tek lights vs ati pm

[akinass]

hi, can any kind souls advise to me whether they see any difference between tek and ati? i m considering to get tek rather than ati due to budget constraint. Is it good enough to keep sps? thanks

 

[solitude127]

Which ATI are you looking at? The SP is comparable in price with Tek and you get a much better fixture.

 

[NYCBOB]

the sunpower is very good, except u will need to hang it.

 

[NVTE]

ATI is best in whole nine yards. You will not regret getting it over Tek.
I Used Tek and couldn't happier with ATI.

 

[davocean]

After years of being content w/ my lighting, just by chance in searching for a deal on new bulbs I scored a deal on a ATI SP that I couldn't pass up.
I gotta say, I'm absolutely amazed, it's like falling in love w/ my tank all over again.
The tek will grow stuff just fine, but the color pop I get out of this ATI is absolutely stunning, and well worth the money if you can budget for it.

 

[James77]

The ATI fixtures...whether Sunpower or Powermodule....use better ballasts, better reflectors, and active cooling. You will get much better performance from them than you will a tek light. Tek has the Elite with fans, but the price is so close to the Sunpower at that point, I would jump for the SP.

That said, the Teks are good fixtures compared to alot of the crap out there. If you are on a really tight budget, or don't need maximum light....then Teks will work fine as well.

 

[Gtt1988]

Tekk spreads light more broad whereas ati is stronger and more focused downward. Ati puts out 20% more light then tek. Tek is best for wide and shallow tanks example a 40 breeder

 

[moga]

Used to have Tek 24 x4 T5.. it was on my budget..i had bulbs in every 8-9 months new..

recently got ATI power module 24x8. oh my goodness, it just make your aquarium look good, and corals(not many left tho) are very happy~

 

[akinass]

kk...thanks guys for ur advice, guess i will have to save abit more money on ati SP..thanks thanks

 

[NyReefNoob]

use better ballasts

not really true
personally and i have owned a tek couple times, ati sunpower and currently have a ati powermodule, if i was to buy new i would get the tek elite, same reflective material 98% and the elite has active cooling now. will say this, none of the above compare to the build quality of the powermodule, it isnt a flimsy built unit. but on the downside and cant say on the teks but ati use's a single strand wire which isnt as good of a conductor as the braided wiring, after having a ballast go in my powermodule, i rewired the whole thing with branded wire. plus the single strand is too stiff and hard to get back into the fixture if you ever have to change a ballast.

 

[davocean]

I will add one more comment on this, previously I was running a 6bulb and a 4bulb fixture.
When I found this deal my plan was to simply swap out 6x fixtures, and still keep the 4x.
When I turned the unit on, instantly my tank so much brighter I decided this 6x was plenty.
So I just dropped 4 bulbs, and yet still my tank is brighter than ever, and way more colorful.
I do have to give some credit to better bulbs, but when I see that polished reflector, yeah, that's the ticket man!

 

[FormulatedFire]

I recently picked up the Tek 6x54W model with all ATI bulbs and it's insanely bright. With Bulk Reef Supply prices on Tek fixtures and getting your bulbs 25% off it was a no brainer for me, and I'm extremely happy with it.

 

[James77]

not really true
.

Last I checked, the ATI use spec T5 ballasts(Osram, IIRC)....and the Tek use workhorse ballasts, which are not made specifically for T5 lighting although they will run them. As for reliability, I have never had a problem with either ballast.

 

[kaserpick]

not really true...same reflective material 98%

It may be made of the same material, but the angles are different. That's why a Tek (Standard and Elite) throws the light at a wider angle. As you know, the ATI's throw the light at a tighter angle; this is one reason why they're a PAR monster.

That being said, the Tek Elite would be a fixture that I would use, and I believe you would get great results from it. But, the ATI family of lights, in my opinion, is better in performance and quality.

I've used a Tek (standard), ATI Sunpower and Powermodule. If I had to do it again, I'd probably just go with the Sunpower.

 

[rtparty]

not really true
personally and i have owned a tek couple times, ati sunpower and currently have a ati powermodule, if i was to buy new i would get the tek elite, same reflective material 98% and the elite has active cooling now. will say this, none of the above compare to the build quality of the powermodule, it isnt a flimsy built unit. but on the downside and cant say on the teks but ati use's a single strand wire which isnt as good of a conductor as the braided wiring, after having a ballast go in my powermodule, i rewired the whole thing with branded wire. plus the single strand is too stiff and hard to get back into the fixture if you ever have to change a ballast.

Actually it is true.

Workhorse ballasts put out ~20% less light then a spec T5 ballast. I have seen numerous people test this and the result is always the same.

 

[FormulatedFire]

Also I didn't notice this in your original post but are you planning on keeping all sps reef? Either light would be more than enough to keep a good amount of sps at various levels of the tank. Think this thread may have gotten into ATI Vs Tek and didn't address that issue.