The good, the bad and the BULL?

Agree with you on that. Although, I heavily lean towards the Maxspect fixtures over the AI. They are nearly the same price now, and I personally think the LED + Semi LED combos you can produce are insane.

Hate to link to anything other than 3reef but check out this thread.
Skeptics, here's the proof that LED grows colorful SPS's - Reef Central Online Community
Maxspect user, shows his graphs and his layout for his custom set up.

 

Plus you can switch out the optics on the maxspects. That's a huge plus IMO. I'd guess if your a hardcore DIY'er who isn't too worried about wrecking the fixture, you could swap out the optics in other fixtures too, but many of the maxspects make it easier for the rest of us LOL.

 

Yes that is a huge plus. I do love those Maxspects. I definitely think the next gen will be what I end up going with. The AI have a nice mix of proprietary optics that allow for superior spread, and that makes them very attractive, but I often feel that less the optics you could make better with the parts available to us these days minus the fact you get them stuck in a pretty case.

I think you really couldn't go wrong with either the AI's or Maxspects. Honestly, there's a whole range of great choices out there, both DIY and pre-made.

 

awesome information! thanks for the replies... I'm about to give the green light to the triple maxspect mazarra modules for the custom, rimless tank!