Transitioning to Hybrid from LED only

[Aquanautical]

Hey everyone,
I just installed my @AquaticLifeProducts hybrid fixture I got from @Reef Breeders, so far super happy with it as I have been looking to make the move to hybrid for a while now. I got the 24" fixture and hooked up my 16" Photon v2+. I am going to run 1x ATI coral + 1x ATI True actinic 2x ATI Blue +. I have a few questions for the lightpros here in Dana Riddle's theme park. Tank is SPS dom with a few LPS on sandbed Nuvo 40.

1) What is the best way to run hybrid? Do I run it as LED was run but with t5 to suppliment at peak (4-8 hours)? I was running a 10 hr peak photoperiod with 2 hrs ramp up and down before/after with just my photon. To acclimate do i start with less time with t5 and increase?

2) How high off the waterline should I mount the fixture? I was running my photon @ 12" above waterline

3) Should target PAR be from LED only or both LED and t5?

Thanks for the help excited to join the hybrid family.

 

[Huff747]

Doesn’t make it right but here’s what I did. I had LED as well. The LEDs ramped up for 1 hour, were on for 8 and ramped down for one.

When I added the hybrid I turned the back bank of T5s on somewhere in the middle of the 8 hours the LEDs were at max. And I only ran the back for maybe an hour (I don't remember exactly). I think I turned on the front bank of T5s for an hour as well but they were only both on together for 15 minutes when I first started.

Each week I would add 15 minutes longer to how long front and back were on.

And now I have it so that the back T5 bank comes on 1/2 hour after the LEDs are maxed, and a 1/2 hour after that the fronts go on and they all run until an hour before the ramp down starts when the back bank goes off and then a 1/2 hour before the LEDs ramp down the front bank go off. I did start extending the total photo period a bit just to have more time in the evening to see the tank.

So my schedule looks like this currently:

11am-noon LEDs ramp up
12:30 back T5s come on
1:00 front T5s come on
7:30 back T5s go off
8:00 front T5s go off
8:30-9:30 LEDs ramp down

Also I have my lights mounted ~11.5 inches above the water. No real reason other than that's where I liked how they looked at they seemed to cover the tank there.

I tend to pay most attention to the par when all the lights are on during that peak time.

 

[Aquanautical]

Nice I'm at about 10" off the water now here is the setup

 

[Aquanautical]

Anyone else

 

[LilElroyJetson]

Bump.

Curious to hear more feedback as to how people handled this as I plan on upgrading to an LED/T5 hybrid on my new tank as well.

 

[Aquanautical]

so far so good, i"m running T5 for 2 hrs this week 11 am -1 pm. turned LEDs down a little from blues @80% whites 30% to 60% blues 25% whites

 

[Aquanautical]

Have a par meter, Will post results in a few hours. If anyone has experience please hop in and share! Calling all Hybrid dudes/ettes!

 

[muzikalmatt]

Following along for future reference as I'm planning on getting this same fixture to pair with my Kessil A360WE when I have the funds.

 

[ROBODOG]

I am planning on getting the 36" version. I am planning on just putting 1 Kessil A360W in the middle. My tank is 36.5" x 21" x 18.5. I am trying to get away with not buying 2 kessils for budget reasons. Anyone think this will work ok?

 

[Aquanautical]

Oops got busy and forgot to update, my bad! The PAR results were good, I ended up turning my Reefbreeders Photon down too much so it goes to show that PAR meters are invaluable. I turned the Photon 16 back up to the following settings at peak (9am-7pm)
R: 10%
G: 10%
RB: 75%
W: 27%
B: 65%
V: 95%

The PAR results from T5 only (LED off) indicated a uniform 80-100 PAR at almost every non-shaded location in the tank. This was measured from 4" below water line down to the bottom at 18" Depth. This coincides with a blanket 80-100 PAR increase from my previous LED settings before I tweaked it. Places that were 250 par Are now 330-350

For the Both LED and T5 I now have 250-350 par at a depth of 6"-15" where all my Acropora reside, this gives me huge placement freedom. My 1/2" sandbed receives almost a uniform 180-200 PAR now anywhere in the tank. A little high for my LPS but I need the PAR for my Acros.

