Switching from LED to LED/T5 Hybrid

[Waters]

I am currently running two Radion XR30 Pros at about 50% over my 105G SPS dominate tank. I am switching over to a hybrid fixture which will add 4 T5 bulbs. What are the recommendations for adding the new lights regarding coral acclimation? My coral/tank seems to be very light sensitive....if I try to move the Radions past 50%, about half of the SPS start to suffer. Should i leave the Radions where they are at or decrease their intensity with the addition of the new bulbs? Only run the new bulbs for a hour a day at first, slowing increasing their time? Do nothing and just fire them up since they are T5s and not high intensity LEDs? I really want to avoid any issues with my SPS....I have a lot of money in those sticks :(

 

[The_Harris_co]

I’m the same position right now but would be with a kessil a360x. Interested in the process

 

[jda]

What you are experiencing with is a LED phenonomen. You can just put the T5s on there. If it makes you feel better, you can run them for 3-4 hours and add one-half hour a day. Decreasing the radions is not a bad idea.

In the end, have the T5s run for the day and do all the heavy lifting and have the Radions fill in and supplement as you see fit.

Not that this matters, but what you are seeing is a quality thing, not a quantity thing... those 4x T5s should provide as much output as Radions at 50%... give or take depending on the bulb type.

 

[Waters]

What you are experiencing with is a LED phenonomen. You can just put the T5s on there. If it makes you feel better, you can run them for 3-4 hours and add one-half hour a day. Decreasing the radions is not a bad idea.

In the end, have the T5s run for the day and do all the heavy lifting and have the Radions fill in and supplement as you see fit.

Not that this matters, but what you are seeing is a quality thing, not a quantity thing... those 4x T5s should provide as much output as Radions at 50%... give or take depending on the bulb type.

Ok thanks.....it has been a long time since I have used T5s. I will just throw them on there then, and use the LEDs at a slightly lower intensity, mainly for the blues and purples, since the T5s are much whiter. I will also use the LEDs as the sun rise and sun set, turning the T5s on mid morning.

 

[nickkohrn]

Ok thanks.....it has been a long time since I have used T5s. I will just throw them on there then, and use the LEDs at a slightly lower intensity, mainly for the blues and purples, since the T5s are much whiter. I will also use the LEDs as the sun rise and sun set, turning the T5s on mid morning.

How has this configuration been working for you?

 

[CivicS14]

I recently added the aquaticlife t5 hybrid on an SPS dominant tank. I started running them for four hours a day, then a few weeks increased to 5, then now I’m at 6.

added to help with shadowing due to how my rock set up is. No idea if any help for growth or not. But wife doesn’t like it due to the light spillage in the room.

 

[Waters]

How has this configuration been working for you?

Working very well actually. Everything else has colored up and is growing nicely. I also did notice an immediate explosion of Coralline algae that started showing up. I ended up just decreasing the LED intensity down to 30% and added the T5s. I didn't adjust the photoperiod at all. SPS seems to be able to handle the increase in PAR from T5s much better than from LEDs.

 

[Bpb]

Using a par meter will be a good idea. I’d basically tune the leds to where you’re providing 300-400 par for your sps corals for 4-6 hours per day when run with the t5’s. When the t5’s turn off, the par should drop naturally since you’re using 216 less watts

 

[dadnjesse]

Being that the t5's are at the outer edges of your tank I would continue to use the LED's for the main lighting and the t5's for filler light.

 

[Waters]

Being that the t5's are at the outer edges of your tank I would continue to use the LED's for the main lighting and the t5's for filler light.

Before I installed the T5s, I would have agreed with this statement. After installing the 4 bulbs though, I tested PAR levels with and without the LEDs on (with help from @Big E....thanks again :) ) . They are very consistent throughout the whole tank, whether or not it is directly below the bulbs or more towards the middle. It made much more sense to use the T5s as the main light, and the LEDs as supplemental.