Switching from Radion G5 Blue to T5

[A. grandis]

My old 120 with 8 bulb non dimmable Sunpower ATI
2 X RB actinic strips(standard ones, not pro)

How was the shimmer?

No need dimmable!
Normal Sunpower is the one to get.

 

[Perry]

How was the shimmer?

No need dimmable!
Normal Sunpower is the one to get.

No shimmer, they came standard with mounts putting them maybe 2" off surface, not mountedto ATI. They provided a bit of blue pop, the t5's alone did the heavy lifting. The tank was only under just led blues for 2 hours before t5, and 1 hour after, they stayed on throughout entire up and down cycle. Anything more would have been overkill, as you can see, acros growing on sandbed, lol.

 

[nickkohrn]

I recently sold my Radions and purchased a six-bulb ATI SunPower for my 40gal breeder SPS-dominated frag system. I have one blue Reef Brite being delivered tomorrow, and another will be here next month. I couldn't be happier with my decision to switch to T5s from LEDs, but I am excited to see what the Reef Brites provide since I do miss the fluorescence of my corals in the late evenings.

 

[ryshark]

Hi,

I’m currently running 4 XR15 Gen 5’s Blue a 48” 120G with canopy. With all of the mobius issues and now cracked lights i’m looking for any feedback on switching. Mixed reef with LPS and just started adding SPS and a couple acros, all are doing great.

Budget is 2k
How many bulb fixture would I need to support sps?
Recommendation on bulbs? I do like the color of ab+, maybe more on the blue side
Should I add 2 Orphek or Reef Brites right away? I enjoy the dusk/dawn effect. Looking at the Orphek UV and Blue
I have an Apogee 510 to test par, currently sitting at 110 on the sand. Should i expect more par from this setup?

Been years since I used T5’s, I appreciate any help

My vote is for ATI non-dimmable with either 6 or 8 bulbs and you really only need 1x ReefBrite XHO in the front. 6-bulbs is proven enough to grow SPS and since you’re mostly LPS I think 6-bulbs and 1-ReefBrite would be fine. If you think you’ll end up going with mostly SPS down the road then you can always add another Reefbrite in the back. Or, if you don’t want to ever second guess your lighting decision, go 8-bulb. Either way, I think you can save the money on the 2nd ReefBrite, for now. You can always add that later, if you feel you need it.

 

[wes urquhart]

Have you considered a hybrid Led/T5. I recently added T5s to my radion g4s and absolutely love it. Best of both worlds and I'm getting really solid growth.

 

[dadnjesse]

Have you considered a hybrid Led/T5. I recently added T5s to my radion g4s and absolutely love it. Best of both worlds and I'm getting really solid growth.

Agree my Sps tank is doing amazing. I have Radion T5 Hybrid

 

[ScottB]

I personally would not do the dimmable fixture. Reason being is bulbs need to be "burned in" before use(ATI recommends 50 hours at 100% before dimming them). Just a hassle I did not like when I was looking for a fixture. So I went with the regular sunpower. Just simple on and off, with 2 of the 6 bulbs, and reefbrites being my sunrise/sunset modes.

I would do a 6 bulb combo with reefbrites. Running 3 blue+, 1 actinic, 1 purple+, and 1 coral+. For reefbrites, 2 actinic blue XHO. Love this setup on my 80 cube. I get around 400 par at the top of my scape some 14" from my lights(36 tall tank), and about 150 at the sand.

+1 on this ^^
I run the 8 bulb 80 watt Sunpower. When I switched to this fixture (from LED), my 2-part consumption really took off. But I miss the shimmer and pop. I should have done 6 bulb and 2 reefbrites.

Dimmable is a waste of money, and the burn in sounds like a PITA. Let the reefbrites do the ramping.

 

[NY_Sea]

6 bulb 2 reefbrites gets my vote!

the ATI fixtures are great and I'm also looking at the giesemann matrix 6 bulb 54 watt

 

[adrianr514]

I guess my question would be did your Radions come cracked? Also are you having any issues with mobius or is your experience based on what others are reporting?

