Sunpower!

Well I figured I could write a small little review on the ATI Sunpower fixture that I have been using for a little over a month now. I'm no expert but have some experience in this little hobby and maybe this will help someone out! I have the 4x24w 24"...

Build - The fixture is constructed in a aluminum housing that has a brushed look to it. It held together by 10-12 allen head screws but its built very well. I have seen the powermodule in person but I prefer the look of the SP. The fixture is much lighter than the PM too.


Reflectors and Fan - This is one of the main differences with the SP and PM. The Sunpower has one fan for the 4 bulb fixture and two for the 6 bulb fixture. The PM has a fan for every two bulbs. I have my fan set at 6.5V and seems too keep them very cool. There are four 1/2" holes at the end on the bulbs. This is the "sweet spot" that they found to be the best place for cooling the bulbs. The reflectors themselves have a very nice polished look. There is a power cord for every two bulbs so you can configure your lights for the dust/down effect. The fixture comes with a acrylic splash shield that gets the job done.

Lighting - I have no way to measure the PAR or anything like that but I do have a good feel for how intense these lights are. I am running one ATI Aquablues, two ATI Blue+ and one UVI 75/25. This gives me a nice crisp white/blue. Almost like a Phoenix 14k but a little more on the white side. Like I said I have only been using this unit for a little over a month but the colors I am getting out of my corals are amazing! My Red Planet has intense Pink with neon green base, the Setosa is glowing orange and any browned out coral I have put in there has taken on its true color. I dont feel limited to where I can put and of my corals too like I did with my old MHs. My tank is 30" long x 18" deep x 15" tall and this unit is only 23.5" x 9 x 2.5". I am able to put my birdnest in the far left corner out of direct light and it still has the purple polyps and greenish base. My unit is about 4-5" off the water surface and most of my corals are 8-10" down without ANY probelms.
My little rig I have for now to hold the lights up...


Overall I love this fixture! I bought mine for 409.95 with bulbs from reefgeek. Its around 100$ cheaper than the Powermodule and to me I dont see that big of a difference between the two. After using a 250 HQI Sunlight supply pendant for 2 years before taking a break from the hobby I thought I would always use MH's. My only problem with them was how much heat came off of them and how much more power I was using. I did achieve some great colors but nothing like I am getting from these new T5's. At first I thought I was jumping on the T5 fad but after using them I totally understand why SO many people are switching over. Sure they dont have the shimmer lines but being able to adjust what color you want, run cooler ( only because I am running 96w instead of the 250w ) and being able to place corals anywhere in my tank I will always use T5's. Like I said I'm no expert but with how everything looks I'm not complaining!


Hope this helps some people. If you have any other questions just post it on here. Maybe I can help you out!

-Dave