Coverage is amazing, I am hooked on hybrid now, will prob never go back to LED only. I will try and post a pic of my tank with the new PAR readings superimposed but I am busy so it may take a few days

 

[MrWheelock]

Oops got busy and forgot to update, my bad! The PAR results were good, I ended up turning my Reefbreeders Photon down too much so it goes to show that PAR meters are invaluable. I turned the Photon 16 back up to the following settings at peak (9am-7pm)
R: 10%
G: 10%
RB: 75%
W: 27%
B: 65%
V: 95%

The PAR results from T5 only (LED off) indicated a uniform 80-100 PAR at almost every non-shaded location in the tank. This was measured from 4" below water line down to the bottom at 18" Depth. This coincides with a blanket 80-100 PAR increase from my previous LED settings before I tweaked it. Places that were 250 par Are now 330-350

For the Both LED and T5 I now have 250-350 par at a depth of 6"-15" where all my Acropora reside, this gives me huge placement freedom. My 1/2" sandbed receives almost a uniform 180-200 PAR now anywhere in the tank. A little high for my LPS but I need the PAR for my Acros.

Coverage is amazing, I am hooked on hybrid now, will prob never go back to LED only. I will try and post a pic of my tank with the new PAR readings superimposed but I am busy so it may take a few days

Can we add this to the par/light data base?

 

[MrWheelock]

Thanks for the numbers BTW

 

[dwest]

Anyone else

Similar to @Huff747. I ran kessil leds, then added the T5 hybrid. I started 15 minutes per day t5 photoperiod then added 15-30 minutes every 2 weeks. Now, my leds ramp for 2 hours, everything on for 8, then my leds ramp down 2 hours.

 

[dwest]

I am planning on getting the 36" version. I am planning on just putting 1 Kessil A360W in the middle. My tank is 36.5" x 21" x 18.5. I am trying to get away with not buying 2 kessils for budget reasons. Anyone think this will work ok?

Depends on what you keep and how high you can hang the unit. I would think you will eventually run 2 kessils TBH. I have 6 A360’s on my 180, but only run them 50% max for now. Plan to go up some more slowly.

 

[CindyKz]

I have the 61" Aquatic Life Hybrid over a 6' 180 gal tank with 4 Kessil A360WEs. LEDs ramp up 8am-9 am, everything is on 10am-5pm, then the kessils do a very slow ramp down until 10pm (so I can look at the tank at night). The kessils max out at 65%. PAR is 75-150 on the sandbed, 350 at the tops of the rocks (measured with everything on). I may turn the kessils up at some point, but I wanted plenty of lower light areas for acans and brains. I only plan for a few SPS at the top .

ETA: PAR varied depending on whether I was directly under a kessil or between them.

 

[bar|none]

The PAR results from T5 only (LED off) indicated a uniform 80-100 PAR at almost every non-shaded location in the tank. This was measured from 4" below water line down to the bottom at 18" Depth. This coincides with a blanket 80-100 PAR increase from my previous LED settings before I tweaked it. Places that were 250 par Are now 330-350

For the Both LED and T5 I now have 250-350 par at a depth of 6"-15" where all my Acropora reside, this gives me huge placement freedom. My 1/2" sandbed receives almost a uniform 180-200 PAR now anywhere in the tank. A little high for my LPS but I need the PAR for my Acros.

Coverage is amazing, I am hooked on hybrid now, will prob never go back to LED only. I will try and post a pic of my tank with the new PAR readings superimposed but I am busy so it may take a few days

I just started up a hybrid setup which consists of a Red Sea LED90 (7" off water) sitting on its intended tank mount with a Giesemann Infinity with 4 T5s and No Halide sitting at 14" off water.

I have a PAR meter and am getting very similar numbers to yours ^^^. Way better and more controllable for SPS dominant.

I just started yesterday with T5s coming on for 2 hours midday while ramping LED 90 from 100% Blue to 80% Blue during T5 period. White staying at 50%.

Open to any advise on a good way to acclimate.

Excited to see results.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This IMO opinion will be the ideal combination lighting in the future. Led lights have come a long way very recently. The fantastic shimmer they produce combined with energy efficiency plus advanced controllability is hard to beat. It is important though that we dial in the right spectrum and proper intensity for corals or else shadowing can be an issue in dense reef tanks where corals are within each other.
Lately more hobbyists are finding that they can have the best of both worlds by utilizing an LED and T5 Fluorescent combination.
this is Best accomplished by combining LED and T5 fluorescent lights into a canopy or custom light rack. Hence, the long-term benefits lus cost savings do reefers looking to combine and utilizing the best combo which suits their needs.really make sense for a lot of