Acro Guys - ATI T5 or G4 Radions? Show me your tanks!

[Sabellafella]

The answer is T5s for me! Atleast 2 14k and under bulbs. Cant go wrong with a little led for viewing.

 

[Sabellafella]

 

[FarmerTy]

Thanks for chiming in! I've seen your task's progress through the years! Glad you could provide your opinion regarding lights!

 

[Sabellafella]

Thanks for chiming in! I've seen your task's progress through the years! Glad you could provide your opinion regarding lights!

Thank You! I just can't seem to give them up, nor MHs. I'm sure in the future they'll be an addition of radions on my tanks.

 

[tgionet]

I'm adoring the new 4 bulb aquaticlife fixture with my AP700. The only thing I think I'd change is make it either 6 or 8 bulbs and have the ballasts be external. I'm only a few months in to having success in the acro game so take from me what you will. My gut tells me the Radions are a better light than the Kessil. But the muted shimmer you get when combined with T5s looks fantastic and there's no disco ball effect with the Kessils either.

 

[FarmerTy]

you say you only have a phone camera - as if your pictures or videos are any less amazing than DSLRs.
Your Videos are better than anyone i have seen making reef vids.

Hey bud! Thanks for the kind words! Somehow I missed this post earlier. I didn't think anybody even watched the videos. They are fun to make for me though when I have time so I'll just keep pushing them out. Thanks for the words of encouragement.

 

[FarmerTy]

I'm adoring the new 4 bulb aquaticlife fixture with my AP700. The only thing I think I'd change is make it either 6 or 8 bulbs and have the ballasts be external. I'm only a few months in to having success in the acro game so take from me what you will. My gut tells me the Radions are a better light than the Kessil. But the muted shimmer you get when combined with T5s looks fantastic and there's no disco ball effect with the Kessils either.

I keep getting dragged back and forth! 4 Radions stuffed into a 60" Aquatic Life fixture flanked by 2 blue+ and 2 coral+ sounds like an awesome dream right now. Now I'm wondering if I'm just bored with the lighting and just want to make a change for change sake.

 

[Big E]

What about the ATI hybrid, other than cost it seems like a winner to me.

The cost of this unit is extreme and the results won't be any better than a Sunpower. The LEDs shine from the inside out.......fantastic if you view the tank from the top, but we view from the front of the tank. Slightly angled in LED supplementing from the front relates to more direct reflection off the corals to your eyes. This becomes a larger factor when the corals are large colonies. Most will eventually add another strip to the back to fill in for the overall view.

I like the Powermodule, but you have to be very careful with it................it's very easy to trash corals with the LED.
I've had numerous friends kill corals................My suggestion is to always color up and get the corals growing good with just the bulbs. Then overtime you can slowly work in the LEDs for that extra bling.

I bought the SBREEF actinic bar with that same intent. I guess I'll be sticking with that setup but changing my bulb combo to Big E's.

Sounds like a good plan............as I mentioned above, you can work the SBreef bar into the mix slowly once the corals are doing well. SBreef bar is the only one that partially gets adding more violet and also the dimming feature is a plus. The other thing I might do is add some diffuser material to the mix. This will eliminate any beaming/disco effect and produce a smoother mix across the tank.

The blue supplement LEDs can add that pop for viewing, but you also have to be careful to not overdue it.
I've seen acros suffer when you're adding way to much of that single 450nm spectrum on too long of a duration.

 

[Big E]

I keep getting dragged back and forth! 4 Radions stuffed into a 60" Aquatic Life fixture flanked by 2 blue+ and 2 coral+ sounds like an awesome dream right now. Now I'm wondering if I'm just bored with the lighting and just want to make a change for change sake.

Bolded sentence-- Bingo!!

Realistically, the only gain you can expect is some shimmer.

For spread and bang for buck if you want to go this route I'd look into the Orphek units. I also think Reef Breeders with 4 T5s will get the same goal without having to apply for a second mortgage.
Two well known farmers/retailers I respect have nothing but good things to say about Reefbreeders.

I know you weren't considering these other brands but I would do some research in this direction if you go that route.

 

[FarmerTy]

Bolded sentence-- Bingo!!

Realistically, the only gain you can expect is some shimmer.

For spread and bang for buck if you want to go this route I'd look into the Orphek units. I also think Reef Breeders with 4 T5s will get the same goal without having to apply for a second mortgage.
Two well known farmers/retailers I respect have nothing but good things to say about Reefbreeders.

