Aquauniverse T-5 lighting reveiw

[150reef]

Well starting to get my orders coming in and the first to arrive tonight was my 48" T5 6X54 watt by Aquauniverse (catalina aquarium), nice setup with high black gloss aluminum body, high polished individual german reflectors, Jim at aquauniverse even provided 4 extra vent holes on top of unit (no charge) with neat plastic vent covers, total of 6 vent holes on unit, clear stand legs (free), lit the unit up with 3 10K bulbs and 3 actinic and was almost blinded, this light kicks. The only problem I have and was not the fault of Aquauniverse but of UPS is that they cracked one of the plastic end caps in shipping, hopefully Jim can send me a new one.Got a great deal on this unit and it seems very well built, see how it holds up when tank is up and running.
See pictures I took minutes ago.

 

[tripstank]

What are controls like for the lamp pattern? That was my one complaint with my Tek T-5 lights, only had control of the middle four on one switch and the outside two on another switch.....

 

[150reef]

What are controls like for the lamp pattern? That was my one complaint with my Tek T-5 lights, only had control of the middle four on one switch and the outside two on another switch.....

Pretty much the same, 4 on one switch and two on the other. The way I configured it is that the one with the two I have actinics and will work well for night viewing or dawn to dusk and then I can flip the other switch and the other remaining actinic and 3 10K's will come on. Works for what I'm doing, FOWLR.:knockedou

Jack

 

[tripstank]

I have mine on a small prop system.. they work great, but like I said, I wish I complete 50/50 control.

Kudos on the lights, they look great!

Can't wait to see them in action!

 

[NYreefNoob]

new t5

i love the t5's, but i have the retro's which i like cause i have 3 ballast with timer's on each one. running 10k 11k and 2 antic plus and getting good color and growth on lps as well as sps. good luck. id still add fan's

 

[150reef]

I have mine on a small prop system.. they work great, but like I said, I wish I complete 50/50 control.

Kudos on the lights, they look great!

Can't wait to see them in action!

Cant wait for the action to begin myself, but seems to be atleast a month or two before some of my backorder items come in :snail:. Will keep you guys\gals posted.

 

[150reef]

Spoke to Jim @ Aquauniverse this morning and he will be sending a new plasctic end cap.
Its been a pleasure doing business with him. Give Jim a call at Aquauniverse if your in search of any type of light, MH, T5, PC, retro's etc... His prices cant be beat, trust me I did alot of research and his quality is on par with many of the other big names.

 

[scumonkey]

Aquauniverse is fine for the hardware (My retro fit came from them as well),
Good quality I agree BUT.....
DO NOT BUY MH BULBS FROM THEM!!!!
They are inferior- they only last a few months - the colour is not consistent,
( I know from firsthand experience), however the VHO actinics I got from them are fine.
Jim CAN be an A$$- sent me the wrong product 4 times- shortchanged me on postage
(that I paid for) 3 times, LIED to me on the phone and, was removed from Ebay for sooo
many bad feedbacks (most related to bad bulbs,shortchanged postage and wrong products sent.)
Better to buy your bulbs from a vendor here, or someplace like http://www.hellolights.com/

Your hood looks sweet- they did a good job and you've been lucky with Jim up till now. I would buy more lighting hardware from them but nothing else!
Good luck with your project.

 

[drperetz]

...

Why dont u put the aqua+ in the middle and the actinics outside?

 

[150reef]

Why dont u put the aqua+ in the middle and the actinics outside?

I just thought by placing one actnic, one 10K so on, that I would get a more even distribution of both light spectrums throughout the tank.

The way your suggesting being its a 6 bulb fixture, there would be 2 actinics on one end and one on the other with the three 10K in center (well the 10K's will be offset, not exactly center).Is there a difference in the way your suggesting?

 

[fritz]

Since we rarely keep corals at the very rear or very front of the tank I usually place my actinic bulbs at the far front and back as they normally have low par value. My highest par bulbs I place towards the middle and get bluer as I go towards the front and back. On a 6 bulb fixture you'd have to stagger that a bit so as not to end up with colored stripes in your tank, yellow in the middle, then white to blue.

Does this fixture come with fans or are there just vents? Are the reflectors parabolic (M shaped) or are they just round? Does it come with a splash guard?

 

[FlavorFlave]

I have an oldere version and the endcaps where the bulbs go in are a pain in the A$$. You feel like you are going to brak it whenever you need to change bulbs. my 2 cents anyway.

 

[Awibrandy]

Works for what I'm doing, FOWLR.:knockedou

Jack

I don't understand why you needed a fixture like this at all. Do you intend to go reef at some point?

 

[150reef]

I don't understand why you needed a fixture like this at all. Do you intend to go reef at some point?

Might do some ZOA's or not, mainly a FOWLR The main reason for getting the T5 6X 54 is that my tank will be 30" tall. Even if I were to go reef in the future, I dont think this light setup would work or might depending on what I kept. But reef is not my interest today. I was very close to getting the 8 X54, but thought that it was too intense for a FOWLR. With a 30" tank we will see if I made the right decision. From what I saw, this light is BRIGHT, sought of the same as looking up at the sun on a bright day!!

 

[150reef]

I have an oldere version and the endcaps where the bulbs go in are a pain in the A$$. You feel like you are going to brak it whenever you need to change bulbs. my 2 cents anyway.

Yep the end caps are a little fragile,just got the replacement end cap from Jim @ Aquauniverse this morning. No questions asked, he just sent it out.