If you have ever admired a painting and were stunned by its beauty, or if you have ever looked at nature and were mesmerized by what you saw, you know about the importance of light and color balance.
My favorite artists use the whole color palette to create their masterpieces. They do not use one tone to paint something beautiful. They incorporate as many dark colors as they do light ones.
Mother Nature already knows this. She uses a perfect balance of colors to display that kind of beauty in the ocean. It's the look many of us envision for our reef aquariums.
So how do we achieve the right color balance in our reef tanks?
I consider it’s equally important to have balance in the light we use. The reef tank’s light is vital to our precious corals and the ecosystem we try to replicate, and bad lighting settings can starve or burn them. Since one type of lighting doesn’t cover all possible needs, why not use a hybrid fixture to combine T5 bulbs with an LED light to achieve the perfect harmony?
Hybrid Lights - The Best of Both Worlds For Your Reef Tank.
Every type of lighting provides their own advantages and strengths, but they also come with disadvantages. LEDs provide control and efficiency while T5 bulbs have precision and spectra flexibility. That’s why I love so much to use hybrid fixtures for my aquarium.
Hybrid fixtures have become extremely popular due to their advantages, and dare I say simplicity, and they appeal to beginners as well to experienced reefers. T5 bulbs are great for delivering the main spectrum of lighting needed with the minimum power consumption, while LED is that extra touch of control that helps you achieve the optimal balance of light.
Don’t you love that?
My Choice For T5 Hybrid Fixture, Your Corals Gonna Love it!
Hybrid fixtures must be easy to install, flexible in dimension, have great quality to last you as long as possible, and be great looking. At least for me. You want to get the maximum amount of control that you can when it comes to installing your LED. Since there are many types of LEDs, a hybrid fixture should be easily adaptable to whatever you want to use.
Or maybe you want to change the type of T5 bulbs later. You wouldn't want to change the entire fixture.
With STELLAR, you don’t have to...
When it comes to lighting fixtures, few manage to bring the versatility, effectiveness and beauty of Giesemann STELLAR light. This fixture is easy to ensemble and use, and it brings the same German quality we are used to seeing in their products.
Now let’s talk about efficiency. When you measure the quality of your lighting fixture, you are looking at squeezing the most PAR for the buck and even PAR distribution. And for that purpose, the fixture must have high quality reflectors, because you don’t want to lose those precious lumens and have hot spots. That’s one area in which Giesemann is the best in the market.
Every T-5 bulb has their own reflector, made of the best reflector material on the market. The fixture body is made of high grade aluminum and completely powder coated in iridium-metallic or pure-white. This guarantees you get the best cost value for your lighting system.
And the fixture is sturdy enough to take any kind of lights you want to use. It is built from high-quality aluminum and can be installed or mounted anyway you want. You can mount it on the wall or aquarium, or suspend it on the ceiling.
Would be nice to see a dimmable version of STELLAR in the future with its own controller. It’s not a problem for me as I have it connected to the Hydros Controller and I can turn it On / Off with it. It’s not a critical thing, but it would be nice to see this feature added by Giesemann.
Note: The suspension accessories are not included when you buy STELLAR, so you will have to purchase those separately.
Philips Coral Care Gen 2 - My LED Of Choice To Use On STELLAR.
Choosing the type of hybrid fixture I am going to use for my aquarium is just one part of the deal. I also had to choose the type of LED light.
And there’s plenty of options out there.
There are plenty of companies that put a lot of effort to provide reefers with the best LED lights possible. But I am always looking at the best in the industry. And when you talk about lighting quality, you have to include Philips in your consideration.
The Coral Care Gen 2 is the new and improved version of Gen 1. I like the improvements they made to the first version, and this one is really great in the T5 combo. It’s much bigger and heavier than other options in the market, but that’s not a problem for the versatile and sturdy STELLAR fixture. Gen 2 is much bigger because that gives it the option of passive cooling, which eliminates the need of using fans.
Silent + economic.
This modern LED that you can connect through WiFi and control from your smartphone or laptop gives you over 25,000 hours of light, and you don’t have to replace any light source for the entire lifetime of the fixture.
It gives you easy access to lighting settings that can satisfy your tank’s needs, since every tank is different and they all require personalized adjustments. Switching between schedules is a breeze as well.
What more could you ask for?
My Tank Is Happy, Therefore I Am.
As reefers, our happiness is directly proportional to the happiness of our corals. And how can we see that happiness? When the corals grow big, bright and beautiful, as they would do in their natural environment.
I hoped that all my research to choose the perfect light setting would prove worthy by helping me have a vibrant and healthy tank. I have to say, this combo didn’t disappoint.
This T5+LED combo proved very efficient for my tank. Regarding the T5 bulbs, I like the color and soft light distribution of the bulbs provided by Giesemann.
I used the Philips Coral Care 2 on Giesemann STELLAR fixture on our tank and got pretty good PAR results. The combo helped me obtain a super even distribution between 150-400 PAR all over the tank without any HOT SPOTS. Be sure to use a PAR meter when setting up your light!
They work great together and I like the flexibility of also having an LED that can go from 0% to 100% and possibility to adjust them to the color that I like the most.
I am super happy with the results I obtained, and the PAR Meter helped me adjust the settings with precision.
That’s amazing!
I’ve added SPS corals to the tank and they have already reacted beautifully to the light setting. After two weeks in the tanks, they are already encrusting and showing a very strong growth rate and coloring.
Now this is what I call happy news!
WARNING: A little heads up if you plan on using this combination. Make sure to use zip ties to attach the Coral Care Gen 2 LED fixture to the rails of the STELLAR fixture, and not just place it on top. The LED fixture is heavy, and you can easily drop it in the water when you do tank maintenance if it’s not properly fixed to the STELLAR fixture. Better to be safe than sorry.
It’s a simple thing to do that can save you a lot of troubles and headaches.
Final Thoughts.
After careful consideration for all possible choices, I concluded that using a T5+LED combo is the best choice for my Giesemann reef tank. I loved the level of control this setting provided.
I am satisfied with the results obtained with this combination, and nothing beats STELLAR when it comes to hybrid fixtures. It’s easy to install, sturdy, adjustable and it even looks great.
The Coral Care Gen 2 is my LED of choice for this setting, and it proved an amazing light source with adjustable settings and passive cooling feature. But any other LED on the market would work great on STELLAR.
Using a PAR Meter to adjust the settings to the perfection, I managed to get a super even distribution of 150-400 PAR all over the tank, without ANY hot spots that could potentially kill my corals.
All in all, I am super happy with the development of my corals and I can see the positive reactions to the light setting. Even if you are a beginner or a more experienced reefer, STELLAR is easy to use and install, and it will satisfy all the needs you might have regarding your LED of choice. Giesemann didn’t fail to provide the same German quality we are used to find in their products.
If you have ever admired a painting and were stunned by its beauty, or if you have ever looked at nature and
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