ATI Powermodule Hybrid Club

[JPMagyar]

Hi could you further explain as you seem to contradict yourself.

Adding more light will increase growth, but on the same token you say switch off led, which will reduce light.

Also is t5 8" above a 30" deep tank pointless?

You have a truly beautiful reef envious.
Confused

Hi Vik, If you go back and review my history on posting you will quickly see that I do not care for LED light and have gone to great lengths to explain why. I will not bore you with one of my long tirades, but let's just say I feel quite strongly that LED is actually harmful to some corals and not good at producing uniform colorful growth. Yes, yes, yes, there are many people that are using LEDs quite successfully, but in general the growth is straggly and tends towards purple and green.

To me the nicest looking reefs are still dominated by people using MH and T5.

Therefore, I feel that if you want lots of growth and nice colors, I recommend using lots of T5 or a combination of T5 and MH as in the Giesemann Spectra.


BUT more important than light . . .


. . . . you must have a stable reef with stable parameters that look something like this:

Ca 425
dKh 8-9
NO3 - undetectable
PO4 - 0.03 ppm
temp - 25-27 C


too much or too little of any component and growth will stall, but if you can maintain these parameters AND provide intense lighting with good spectrum then growth will take off.


Here's my tank over a one year period. I lost several colonies and moved several colonies around, but I think you get the general idea. I had a Giesemann Spectra for 8 months and an ATI Powermodule for 4 months.

 

[JPMagyar]

With you on 3 and 4. I have the newer version so 2 is not an issue with the additional screw I guess. My lights been up and running 1 year now and I can confirm great growth with this light too. As you stated stability is key especially with SPS. Over how many years did you take those growth pictures? Beautiful tank. I'm sure you have to keep up with a lot of pruning as I do here.

My bad . . . I meant to add that those pictures are from ReefBum. That's his tank under MH over 3 years. I use that as my favorite example of how growth should be for everyone.

What bulb combo do you currently run? I've came to the same conclusion relative to LED intensity during peak T5 intensity...nothing but trouble. I've set my LEDs extremely low during the peak T5's but I have them ramp up to 35%, mostly blues, when the T5's are off.

Some folks have had good success with LEDs only, such as some Radion users. I have considered experimenting with only one set of T5's on and cranking up the LEDs higher. Seems really difficult to dial in the LEDs without frying my corals.

Absolutely I agree!


And here's my latest bulb config . . .

Fauna Marin UltraRoyal Blue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Coral Plus
ATI Blue Plus
Fauna Marin Ultra Royal Blue

 

[Logzor]

My bad . . . I meant to add those pictures are from ReefBum. That's his tank under MH over 3 years. I use that as my favorite example of how growth should be for everyone.




Absolutely I agree!


And here's my latest bulb config . . .

Fauna Marin UltraRoyal Blue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Coral Plus
ATI Blue Plus
Fauna Marin Ultra Royal Blue

Thank you! I just finished reading through most of your tank build thread. It was very inspirational. Kind of OT but I'm struggling with cyano and other nuance algae growing on the rock in my 5+ year old SPS reef. I'm trying some of the NO3/PO4-X product that you use. Found out I had a $75 credit on my account at DFS I had no clue about! Lucky me!

Anyways, I'm giving that a shot to see if I can break up some of that algae (nothing long/filamentous, just junk algae encrusting the rock). Other issue I have is acropora colonies clustered together and blocking flow to areas of the tank, guess the solution is mass trimming, but you seem to sustain relatively large colonies!

When you swap bulbs, do you think you will keep this same combination? I'm guessing your color is very crisp white with this combination. Basically 50/50 white to blue. I noticed you swapped out your actinics.

I feel mine is almost too white, but nice and crisp. Do you think you need more white bulbs to get the results you're looking for, or just for aesthetic preference? This is what I'm currently running:

Blue+
Pure Actinic
Blue+
Coral+
LEDs
Coral+
Blue+
Pure Actinic
Blue+

P.S. What is the visual difference between Blue+ and the FM-URB?

 

[JPMagyar]

Thank you! I just finished reading through most of your tank build thread. It was very inspirational. Kind of OT but I'm struggling with cyano and other nuance algae growing on the rock in my 5+ year old SPS reef. I'm trying some of the NO3/PO4-X product that you use. Found out I had a $75 credit on my account at DFS I had no clue about! Lucky me!

