thoughts on Aquatic life T5 LED hybrid light fixture

[mvallee]

In this hobby you usually get what you pay for so curious if anyone in the club has tried this light Aquatic life T5 LED hybrid light fixture I am looking at the 48" fixture which seems to be a reasonably priced 4 bulb T5 fixture that would allow for the mounting of up to three LED fixtures of your choice.

I was thinking two Hydra 52HD or 3 Hydra 26HD. These LED's with 4 T5 bulbs should be perfect over and 22" deep X 20" wide tank.
Cost would be about $1500 or $1300 respectively plus the t5 bulbs.
I have other hybrid fixtures in mind like Geisman Aurora or reefbrite but would be another $5-700 but would be top of the line

cons from reviews are
- the cords come out of opposite ends because they are the same fixture just flipped for the opposite side
- non dimmable T5's
- no cord management
with individual cords for each side of the T5's I can control length of time they are on easily and of course AI fixtures are super controllable.

was almost thinking of going with the 61" fixture so I could mount 4 AI Primes for even better coverage but that would look dumb over a 60" tank plus a lot of light spill out the sides right .

Seems like a semi reasonable priced no frills fixture that would get me to a hybrid light and the biggest expense is the type of LED fixture I go with.

thanks and thoughts opinions on this appreciated

 

[mvallee]

Just found this video review, while I get they are very biased by what they sell I enjoy their videos and this gives a better idea of what this light looks like and the configuration of it.
The funniest part is the opening add for Poo-Pourri good for a chuckle if the same add comes up for you

 

[mvallee]

From lack of replies I am guessing no one has this hybrid fixture, they are pretty new. Reviews look good and think I will give them a shot, then can provide some feedback

Question 48" fixture with 4 T5 bulbs should provide decent coverage over a 60" tank and do not think I need to go up to the 61" fixture, does that sound right?

For the LED choice I am struggling with mounting three Hydra 26 HD's or four AI primes. I think the Primes would give better even coverage vs 3 Hydra 26's, I really do not think two hydra 26's would give me the coverage I will need any thoughts on the coverage of 4 AI primes over a 60" long 22" deep tank with 4 T5's vs 2 or 3 hydra 26's

I plan on mainly LPS like torches, hammers, frogspawn Zoa's, duncans elegance etc... bottom to upper third with a few simple SPS like monti's green slimer and or birds nest up top. possibly a BTA in here too but not sure.

 

[aresangel]

I think the 48” would be fine.. that would only be a 6” GSP at either end. If you are hanging it 6” or more off the water you will get the spread you are looking for.

As far as AI goes I know Dong switched over the reefbreeders recently because of a better design and warranty. Logan from reef breeders just recently talked at or last meeting, if you are spending for top end LED’s maybe look into them. Once I can get s budget to work in my tank again from the Mrs. I am looking to upgrade and try out the reef breeders. Plus the nice thing about them is they have a couple different sizes. So you could get 2 16” or one 48” [emoji16]


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[mvallee]

I think the 48” would be fine.. that would only be a 6” GSP at either end. If you are hanging it 6” or more off the water you will get the spread you are looking for.

As far as AI goes I know Dong switched over the reefbreeders recently because of a better design and warranty. Logan from reef breeders just recently talked at or last meeting, if you are spending for top end LED’s maybe look into them. Once I can get s budget to work in my tank again from the Mrs. I am looking to upgrade and try out the reef breeders. Plus the nice thing about them is they have a couple different sizes. So you could get 2 16” or one 48”

I have not looked at reef breeders. I had them 5 years ago (I know that is a lifetime when it comes to LED), I think they were called Photons or something like that and I did not like them at all. If Dong has made the switch though they are worth looking into.
I would also need to make sure they would fit in the mount of the hybrid fixture too.

Thanks for the input

 

[Chris A.]

Photon v2 are the new reef breeders and so far I like them better than my old LED’s but the controller could be better imo

 

[mvallee]

Photon v2 are the new reef breeders and so far I like them better than my old LED’s but the controller could be better imo

that's what I remember being a pain in the arse the most with the manual controls in the front, not synced so two independent lights to configure then I got the hydra 52's with director and said this is the way to do it.

 

[Chris A.]

They have a remote that controls the 6 channels but you have to input the values of each channel for every hour which takes a while. Then if you want to change it a little repeat above lol