 

[Ratherbeflyen]

I watched the BRS investigates series and after this video, I decided to go with the T5 and LED's.





To me, T5 and LED is the best of both worlds. T5's are plug and play success and the LED's can be tuned for a couple hours of straight eye candy in the evening.

I added a pair of BRS 5' retrofit kits with 80 watt blue plus, coral plus and 2 x actinic blubs. The separate kits has two plugs that so I can turn on half of my T5's with the controllable outlet. IMO, having 2 bulbs on at 100% is better than having 4 bulbs on at 50%.

T5 HO Miro-4 Retrofit Kit

Add to your canopy with the Miro-4 T5 High Output Retrofit Kit from LET Lighting. Retrofit kits give you the flexibility to add T5 lamps virtually to any tank, while keeping a low overall cost. T5 lighting can either be the main light source or supplemental light to another light source like LED...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

(My LED's are DIY, 44 10 watt chips at various spectrum.)

It's working pretty good for me.

 

[Houstoner]

I have not had any issues with Mobius, so far. I was lucky and had no cracks or irregular noises with my two xr15 blues. That said I would just wait until ETM can make the situation right, I'm sure they are flooded with similar claims atm.

 

[Multra]

You can add a couple of these in your canopy to get rid of the shadowing, no reason to throw out a whole setup.

 

[Hydrored]

I guess my question would be did your Radions come cracked? Also are you having any issues with mobius or is your experience based on what others are reporting?

No they did not, they have been creaking and popping since day one. The lense is starting to warp as well. Mobius has been nothing but a problem, 2 nights ago my wife woke me up to tell me one of the lights were on at 3 am.

 

[RCS82]

No they did not, they have been creaking and popping since day one. The lense is starting to warp as well. Mobius has been nothing but a problem, 2 nights ago my wife woke me up to tell me one of the lights were on at 3 am.

I feel like Ecotech really dropped the ball here by calling these new lights gen5 when it sounds to me like they should be a gen1 of a new product series.

 

[adrianr514]

No they did not, they have been creaking and popping since day one. The lense is starting to warp as well. Mobius has been nothing but a problem, 2 nights ago my wife woke me up to tell me one of the lights were on at 3 am.

I cant speak about the cracking myself since I’m still waiting on mine however I have been on the Mobius Beta since October and run two G4 XR30 pros, two MP10s and a vectra S1 and haven’t had any issues like that.

as always Companies need to push the edge of innovation and sometimes there’s misfires. The good thing about ETM is that they always make good on their products.

right now it’s probably just the fact that everyone is closed up that it’s taking longer than usual.

 

[Hydrored]

Ecotech has responded to me on my cracked fixtures. I will get them corrected and sell them.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I would not get dimmable either. I had issues with mine and ended up rewiring it to bypass the controller. Get an 8 bulb with whatever strip you like and I doubt you will be complaining. You will probably wish you had done it sooner

 

[Beck]

No they did not, they have been creaking and popping since day one. The lense is starting to warp as well. Mobius has been nothing but a problem, 2 nights ago my wife woke me up to tell me one of the lights were on at 3 am.

Same game mine like to play! Lol. Middle of the night one picks a color and turns on.

 

[Hydrored]

Here lies the problem. Measured out the canopy and it gives me 48 3/4 X 16 3/4 to work with due to the piano fold. I can hang the fixture in canopy to miss the piano fold and will put the lights 8" off the water. If I go with an 8 bulb and 2 reef brites it really limits my access to the tank for cleaning etc. Removing the canopy is not an option (wife will not allow it). Is 7 inches off the water with a 6 bulbs and 2 reef brites good for acro? Some say get a 6, others say get an 8.

48" ATI SunPower 6x54W	47.0 inches	13.4 inches	2.1 inches	80-160
48" ATI SunPower 8x54W	47.0 inches	17.5 inches	2.1 inches	110-220

 

[Hydrored]

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