POLL - What type of Lighting do you think is Best for Chalices? LED, T5, Metal Halide? and Why?

[reefstc]

with the right intensity and spectrum, any of the 3 lights should work great...

 

[emerald525]

I honestly had the best coloration with the old school 4 bulb VHO with 150W MH. I had to keep SPS at the top because the par was pretty low compared to when I converted to an ATI T-5 but because the Par was so low I didn't have too much trouble with chalices getting bleached out
. Here's a picture:

 

[TJ's Reef]

I'm an led guy and I don't get offended.

I do get tired of people telling me my corals are going to die under LEDs.

MH are great, so are t5s. Power compacts are fine too over the right tank.

Same goes here and 'Right on the Money' Gabe, any light source in the correct spectrum and intensity will work and all your Corals, Chalices included will not care or know the difference. I chose LED's only because I'm more versed and feel more confident in my ability to manipulate them compared to the others. Have successfully kept Chalices before though under Both T5 and VHO, 25 years ago when I ran MH's there were no Chalices to be readily had..........lol

Cheers, Todd

 

[FLipp]

IMO t5 and led combo.
i have 36in tek light 6 bulb t5 + 36in reefbrite xho (57gal) has been doing great so far.

 

[JVI90gREEF]

I switched to 48" 6 bulb (ATI) T5/48" Blue Reefbrite XHO LED combo and my whole tank has really taken off!

FragFarmers Watermelon 2/15/14

FragFarmers Watermelon 4/15/14

I always take progression photos of all my corals in my tank for specific reasons.

That being said...I think there are so many factors (lighting being one for sure) that contribute to all coral growth and coloration.

A few more shots from that same 2/15/14 - 4/15/14 time frame.

JF JOL Lepto (before)

After

 

[that Reef Guy]

I switched to 48" 6 bulb (ATI) T5/48" Blue Reefbrite XHO LED combo and my whole tank has really taken off!

FragFarmers Watermelon 2/15/14

FragFarmers Watermelon 4/15/14

I always take progression photos of all my corals in my tank for specific reasons.

That being said...I think there are so many factors (lighting being one for sure) that contribute to all coral growth and coloration.

A few more shots from that same 2/15/14 - 4/15/14 time frame.

JF JOL Lepto (before)

After

What Lights did you have before that when the Corals did not look so good?

 

[JVI90gREEF]

Lol, they were given to me in that condition, as a last ditch effort to revive them.

 

[Tab28]

I switched to 48" 6 bulb (ATI) T5/48" Blue Reefbrite XHO LED combo and my whole tank has really taken off!

FragFarmers Watermelon 2/15/14

FragFarmers Watermelon 4/15/14

That is a watermelon growth in just 2 months? That is from whatever you are feeding not light. You have a knack for watermelons they are notorious for slow growth rate.

 

[JVI90gREEF]

That is a watermelon growth in just 2 months? That is from whatever you are feeding not light. You have a knack for watermelons they are notorious for slow growth rate.

Thank you for the kind words. I honestly didn't know that about watermelon chalices. I didn't get into chalices until recently.

 

[JVI90gREEF]

I got 10 or so frags from the same guy as a "if they live, they're yours"...worked out great for me!

Orange Crush Acan Echinata (before)

After (this was taken almost 2 weeks ago)

 

[Tab28]

I got 10 or so frags from the same guy as a "if they live, they're yours"...worked out great for me!

Orange Crush Acan Echinata (before)

After (this was taken almost 2 weeks ago)

I have that same acan. It does not like any coral near it and will win the war. It is the true orange crush. Evident by the brown eyes. Other look a likes have green eyes. It is a fast grower. I have had mine for probably over 6 years.

 

[JVI90gREEF]

I have that same acan. It does not like any coral near it and will win the war. It is the true orange crush. Evident by the brown eyes. Other look a likes have green eyes. It is a fast grower. I have had mine for probably over 6 years.

This one is a look a like, I guess...it has the bright green in and around the eyes.

 

[Tab28]

This one is a look a like, I guess...it has the bright green in and around the eyes.

The body will have many colors but the true orange crush will have 99% brown inside the eye. Will have some flecks of color but mostly brown eyes. It can have any color on the body edges near eye. The look a likes mostly have all green eyes. Have seen some with blue and green eyes.

 

[that Reef Guy]

Lol, they were given to me in that condition, as a last ditch effort to revive them.

Do you know what the Previous Owner's Lights were that they used to cause them to look like that?

 

[JVI90gREEF]

He has MH/T5, but I don't think it was the lighting...he was having some other issues.

 

[Rob Top1]

Growth on my ORA easter egg exploded when I went from T-5 to LED. Could be lihjy color more than type. Went from 2 each Aquaticlife 10k, 14k, blue and purple to using AI Sols that have blue channles max and whites at 85% for about 2 HTS buy that ratio is maintained through out the photo period. Went from the about 1" to 4x4 in about 6 months

 

[Flavum]

Hard for me to say a best. I have had success growing with each type of lighting. Had the best growth out of halide but its also the most expensive to run and replace bulbs yearly so I will take less growth and zero upkeep cost with the LED's.

 

[Rausch]

Yes!! love my Kessil and so do my chalices! its all about that UV eace: lots of coloration after i switched from my T5's

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

I have like 20 some different chalices ad am seeing great growth and color under radion pro leds. I think spectrum is the big kicker. I've seen alot of chalice colors dull under several led fixtures that run less colors. As for growth in the past few months on many frag a solid 1/2-1 inch and my My Miami frag grew 1/8th of an inch in two weeks after getting it in my tank.

MH are great but you will never have the ability to tweak them like you do with a high quality LED unit.