I'm looking for the best Hybrid led/T5 fixture out

[Johnic]

I have a peninsula tank that's 36" long by 24" wide by 20" high. I currently have the tank lite with only one Ecotech Gen 1 and it's not cutting it anymore. Looking for a solid fixture that will last me. The gen did its job for 3 years, owes me nothing.
I'm looking at the Geissman or ATI currently.

[Johnic]

You can see what's happening to this piece with the shadowing. Wild how it rolls off the main stem to get the light.

[swanny]

Very subjective but the ATI/ LED combo you really cant go wrong

[Johnic]

I was just checking them out on YouTube. Nice fixture. How is the control features with them ?

[gus6464]

ATI 8x39 2x75 Powermodule
There is no substitute

You can control everything on them. The program even has presets to make the LEDs look like your favorite ATI bulb.

[Johnic]

ATI 8x39 2x75 Powermodule
There is no substitute

You can control everything on them. The program even has presets to make the LEDs look like your favorite ATI bulb.

Do u feel they are better than the Geismann Aurora hybrid ? I wonder if the 24" would cover my 36" tank ok ?

[gus6464]

Do u feel they are better than the Geismann Aurora hybrid ? I wonder if the 24" would cover my 36" tank ok ?


To me the aurora doesn't have enough t5 bulbs. They are very similar price and the ATI has more t5 bulbs and similar led pucks. To me you get more for your money with the ATI.

[d2mini]

If i had to go with 4 t5 bulbs, I'd go with the Geisemann because it looks like their LED setup is better.
If I needed 8 bulbs, I'd go with the ATI.
For a 36" long tank, the 24" should be ok. That's only 5-6" per side and the t5 have great spread.
Does anyone make a 6 bulb t5 combo fixture? That's probably what i'd want for a 24" wide tank.

[Johnic]

If i had to go with 4 t5 bulbs, I'd go with the Geisemann because it looks like their LED setup is better.
If I needed 8 bulbs, I'd go with the ATI.
For a 36" long tank, the 24" should be ok. That's only 5-6" per side and the t5 have great spread.
Does anyone make a 6 bulb t5 combo fixture? That's probably what i'd want for a 24" wide tank.

I was thinking that 8 bulbs might be too much too. It's a peninsula tank and its 24" wide and 36" off the wall. Keeping in mind I have the overflow that's internal to the tank at the rear which is about 5" of the 36".

[gus6464]

If it's peninsula then you really want the 8 bulb for more coverage. You can always dim the t5s or raise the fixture if it's too much. You can't add bulbs to a fixture. The 8x24 hybrid power module will be enough.

[Johnic]

I know two radios pro G3 would light the tank but now I'm up to 1500 and not as an effective light.

[Johnic]

If i had to go with 4 t5 bulbs, I'd go with the Geisemann because it looks like their LED setup is better.
If I needed 8 bulbs, I'd go with the ATI.
For a 36" long tank, the 24" should be ok. That's only 5-6" per side and the t5 have great spread.
Does anyone make a 6 bulb t5 combo fixture? That's probably what i'd want for a 24" wide tank.

Geismann 24" fixture only has 1 Led cluster. :(

[Mr. Brooks]

Can you add two T5 retros to either side of your Radion?

[Johnic]

Can you add two T5 retros to either side of your Radion?

Its rimless open top with no canopy. I'll post a pic soon. It's tough to mount T5 to the light now, I've been thinking of how to do that.

[Mark426]

Geismann 24" fixture only has 1 Led cluster. :(
Same with the 24" ATI Hybrid. IMO, one small LED cluster in the center is near useless. I think the very best Hybrid right now is made by Nano Box Reef no matter what the budget. Contact Dave and he can set you up with a awesome unit.

[Mr. Brooks]

I had my friend Aaron at SPS coral store build me a floating canopy to house Radions and T5 retros. Turned out really nice.

[Johnic]

I had my friend Aaron at SPS coral store build me a floating canopy to house Radions and T5 retros. Turned out really nice.

Can you send me a pic ?

[hobbzz]

The ATI hybrid doesn't compare to pacific suns. Red leds are useless. Any t5 bulb you use in either fixture will blow a single nm red led, with literally no range, out of the water. They both use them, but with the ATI, that only leaves you with 3 colors of useful leds. The pacific sun on the other hand, has a much better spectrum of leds. You could remove the t5 bulbs and still have a full spectrum led setup.

[LQT]

Google search Nanobox Hybrid... there is a 24" fixture with 4 V3 LED arrays and 4 24w T5 bulbs. It comes standard with a Bluefish controller too. For a custom built fixture, it's relatively affordable as compared to the other options mentioned.