Anyways, I'm giving that a shot to see if I can break up some of that algae (nothing long/filamentous, just junk algae encrusting the rock). Other issue I have is acropora colonies clustered together and blocking flow to areas of the tank, guess the solution is mass trimming, but you seem to sustain relatively large colonies!

When you swap bulbs, do you think you will keep this same combination? I'm guessing your color is very crisp white with this combination. Basically 50/50 white to blue. I noticed you swapped out your actinics.

I feel mine is almost too white, but nice and crisp. Do you think you need more white bulbs to get the results you're looking for, or just for aesthetic preference? This is what I'm currently running:

Blue+
Pure Actinic
Blue+
Coral+
LEDs
Coral+
Blue+
Pure Actinic
Blue+

P.S. What is the visual difference between Blue+ and the FM-URB?

Thanks!

Ain't reefin' fun! Theres always some problem we're tackling!


First, to your issue of algae and cyano. I have found that just like beating a pest I have the most success when I use massive overkill to break the back of nuisance algae and that means adding more crabs, urchins, and snails, increasing water change size and frequency, manual cleaning of the sand bed, trimming overgrown colonies. cleaning my powerheads, turkey basting my colonies and rocks, changing out carbon and phosphate removing media more frequently, and checking my phosphate levels everyday. For checking phosphate I use:

Hanna HI736 Phosphorus Ultra Low Range Checker



As to my bulbs, you hit the proverbial nail on the head. I took out my actinics because I noticed a drop in PAR and also I just felt I wasn't getting enough red, pink, and yellow coloration and I am hoping that exchanging white and purple plus for actinic will boost the reds and yellows. We'll see

It does look very white during midday, but most of my viewing is in the evening after dinner and then the tank is only blue which I like for just sitting and watching. Also since it's so close to when I plan on swapping out all the bulbs for the first time since starting to use the Powermodule, I plan on keeping this same combo for at least 3 or 4 months so I can give it a "fair shake".

Anyways, I hope you'll keep us updated on your progress battling algae and pursuing growth!

 

[Redrosetuscan]

These posts about the led are really interesting. I did mention earlier that my led stopped working and was off for 5 weeks. In that time I didn't really notice any difference. However I was battling cyano so may well have disturbed things there.

Anyway, I have massively cut back led now to a peak of 35% and have a mix of tubes

Red Sea actinic
Coral plus
Gieseman actinic
Gieseman pure actinic
Led
Gieseman pure actinic
Gieseman actinic
Coral plus
Gieseman actinic

My colours really are good and growth on some is really good, but growth on others is slow, I don't get this rapid basing out some get. Parameters are all good. I have had some upsets, alk dropped to 5 after tube came out.....I also had a rock fall at one end so had to slightly re scape, which meant 5 tubes of putty in a weekend.....

I might well try ati tubes again (although the results from the giesemann are really good colour.

 

[JPMagyar]

These posts about the led are really interesting. I did mention earlier that my led stopped working and was off for 5 weeks. In that time I didn't really notice any difference. However I was battling cyano so may well have disturbed things there.

Anyway, I have massively cut back led now to a peak of 35% and have a mix of tubes

Red Sea actinic
Coral plus
Gieseman actinic
Gieseman pure actinic
Led
Gieseman pure actinic
Gieseman actinic
Coral plus
Gieseman actinic

My colours really are good and growth on some is really good, but growth on others is slow, I don't get this rapid basing out some get. Parameters are all good. I have had some upsets, alk dropped to 5 after tube came out.....I also had a rock fall at one end so had to slightly re scape, which meant 5 tubes of putty in a weekend.....

I might well try ati tubes again (although the results from the giesemann are really good colour.

Crazy right. Rocks falling, algae, broken equipment. It's a wonder we all stick with it. Must be true love

Seriously though as to the LED issue, it's pretty clear to me that it is totally coral dependent and placement dependent. K. Tryc had the exact same observations. There were some of his corals that didn't "like" the LED in his Powermodule. In my tank there are two corals that have changed dramatically since I turned down my LEDs. First is a Suharsoi that is changing from green to white and the second is my Microlados which went from brown to yellow with red tips. Interestingly enough I had the same experience with the exact same coral when I installed ReefBrite LED strips about 4 years ago. At the time I installed the LED strips I had a large colony. Half got LED light and half didn't. The half that got LED light turned brown, but when I moved the colony out of the LED light altogether it returned to yellow with red tips. I think I even documented it with photos in my tank thread. I also think Ed, from Ohio, had the same observation about overuse of ReefBrite strips.

