Is the 36"6bulb ATI to much light for...

[biocube386]

Hey RC!

I'm starting up a new tank this year. I'm going with the new deep blue 57gal rimless setup, 36"Lx18Wx22H. The light I have chosen to go with is the ATI sunpower fixture, the 6bulb either which way I go for color
Combo. My problem I am running into is alot of ppl love this light and says it does the job and puts out alot of lot. And some say the 36" "might" fry alot of lps, zoas, acan etc, I wana do mixed reef with stonys at the top of tank to mid range, not after sps at bottom more lps at the bottom. My question is should I go with the ATI SP 36" 6x39 or the ATI 24" 6x24??

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Brad.

[biocube386]

anyone?:sad2:

[CMcNeil]

a sunpower 6x39w is perfect for that tank.i had the same fixture over my oceanic 57 rimless.you wont be disappointed.i had my tank loaded with sps,lps and zoas without any bleaching issues.

[Peale]

I have a 36" 6 bulb NEP over a 65g...same footprint, just a little taller. I have the same set up for corals that you are planning. Everything is great! I have SPS growing fast in the top 1/3 and zoas/softies/LPS in the bottom 2/3. Nothing is fried...!

[2006]

Too much for acans imo. Go with 4 bulb if LPS dominate. My rainbow acans reddened and developed white striping.

[Felixc395]

Most definitely go with four bulbs. The six bulb will fry everything. With 4 bulbs you can easily keep SPS top half and LPS, zoas, etc. down in the bottom half. The 6 bulbs would just be too much, unless you can hang it very high. If you did this you can always lower it if you want to keep SPS dominated in the future. Otherwise four will do the trick and save you a little money too. Don't underestimate what ATI cad do, they can be beasts. You're on the right track with the sunpower though, good decision and I wish you the best of luck!!! :)

[biocube386]

a sunpower 6x39w is perfect for that tank.i had the same fixture over my oceanic 57 rimless.you wont be disappointed.i had my tank loaded with sps,lps and zoas without any bleaching issues.

The tank is actually same footprint as your tank so you kinda see where I wana go with this. The more I read and think about it the 36" for sure.

[biocube386]

Most definitely go with four bulbs. The six bulb will fry everything. With 4 bulbs you can easily keep SPS top half and LPS, zoas, etc. down in the bottom half. The 6 bulbs would just be too much, unless you can hang it very high. If you did this you can always lower it if you want to keep SPS dominated in the future. Otherwise four will do the trick and save you a little money too. Don't underestimate what ATI cad do, they can be beasts. You're on the right track with the sunpower though, good decision and I wish you the best of luck!!! :)

Thanks for your input much appreciated! I see where you are coming from and that is what alot of People say is that don't underestimate the output of these lights.. The reason mostly for the 6 bulb is the color combo.

[Felixc395]

Thanks for your input much appreciated! I see where you are coming from and that is what alot of People say is that don't underestimate the output of these lights.. The reason mostly for the 6 bulb is the color combo.

I completely understand that you want bulb options. That makes perfect sense to me. Just know that hang this fixture high to start with and slowly go down and keep it just where you think it's not to strong, which may be pretty high. If you can't hang this by the ceiling, then you might want a 6 bulb Tek. Either way you have options. If you have too much light for LPS and such, just use some screen to reduce the intensity. And if you want to ever go SPS dominated, then you will have no troubles at all keeping all the SPS you want!!! Tell me what you think, good luck on your decision!

[biocube386]

I completely understand that you want bulb options. That makes perfect sense to me. Just know that hang this fixture high to start with and slowly go down and keep it just where you think it's not to strong, which may be pretty high. If you can't hang this by the ceiling, then you might want a 6 bulb Tek. Either way you have options. If you have too much light for LPS and such, just use some screen to reduce the intensity. And if you want to ever go SPS dominated, then you will have no troubles at all keeping all the SPS you want!!! Tell me what you think, good luck on your decision!

Yeah that is kinda the problem I am running into is the hanging problem, I might have to make some kind of bracket that can be attached to the back of the stand so I can hang the light. I really don't want to have to use legs to hold the light up (tek), to me it Just does not look that good on a rimless set up, but worst comes to worst then I might have to go that way but I'm trying not to. If i would go with the Tek elite i wouldbt have to worry
About the over power of the light and it might just be perfect. I appreciate the help very much!

[Felixc395]

That's a very good point. Why get a rimless if you have light stands on it? It kind of detracts from the look and whole point of getting a rimless. But honestly I think the Tek elite would be too much also for what you want to keep. The Tek elite is not too dissimilar to the sunpower in PAR. I humbly believe you should go with a four bulb fixture. you can still get the color combo you want. The six bulb will just melt everything. Just check out reefgeek.com. There you can see some guidelines and get the gist for what I'm saying here. I know you think 6 bulbs sound good, but I think you might regret it. You can always take two bulbs out if you want though with six, but four sounds better IMO. Either way you go, you can make things work, just one way will be easier. It's up to you

[biocube386]

