Brooks Allman
Active Member
Hey everyone!
I wanted to make this post about the aquatic life hybrid t5 lights because when I was researching I didn’t find much about them other than the negatives which I will also include.
Negatives:
1. Cords come from either side of the fixture which makes wires hard to conceal. Aquatic life has made end caps that cover them but the complaint I’ve seen from there is that the length of the cords are short. For me this wasn’t an issue but a lot of people online were complaining about this.
2. The lights are not programmable or dimmable. For me this wasn’t an issue because I use Apex and have a controller for them anyways but also you could easily set up timers. As for dimmable I use radions inbetween them so the lights are only on for my peak hours anyways.
3. Each power cord only powers the two t5’s on its own side of the fixture. I don’t have a diagram but it would make more sense for a cord to power both inside bulbs then the other power cord would power the outside bulbs. This would help if you wanted better coverage with only two bulbs turned on. There is a super easy DIY to fix this at the link posted here. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/re-wiring-aquatic-life-hybrid.354772/
OK, so now that the griping is all over I will move on to what was missing from my searching online.
When I added the hybrid to my two Radion XR15 gen 4 pros it made a HUGE difference. I had those on the arm mounts over the tank and they were growing coral but my tank (Reefer 350 4’ wide) didn’t look like I knew it could. I have been reefing for 3 years so no where near experienced as some other members and all I have ever known was LED’s.
Here’s what I noticed immediately:
- Disco ball effect went away immediately
(You don’t realize how much you have until you compare it to your tank with T5’s)
- Shadowing went away
There was some shadowing on my acros and as soon as the t5’s came on it immediately lit everything.
(I did only have two puck source LEDs but the difference was night and day, literally)
Here’s what I noticed within the first week.
- Corals colors have already been coming out like crazy. I have Zoa’s on the sand bed and they look better than they ever have. Candy apple reds have more skirt color than they had when I bought them in their established tank.
Also all of my montis have been getting more vibrant.
- Water looks way clearer, I’m guessing this is due to more light and you can see much more easily.
- Fish look phenomenal under the lights.
I have two designer clowns, a yellow eye Kole tang, and a yellow coris and they all look much better.
ACCLIMATION:
This is one of the topics I couldn’t really find a lot of info on so I just made it up myself. My radions followed the AB+ coral labs schedule modified with a little less white. They ran to 48% from 12-7. I had taken PAR measurements before and was getting about 300 in the top hot spots but with only two lights the majority of my par was from 80-175 in the lower half of the tank. What I did was drop my radions down to 43% and started with only 2 bulbs (1 plug) on for 1.5 hours a day. I added a half hour every day and monitored the coral very closely. Once I got to the full peak with those two I started the same strategy with the other two bulbs (plug 2). None of my corals showed signs of bleaching or irritation and I’ve honestly never seen them looking better.
I chose the following bulbs to place in the fixture.
1 Blue+
1 Coral+
1 Purple
1 Blue+
Some people might think that’s too white but I’m more focused on the coral health than the appearance. Also the LED combo with this light set up looks IMO amazing.
If anyone has any questions let me know. I think I covered most things I wasn’t able to find in one place along with my review.
Thanks!
I wanted to make this post about the aquatic life hybrid t5 lights because when I was researching I didn’t find much about them other than the negatives which I will also include.
Negatives:
1. Cords come from either side of the fixture which makes wires hard to conceal. Aquatic life has made end caps that cover them but the complaint I’ve seen from there is that the length of the cords are short. For me this wasn’t an issue but a lot of people online were complaining about this.
2. The lights are not programmable or dimmable. For me this wasn’t an issue because I use Apex and have a controller for them anyways but also you could easily set up timers. As for dimmable I use radions inbetween them so the lights are only on for my peak hours anyways.
3. Each power cord only powers the two t5’s on its own side of the fixture. I don’t have a diagram but it would make more sense for a cord to power both inside bulbs then the other power cord would power the outside bulbs. This would help if you wanted better coverage with only two bulbs turned on. There is a super easy DIY to fix this at the link posted here. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/re-wiring-aquatic-life-hybrid.354772/
OK, so now that the griping is all over I will move on to what was missing from my searching online.
When I added the hybrid to my two Radion XR15 gen 4 pros it made a HUGE difference. I had those on the arm mounts over the tank and they were growing coral but my tank (Reefer 350 4’ wide) didn’t look like I knew it could. I have been reefing for 3 years so no where near experienced as some other members and all I have ever known was LED’s.
Here’s what I noticed immediately:
- Disco ball effect went away immediately
(You don’t realize how much you have until you compare it to your tank with T5’s)
- Shadowing went away
There was some shadowing on my acros and as soon as the t5’s came on it immediately lit everything.
(I did only have two puck source LEDs but the difference was night and day, literally)
Here’s what I noticed within the first week.
- Corals colors have already been coming out like crazy. I have Zoa’s on the sand bed and they look better than they ever have. Candy apple reds have more skirt color than they had when I bought them in their established tank.
Also all of my montis have been getting more vibrant.
- Water looks way clearer, I’m guessing this is due to more light and you can see much more easily.
- Fish look phenomenal under the lights.
I have two designer clowns, a yellow eye Kole tang, and a yellow coris and they all look much better.
ACCLIMATION:
This is one of the topics I couldn’t really find a lot of info on so I just made it up myself. My radions followed the AB+ coral labs schedule modified with a little less white. They ran to 48% from 12-7. I had taken PAR measurements before and was getting about 300 in the top hot spots but with only two lights the majority of my par was from 80-175 in the lower half of the tank. What I did was drop my radions down to 43% and started with only 2 bulbs (1 plug) on for 1.5 hours a day. I added a half hour every day and monitored the coral very closely. Once I got to the full peak with those two I started the same strategy with the other two bulbs (plug 2). None of my corals showed signs of bleaching or irritation and I’ve honestly never seen them looking better.
I chose the following bulbs to place in the fixture.
1 Blue+
1 Coral+
1 Purple
1 Blue+
Some people might think that’s too white but I’m more focused on the coral health than the appearance. Also the LED combo with this light set up looks IMO amazing.
If anyone has any questions let me know. I think I covered most things I wasn’t able to find in one place along with my review.
Thanks!
