ATI Powermodule Hybrid Club

[bucfan]

Sent you my light profile. I forgot how many CLUSTERS you have...MAKE SURE you amend the light profile to have the same number of LED CLUSTERS on your fixture!

Only then upload to your controller/lamp.

Thanks! Got it and will try it out later today. I have 3 clusters.

 

[JOEYRM7]

Dumb question, that I probably know the answer to but will ask anyway. Aside from loading in a new program, is there a way to temporarily turn on the lights? I left for work early this morning before the lights were scheduled to come on so my fish are now hungry.

 

[sahin]

Dumb question, that I probably know the answer to but will ask anyway. Aside from loading in a new program, is there a way to temporarily turn on the lights? I left for work early this morning before the lights were scheduled to come on so my fish are now hungry.

Currently, only way is to quickly change the time on the clock (to a time when the lights would be on) and then change it back once you finished feeding fish.

 

[msderganc]

Dumb question, that I probably know the answer to but will ask anyway. Aside from loading in a new program, is there a way to temporarily turn on the lights? I left for work early this morning before the lights were scheduled to come on so my fish are now hungry.

You could just have the LEDs come on for a half hour or so in your program.

 

[JOEYRM7]

Sahin

I guess dumb questions do have answers. I didnt think about changing the clock.

I do have my leds programmed on for 1 hour in the morning but sometimes i leave early.

 

[Spiker101]

Quick question

The 80W version in the USA the T5 cant be dimmed. That seems extremely inconvenient...

Anyone have experience with this? What are some good work around?

1. Ramp up and down by turning on individual bulb instead of dimming (can each bulb be turned on individually)?
2. Step up transformer and get a international version?
3. Get 2 smaller fixture and have twice as many bulbs.....
4. Can it be dimmed maybe using an external controller? (apex?)

 

[MikeC120]

I have heard ramping up and down T5's will decrease the life of the bulb drastically?

Thoughts anyone?

 

[acesq]

Quick question

The 80W version in the USA the T5 cant be dimmed. That seems extremely inconvenient...

Anyone have experience with this? What are some good work around?

1. Ramp up and down by turning on individual bulb instead of dimming (can each bulb be turned on individually)?
2. Step up transformer and get a international version?
3. Get 2 smaller fixture and have twice as many bulbs.....
4. Can it be dimmed maybe using an external controller? (apex?)

One plug controls two bulbs, the other 6 bulbs. That gives you plenty of control. I ramp up by firing two bulbs for an hour then six for an hour then all eight for 5 hours then ramp down with six then two. It cannot be dimmed by an external controller.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Hello,
I am getting ready to order new bulbs for my 36", 4-bulb LED PM. Currently I am using 2 B+, 1 ABS, 1 P+. I was thinking about switching out the ABS for either a C+ or a KZ New Generation. Any thoughts or experience with this? I don't like my tank to look too blue during the day but rather to have a crisp blueish white with a bit of pink. I am especially interested in comments on the KZ bulb. Thanks!

 

[ReefRockerLive]

Hey Patrick,

I just swapped out my bulbs and one of the bulbs I'm now running is the KZ New Gen. Although it has only been one month since the swap, I can't say that I noticed this bulb being any better than the Coral Plus. IMO, it does look brighter, but that's about it.

 

[bucfan]

Hello,
I am getting ready to order new bulbs for my 36", 4-bulb LED PM. Currently I am using 2 B+, 1 ABS, 1 P+. I was thinking about switching out the ABS for either a C+ or a KZ New Generation. Any thoughts or experience with this? I don't like my tank to look too blue during the day but rather to have a crisp blueish white with a bit of pink. I am especially interested in comments on the KZ bulb. Thanks!

Used the KZ Super Blue but did not like it. Now using the new Giessmann Aquablue Azure. It's not as blue as blue+, a lot more white but adds a very nice color to the tank. Or you can remove one blue plus and use the Giessmann Actinic Blue which gives you a blue and actinic spectrum. Again not as blue as blue plus and adds actinic for coloration.

 

[sahin]

Quick question

The 80W version in the USA the T5 cant be dimmed. That seems extremely inconvenient...