Long story short. All the corals I own I have had for several generations and have seen them grow from frag to colony at least once if not several times. I know what color I like them to be and I know what growth form they will take if they get ideal conditions. LEDs change some of those parameters for some of my corals.

Is that ok? Sure for some folks that is not a problem in the least, but I didn't care for the changes I saw, and in fact I found the changes to be really unattractive namely odd straggly growth, color mostly on the tips, and colors that tend heavily towards green or purple. I really thought that having a hybrid with T5 and LED was going to solve those problems, but it turns out that just as Lunar (K. Tryc) found, I too found that there is just something about LED light that some corals just don't like so for me the answer is to just use the LED for my dawn and dusk simulation and then leave the LEDs off the rest of the time.

I wish ATI would add software for a lunar cycle and allowing dimming below 1% because then I could use the LEDs at night, but now I'm just wishing for a miracle

Are you listening Oliver?

 

[JPMagyar]

Here's a picture that better shows the changes after turning the LEDs off . . . I might also note that under LED light it was growing in very dense with knobby ends while the new growth is now much more spread out and the tips are more simple tubular with no knobby growth.

 

[bucfan]

And here's my latest bulb config . . .

Fauna Marin UltraRoyal Blue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Coral Plus
ATI Blue Plus
Fauna Marin Ultra Royal Blue

Which bulbs are on for longer duration?

 

[Kengar]

Color Preview Mode on Light Studio??

Color Preview Mode on Light Studio??

With firmware update, control blocks now seem to hold time.

Re Light Studio, are the T5 channels supposed to turn on when they are selected and the program is in the color preview mode, so you can see how everything looks when all blended and you're tweaking the LED renditions? I thought that is how my units operated when I first started checking them out, and I thought that is what I see in the video on YouTube re using the Light Studio program, but now I am only able to turn on the LEDs in the color preview mode, not the T5s. Or is that relegated to the Day Preview mode?

Thanks

NEVER MIND. FOUND THE SEPARATE T5 SLIDER UNDER THE LED COLOR CHANNELS......

 

[JPMagyar]

Which bulbs are on for longer duration?

The blue bulbs turn on first and turn off last. I really like how the LEDs are a perfect color match for the ATI Blue Plus. Before they turn on in the morning it's just LED light at about 15% with only Royal Blue and Blue, and when the T5s turn on it's almost imperceptible. I really love how smooth the transition is from night to day to night with this fixture. I honestly believe it is one in many steps that makes a captive reef "healthy". It's not natural light, but it's a very natural cycle.

In my job as an airline pilot I recently started flying to Asia. I now go to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Singapore. I have found that it is the hardest flying I have ever done because you are never able to adjust. One day you have 20 hours of sunlight and the next you have 20 hours of darkness, and when you try to sleep it's all wrong.

The point is I believe more now than ever before that life on Earth has adapted to rhythms and the closer you get your reef to stable rhythmic life the more it will flourish and in this regard the ATI Powermodule reigns supreme.

 

[bucfan]

The blue bulbs turn on first and turn off last. I really like how the LEDs are a perfect color match for the ATI Blue Plus. Before they turn on in the morning it's just LED light at about 15% with only Royal Blue and Blue, and when the T5s turn on it's almost imperceptible. I really love how smooth the transition is from night to day to night with this fixture. I honestly believe it is one in many steps that makes a captive reef "healthy". It's not natural light, but it's a very natural cycle.

In my job as an airline pilot I recently started flying to Asia. I now go to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Singapore. I have found that it is the hardest flying I have ever done because you are never able to adjust. One day you have 20 hours of sunlight and the next you have 20 hours of darkness, and when you try to sleep it's all wrong.

The point is I believe more now than ever before that life on Earth has adapted to rhythms and the closer you get your reef to stable rhythmic life the more it will flourish and in this regard the ATI Powermodule reigns supreme.

