There are people who have created profiles to mimic the AB+ from the Radions for the Hydras. The overall power is there. I was new into the hobby, and changed the lighting settings too often, chasing I don't know what. I probably burned some corals too with 1 Hydra 26, it is plenty strong, but I needed 1 more for coverage purposes. And I agree T5 are set it and forget it. Also don't need to change bulbs yearly, BRS did research and found the bulbs lost 15% of power after 1 years use (if I remember correctly). But to each their own, whichever way you go will have its plusses and minuses when compared to another variant of lighting i.e. t5 versus led versus halides.