ATI Powermodule Hybrid Club

[funkyman]

I really am trying to do a simple tutorial. I'm already at 40 hours for the week (work) and still have 2 days left....:facepalm:

The software can be "scary" at first but once you mess around a little and really play with it, it makes total sense and is easy.

*****First and foremost, check www.atinorthamerica.com and make sure you have the most current version. (As of today it is 1.2.0.0) Please, please, please read the entire tutorial before starting.******

1) Plug lamp into control box

2) Plug control box to power

3) Plug control box to computer

4) In the upper right hand of the screen there are 2 circles. One is labeled "USB" and the other is labeled "LAMP". They should both be BLUE. If they are NOT both BLUE: exit the software and try steps 1-3 again.

*******THIS NEXT PART IS VERY IMPORTANT*********

5) Click "File" in the upper left hand corner and click new. A box will appear with 4 different selections. Choose the one that corresponds to the lamp you have. If you have 1 LED cluster select "LED 1/T5". If you have 2 LED clusters select "LED 2/T5" and so forth.

6) A graph will appear on the screen. There are 3 boxes in the lower left corner of the program. Two are labeled (Mode and Day Preview) and one is not. The one that IS NOT labeled will be known as Command Center (I made this up. It isn't a technical term used by ATI or anything.)

7) Click "Play" in the Day Preview box. A line will start scrolling across the GRAPH. As that line gets to each "circle" (this is known as a SETPOINT) it will command the lamp to perform something i.e. turn the LEDs on or change color etc. etc...

8) Once the Day Preview has finished, you should have a better understanding of what we are going to do from there.

Here is a picture of my current graph....(don't worry about the CUSTOM colors on the bottom of the screen. We will set those up later. The defaults are just fine for now.)



(You will notice there are a lot more dots on my graph than normal. This is a quick and easy fix. Go to the top and click "Settings". A box will appear and find SpacingTime and SpacingIntensity. Change both to 5 and select OK. Yours should now look the same as mine. This is optional though depending on what you like.

Each dot on the graph corresponds to a "time" and "intensity". That is what those dots are. You can drag setpoints to a dot and that will order the lamp to perform a function.)

For right now I will recommend that most new users leave the default program on and just adjust your intensities above. This should get most started and on their way.

After you have adjusted the graph to your liking, check it out in the Day Preview box by clicking PLAY and watching what your light does.

Once you are happy, select LAMP in the upper LEFT hand corner. Click "save in lamp" and wait. A box will pop up showing that it is saving. It will start counting UP to 100%. Once that is done, you can exit the software and disconnect your control box from the computer.

You will need to make sure your control box is set to the correct time. This is really easy.

Press the center button on the control box and select clock. Set the correct time. It uses a 24 hour time format AKA military time. Pretty easy to change. Once you have the time, press the center button and select YES. (YES and NO correspond to the buttons on the control box.)

You are done. Get a drink of water and stretch to properly cool down.

PS - Do NOT try to make changes from the control box alone. I know that ATI says you can but I HIGHLY recommend against it. You can mess things up pretty easily and you will spend HOURS trying to scroll from 0-255. It isn't worth it at all.

I will get a ton more pictures up another day with more on screen instructions. It is time for dinner and family time. I hope this helps a few people out.

Ryan

I just downloaded the latest version of the Light Studio software. Everything was going fine until I got to step 7. The "play" button in the Day Preview box is not showing as active. Why would that be?

 

[corbosman]

Hi all, im thinking of buying a powermodule hybrid for my 78x32x28 tank. The 60" 8x80 is probably too short right? Would two 36" 8x39 work out better?

 

[Logzor]

OK so following in the footsteps of Joe I've also been testing out the short peak of LED intensity. Initially I ran only about 30-45 minutes at 50% power with max blues, some white, and no red. With good results I increase the total time to 60 minutes. Acropora are responding well with lots of new growth tips.

I plan to continue experimenting with the intensity and power of the LED peak. Not sure if should go higher power for the same duration, or more duration with the same power. Anyone else experimenting with this type of schedule?

 

[Logzor]

Hi all, im thinking of buying a powermodule hybrid for my 78x32x28 tank. The 60" 8x80 is probably too short right? Would two 36" 8x39 work out better?