That's a very good point. Why get a rimless if you have light stands on it? It kind of detracts from the look and whole point of getting a rimless. But honestly I think the Tek elite would be too much also for what you want to keep. The Tek elite is not too dissimilar to the sunpower in PAR. I humbly believe you should go with a four bulb fixture. you can still get the color combo you want. The six bulb will just melt everything. Just check out reefgeek.com. There you can see some guidelines and get the gist for what I'm saying here. I know you think 6 bulbs sound good, but I think you might regret it. You can always take two bulbs out if you want though with six, but four sounds better IMO. Either way you go, you can make things work, just one way will be easier. It's up to you

Yeah you know what i mean lol, just doesnt looks as good. I have looked into that is a getting a 4 bulb but whats holding me from that is i think i might regret it only because of watts. I have also thought of a 24" fixture by 6, but then that if i ever go bigger tank which i will i couldnt use it for that, but the 36" could be used on a 75gal or 90gal depeding on size. That is true i could always take a bulb out...

[kellerexpress]

go 6 bulbs

[Felixc395]

Yeah you know what i mean lol, just doesnt looks as good. I have looked into that is a getting a 4 bulb but whats holding me from that is i think i might regret it only because of watts. I have also thought of a 24" fixture by 6, but then that if i ever go bigger tank which i will i couldnt use it for that, but the 36" could be used on a 75gal or 90gal depeding on size. That is true i could always take a bulb out...

I see, good thinking. Based on that i'd go with six bulbs. See how it goes, if it's too much, raise it or put something to reduce light or take a bulb out. And what do you mean by watts? Don't be skechy of a light because it has fewer watts than say a metal halide. That can get you into trouble.

[biocube386]

I see, good thinking. Based on that i'd go with six bulbs. See how it goes, if it's too much, raise it or put something to reduce light or take a bulb out. And what do you mean by watts? Don't be skechy of a light because it has fewer watts than say a metal halide. That can get you into trouble.

No, no not like MH watts. only saying that in a t5 perspective because the 4 to 6 bulb loss of the 78w.

[rtparty]

Watts don't matter when it comes to T5HO. On my 40 gallon breeder I was running 96w and it kept EVERYTHING I wanted. Now I am running 195w and I can't keep SPS half way down my tank.

It has NOTHING do with watts. It has to do with the 4 essentials to T5 lighting.

1) Proper Ballasts
1) Proper Cooling
1) Good Bulbs
1) Good reflectors

Yes, I meant to put a "1" by all of them. It takes all 4 to have a good setup and IMO one is not more important than the other. It is like asking, what is more important for your car, the engine, transmission or axles? It takes all of them to make a car go.

With my 4x24w ATI Sunpower I bleached out multiple SPS to begin with. I figured I was safe because everything came from my previous tank which had a 150w Phoenix MH and the tank was smaller. Boy was I wrong! I melted my flamethrower chalice on the sand in 2 days and it never came back. Made me sick. I had to keep ALL LPS on the very edges or shaded in caves or they lost color.

I miss having a 24" fixture over my 36" tank. Trying to even add water to my tank now is a pain. I have to avoid the fixture all the way around the tank. I can't wait to go back to a 24" ATI Sunpower.

[gp2]

I have a 6 bulb T5 on my 57 rimless which I use as a frag tank and I think its perfect. 4 lights may or may not work, but if you have 6 you have a lot more options. Does the fixture have options to turn the lights on at different times? Mine has a built in timer for 2 separate sets of 3. Pretty hard to bleach anything with that level of adjustment available.

[biocube386]

I have a 6 bulb T5 on my 57 rimless which I use as a frag tank and I think its perfect. 4 lights may or may not work, but if you have 6 you have a lot more options. Does the fixture have options to turn the lights on at different times? Mine has a built in timer for 2 separate sets of 3. Pretty hard to bleach anything with that level of adjustment available.

Yes i am most likely going with now the Tek elite 6 bulb, two switches, one controls 2 and the other controls 4. What fixture do you have? aquatinics?

[biocube386]

Watts don't matter when it comes to T5HO. On my 40 gallon breeder I was running 96w and it kept EVERYTHING I wanted. Now I am running 195w and I can't keep SPS half way down my tank.

It has NOTHING do with watts. It has to do with the 4 essentials to T5 lighting.

1) Proper Ballasts
1) Proper Cooling
1) Good Bulbs
1) Good reflectors

Yes, I meant to put a "1" by all of them. It takes all 4 to have a good setup and IMO one is not more important than the other. It is like asking, what is more important for your car, the engine, transmission or axles? It takes all of them to make a car go.

With my 4x24w ATI Sunpower I bleached out multiple SPS to begin with. I figured I was safe because everything came from my previous tank which had a 150w Phoenix MH and the tank was smaller. Boy was I wrong! I melted my flamethrower chalice on the sand in 2 days and it never came back. Made me sick. I had to keep ALL LPS on the very edges or shaded in caves or they lost color.

I miss having a 24" fixture over my 36" tank. Trying to even add water to my tank now is a pain. I have to avoid the fixture all the way around the tank. I can't wait to go back to a 24" ATI Sunpower.

This is very true! I definitely agree with you in multiple ways. And i thank you for your consideration in explaing this! it should be a sticky ;)