Red Sea Max T5's or ATI?

[irishmarine]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to get some opinions.
I have a Red Sea Max s650, 180 gallon system. I don't do expert level corals or anything, beginner to novice hardy stuff.

I have LEDs overhanging the tank, they are called "˜Intelligent LED'. They work, light up, but I'm worried that over time the spectrum or wavelength of light may deteriorate in the LED lights and fade over time, even though visually to us they appear turned on and working. Not like you can change a bulb.

I have the existing Red Sea S650 lights, they have fluorescent tubes, T5, actinic, blue, pink and moonlight. I hear they use more electricity (they are 800 Watts) but, if you replace the bulbs every 12 months it's like owning a new light again.

So before I shell out maybe several hundred to a grand I was looking for everyone's input...probably an age old battered question

Anyone else using these older Red Sea T5 lights out there or had LEDs and find they are back to T5's?

I was thinking of going to an ATI Powermodule, but then someone said that ATI made the Red Sea Max old T5 lighting so there wouldnt be much of an upgrade in getting the powermodule.....and they are not cheap either.....
So do I try the new bulbs in the existing RSM T5 light fixture or try a new ATI Powermodule?

I do have a chiller btw to cope with the heat, and the house has central air too

 

[GSMclowns]

I used a light meter to measure pars under a 4' 10 bulbs Redsea lighting fixture on a MAX S 500 and compared that to the pars on 4' 8 bulbs Sunpower at my house, the par on the redsea was only about 75% or less. But if you aren't looking to get the best colors out of SPS, there is no reason to buy an ATI when you already have the T5 on your tank. I have Hydra52 on one of my nano tank with some lps and a piece of sps, while the corals do live and growing, they don't look as good as when they were under T5.

If it was my system, I would just try new ATI bulbs on the redsea system.

 

[irishmarine]

I used a light meter to measure pars under a 4' 10 bulbs Redsea lighting fixture on a MAX S 500 and compared that to the pars on 4' 8 bulbs Sunpower at my house, the par on the redsea was only about 75% or less. But if you aren't looking to get the best colors out of SPS, there is no reason to buy an ATI when you already have the T5 on your tank. I have Hydra52 on one of my nano tank with some lps and a piece of sps, while the corals do live and growing, they don't look as good as when they were under T5.

If it was my system, I would just try new ATI bulbs on the redsea system.

Thanks that's really helpful!!!