A single powermodule would be cleaner, and I think you would be surprised how much light spillage there is to the left and right on the powermodule on a longer aquarium. Cost and aesthetic factors aside I think two powermodule would be preferable.

You'll have to raise up the fixtures relatively high. my aquarium is 30" front to back and that's pushing it, in my opinion, for good front to back coverage.

 

[bucfan]

OK so following in the footsteps of Joe I've also been testing out the short peak of LED intensity. Initially I ran only about 30-45 minutes at 50% power with max blues, some white, and no red. With good results I increase the total time to 60 minutes. Acropora are responding well with lots of new growth tips.

I plan to continue experimenting with the intensity and power of the LED peak. Not sure if should go higher power for the same duration, or more duration with the same power. Anyone else experimenting with this type of schedule?

I tried a similar schedule but with peak right before T5s turn off at 75% intensity (mostly blues) but have not seen much difference.

 

[Logzor]

ATI Powermodule Hybrid Club

I tried a similar schedule but with peak right before T5s turn off at 75% intensity (mostly blues) but have not seen much difference.

My 60 minute peak is 30 minutes at full T5 intensity and then 30 minutes when my white bulbs have turned off. Glad to hear other people are testing the short duration peak, what percentages are your LEDs hitting?

The impact may be relative to your corals needing more or less light coupled with the available nutrition for growth.

At this point the primary difference is new growth tips on my SPS. I only noticed this after I bumped up the LED peak to the full hour. Hard to say if that's when the growth began or just a delay from the initial peak of 30 minutes.

 

[bucfan]

My 60 minute peak is 30 minutes at full T5 intensity and then 30 minutes when my white bulbs have turned off. Glad to hear other people are testing the short duration peak, what percentages are your LEDs hitting?

The impact may be relative to your corals needing more or less light coupled with the available nutrition for growth.

At this point the primary difference is new growth tips on my SPS. I only noticed this after I bumped up the LED peak to the full hour. Hard to say if that's when the growth began or just a delay from the initial peak of 30 minutes.

I hit a 75% peak which starts 30 minutes before my T5s turn off and peaks when my T5s are off, then drops off to 35% over 1.5 hours to sunset. I have it set to 100% on blues only and whites and reds are at about 15%. Not sure if it's mirroring your peak which happens midday. I also run royal blue @ 10% during T5 hours so my LEDs are not totally off. Find it adds a bit more actinic spectrum for coral pop.

 

[maxpc99]

Hello,

I'm also considering the power module and have some questions I hope you folks can help me with.

I currently run 4 kessil 360s lengthwise down the middle of my tank with a pair of generic 2 bulb t5 units with ATI bulbs in front and in back. My tank is 150G and 62"x21"x24" . ItS stocked mostly with SPS, but do have a lot of fungia and acanophyllias on the sand bed.

I'm trying to decide between the 6 or 8 bulb as we'll as 48" or 60" unit. My concern with the 60" is the lack of dimming and if I care? I'm also concerned with the lack of shimmer from either unit when all the t5s are running. As a Kessil owner, I'm pretty used to a lot of shimmer at this point. One thing I am considering is buying the 48" unit and putting a Kessil on each end to add shimmer and fill in the light on the ends.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[maxpc99]

Sorry, meant 4x or 8x t5 models.

 

[Logzor]

Hello,

I'm also considering the power module and have some questions I hope you folks can help me with.

I currently run 4 kessil 360s lengthwise down the middle of my tank with a pair of generic 2 bulb t5 units with ATI bulbs in front and in back. My tank is 150G and 62"x21"x24" . ItS stocked mostly with SPS, but do have a lot of fungia and acanophyllias on the sand bed.

I'm trying to decide between the 6 or 8 bulb as we'll as 48" or 60" unit. My concern with the 60" is the lack of dimming and if I care? I'm also concerned with the lack of shimmer from either unit when all the t5s are running. As a Kessil owner, I'm pretty used to a lot of shimmer at this point. One thing I am considering is buying the 48" unit and putting a Kessil on each end to add shimmer and fill in the light on the ends.

Any help is appreciated!