Anyone have experience with this? What are some good work around?

1. Ramp up and down by turning on individual bulb instead of dimming (can each bulb be turned on individually)?
2. Step up transformer and get a international version?
3. Get 2 smaller fixture and have twice as many bulbs.....
4. Can it be dimmed maybe using an external controller? (apex?)

There are no reliable 80W dimmable ballasts for the USA market; hence ATI chooses not to use the current available ballasts.

An external controller cannot dim the non dimmable ballasts in the 80w fixtures.

FWIW I dont see no big advantage to having dimmable T5's...I use the function because I have it; and I ramp up very quickly in any event.

Hey Patrick,

I just swapped out my bulbs and one of the bulbs I'm now running is the KZ New Gen. Although it has only been one month since the swap, I can't say that I noticed this bulb being any better than the Coral Plus. IMO, it does look brighter, but that's about it.

I bought the KZ NewGen tube a while ago and never liked it. The ATI Coral+ tube is a much nicer tube IMO.

Used the KZ Super Blue but did not like it. Now using the new Giessmann Aquablue Azure. It's not as blue as blue+, a lot more white but adds a very nice color to the tank. Or you can remove one blue plus and use the Giessmann Actinic Blue which gives you a blue and actinic spectrum. Again not as blue as blue plus and adds actinic for coloration.

I've always read good reports about the KZ SuperBlue... Why didnt you like it? Its supposed to hit the 450nm really well.

I have the Giessemann Blue Lagoon...very white tube like the KZ NewGen dont like it. I wanted to try the Giessemann Aquablue Azure, but dont want to waste money if it basically a white tube that looks like the Lagoon Blue.

I am going to change up my T5 combo this week. I was using the following:

2xATI ABS, 1xCoral+, 3xBLUE+, 2xActinic

I want equal white tubes over the tank...hence going to use 4 white tubes. However I will have to quit using the ABS tubes as two of them in a 4 white tube combo is going to look too white/yellow.

So looking to hook up the following combo:

1 ATI BLUE+
2 ATI Coral+
3 ATI Actinic
4 ATI Coral+
----LED's----
5 ATI Coral+
6 ATI Actinic
7 ATI Coral+
8 ATI BLUE+

I have rewired my unit so tubes 1, 3, 6 & 8 come on first, and then 2, 4, 5 and 7 come on afterwards.

 

[Patrick Cox]

I bought the KZ NewGen tube a while ago and never liked it. The ATI Coral+ tube is a much nicer tube IMO....


So looking to hook up the following combo:

1 ATI BLUE+
2 ATI Coral+
3 ATI Actinic
4 ATI Coral+
----LED's----
5 ATI Coral+
6 ATI Actinic
7 ATI Coral+
8 ATI BLUE+

Hi Sahin,
A couple of questions on this if you don't mind.

What did you not like about the KZ New Gen? How is the coloration different from the Coral + and ABS? Have you every seen the GE 6500 bulb everyone talks about? Is the KZ New Gen similar to that one? I tried the GE and found it to be too yellow.

And then on the Actinic bulb, if I used one in my 4-bulb unit, would I be sacrificing much PAR vs say the P+? What would be a good 4-bulb combo with the actinic? Like 14K or so.

Thanks!

 

[sahin]

Hi Sahin,
A couple of questions on this if you don't mind.

What did you not like about the KZ New Gen? How is the coloration different from the Coral + and ABS? Have you every seen the GE 6500 bulb everyone talks about? Is the KZ New Gen similar to that one? I tried the GE and found it to be too yellow.

And then on the Actinic bulb, if I used one in my 4-bulb unit, would I be sacrificing much PAR vs say the P+? What would be a good 4-bulb combo with the actinic? Like 14K or so.

Thanks!

I have the following white tubes:

ATI AquaBlueSpecial
ATI Coral Plus
Giessemann Lagoon Blue (despite its name, its a white tube like the ATI ABS)
GE 6500K
KZ NewGen -(looks like the Lagoon Blue to me)
Arcadia 14K - British brand

The KZ NewGen to me is like a standard white tube. Not too blue, not too yellow and doesnt pop the red/pinks like the Coral+ does. It looks too grey.

