Aquatic Life Debuts LED/T5HO Hybrid Mounting System Fixture Reef Hobbyists Have Been Waiting For!

[gatorbait01]

Interested to know if any of you left the settings on your existing LEDs as-is or turned them down, if so any issues either way?

I turned mine down. I used a par meter and went to 50% of my previous led settings to get approximately the same max par at the brightest point in the tank. I decided to go to 70% of my previous settings as my final setting and have my led ramp to that final setting over the month.

 

[Z3speed4me]

Dropped my Blues and Purples down by only about 5 or 6 %. Everything seems happy thus far. I am only running the T5's for about 3 hours right now, next week will be 4 hours.

My LED's are Rapid LED Corona units. will check my PAR one of these nights just to compare my numbers to before, but if everything is looking good I am not messing with it much.

 

[trio91]

Better pics of the full mount, just have to do some wire management this weekend.

Nice set up. About how much weight do you think the lights are putting on the suspension kit? Not the aquatic life one but the bar system. Does it bow a little in the middle?
I'm asking cuz I have been thinking about getting one of those set ups for my tek light on my RSM but I wasn't sure that it was sturdy enough

 

[Darth George]

Interested to know if any of you left the settings on your existing LEDs as-is or turned them down, if so any issues either way?

I actually turned my 360's up. But I'm also in the process of lowering the fixture weekly for acclimation. No issues at all yet.

 

[Darth George]

Just finished my build of the AquaticLife fixture hanging skirt.

Turned out ok.

There are more detailed pics on my build thread. But so far I'm happy.

Looks great!

 

[Z3speed4me]

I had it on my tank for a bit over a year with the LED's; now with the hybrid setup it has a tiny bit of bow in the middle, maybe 1/2" if that.
Full weight is probably around 18 lbs. Each LED unit is about 3lbs.

I likely wouldn't try it with a 4ft tank, but for 3ft it works. I did put some foam/neoprene between the mounts and the glass though just to take away any pinpoint stresspoints.

 

[trio91]

I had it on my tank for a bit over a year with the LED's; now with the hybrid setup it has a tiny bit of bow in the middle, maybe 1/2" if that.
Full weight is probably around 18 lbs. Each LED unit is about 3lbs.

I likely wouldn't try it with a 4ft tank, but for 3ft it works. I did put some foam/neoprene between the mounts and the glass though just to take away any pinpoint stresspoints.

Thanx for info bud

 

[Elgringodiablo]

The radions as no support so attaching it to the radions is useless. Basically the radions just sits in the groove the hybrid provide there is no added support.

I am talking about the RMS supporting the weight of the radions via the sliders distributing the weight across 5 points of the bar instead of two.

 

[Mac Galinato]

Okay I just noticed this while cleaning up.

Clip of the right bulb.

Seems consistent with a post here and a few others from other groups.

The T5s are run 6hrs daily.

 

[siggy]

Okay I just noticed this while cleaning up.

Clip of the right bulb.

Seems consistent with a post here and a few others from other groups..

that looks like it's torn away....A.L. mentioned if it becomes a problem they will just do away with the coating..

 

[AquaticLifeProducts]

Okay I just noticed this while cleaning up.

Clip of the right bulb.

Seems consistent with a post here and a few others from other groups.

The T5s are run 6hrs daily.

Is it just the one clip? Can you also let us know which lamps you are using in the fixture? Much appreciated.

 

[Jimbo662]

One thing I noticed was I had to stretch the clamp out because the coating caused the opening to be a lot narrower than the bulb. I'm using ATI bulbs.

 

[AquaticLifeProducts]

As Siggy mentioned we are going to go to the SS clips and no coating on the next production, thought it would be a good addition, but if it's not beneficial it's better to remove.

 

[Trickman2]

Any Idea on the weight of lights that can be added? I have a couple old ecoxotic 100 watt cannons. They seem heavy even without the mounting hardware that came with them. Also what bulbs do you recommend?

 

[AquaticLifeProducts]

Let me do some checking on the suspension hardware limitations. We used this same kit with the Experts and they weighed around 25 pounds.

What does a cannon weigh?

 

[Trickman2]

Let me do some checking on the suspension hardware limitations. We used this same kit with the Experts and they weighed around 25 pounds.

What does a cannon weigh?

Not sure I would have to weigh it when I get home.

 

[Trickman2]

Let me do some checking on the suspension hardware limitations. We used this same kit with the Experts and they weighed around 25 pounds.

What does a cannon weigh?

What model of ballast is used in the unit? Can it be put on a dimmer?

 

[gatorbait01]

I borrowed a PAR meter and took some measurements on my tank w/ my Hydra 26 HD only and w/ the addition of the the T5 fixture. This is the 24" model and the T5 bulbs are 2 ATI blue plus, 1 Coral Plus and a Actinic. Ultimately I turned down the LED's to 70% of their previous settings and did a 1 month acclimation up to that level. Main reason for adding the T5's was that I was getting a lot of shadowing on my sps.

Hydra 26 HD Only:

Hydra 26 HD along w/ T5's:

 

[Kyl]

So I've been mulling how to attach the fixture somewhat under an overhead cupboard, without losing vertical real-estate as the shelving is 12" above the tank rim. With about half of the fixture extending past the base of the cupboard, the 8020 25 series aluminum extrusions look like they could be an ideal solution. Affix them with the channel up towards the cupboard, that way I can slide the unit in or out for easier maintenance just by backing off a few T-slot nuts. Four holes to affix the extrusion to the fixture with Tslot nuts as well, and it would only take up about 1/2" of drop, keeping the light about 9.5 - 10" from the water line, which seems idea. Or go with the standard 1" profile and get some cord management along the side of the profile.. decisions..

I doubt there would be any flex concerns given it's a channelled profile with only about 10" extending past the cupboard, and would have another foot and a half attached in multiple places to secure.

 

[AquaticLifeProducts]

What model of ballast is used in the unit? Can it be put on a dimmer?

The ballast is the non dimmable HEP ballast.