Do Reefbrite XHO's fit within the Aquaticlife Hybrid?

tsouth · Mar 12, 2020

Hey all, hope you're well. Reaching out to ask whether or not anyone has experience on whether or not a Reefbrite XHO will fit inside/within the middle portion of the aquatic life hybrids? Does anyone have end to end dimensions of a 36" reefbrite xho? Do you know if they can be top mounted?

If I have a 36" Aquatic life hybrid, should I order the 30" or 36" and screw through the top mount brackets of the hybrid fixture, into the top of the xho?
I'm worried that the length of the XHO will not fit within the two side brackets. See images below for the mounting bracket:

tsouth · Mar 13, 2020

JPergamo · Mar 24, 2020

Just came across this so I'll give it a bump. I have a 60in aquatic life and would like to add 2XHOs on the outside of it potentially.

tsouth · Mar 24, 2020

JPergamo said:
Just came across this so I'll give it a bump. I have a 60in aquatic life and would like to add 2XHOs on the outside of it potentially.

Hey, The xho's will fit outside with no issue. I went with the 30" just to be safe and it was as easy as pie. I do not think the 36" would have fit as it would need to be less than 35 1/4". The screws with the brackets on the ends would've pushed it over the edge, and it lights up my 48" long tank just fine

Sethm · Apr 4, 2020

So how do you like it? I’ve been thinking about doing the same.

tsouth · Apr 5, 2020

They most definitely give the hit. I am mostly happy I purchased one because "now I know" vs the impact they made. So my setup is the hybrid fixture, 2 kessil a80's from a past nano tank, and the xho. I would say that the color difference in corals between the kessil's a80's bluest color vs the xho is not incredibly mind blowing, but it the xho brings out depth in the colors. If I had the t5's only, and then added the xho without any experience from the kessil's - then that would bamboozle me. The spread on the 30" xho covers the 48" tank fine at the fixture about 8-10 inches above the tank.

For me, the Kessil is only there for shimmer and some night time viewing, and I rely on the XHO for better fluorescence. I would still do the same thing if I was in the position I was a month ago. If possible, find people in person and see different once in action - Orphek, reefbrite, illumagic, etc. My LFS uses illumagics and tbh they're pretty nice and bring out some dang nice colors - and If I ever make space in my hybrid fixture, I would definitely add one alongside my XHO.

The fit is nice, I hold mine in using the brackets supplied with the aquatic life fixture. It's the same height as the fixture too so it doesn't look out of balance with the rest and it practically hidden inside the inner compartment when viewing from head on. Worked out well.

All in all, defintely recommended this combo.