Lighting advice.

[USMA36]

Looking for some advice on lighting. I have a 6 month old 90 gallon 48” mixed reef tank. Currently I am running a single Radion XR 30 gen 3 pro with the wide angle lenses about 10” at 90% peak. above the water. I am thinking of selling that and switching to an ATI SunPower T5 set up. I really like the ease of use and the looks of a well set up T5. I am debating between a 36” and the 48” and 6 bulbs or 8. My thought with the 36” is that I can run sps in the middle and top and lps/softies on the bottom and sides. Will a 48” be too much for softies and lps? Has anyone switched from radion to T5 and we’re you happy? How about acclimation how would I go about starting the new light up without burning any corals. Thanks for your advice.

 

[CodyRVA]

I run a 4 foot, 6 bulb ATI on a 4 foot, very shallow, tank. I have my fixture about 1 foot off the surface. Recent part readings were 450 top, 350 mid, 250 bottom. I have zoas, palys mid and bottom, shrooms bottom, LPS mid and bottom. Your PAR is going to depend on tank depth and how you mount your fixture. I think you'd be fine with 6 bulbs unless you really want to go hard on SPS. Generally speaking I can grow SPS the full width of the tank; more shade front to back which I use for coral with lower lighting requirements. You could go with a 3 foot fixture: 6 bulbs would provide shade front back and on the ends, 8 bulbs would really only provide shade on the ends. Ultimately, it depends on what you plan on putting in your tank and how you want to aquascape it.

 

[USMA36]

I plan on having a good mix of sps lps and softies. Just not sure on the 36 or 48. If I go with 6 bulbs what would be a good combo of bulb types? Should I get the 8 bulbs and add to actinics? Right now I think I’ll get the regular ati not the dimmable. Does anyone think the dimmable is worth it?

 

[RyanCSGO]

my LFS uses a few ATI's. none of which are dimming models.
Its not necessary, more preference really.

I can't remember the bulb config thats typically recommended, but I would go with the 48" 6 bulb

 

[CodyRVA]

I think my current configuration is 3 blue plus, 1 true actinic, 1 purple plus, and 1 coral plus... don't quote me on that. I think the dimmable is a waste of money, but thats just my .02... that being said I think a lot of things in this hobby are a waste of money, but I digress.

 

[Tautog]

I just upgraded last month from LEDs to ATI 8- bulb 60" on my 180 gal. 1 month in and my Acros are happy, all other corals are mid to bottom, but everyone but a Blasto is fine, other Blastos that were in the same area are fine. The one got a little cooked, and is recovering on bottom.
With the ATI fixture there's 2 plugs, one for 2 bulbs, blue, for AM and PM, the other bulbs are only on for 5 hrs now. I have 3 coral plus, 3 Aqua blue, 1 Actinic, 1 purple. Bulbs are arranged as follows : Blue +, Coral +, Blue +, Purple +, Coral + Blue +, Actinic, Coral +. Be sure NOT to put the same bulbs next to each other. I started with just the blues for the first week, then full lights for 1-2 hours second week, then added another hour every week.
Be sure to check your Alkalinity everyday! As you increase the full lights the need to dose 2- part increased. I'm dosing 100 ml/ day of both, and need to increase again, but I also have 60 + corals growing, recovering, and splitting. Candy Canes never looked better, mid tank. Most of my Acros have recovered, and growing good. Everything looks well, and I'm glad I changed. Noticeable growth after the first 2-3 weeks. Hope this helps!
Don't bother with the dimmable, the price doesn't justify. Jmo

 

[CodyRVA]

Be sure NOT to put the same bulbs next to each other.

Why?

 

[Tautog]

Why?

