LED / T5 Hybrid

[E.intheC]

I have a 120 gallon tank (48x24x24) with an Aquatic Life T5 hybrid fixture with four T5 bulbs… looking to go full-on SPS. The tank is essentially a peninsula and the rocks are in the center.

I’m considering a number of different options for the main light source… including the AI blade fixture. Would 2x glow lights work with the T5 hybrid?

Additionally I’m curious to hear how you’d light a tank like this. Thanks in advance

 

[blaxsun]

I don't know enough about the AI Blades to advise if they'd meet your needs, but Radions, Kessils or Hydras would all work well with your existing setup.

 

[bushdoc]

Picture(s) are worth thousand words, so I included Mobius screenshot of Radeon XR15 and AI Blade Grow LED. More is not always better, but I think in case of Reef LEDs it is. First light is Radeon, second Blade.Ignore light intensities, but clearly Radeon has got over 2x broader spectrum than Blade.

 

[rtparty]

I’ve got 5 blades on my peninsula now. Video in my build thread. I can confidently say they aren’t missing anything. About to hit the 6 month mark running them and everything is doing awesome with all colors accounted for.

Some of the pics pick up an orange or yellow hue from the filter over my lens. It is a very nice white with blue in person. Not windex in any way.

 

[zheka757]

awesome tank size for lightning,

 

[exnisstech]

Another option I'll toss out is a reefbreeders photon 48 and the hybrid will sit right on top of the photon. I'm running that set up but using a photon 32 on a 36x22x22 tank. I posted some pics in this thread post #17 if you want to see how it looks.

Aquatic Life + ReefBreeders? T5 Hybrid Kits Available Now!

Hey Everyone, This is for all you T5 Fans who have been asking for hybrid kits! We just confirmed fitment of the Aquaticlife T5 hybrid kits with our Photon V2+ and have kits on the way to our RI warehouse as we speak. All sizes are now listed on our website and are expected to ship on 12/26...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[E.intheC]

Thanks for the replies all
I’m not opposed to a reef breeders light either. Luckily I have time to make a decision and put aside extra money lol.

I’m pretty open for lighting options and am considering two radion xr30 gen5s, ai blades, GHL mitras, or even metal halide pendants. I am pretty set on using T5s with the LEDs though.

The tank is currently a FOWLR but that’s slowly changing to an SPS reef. Before it was a FOWLR I had an ATI power module that of course worked well.

 

[TheSheff]

Thanks for the replies all
I’m not opposed to a reef breeders light either. Luckily I have time to make a decision and put aside extra money lol.

I’m pretty open for lighting options and am considering two radion xr30 gen5s, ai blades, GHL mitras, or even metal halide pendants. I am pretty set on using T5s with the LEDs though.

The tank is currently a FOWLR but that’s slowly changing to an SPS reef. Before it was a FOWLR I had an ATI power module that of course worked well.

your best option is either the reeffi uno2.0 (better version of a radion), or quanta pro bars (better version of orphek and reef breeders bar)

 

[SPS2020]

I have a 120 gallon tank (48x24x24) with an Aquatic Life T5 hybrid fixture with four T5 bulbs… looking to go full-on SPS. The tank is essentially a peninsula and the rocks are in the center.

I’m considering a number of different options for the main light source… including the AI blade fixture. Would 2x glow lights work with the T5 hybrid?

Additionally I’m curious to hear how you’d light a tank like this. Thanks in advance

I have that fixture with four Hydra 32 HDs. You can see pics of the fixture in my build thread.

 

[E.intheC]

your best option is either the reeffi uno2.0 (better version of a radion), or quanta pro bars (better version of orphek and reef breeders bar)

Thanks for the suggestion. However I’m looking to keep with a more main stream company. Those lights look good but I’m concerned bc it’s only one person running and building them.

