[alkatraz]

I think I've narrowed it down to a TEK fixture but can't decide between the 6 bulb or 4...

What do you recommend?

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[Green_Flash]

Solar 1 x2 or ATI 4 bulb.

 

[alkatraz]

Why not the TEK? Seems like a popular choice.

The price difference vs two Solar 1 is a like $1000. :S

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[chris.rivera3]

get the TEK 6-bulb...it gives you the option of having either low-light (2-bulbs) or high-light(4-bulbs/6-bulbs) in combination with the height you want to place the fixture at

 

[oldpunk78]

Get the 4 bulb, dimmable ati. You wont be sorry.

 

[alkatraz]

Picking up the tank tomorrow woohoo. Still havnt decided between the 4 vs 6 bulb.

Also considering the 48" finnet led but will that be enough light? Plan on hanging.

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[IWANNAGOFAST]

4 bulbs is more than enough, or of course, you can go w/ the finnex which will work great, check the par ratings on their site, you want to be around 20-30 for lower/mid light, 30-50 for med.high and anything over 50 umols of par will be high light

 

[TexasCichlid]

Finnex will be a nice amount of light, no replacement bulbs, minimal power usage and a much sleeker unit than a traditional t5 hood.


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[Green_Flash]

Why not the TEK? Seems like a popular choice.

The price difference vs two Solar 1 is a like $1000. :S

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TEK doesn't get much love in saltwater, those fixtures lack fans which reduces the lifespan of the fixture greatly. Also the ATI reflectors are really that much better.

4 bulb ATI sunpower, dim or no dim your choice, is one piece of space age hardware and will last you for a long time and holds it value well. :smile:
the sleek silver metallic finish also will match your ADA tank.

 

[ianiwane]

The tek doesn't get the same par, but it's but well. The lack of fans doesn't reduce the life of the fixture.

 

[Green_Flash]

The tek doesn't get the same par, but it's but well. The lack of fans doesn't reduce the life of the fixture.

A correction on my part, I was talking about the bulbs not per say the fixture.

Taken from the Reef Central topic on T5 Lighting:

There actually is sound evidence that not cooling T5's will kill output and life.

With no fan and the shield you will lose about 50% of your PAR.

With no shield and no fan you will lose about 20% of what you could be getting.

With the fan and no shield you will gain about 20%.

T5's not being cooled have been shown to last right around the 6-8 month mark. Unless you have a spectrometer you won't visually notice the spectrum shift but it happens. Put a new Blue Plus next to a 6 month old bulb, you will see the difference.

Properly cooled T5's keep about 90% of their PAR for the first 7-8 months. By the 12 month mark they will lose about 25% of their original PAR. Also by the 12 month mark most of your blue and actinic phosphors are shot. You could extend the daylight bulbs a little longer but you are asking for algae problems in my opinion with the shift of spectrum towards the yellow and red side of things.

 

[OVT]

I have TEK 6 bulb over my 120-P.
Another good choice in comparable price range is CoralVue, it comes with a lot of goodies that are extras on the TEK. I have one with 6 bulbs over 40B and could not be happier.

The idea being: it's easier to make less from more then more from less.

 

[Africancichlids637]

I think I've narrowed it down to a TEK fixture but can't decide between the 6 bulb or 4...

What do you recommend?

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I love my tek 6 bulb. They are more affordable than ATI. I'm using a 8 bulb on my 120 fatboy

 

[ianiwane]

A correction on my part, I was talking about the bulbs not per say the fixture.

Taken from the Reef Central topic on T5 Lighting:

To a certain extent yes. However, over cooling the bulb isn't great for PAR either. There is a sweet spot in terms of temperature of the cold spot of the bulb. The cold spot is on the side of the label. If I remember correctly the cold spot should be in the neighborhood of 100 degrees F. If it is cooled more than that it will lower the par output. I've run bulbs on tek fixtures for much longer than 12 months on both a reef tank and planted tanks and never had any issues. Yes output does diminish no question, but It doesn't really make that huge of a difference with planted tanks. As planted tanks do not require quite as much light as a SPS reef tank.

 

[antbug]

I have the Tek 6 bulb on my 120p. I only use 4 bulbs, but it's nice to have the option for 6.

 

[alkatraz]

Update, I've decided to try out the Finnex Ray 2 LED unit
http://www.amazon.com/AL-H48DS-Finnex-Unibody-Fixture-Daylight/dp/B008K3DO9I

Will let you know how it goes.

 

[ianiwane]

Probably not a great choice. You typically want to stay away from fixtures like that. Key with led lights are the one they type of LED bulb (brand/wattage), two the cooling. Typically the best brand of LED is cree, top end fixtures will use 3-5w cree bulbs with a decent heatsink and active cooling (or a large heatsink with passive cooling). The lower end fixtures will use bridgelux 3w led bulbs. That fixture uses bulbs driven at .1w a piece. Save your money and get something else.

 

[TexasCichlid]

Probably not a great choice. You typically want to stay away from fixtures like that. Key with led lights are the one they type of LED bulb (brand/wattage), two the cooling. Typically the best brand of LED is cree, top end fixtures will use 3-5w cree bulbs with a decent heatsink and active cooling (or a large heatsink with passive cooling). The lower end fixtures will use bridgelux 3w led bulbs. That fixture uses bulbs driven at .1w a piece. Save your money and get something else.

The Finnex grows plants fine in my sig plus dozens of other tanks on this forum. PAR is PAR and the Finnex LEDs are well represented there.


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