We’ve seen some hybrid LED & T5 light fixtures made for aquariums over the years but the new design from Triton Aquatics is arguably one of the most inviting we’ve seen. In lieu of selecting your bulbs and what kind of LEDs used in their fixtures, Triton Aquatics has developed a shell of a light that is wired for four T5 tubes and has a large void in the center of the fixture for mounting LED fixtures of your choice.
In a way, Triton’s new fixture could also be seen as a mounting system for Hydra and Radion LED lights which just also happens to be outfitted with high output T5 lighting. The center “open space” of the Triton fixture runs the length of the fixture and is about 7.5 inches wide so any flat-panel LED fixture thin enough to fit inside will work.
Triton makes the entire housing in-house in Cleveland Ohio from a single sheet of aluminium. The fixture is then wired with ATI brand-name endcaps, fans, and dimmable ballasts which can be externally controlled; there’s a simple 1-10v input so you can delegate dimming and timer options to a third party controller such as an Apex or Profilux.
Packing all of that T5 and LED power into a single housing means that plenty of heat will be produced but an aluminum housing and no fewer than three fans will help keep the LED fixtures and T5 bulbs running at an optimally cool temperature. The Triton Aquatics Hybrid fixture has mounting holes for securing your Hydra or Radion LED lights and it will first be offered up in a four foot length with either white or black powder coated finish.
When it starts shipping in October, Triton’s Hybrid fixture will be priced at around $500 without any bulbs but they will entertain requests for fixtures to be made in shorter lengths and with ballasts and endcaps for just two tubes. There’s some things that T5 fluorescent tubes can do that are simply not available from LED lights such as broad spectrum UV exposure and filling in every space of the tank with light, eliminating hard shadows. The combination of shimmering LEDs and broad light distribution from T5 tubes is a very progressive choice of aquarium lighting and we look forward to seeing how reefers react to this new approach to combining the best of both worlds. [Triton Aquatics]
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