[tc2007]

Johnic
I was in a similar situation few days ago with my 93G Cube (30x30x24). I had a Radion G3 Pro and was frying everything at over 40% intensity. Tried different settings, did not help much. In the end, I sold it and got a ATI Sunpower 24X6 which provides sufficient coverage (see attached).

There is near instant improvement in coloration and extension in the RBTA and couple of coral frags. Will add some SPS frags soon. I do miss the shimmer provided by the LED. Also since this is the non-dimmable version of the Sunpower, the lights just turn on instantly.

To cover these 2 missing features, I am planning to add a AI Prime led on a mount below the ATI. Yes it will block 5"x5" area in the middle but it will more than make it for that. The picture is ATI only for now.

I paid $270 for the used but EX+ ATI which also included some old and new bulbs. A used AI Prime goes for around $170 including a mount. Total price = $440. :celeb1:

Cannot complain :)

[Johnic]

Johnic
I was in a similar situation few days ago with my 93G Cube (30x30x24). I had a Radion G3 Pro and was frying everything at over 40% intensity. Tried different settings, did not help much. In the end, I sold it and got a ATI Sunpower 24X6 which provides sufficient coverage (see attached).

There is near instant improvement in coloration and extension in the RBTA and couple of coral frags. Will add some SPS frags soon. I do miss the shimmer provided by the LED. Also since this is the non-dimmable version of the Sunpower, the lights just turn on instantly.

To cover these 2 missing features, I am planning to add a AI Prime led on a mount below the ATI. Yes it will block 5"x5" area in the middle but it will more than make it for that. The picture is ATI only for now.

I paid $270 for the used but EX+ ATI which also included some old and new bulbs. A used AI Prime goes for around $170 including a mount. Total price = $440. :celeb1:

Cannot complain :)

Awesome look. Ya. I'm not liking the frying that's happening right under the G1 Ecotech. Hybrid is the way to go right now for me.
Smoking deal on your light.

[tc2007]

Awesome look. Ya. I'm not liking the frying that's happening right under the G1 Ecotech. Hybrid is the way to go right now for me.
Smoking deal on your light.

Actually I was thinking about adding a G1 or so at the T5 but I think it will be too much. Hope you see the improvements I am seeing.

[Mr. Brooks]

I don't have all the Radions installed or all of the T5 bulbs but you get the idea. I'm going to try wide angle lenses in the back, normal lenses in the front. We'll see how it turns out.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/thechad21_2006/IMG_7866_zpsufxu9vz5.jpg (http://s60.photobucket.com/user/thechad21_2006/media/IMG_7866_zpsufxu9vz5.jpg.html)

[Johnic]

Looks awesome. How are you gonna me to mount that above tank?
I'm so itching to buy a new light fixture soon.
Here's my tank as it is now.
Not sure why pic is upside down. Miracle water stays in tank.

[gus6464]

If you got the cash I would do the following:

Get an 8x24 ati sunpower.
Then contact Dave at nanobox reef and have him make 2x of his 24" Beam strips which are similar to reefbrite but much better diodes with Luxeon T and install them on the sides.

This is what the Beam strip looks like. The 24" version has 4 strips instead of two for a total of 24 LEDs.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5815/20641511076_27e2269f08_c.jpg

This is my custom ATI powermodule modded by Dave himself and has the beam strips inside the fixture. I have 5 strips per row on mine.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/155892/ati/IMG_20151125_180256.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NNmfAwsLZc8/VoxdwuQhmlI/AAAAAAAAEZ4/szJ0lrDmTxI/s912-Ic42/IMG_20160105_161803.jpg

The strips are so powerful I don't have to run Blue+ bulbs. They put out as much PAR as 4x Blue+ bulbs with only 2 strips and I am running the LEDs at less than 1W. This is what my tank looks like with 2x Coral+, 1x Aquablue Special, 2x True Actinic, and 1x Purple+ plus the BEAM strips.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-inlUyurWn60/Voxd1CqXmcI/AAAAAAAAEaA/-TyoRD5cXVM/s912-Ic42/IMG_20160105_161834.jpg

[gus6464]

And here is another option if you want the Hybrid to be more LED main and T5 supplemental.

