Hello all,
Currently doing some planning for my 4' long tank, 20" depth, 21" high. I've narrowed down my lighting options but I am having a very tough time on deciding between the two.
What I am looking for:
A fixture that can be mounted over the top of the aquarium, I don't want it sitting on the rim of the tank. Must have a sleek design, and mounting system designed to hang/mount onto the aquarium that looks good.
Good spectrum and high light. Something that will provide great colors and high par values (80 - 100) on substrate level. Looking for good coverage.
Must be dimmable. In my person experience, finding that perfect synergy between light and co2 takes a lot of adjustments, having a dimmable fixture helped tremendously to make these adjustments. I don't want to have to lift or drop a light lower.
Through my research, I've found that ati's dimmable lights can accomplish this but I have a few concerns.
I've read that these lights can have a wide range of issues. Ballast failures, fans dying. Dimming features killing bulbs within 6 months, etc. Were these issues isolated to the earlier models? or are people still having issues with them currently? The price point is within my budget at $530 and it comes with a hanging kit. The light looks great (I actually like this style over pedant + arm mount style), is dimmable, and I can pretty much choose whatever spectrum I want through the selection of bulbs.
Aquatic life halos, from my understanding these fixtures seem to have a much better spectrum than say kessils. My concerns with them are the inherent limitations of pendant style lighting. Should I be concern with light spread? Also shadowing due to scaping layouts? I'm considering purchasing 2, 1 deluxe unit and 1 slave. They have more upfront costs of $650 for the 2 units + 120 for the mounting arms. I'm willing to pay the difference over the ATI fixture if I know it will provide adequate spread and they seem to be more reliable in terms of not having issues.
What do you guys think if you had to choose between the two options and why? Or if there is a better options besides these two, that fit my requirements, I'm all ears.
Thanks
Currently doing some planning for my 4' long tank, 20" depth, 21" high. I've narrowed down my lighting options but I am having a very tough time on deciding between the two.
What I am looking for:
A fixture that can be mounted over the top of the aquarium, I don't want it sitting on the rim of the tank. Must have a sleek design, and mounting system designed to hang/mount onto the aquarium that looks good.
Good spectrum and high light. Something that will provide great colors and high par values (80 - 100) on substrate level. Looking for good coverage.
Must be dimmable. In my person experience, finding that perfect synergy between light and co2 takes a lot of adjustments, having a dimmable fixture helped tremendously to make these adjustments. I don't want to have to lift or drop a light lower.
Through my research, I've found that ati's dimmable lights can accomplish this but I have a few concerns.
I've read that these lights can have a wide range of issues. Ballast failures, fans dying. Dimming features killing bulbs within 6 months, etc. Were these issues isolated to the earlier models? or are people still having issues with them currently? The price point is within my budget at $530 and it comes with a hanging kit. The light looks great (I actually like this style over pedant + arm mount style), is dimmable, and I can pretty much choose whatever spectrum I want through the selection of bulbs.
Aquatic life halos, from my understanding these fixtures seem to have a much better spectrum than say kessils. My concerns with them are the inherent limitations of pendant style lighting. Should I be concern with light spread? Also shadowing due to scaping layouts? I'm considering purchasing 2, 1 deluxe unit and 1 slave. They have more upfront costs of $650 for the 2 units + 120 for the mounting arms. I'm willing to pay the difference over the ATI fixture if I know it will provide adequate spread and they seem to be more reliable in terms of not having issues.
What do you guys think if you had to choose between the two options and why? Or if there is a better options besides these two, that fit my requirements, I'm all ears.
Thanks