 

[Williamson’s Reef]

I run the aquatic life hybrid t5 fixture with Radion G5 blues on some tanks and G6 blues on others. And just bought another t5 hybrid fixture. As the corals just love the setup. For a fill light… I just couldn’t justify the cost of the AI blades over T5. You can find Radion XR30s used for $500 typically. I’m running just those on a newer setup sps tank. Growth and colors are excellent. I was surprised how fast my tester frags encrusted.

 

[Anthony Wood]

My best tank I ever set up was with a 60”- 6 bulb ATI sun power on my sps dominate 120g tank. Photo attached. Highly recommend it because the reflectors are very good. I got the Best color and growth on this set up. Don’t get me wrong I’m a die hard kessil guy and have had great success with kessil only set ups but T5’s takes the crown. Downfall with T5’s is having to replace bulbs on time because their par goes down and you’ll light shock the corals if you wait too long before swapping in new bulbs. I personally never say any noticeable difference in the corals by adding LED’s to my T5 fixture.

My next tank I’m probably gonna do a T5/LED hybrid but lean more towards the T5 side and use kessils to get the flickering affect that you won’t get with T5’s. Play around with scheduling for a nice ramp up/down curve.

 

[vabben]

I have a 120, I run three XR15’s(G5 blues on the outside with a G4 Pro in the center) and two quanta pro Meso blues. Run everything at 100% is more than enough for SPS.

 

[ronnie]

I have a 4 bulb w XR15 Pro on my 40G and SPS are doing well at all levels. Running the T5 for 7 hrs and the LEDs at 70% w ramp up from 7am-10pm (long ramps)

 

[vetteguy53081]

This may vary as everyone has a favorite light and light that meets their budget. Ive seen tanks with China lights that produce the same results as radion and Orphek. 40 years ago we used fluorescent tubes that offered Great results.

Ive used Ai Prime, hydras, radion and many early LED lights and they all produce some level of sustainability for coral.
I as many know Run Orpheks and Love them.
Other good lights are RB Photon and noopsyche brands

 

[TheSheff]

Thanks for the suggestion. However I’m looking to keep with a more main stream company. Those lights look good but I’m concerned bc it’s only one person running and building them.

Ok thats understandable, just know that they all come from china lol. If you ever reconsider you can watch some videos on youtube that show them working great. The build quality is the same or better.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I run 2 orphek bars, 4 t5, and Reefi LEDs in my SPS tank.

For acropora, I would pair your T5 with Radion or Reefi LEDs.

 

[SaltyTwigs]

I have 3 Radion Blue G6 Xr15 and 2 48 inch Blade Grow over a similar size footprint. Run at 70% for all the lights and they are hanging about 9 inches off the water. About 9 inches underwater get about 350-380 PAR pretty evenly across the footprint. About 15 inches down about 200 - 250.

 

[Natural_Reefer]

My best tank I ever set up was with a 60”- 6 bulb ATI sun power on my sps dominate 120g tank. Photo attached. Highly recommend it because the reflectors are very good. I got the Best color and growth on this set up. Don’t get me wrong I’m a die hard kessil guy and have had great success with kessil only set ups but T5’s takes the crown. Downfall with T5’s is having to replace bulbs on time because their par goes down and you’ll light shock the corals if you wait too long before swapping in new bulbs. I personally never say any noticeable difference in the corals by adding LED’s to my T5 fixture.

My next tank I’m probably gonna do a T5/LED hybrid but lean more towards the T5 side and use kessils to get the flickering affect that you won’t get with T5’s. Play around with scheduling for a nice ramp up/down curve.

Based on your experiences, how often the T5 will need to be replaced?
I just setup a 4X T5 hybrid with 3X XR15 and running the T5 for 6 hours.
Thank you

 

[X-37B]

I have a t5 hybrid for my new build.
I will run 5 xr15 blues.
This will be on a im 170 59x30x20 with the rockwork in the middle.
I ran 4 xr15's ony 80 48x24x16.
All my 15's were purchased used which ='s <$.
I ran 1hr up/down with 10hrs peak on the ab+ program.
I will run the T5's for 8hrs.
Currently working on the fixture.