So you have the outer 4 bulbs working longer. I had it the same way then switched to my middle 4 bulbs since most of my corals are in the center to back of the tank and felt that would give best coverage. Got to try your bulb combo. I currently use a combo of Red Sea Actinic, AT Blue Plus and Coral Plus for my long lighting combo and it definitely looks different from the LEDs when it transitions. Never seen the FM Ultra Blue. I have 2 unused KZ Super Blues which I think are probably close to the FMs. Will be swapping the Red Seas out for those soon.

 

[vikz]

Does everybody turn their leds off during daylight?

It seems odd to me, especially as i have only 4 tubes, i need as much light as I can get.

Is jpmagyar the only one that turns them down or am i missing a trick and should be doing the same?

 

[bucfan]

Timeline since tank inception

Timeline since tank inception

Feb 2015 (tank set up)

Mar 2015

Apr 2015

Aug 2015

Feb 2016

 

[vikz]

Feb 2015 (tank set up)

Mar 2015

Apr 2015

Aug 2015

Feb 2016

are you also turning your led's off during t5 lighting period? I cannot really do this as I am running only 4 tubes on 30" deep and 30" wide tank.

But i have noticed some patching (dark coloured) on my plating monti's which are directly underneath led panel but at a depth of around 24". Underneath the other panel is an a.humilis which is about 10" but that is unaffected.

I have as a result turned down my white leds to 20% and turned red off.

anybody else running similiar colours and setup to me? screenshot attached

rb 100%
b 90%
w 20%
r 0%

with 60% total power

What I will probably do next is add another 2x39w tubes externally to the unit. just simple by using zipties, twin ballasts etc in order to get a bit more par down without relying massively on the led and cooking my corals.

Using the above led settings I would probably have

b+
abs
B+
led led
abs
b+
abs


any thoughts?

 

[bucfan]

are you also turning your led's off during t5 lighting period? I cannot really do this as I am running only 4 tubes on 30" deep and 30" wide tank.

any thoughts?

Just started running without LEDs when T5s on for the past 4 weeks or so. Before that was running LEDs at 45% max power all day with ramp up and down before and after T5s. Have not noticed much difference yet. But I do have an 8 bulb unit so it packs a punch. I did not use red LEDs and whites were very low.

 

[CoralNerd]

Tanks 46" L x 21" front back, 24" deep
I can't fit a 48" due to the hood.
I was thinking 4 bulb unit as my front to back is only 21"
Will I be disappointed and have shadows if I get a 36" unit?

 

[mike810]

Does anyone see a problem with running two 48" fixtures end to end but with the vent sides pointing towards each other? It would look cleaner but I am concerned the heat will not vent properly.

Right now I am planning to run the two fixtures end to end but one of the power cord end will be facing the other fixture's vent side.

 

[newyorkerx]

With a tank that is 63" long, am I better off going with the 48" dimmable Powermodule or the 60"? Either way, I am thinking about 8-bulbs.

 

[BornToHula]

Does anyone see a problem with running two 48" fixtures end to end but with the vent sides pointing towards each other? It would look cleaner but I am concerned the heat will not vent properly.

Right now I am planning to run the two fixtures end to end but one of the power cord end will be facing the other fixture's vent side.

I know ATI tells you not point the vents towards each other because it will cause heating issues.

I'm not sure what your setup is like, but if you can add a small fan to get air movement between the two fixtures I think it would be fine.

 

[mike810]

With a tank that is 63" long, am I better off going with the 48" dimmable Powermodule or the 60"? Either way, I am thinking about 8-bulbs.

Are you wanting to go with the 48" purely for the dimmable feature? Personally, I would go with the 60" fixture. I don't dim my T5 as I believe it shortens the bulb life. I have two 48" fixtures over my 96" long tank.

I know ATI tells you not point the vents towards each other because it will cause heating issues.

I'm not sure what your setup is like, but if you can add a small fan to get air movement between the two fixtures I think it would be fine.

Thanks for the feedback. I decided not to point the vents towards each other. There is a 4-5" gap between the fixtures due to the power cord being so darn thick but it looks perfectly fine.

I have the fixture pretty high off the water line right now to acclimate the corals to the new light. Previous setup was 4 AI Vega color which only gave me 300 par at the water line, 150 par mid tank and 80-90ish par on the sand bad.

The ATI fixtures really are par monsters!!