• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

AliE bar vs. T5

So i have 2 hydra 32s over my 40b. I want to add some more lighting at the back of the tank are the top of the rock work for some acros. (I don't wanna mess with my current set up bc everything else is pretty happy).

I'm debating between the AliE led bar (telegraham and inappropriate reefer have posted videos showing they're decent)
Or a diy single bulb T5 HO fixture from Amazon. (maybe get 2 and turn my lights into a hybrid fixture).

Anybody have any thoughts? Pros and cons for both?
 
Wow 2 32’s over your breeder. Curious what your par is. I have 3 Primes and thinking about getting rid of 1 and adding a hydra 26. What percentage are you running them at?
 
Wow 2 32’s over your breeder. Curious what your par is. I have 3 Primes and thinking about getting rid of 1 and adding a hydra 26. What percentage are you running them at?
It's pretty low. I had 2 prime 16s over them but the par was super low even though they were turned up pretty far. I had 2 32s sitting around so i swapped them out. Now the par level is pretty even throughout the tank. They're tuned to half of what my 16s were so no change in par level for the most part (except for the spots that now have better distribution)
 

amado

Dal
Staff member
Board of Directors
NJRC Member
Why don’t you just run prime 32 at 100%? You can move them higher until you get the numbers you want.
 

amado

Dal
Staff member
Board of Directors
NJRC Member
Because i only need higher par in the back portion of the tank. I'd rather not disturb the rest of my corals

Adding more lite from a lite bar will just add more light everywhere. I think those led bars look horrible and t5 over a tank without a hood looks really bad. You don’t need to spend more money on anything. All you have to do is turn up the primes you already own. A increase of 10-20 par is not going to do much. I watch the inappropriate reefer for entertainment value only. This guy changes lights/food/pumps/controllers every week. In my opinion inappropriate reefers tank looks like ****. This guy get a ton of free expensive corals all the time. He kills them and then they send him a replacement. telegraham Is very good for the hobby and we need some one like this guy to cut out the ********. But he is a scientist and he is also always changing stuff around.

 
Adding more lite from a lite bar will just add more light everywhere. I think those led bars look horrible and t5 over a tank without a hood looks really bad. You don’t need to spend more money on anything. All you have to do is turn up the primes you already own. A increase of 10-20 par is not going to do much. I watch the inappropriate reefer for entertainment value only. This guy changes lights/food/pumps/controllers every week. In my opinion inappropriate reefers tank looks like ****. This guy get a ton of free expensive corals all the time. He kills them and then they send him a replacement. telegraham Is very good for the hobby and we need some one like this guy to cut out the ********. But he is a scientist and he is also always changing stuff around.

Telegraham had a whole hour video on these bars. They do put out some par.
 
Hey foxchase. How do you like the AI hydra 32s?

I am looking for lughts for my reefer 250 and I cant seem to decide which lights will work the best.

i am considering reefbreeders 32 inch. I want goos coverage and spread.

getting 2 hydras should be enough for me but how are tou handling sps? And do you get shadowing?
 
Hey foxchase. How do you like the AI hydra 32s?

I am looking for lughts for my reefer 250 and I cant seem to decide which lights will work the best.

i am considering reefbreeders 32 inch. I want goos coverage and spread.

getting 2 hydras should be enough for me but how are tou handling sps? And do you get shadowing?
I love the hydras the par is pretty even almost entirely through the tank. I don't wanna mess with my them, that's why I'm looking to add either a T5 or LED strip to get more par in the back (which is where i want to put my SPS)
 

nightmarepl

NJRC Member
Hey foxchase. How do you like the AI hydra 32s?

I am looking for lughts for my reefer 250 and I cant seem to decide which lights will work the best.

i am considering reefbreeders 32 inch. I want goos coverage and spread.

getting 2 hydras should be enough for me but how are tou handling sps? And do you get shadowing?
you should look into the R24 Orbits supposedly they pack a pump im in process of getting 1-2 of them and comparing them to my prime 16hd supposedly they put out 150-200 par at 20 inches and 350 at 10 inches
 

nightmarepl

NJRC Member
i find it odd that 2 x hydra 32s on a 40B you dont have enough light read on reef2reef somone had 2 hydras growing clams and all surprised you having light issues in a smallish tank with basically 4 primes shooting at it
 
i find it odd that 2 x hydra 32s on a 40B you dont have enough light read on reef2reef somone had 2 hydras growing clams and all surprised you having light issues in a smallish tank with basically 4 primes shooting at it
I don't have problems. I have them tuned to what they've always been set up as. Which works well for all my LPS and softies. It's just that Ive gotten a lot of sticks recently and need to up the par in a specific area to meet the needs of the SPS without burning everything else up
 

nightmarepl

NJRC Member
I don't have problems. I have them tuned to what they've always been set up as. Which works well for all my LPS and softies. It's just that Ive gotten a lot of sticks recently and need to up the par in a specific area to meet the needs of the SPS without burning everything else up
i am you can do a ramp up schedule and use AB+ which is what i use do a 60 day ramp up could raise them alittle higher if your scared thatll save you money you got the power why not use it.
 
Top