You will lose a lot of the shimmer with the ATI Hybrid compared to your current configuration. Mostly because the fixture is so powerful there isn't much need to crank up the LEDs. From what I've seen the fixture has decent coverage side to side so I would keep the 48" on the table. In regard to front to back coverage, my 8 bulb barely covers my 30" front to back depth of my aquarium. In your case you may be able to opt for the 4 bulb and raise the fixture up then run the LEDs at higher power.

Don't sweat not being able to dim the T5s. I don't think it has a major impact, there are plenty of successful tanks with on/off only settings.

Visually, I think running both the Kessils might look a bit cluttered, it may not matter depending on how your aquarium is setup, though.

Bottom line is that you will lose shimmer if you opt for more T5s and that the fixtures should pack enough punch not to need extra Kessils. I think you could squeeze by with the smaller fixture but for the best coverage go with the 60".

 

[maxpc99]

Thanks for the reply Logzor, I pulled the trigger on the 48" 8 bulb unit. I don't plan on going with the kessils out of the gate, but it's a nice option to have if I can make it look nice. I kind of want less light on the ends as I have a lot of sand bed LPS that need lower light so it will give me some places for them. I think the only time I'm going to like the dimmable option is when I first set the light up to acclimate the tank. After that, I agree it's probably not an option that make or break the decision. Can't wait to get this baby!

 

[Logzor]

Thanks for the reply Logzor, I pulled the trigger on the 48" 8 bulb unit. I don't plan on going with the kessils out of the gate, but it's a nice option to have if I can make it look nice. I kind of want less light on the ends as I have a lot of sand bed LPS that need lower light so it will give me some places for them. I think the only time I'm going to like the dimmable option is when I first set the light up to acclimate the tank. After that, I agree it's probably not an option that make or break the decision. Can't wait to get this baby!

Glad I could help, I think you'll be happy with that choice, it's the same fixture I have! Have you decided on your bulb combination?

 

[maxpc99]

Glad I could help, I think you'll be happy with that choice, it's the same fixture I have! Have you decided on your bulb combination?

I'm thinking 3 b+, 3 c+, 2 actinic to start. I'm ordering an extra b+, c+, 2 blue special and 1 purple so I can play around a bit. Ill also get a ge6500, but the place i ordered from doesn't have it. I have used that in the past with good results in my 10 bulb red sea unit.

What are you running?

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[Logzor]

I'm thinking 3 b+, 3 c+, 2 actinic to start. I'm ordering an extra b+, c+, 2 blue special and 1 purple so I can play around a bit. Ill also get a ge6500, but the place i ordered from doesn't have it. I have used that in the past with good results in my 10 bulb red sea unit.

What are you running?

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

I need to double-check but I think I'm running almost that exact same combination: 4 b+, 2 c+, 2 actinic. Can't recall if I'm running 2 or 3 c+. Either way it's a solid combination.

 

[bucfan]

I'm thinking 3 b+, 3 c+, 2 actinic to start. I'm ordering an extra b+, c+, 2 blue special and 1 purple so I can play around a bit. Ill also get a ge6500, but the place i ordered from doesn't have it. I have used that in the past with good results in my 10 bulb red sea unit.

What are you running?

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

My present set up has 2 C+, 1 B+, 1 ABS, 1 KZ Pink, 1 Geis Actinic Blue, 2 KZ Super Blue and I love this set up. Run the KZ SB and C+ 7.5 hours and the rest 4 hours. Find this combo really works great. I am also using an LED spike before my T5s go off (see earlier posts) but a bit modified from the way the others are running the LED spike. I prefer the KZ Pink over the ATI P+. I think KZ makes the best pink/purple bulb. Also 2 actinic bulbs and 1 purple/pink might be overkill since they are mainly supplemental and not your main lighting. Another option would be to use Geis Aquablue Azures in place of 1 C+ and ABS for a crisp whiter look. The Geis 6500/Tropic bulb is far too yellow IMO. I ran that initially and quit using it months back.

You should be fine with the 48" unit and T5 spread. The main issue you will have is with the LED spread at the ends of your tank since the LEDs don't go till the end of the unit. Then again if you place low light corals there you will be fine. I did not use T5 dimming the first year with the lamp, since I thought it was a gimmick, but now do and love it's functionality. Hope this helps.