The Coral+ is the best ALL round white tube out there. Perfect amount of blue, green, yellow and a slight tinge of pink. It is the most balanced tube out there.

I like the ABS because despite most people saying it causes colour to wash out, if a couple of tubes are used in an 8 tube combo, it can be balanced out by using at least 5 blues or when Reefbrites are used.

The GE 6500K is a tube that can be used in an 8 tube combo with a fixture that has at least 2 LED clusters to drown out the yellow (ie you have enough Blue LED's to counter all that green/orange/yellow/red light).
I like this tube because it provides a very "full" spectrum and helps boost the yellow and red coral pigments which otherwise get lost in too much blue.

If you have a 4 tube fixture with two or more LED clusters, then go ahead and use the following combo:

Blue+
Coral+
--LED's-- (set RB=255, B=150 and W=105)@100%
Coral+
Actinic

With two or more clusters, dont be worried out PAR loss. You will hit the PAR levels with all that Royal Blue, Blue and White LED's.

So long as you are hitting 250+ PAR for most of your SPS, then that it good enough.

 

[urbaneks]

I want equal white tubes over the tank...hence going to use 4 white tubes. However I will have to quit using the ABS tubes as two of them in a 4 white tube combo is going to look too white/yellow.

So looking to hook up the following combo:

1 ATI BLUE+
2 ATI Coral+
3 ATI Actinic
4 ATI Coral+
----LED's----
5 ATI Coral+
6 ATI Actinic
7 ATI Coral+
8 ATI BLUE+

I have rewired my unit so tubes 1, 3, 6 & 8 come on first, and then 2, 4, 5 and 7 come on afterwards.

Sahin,
Let us know how you like your new combo vs. your old. I'm running what you see below and I'm not crazy about the color when all 8 tubes are on. I'm a month or so away from ordering new bulbs. I'm trying to dial in what I'm going to order.

ABS
Actinic
B+
P+
---LED---
ABS
Actinic
B+
C+

 

[slap]

@sahin..

why so often you change the tubes?

I use this now and am not quite happy with it.

front:
blue +
actinic
aquablue spezial
actinic
--led-- red 10 -royal blue 255 - blue 95 - white 125 ( 65% )
coral +
actinic
aquablue spezial
blue +

T5 100%

max PAR 550-600 ( about 30 cm below the waterline )
Low PAR 250

 

[sahin]

@sahin..

why so often you change the tubes?

I use this now and am not quite happy with it.

front:
blue +
actinic
aquablue spezial
actinic
--led-- red 10 -royal blue 255 - blue 95 - white 125 ( 65% )
coral +
actinic
aquablue spezial
blue +

T5 100%

max PAR 550-600 ( about 30 cm below the waterline )
Low PAR 250

I bought more SPS Scored some nice Acros a few days ago. So have to start placing some SPS all over tank and so wanted 2 white tubes at front and two white tubes at back (previously only had 2 whites at back and 1 at front). Going to grow some SPS on the sandbed at the front of the tank.

Therefore had to rethink the tube combo. In any event, 4xCoral+ is sort of like 2xABS+1xCoral+

I am still therefore running a mixture of white, blue and Actinic tubes.

Your combo is same as my last combo, except I had the ABS 2nd in line from front.

 

[sahin]

Sahin,
Let us know how you like your new combo vs. your old. I'm running what you see below and I'm not crazy about the color when all 8 tubes are on. I'm a month or so away from ordering new bulbs. I'm trying to dial in what I'm going to order.

ABS
Actinic
B+
P+
---LED---
ABS
Actinic
B+
C+

I preferred my last combo in terms of aesthetics and coral colours. Only because of coral placement have I decided to use 4 white tubes to balance the light everywhere in the tank.

 

[JOEYRM7]

Has anyone changed the plexiglass shield for glass? Any downside for doing that? Thought it might be easier to clean

 

[sahin]

Has anyone changed the plexiglass shield for glass? Any downside for doing that? Thought it might be easier to clean

It might be easier to clean, but it will block more light than the acrylic and I'd be worried when trying to change out tubes/replace etc; it will be a dangerous option should the glass slip etc; not only for you, about can break your tank etc.