8' ATI Dimmable Sunpower Aurora Puck Hybrid

[Jeremy257]

Thanks. I want badly to go LED/T5 to get the good of the T5 and the shimmer of the LED but perhaps in the end MH may be the foolproof way to get growth, color and shimmer. I'll definitely continue to follow your results closely.

 

[Jeremy257]

AZRippster, how is the tank doing these days?

 

[AZRippster]

AZRippster, how is the tank doing these days?

Great! No more losses and some nice new growth showing up. I have to honestly say I don't think the growth is the same as under MH/T5, but it's very acceptable. Color wise I feel it's the same and in some ways "maybe" even better. I have one Garf Bonsai SPS that tried to turn itself into an encrusting coral with almost no branching, little to no polyp extension, and almost entirely purple under solely LED. Under MH/T5 the branches appeared with lighter coloration, beautiful polyps popping out, and overall healthier. Now under LED/T5 it continues with this progress and growth which makes me very happy!

So far no complaints.

 

[Jeremy257]

Awesome news. Very encouraging.

 

[Jeremy257]

AZRippster,
I got rid of my cube a few months ago and have been out of the hobby. I just sold my house and take possession of my new home at the end of October. The time has come. I will order my new custom tank in the next few weeks.

How is the Hybrid these days? I'll need to decide on lighting very soon for the new tank.

 

[AZRippster]

Jeremy,

Things are doing GREAT! I have learned a few things though. With the ATI 8' fixtures running 6 lamps each (since having 2 lamps removed each for this mod), I need very little LED supplementation. Secondly, although the BlueFish controller is nice (especially being wireless), it doesn't ramp from 0 and back down as smoothly as my previous build using the Coralux Storm X controller. The BlueFish has a tendency to flicker allot upon initial power and again when getting close back down to zero. The Coralux did not. I wish I would have just figured out a way to retrofit the Coralux now. Secondly, the Coralux really provides plenty of control in a simplistic way. The BlueFish's is much more tedious and complex. Not impossible, but you do have to give it much more thought.

As far as SPS growth, I'm more than ecstatic. Things that were not doing so well under just LED have transformed into colors and the proper shapes I had originally hoped for. Part of that though is due to nutrient content, which I'm now having to supplement NO3. I feed pretty heavy, but my NO3 levels were always near undetectable. I attribute much of this to my ATS. Since supplementing NO3, my LPS are regaining their happy spirit and the SPS have colored up nicely.

Glad to hear you're about to pull the trigger again. Best of luck in your new endeavor.

 

[Jeremy257]

Thank you for the update. Based on what you said about the need for very little LED supplementation I would imagine that most of the photons are being delivered via T5. With the LEDs turned down low, do you still get Shimmer from the LED pucks when the T5s are alive?

 

[AZRippster]

Admittedly the shimmer has been greatly reduced. It's still there, but not significantly. Honestly though, I'm more than happy to forego the shimmer for thriving coral. Being that we're headed back into winter, I may be rehanging the MH/T5 combo for the cool months as a nice comparison. My wife really likes the MH/T5 look and the effects it previously has had on our coral, so it's very likely that will be happening soon. Then around April '17, the LED/T5 will go back up.

 

[Jeremy257]

Thanks for the info. Your response is kind of what I was expecting. To be honest I'm thinking I may go strictly t5 or MH/T5 with the same Cebu sun system you have.

 

[Jeremy257]

I'd definitely still prefer LED/T5 over just T5. Just don't know that I want to pay for it