Will ATI 8 bulb be enough?

lazyreefer1 · Apr 26, 2016

Hello,

I posted this question last week in the ATI vendor forum but looks like no one is home

It would be awesome to get some of your opinions

question is - I have a 60"L X 36"W X 14"H bare bottom sps dominated tank. I am currently running 4x AI hydra 52 but I find the light coverage for front and back severely lacking. I did some measurements and it looks like the area that I need to cover with the lights should be 54"Lx33"W area. Would a 8 bulb 48" be able to handle this? or would I need to go full 60 sunpower 8 bulb? Also high above the water line should I have the fixture at? Currently my hydra 52's are about 12" off the waterline.

Thanks for your input!

stunreefer · Apr 26, 2016

The 48" 8 bulb would work great for that tank

I would hang light 6-8" off surface, but the overspill is generally what determines this height for me.

lazyreefer1 · Apr 27, 2016

thanks for responding. 1 more question - how hot does the fixture get? would it give out as much heat as 2 X 250W MH?

luke33 · Apr 27, 2016

If your tank is only 14" high I would hang it 10-12" above the tank as that fixture has some major pop. I pull around 300-400 par 32" below. The fixture moves some pretty hot air through the sides of the acrylic under the bulb's, not much heat is moved besides that. Its not as hot as a MH to the touch or spot but I would believe it puts off just as much as two 250w mh's, just more spread out.

Sabellafella · Apr 27, 2016

36 inches wide is big, i would 1000 percent go with a 10 or 12 bulb 48 inch fixture, the extra 6 inches on the sides are good as you can keep lps in low light areas, but the fixture is atleast a foot in width, so your going to have to account for the extra 2 feet front to back

lazyreefer1 · Apr 28, 2016

thanks guys,

ATI does not make 10 or 12 bulb fixtures right?

cmaxwell39 · Apr 28, 2016

They do in their power module line I believe, but not in the sunpower fixtures.

StikHedRon · Apr 28, 2016

I run a 10 bulb fixture on a 30" wide tank and I love having that many bulbs, give more options for combos

lazyreefer1 · Apr 28, 2016

Seems like the 8 bulbs are the max that ati sells For any length fixtures. Do you guys know if it is special order?

StikHedRon · Apr 28, 2016

My fixture is Pacific Sun

lazyreefer1 · Apr 28, 2016

StikHedRon said:
My fixture is Pacific Sun

wow that is a nice fixture but pricey. how do you like it?

StikHedRon · Apr 28, 2016

I run the Diuna, and honestly I love the fixture. I do not run the Pacsun bulbs as the do not produce the par that other brands do so I switched to KZ bulbs.