I know you weren't considering these other brands but I would do some research in this direction if you go that route.

Thanks Big E. It seems we have very similar logic so I appreciate you taking the time to write out your thoughts as I followed them like they were my own.

I'll lightly use the actinic bar (2 hrs dawn/dusk) and dim it a bit to not overwhelm my acros. I'll already switched out my 2 purple + for 2 coral + and added one more coral +. I'll transition to 50/50 blue+ to coral+ in my 8-bulb fixture eventually.

The pictures I took of my tank in my first few posts were when it was under Ocean Revive fixtures supplemented with T5s. To me, they are basically reefbreeders as they use the same diodes. I changed out their spectrum to provide a more warm white light and got my best results with that. If all else fails, I can always go back to the well with that setup.

The new Orphek units do look tantalizing but at $900/fixture and looks like I'll need 3, that's just as pricey of a move as going with the Radions but at least you'd get more even coverage with them.

 

[J Rog]

On my new build I went with a 6 bulb ATI with 2 Reefbrite XHO strips on either side. My tank will be sps dominate. I had radion gen 3 pros on my last tank and I hated that I was always trying to get the perfect settings on them. I would end up fiddling with the settings so much that my corals did like the constant changes.. This time I wanted to go plug and play..

 

[tito]

On my new build I went with a 6 bulb ATI with 2 Reefbrite XHO strips on either side. My tank will be sps dominate. I had radion gen 3 pros on my last tank and I hated that I was always trying to get the perfect settings on them. I would end up fiddling with the settings so much that my corals did like the constant changes.. This time I wanted to go plug and play..

I have the same issue with my G4's. I seem to be always adjusting the settings to find the sweet spot. I am going to switch to T5's on my SPS tank.

 

[G8trBait16]

I have 2 8x54w over my 96x24x25 with a reefbrite on the front of each. My tank was started in May. Hoping it will be good enough to make it a SPS dominate tank.

 

[Reeflogic]

Million dollar question! You know my latest tank just got started, Ty, but I have 2 G4 pros and 2x 36" ATI bulbs over it (much smaller tank than yours lol) but I tend to always jack with the settings to find that sweet spot for different times of the day. It's driving me nuts. I keep looking for the T5/MH look I had for years and can get close but I always seem to think it's a little too blue or white and add some red or purple or green or cyan, lol. These adjustments are for my personal viewing pleasure, not so much for the happiness of the corals, because the corals are doing fantastic, mostly mixed with desires to have more sticks.

I love the combo I have, but it can be frustrating trying to dial in that perfect look from dawn until dusk! Personally, I say don't fix what isn't broken, as you have fantastic SPS growth and coloration. The great thing is, G4 Pro's resale easily, so you could give it a try and if it doesn't work, switch back and get your money back!! I had Kessil 360 WE's prior and enjoy the color output better from the Radions w/ T5 supplements for shadowing. Also, the spread on G4 Pro's is pretty awesome, you could possibly try using 3 over your tank at first and then add one later if you end up liking the combo? Just a thought!

Hope you are feeling better!!

 

[KJ]

This is my 8 bulb T5 only tank!

Very nice looking tank. T5 I'm coming back on my new build

 

[Robert Minett]

Where are you finding a deal on the G4 Pros? I need 4 of them for my tank and can't find them for less than $799.00 as.


Thanks,
Robert

 

[Robert Minett]

Where are you finding a deal on the G4 Pros? I need 4 of them for my tank and can't find them for less than $799.00 as.


Thanks,
Robert

 

[tito]

Where are you finding a deal on the G4 Pros? I need 4 of them for my tank and can't find them for less than $799.00 as.


Thanks,
Robert

Not sure. I dont recall EcoTech ever offering discounts on G4's. Maybe they will do something for Black Friday?

I purchased mine second hand.

 

[trido]

What is the name of this coral?

I like the LED/T5 Combo. I primarily have LED with LED supplement but a little T-5 absolutely gives the easy option to change the spectrum around a bit at bulb change time. More so than adjusting LED spectrum.

 

[Sabellafella]

What is the name of this coral?

I like the LED/T5 Combo. I primarily have LED with LED supplement but a little T-5 absolutely gives the easy option to change the spectrum around a bit at bulb change time. More so than adjusting LED spectrum.

Wwc yellow tip acropora, actually not so sure on it's species but I love it.