Move from AI Prime HD to ATI T5 and Reefbrite

Aaron Soliz

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Hello Reefers,

To cut my story as short as possible, I went to a friends house today and he was using some pretty amazing lights that now I want on my 20 gallon Nuvo. His tank was 120 gallons so obviously not that specific fixture but he shared he is using ATI T5 lighting with four 24 inch reefbrite lights.

He has it mounted from his ceiling but I wanted to get everyone’s thoughts regarding this subject. Since I don’t want to hang from the ceiling, that I keep my ai prime HD on whites, buy the a T5 fixture along with purchasing the ATI bulb and lastly add a 24 inch reefbrite and wrap it all together.

Is this the route to go? I took some pics of his tank with the T5 on along with the reefbrite and one without the t5 on and the reefbrite on.

please help me accomplish this goal and thoughts would be really helpful.
E14C7ED2-CD16-414D-818C-57A60CD74903.jpeg


15C62EED-2087-4EB8-95BF-48CC8BFCF988.jpeg
 

Anchor

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I LOVE T5 lights personally.. I would get the T5 retrofit kit for 2 bulbs and 18 inch reefbrights.. a single or pair over a 20 should work. Make your own canopy for this. as you only have 12 inches depth to work with a single reefbright might work good with the pair of t5.
 
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Aaron Soliz

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I LOVE T5 lights personally.. I would get the T5 retrofit kit for 2 bulbs and 18 inch reefbrights.. a single or pair over a 20 should work. Make your own canopy for this. as you only have 12 inches depth to work with a single reefbright might work good with the pair of t5.
Maybe this would even work
I LOVE T5 lights personally.. I would get the T5 retrofit kit for 2 bulbs and 18 inch reefbrights.. a single or pair over a 20 should work. Make your own canopy for this. as you only have 12 inches depth to work with a single reefbright might work good with the pair of t5.
what would be another alternative instead of a canopy? Anything else?
 

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Instead of a canopy you might use white gutters. Or Aquatic Life sells parts for their t5 fixtures you might be able to cobble something together with those. I have never used Reefbrights so I actually dont know how they come. Lemme have a look see
 

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OK so reef brights have hanging clips.. You will have to make some way of either hanging them or finding a way to make legs for all of this.. I think you can get cheapy t5 fixtures on Amazon but again, you will need to make a way to hang them. The reefbrights also .. sec..

I think I would do the 50/50 reefbright.. t5 is either coral+ or Blue+ ATI bulb

Look at this..


 
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Anchor

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Do you have a tank mount for the AI prime? You could make mounts out of a pair of those.. Personally, the AI is much more versatile than the reefprights.. just add a single t5. add on as you go.. will be a way of saving a little money if you dont like it.

As an alternative.. get a bigger tank :)
 

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I know, dumping a lot of stuff. but there are a lot of choices.. here is what you want I think

 

shadesatsetbreak

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Hello Reefers,

To cut my story as short as possible, I went to a friends house today and he was using some pretty amazing lights that now I want on my 20 gallon Nuvo. His tank was 120 gallons so obviously not that specific fixture but he shared he is using ATI T5 lighting with four 24 inch reefbrite lights.

He has it mounted from his ceiling but I wanted to get everyone’s thoughts regarding this subject. Since I don’t want to hang from the ceiling, that I keep my ai prime HD on whites, buy the a T5 fixture along with purchasing the ATI bulb and lastly add a 24 inch reefbrite and wrap it all together.

Is this the route to go? I took some pics of his tank with the T5 on along with the reefbrite and one without the t5 on and the reefbrite on.

please help me accomplish this goal and thoughts would be really helpful.
E14C7ED2-CD16-414D-818C-57A60CD74903.jpeg


15C62EED-2087-4EB8-95BF-48CC8BFCF988.jpeg

Could you ask him what his bulb combination is? I'm curious.
 
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Aaron Soliz

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That works too...

correct i do agree, there is a lot of choices. I do plan on upgrading tanks to a 70 peninsula. I’ll def do this route on the next tank but that won’t be for a little while now. There are brackets that screw into my stand to hold the fixture up.
 

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correct i do agree, there is a lot of choices. I do plan on upgrading tanks to a 70 peninsula. I’ll def do this route on the next tank but that won’t be for a little while now. There are brackets that screw into my stand to hold the fixture up.

2 of those brackets and you have a ready made way to attach t5

I think..
 

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@Aaron Soliz any update? I also have a Nuvo 20 with 1Kessil 360we and want to supplement with a T5. I was thinking of getting 1 or 2 Sunblaster but found the Reefbrite slim single and double while researching. So back to research. Need to figure out a mounting as I don't want to to use pendant from celling. I saw someone mounted one with what appear to be the Kessil arm in the DIY led/T5 which I liked.

T5_Kessil.JPG
 
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Aaron Soliz

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@Aaron Soliz any update? I also have a Nuvo 20 with 1Kessil 360we and want to supplement with a T5. I was thinking of getting 1 or 2 Sunblaster but found the Reefbrite slim single and double while researching. So back to research. Need to figure out a mounting as I don't want to to use pendant from celling. I saw someone mounted one with what appear to be the Kessil arm in the DIY led/T5 which I liked.

T5_Kessil.JPG
Hi there!
I have been doing more and more research and have realized it might be best to wait till I upgrade to a bigger tank. As much as i want that color in my tank, people are sharing it be too much light and will probably cook my corals :/
 

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Do you know what the bulb combination is that your friend is running in the original picture? It looks awesome!
 

Anchor

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Just had a thought.. Look into Kessil A160 Tuna Blue.. For the price, I dont think you would be disappointed in the results. Obviously NOT what your friend has. It is a set it and forget it set up. but you can also get a controller for it and go from there.
 
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