is 30" front to back so it gives more coverage. I ran 4 ati's for 2 years and a week ago I added 2 more

srva80xx · Mar 24, 2015

eklapp said:
This is why I added t5s to my reef breeders. Also my tank is 30" front to back so it gives more coverage. I ran 4 ati's for 2 years and a week ago I added 2 more

Looks good