 

[MSHUR]

My present set up has 2 C+, 1 B+, 1 ABS, 1 KZ Pink, 1 Geis Actinic Blue, 2 KZ Super Blue and I love this set up. Run the KZ SB and C+ 7.5 hours and the rest 4 hours. Find this combo really works great. I am also using an LED spike before my T5s go off (see earlier posts) but a bit modified from the way the others are running the LED spike. I prefer the KZ Pink over the ATI P+. I think KZ makes the best pink/purple bulb. Also 2 actinic bulbs and 1 purple/pink might be overkill since they are mainly supplemental and not your main lighting. Another option would be to use Geis Aquablue Azures in place of 1 C+ and ABS for a crisp whiter look. The Geis 6500/Tropic bulb is far too yellow IMO. I ran that initially and quit using it months back.

You should be fine with the 48" unit and T5 spread. The main issue you will have is with the LED spread at the ends of your tank since the LEDs don't go till the end of the unit. Then again if you place low light corals there you will be fine. I did not use T5 dimming the first year with the lamp, since I thought it was a gimmick, but now do and love it's functionality. Hope this helps.

May I ask why you choose KZ SB over B+? More PAR?
I am trying to figure out best 10 bulbs combo . I have Gies Blue Actinic and i see this tube is dimmer vs B+

 

[Logzor]

May I ask why you choose KZ SB over B+? More PAR?
I am trying to figure out best 10 bulbs combo . I have Gies Blue Actinic and i see this tube is dimmer vs B+

I've ran both the KZ blue and the ATI B+ and I can't tell any visual difference between the two bulbs. Haven't done any research on PAR differences. I also didn't stare at them that long, but they looked very similar.

ATI recommend that bulbs have 100 hours of burn time before using the dimming feature.

 

[MSHUR]

If remember correctly some time ago owner of ATI said that B+ have more actinic . I guess they all about the same but price wise B+ is more reasonable


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[maxpc99]

My present set up has 2 C+, 1 B+, 1 ABS, 1 KZ Pink, 1 Geis Actinic Blue, 2 KZ Super Blue and I love this set up. Run the KZ SB and C+ 7.5 hours and the rest 4 hours. Find this combo really works great. I am also using an LED spike before my T5s go off (see earlier posts) but a bit modified from the way the others are running the LED spike. I prefer the KZ Pink over the ATI P+. I think KZ makes the best pink/purple bulb. Also 2 actinic bulbs and 1 purple/pink might be overkill since they are mainly supplemental and not your main lighting. Another option would be to use Geis Aquablue Azures in place of 1 C+ and ABS for a crisp whiter look. The Geis 6500/Tropic bulb is far too yellow IMO. I ran that initially and quit using it months back.

You should be fine with the 48" unit and T5 spread. The main issue you will have is with the LED spread at the ends of your tank since the LEDs don't go till the end of the unit. Then again if you place low light corals there you will be fine. I did not use T5 dimming the first year with the lamp, since I thought it was a gimmick, but now do and love it's functionality. Hope this helps.

Awesome, thank you! Yes, very helpful. I have primarily used ATI bulbs, but a few Geis as well. I'll have to pick up some KZ bulbs and try various combos. If I added a pink I'm sure it would be in favor of an actinic. At minimum I'll be running 3 b+, 2 c+ and 1 actinic, the last 2 will be a lot of experimentation.

There is a very good chance I'm going to put a kessils on each end of the unit, if for nothing else some added shimmer.

I've ran both the KZ blue and the ATI B+ and I can't tell any visual difference between the two bulbs. Haven't done any research on PAR differences. I also didn't stare at them that long, but they looked very similar.

ATI recommend that bulbs have 100 hours of burn time before using the dimming feature.

Visually there might not be much difference, but the nm range is different and according to the manufacture their research indicates it matters to the corals. I wish I could recall the exact article or post that I read that, because they went into more detail.

Thanks, I've read more recently they are saying 50 hours. In either case I'll be playing it safe, maybe I'll split the middle at 75. [emoji846]

 

[bucfan]

ATI Powermodule Hybrid Club

May I ask why you choose KZ SB over B+? More PAR?
I am trying to figure out best 10 bulbs combo . I have Gies Blue Actinic and i see this tube is dimmer vs B+

I find the ATI B+ has a hint of green whereas the KZ SB or Geis Actinic Blue don't. Par wise I'm sure they are comparable.