I didn't really understand that reasoning either, but thinking about it more and more, I came to the conclusion that by keeping the same bulbs together would intensify the par light intensity in that section of my tank, compared to having the bulbs separated by a different bulb to reflect a different par and a overall wider spectrum of light into the tank.
If you look at it from the standpoint of having high wattage bulbs on one side and low wattage bulbs on the other side, there would be a big difference in par, growth, and appearance.
Jmo, but it makes total sense to me, right???

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I didn't really understand that reasoning either, but thinking about it more and more, I came to the conclusion that by keeping the same bulbs together would intensify the par light intensity in that section of my tank, compared to having the bulbs separated by a different bulb to reflect a different par and a overall wider spectrum of light into the tank.
If you look at it from the standpoint of having high wattage bulbs on one side and low wattage bulbs on the other side, there would be a big difference in par, growth, and appearance.
Jmo, but it makes total sense to me, right???

Kinda. But it depends on the distance from the tank really. And color blending. Also many of the tubes actually have the same par. Check the specs for the specific tube.

For the op, imo. Go w a 48 and a six tube. You don't need the dimmable. IMO , that's marketing. You may miss the led ramp. And after close to 30 years using fluro tubes in commercial and industrial applications and entertainment, I don't like to dim them or ramp them. It's always a problem. Always.

To acclimate or swap lights, you'll want a par meter , or a lux meter and make the par estimation with that.

Personally, I did look at a t5 retro fit of four tubes and keep the radions.
Just run the t5 for four to six hours.
Led ramp and longer life on the tubes.

Or just get the geisman hybrid. Lol.

 

[CodyRVA]

I came to the conclusion that by keeping the same bulbs together would intensify the par light intensity in that section of my tank, compared to having the bulbs separated by a different bulb to reflect a different par and a overall wider spectrum of light into the tank.
If you look at it from the standpoint of having high wattage bulbs on one side and low wattage bulbs on the other side, there would be a big difference in par, growth, and appearance. Jmo, but it makes total sense to me, right???

The bulbs are the same wattage?

Kinda. But it depends on the distance from the tank really. And color blending. Also many of the tubes actually have the same par. Check the specs for the specific tube.

I think this is the only real threat; color blending and overall appearance.

Personally, I did look at a t5 retro fit of four tubes and keep the radions.
Just run the t5 for four to six hours.
Led ramp and longer life on the tubes.

+1, If I hadn't gotten my ATI fixture used and on sale, this is the route I would have gone.

 

[Tautog]

Yes, I know there the same in wattage, but I thought it would be easy to understand, like never putting all your eggs in the same basket.
The same light bulb, all in a row, just doesn't make sense when your trying to achieve a mixed spectrum of light. All blue looks OK for a while, but all Actinic is to bright, while all Purple is just nuts. Based on that, changing the bulbs makes sense. As far as growth, or burning, it's how far or close to the tank the lights are. I have a 8- bulb, but properly only need 6, but bigger, or brighter is better, but not always, so then it's your eyes and opinion. But I'm color-blind, like my fish

 

[blkhwkz]

I run an 8 bulb dimmable ATI on my 48" SPS and clam tank. Also have a ReefBrite XHO mounted to the front of the fixture. I like that the dimmable only has one cable and plug, and if I ever wanted to use the dimming feature I can. If I recall correctly the regular fixture has 2 plugs for the 2 channels and 1 for the fans. I didn't want to waste 3 outlets on my Apex for one fixture. I started off using a mixture of 4 Blue+, 2 Actinic, 1 Coral+ and 1 Purple+. I have since switched to 4 Blue+ and 4 Coral+. I run them mostly alternating, B+,C+,B+.C+,C+.B+,C+ front to back. I run the XHO for an hour in the morning, then all 8 bulbs at 100% for 7 hours, an hour of only channel 1 which are both B+, and then an hour of only the XHO. Also have the XHO running for 2 hours a day with all 8 bulbs going, not that it is really noticeable.

On the sand bed there are 4 clams, a couple of LPS frags from another tank of mine, and a large toadstool leather I have no room for in other tanks all doing great.