Have Dave at nanobox do a retrofit on an ATI sunpower but with his pucks instead. I would once again do an 8x24 unit but then have 4 bulbs removed and then put 2 rows of 4x pucks each. Something similar to this:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3821/10872493565_110c44be5d_z.jpg

Will look like this but you will have 2 rows of pucks and 8 pucks total with each pair of T5s sandwiching a row of pucks.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7372/11674492353_f5ba405b29_z.jpg

Now this option will not be cheap as we are talking $400 in pucks alone plus the ATI unit plus labor and electronics but will still be cheaper than the Giesemann and quite frankly destroy it. If you want to save on ATI units they sell scratch and dent units on another forum I can't mention. Dave can also paint the light to look whoever you want. He did a custom paint job on my powermodule.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/155892/ati/IMG_20151125_180350.jpg

[Johnic]

I'm liking these options!
I sent Dave an email today hoping he gets back to me soon. Have about $1400 to spend so I'm hoping he can make something nice to hang. I need it sleek being its in my living room too.

How's the heat generated by these ?

[gus6464]

I'm liking these options!
I sent Dave an email today hoping he gets back to me soon. Have about $1400 to spend so I'm hoping he can make something nice to hang. I need it sleek being its in my living room too.

How's the heat generated by these ?


Beam strips are passive as they run at less than 1 watt. As for the puck option it will need forced air cooling but the ATI fans can handle it.

As for heat generated it's no different than a T5 or LED fixture.

The main thing you need to decide is what kind of hybrid you want.
T5 primary LED secondary
Or
LED primary T5 secondary

Another plus with going with nanobox is that he has driver boards that can be controlled either by a bluefish mini wifi controller or Neptune apex. I control the LEDs on my powermodule with my apex.

[Johnic]

I'm looking to avoid shadows and grow sps evenly in the tank. Did you see my pic of the sps that started to peel off the main trunk? My tank is maturing but not evenly. I don't like the way things are looking. Everything is growing but not evenly all over the tank, just in key central spots.

[gus6464]

I'm looking to avoid shadows and grow sps evenly in the tank. Did you see my pic of the sps that started to peel off the main trunk? My tank is maturing but not evenly. I don't like the way things are looking. Everything is growing but not evenly all over the tank, just in key central spots.

My favorite way to use LEDs is just blue/violet LEDs and then do the rest via T5. The nanobox beam strips have the following LEDs per strip:

4 Luxeon T Royal Blue 450-460nm
1 Luxeon ES Cool Blue 470-480nm
1 SemiLED C35 Violet 410-420nm

When just my LEDs are on they really make the fluorescence pop like no other.

[Johnic]

Ya. Going talk to Dave and Nano and see what he recommends for me. Once I get the new lights I'll be able to keep more sps in areas that are in the shadows now.

[biecacka]

These fixtures look really good!

Corey

[Johnic]

My favorite way to use LEDs is just blue/violet LEDs and then do the rest via T5. The nanobox beam strips have the following LEDs per strip:

4 Luxeon T Royal Blue 450-460nm
1 Luxeon ES Cool Blue 470-480nm
1 SemiLED C35 Violet 410-420nm

When just my LEDs are on they really make the fluorescence pop like no other.

Are the T5 dimable with Daves setup?

[gus6464]

Are the T5 dimable with Daves setup?
He takes an ati fixture and mods it. If you buy a dimmable one he will mod that one.

[Johnic]

He takes an ati fixture and mods it. If you buy a dimmable one he will mod that one.

Got it. I'll buy the dimable ATI version.

[Johnic]

Just an update to what I decided to do. I wound up ordering a custom 24" ATI Sunpower fixture from nanobox. Dave is going to have a 6 bulb fixture with 2 strips of his custom led pucks (3) on each side, painted black mat finish. Setup will look like this:


T5
T5
Led
T5
T5
Led
T5
T5

The led will be full spectrum and the whole setup will be controlled off Blue water controller.
I'm sure I'll love it and will be able to light up my tank evenly so I can keep more sps all over.
I also purchased a seneye so I can take my own light readings before and after and also map the tank so I can see where to place the sps. I curious to see the before and after readings!
I also think that this beats any led/T5 combo I was going to buy.

[Scythanith]

Did you ever look into Reef Brite? They have some pretty sweet customizable setups as well. WWC uses them as does my LFS.

[Johnic]

Did you ever look into Reef Brite? They have some pretty sweet customizable setups as well. WWC uses them as does my LFS.

I did not check them out. Oh well, I already ordered my fixture. I know Dave at nanobox makes an awesome fixture.

[bobssecrtsn]

Where did you get the 8bulb fixture? I've been trying my *** off finding one

[Johnic]

Where did you get the 8bulb fixture? I've been trying my *** off finding one

ATI makes one, all the big retailers sell it. The one he is converting is and ATI Sunpower 8 bulb 24".