T-5 bulbs, PAR rating, what bulbs to use, etc....

luke33

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Got it, that is a gamechanger in my thoughts : ) 60" vs 36" t5's are night and day in intensity differences. Personally if I were in your situation and really wanting to go with a sps dominated tank I would change fixture's. 8 36" t5's really are not going to be super intense in a 30" deep tank. I would think you could keep sps in the top 12" of your tank, but less light demanding one's, like digi's, monti's and some less demanding light mille's. I would run an 8x60" t5 fixture, three 250w mh's or a few nice led pendants with t5 supplementation.

And apologies, not trying to say your light is bad, its a nice fixture, just want to be honest about its abilities : )
 

Ed Amoroso

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nah, no reason to apologize. i assumed that I need more light for SPS, that's why i asked in the first place, lol. so if i added a couple of kessils, for instance, that may be enough to suppliment?
 

s2nhle

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Are you adding kessils 360 or 160? IMO, kessils 360 plus t5 as supplement are a good for SPS
 

luke33

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If your adding kessils you definitely want the 360's for that size of tank. If I were going to run those kessils I would run 4 over your tank and then run 4 80w t5's, all blue + or 3 b+ and one p+.

If you don't run the t5's your going to have quite a few hot spots in the tank as they are more point source than some of your other LED's like ocean revive 2080's which don't shadow like the small pendant's. I moved back to t5's after 5yrs of led only, and I'm very very happy now with my sps. Although I added some led supplement strips to still get that blue led : )
 

luke33

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I ran t5's for 6yrs, mh's for 2yrs, led's for 5yrs and my best growth was with t5's and mh's. When I set up the new tank I switched back to t5's after using led's for 3mths. Unless I'm forced to by the industry I will not go back to led as they just don't grow sps like t5's or mh's. Most of my sps are still small but the growth has been 2-3x's as fast with the t5's vs led's. And that was after the month long browning out and transition affects.

T5's are great as they don't have shadow's like point source lighting, and you can get great color combination and intensity. Pry need to get the subject back to that : )
 

webbl19

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Can anyone tell me if the T5 LED tubes are any better than regular T5HO bulbs? My T5's are growing my corals currently, so this isn't a need, but I like how the leds cause a shadow effect with the ripples, I don't seem to get that when I don't have my LED's on. Anyway, I was at the LFS and I saw the T5 LED tubes, but I don't really see anyone talk about them, is that because they are no good?

Thanks
 

Ed Amoroso

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OK, so after looking more into MHs, i think that's the way to go for now until LEDs both improve and come down in price. As i know nothing about MH lighting and keeping in mind that i would just be adding them to the T5 lighting i have, what should i be looking for? 2 x 250w? And any suggestions on best value?

thanks for all the replies and suggestions!
 

m88a2

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has anyone tried any of the giesemann powerchrome bulbs? A LFS near me carries some and i heard they were good bulbs similar to ATI. I run a single original hydra (though i do have a 2nd one not in use) w/ 2 T5 for supplement on a 30g deep blue (shallow). currently i have 2 blue+ but if i can save on bulb shipping i like to switch to the giesemann. the azure looks like an aqua blue competitor...
 

Tooch

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Hello T5 specialists. I have had a 75g, 48" wide, fish and coral tank about a year now. I had cheaper bulbs that came with the setup I bought all together (2 white, 1 actinic, 1 purple) After about 9 months, I added a 48" reef brite LED blue strip, which made coral color really pop on its own. After a few weeks coral were not as open, so I switched to 4 ATI (1 blue special, 4 blue + advised by a friend). Corals still not popping, so I removed the Blue LED strip, leaving just the 4 ATI. After a week, some coral popping better. Does it take a while for color and growth to return, or are bulbs still too much? Water tests are fine, thanks!
 

Pola0502ds

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What height above what does everyone have their T5's mounted at and how deep is the tank? I'm looking for suggestions on 4 bulb aquatic life fixture with 3 blue plus and 1 purple plus ati bulb and 2 blue reefbrite XHO lights. Mounting them this weekend.
 

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