I am setting up my 180 and am thinking about which lighting I will be putting over it. I have always been a Radion guy in the past but not sure if I'm in love with the G6 lights. I originally had G4s over my 180 when it was set up at my old house and currently have G3s on my 55 that I got a great deal on on ebay. The G4s are gone and I don't want to use G3s on the 180 so I was looking at the G6 XR15s. This will be a SPS dominant tank and I'm a little worried after doing some research on the 15s. So I figured rather than shelling out 2500+ on 3 XR30s I'd get the best of both worlds and go with a T5/LED Hybrid. My questions are, do I need a dimmable fixture if I'm going with a hybrid? Would running the T5s at 100% along with having LEDs at whatever percentage be too much? My tank is 72". Do I need 72" of T5s or would a 60" fixture supplemented with LEDs in the middle be enough? Or maybe a 36" fixture with an XR15 on each side?
T5/LED Hybrid question
- Thread starter keithw283
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I've got the 36" fixture on my 36" tank.
Not dimmable. The LEDs do a full day cycle and the t5s turn on for 5 hours for peak lighting.
BRS has a very in depth video on the fixture with ai primes, kessils, radions.
Not dimmable. The LEDs do a full day cycle and the t5s turn on for 5 hours for peak lighting.
BRS has a very in depth video on the fixture with ai primes, kessils, radions.
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Similar to xCry0x only mine is a 24 inch fixture. 2 XR15 gen4s and 2 B+ and 2 C+ t5 bulbs non dimmable. I adjust the radions if I need more or less par. Only been a couple of months but the SPS frags seem to like it. I have the radions come on first low for feeding fish then low for evening till bed time t5 are never on alone so I get the ramp up and down with the radions. Mine is an aquatic life fixture
Ya I love it.
Couldn't see any reason to use anything else.
I get the wall to wall full spectrum light coverage from t5s and the adjustability of LEDs.
I run 4 blue+ bulbs and then have two ai primes peaking at 80% across blue and white channels.
BrS has a video series on the fixture and they chart out par coverage with different led lights combined with the t5s.
With my setup I get about 150-200 par on the sand 20" deep with lights about 7" off water surface.
Higher up is 350-400 par about 5-6" from surface.
It's a really complete coverage as far as minimal spotlighting from the LEDs due to the t5 coverage. Which is what I like so much about the hybrid.
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Reefer 170 24x20x20 lights are probably overkill but lighting is like money in the bank. You can never have too much and you only have to use what you need.
Would likely work fine depending on your rock work and how high you hang it.
Would give you lower lights on the sides which could be beneficial if you want some lower light lps/softies.
im a little late to this post but im looking at t5/led hybrid. and i have a 36 wide by 20 inch tall tank. ive been debating between dimmable and non dimmable. i cant find myself needing a expensive 600$ dimmable fixture
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