Anyone with T-5s and SPS?

[spykes]

I have a T-5 with SPS stocked so far, and i noticed the colors fade alittle off the frags i get from my friends whom has Metal Halides, but I am wondering it will stay like this forever? Im wondering if there are others who use T-5s for SPS and has good colors. please post some pictures of the tanks please thank you.

 

[damienkee]

i dun kno!
but my acro most brown up. the rest is still ok.
pocillopora, montipora cap & digi, pavona... all doing well. but not acro..

 

[akirasan]

You can check out this tank. Run totally on T5s.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/totm/index.php

 

[Brewen]

Akirasan beat me to it, the tom is awesome. As a fact I keep it in my favorite as to inspire. Altho I run MH still somthing to push for. Brewen

 

[fishdoc11]

Lots of nice T5 tanks out there

 

[zapata41]

i run t5s and get great growth, but i hate the browning off all frags and corals that i put in the tank, which is why i am switching to MH. those that have great colors with T5 are doing something very different than me, probably a lot more nutrients sunk in the sand, heck for all i know my old sand bed cursed my tank. but anyhow, the t5s do work, just IMO & IME they brown out everything i get.

Tim

 

[akirasan]

Well, you don't get the fancy glitter lines you get with MHs!

 

[rkl303]

Not sure how long you have had your acros but maybe the moving/switching water stress may have caused them to lose a little of their color and not the actual lighting scheme.

 

[spykes]

i havent moved my frags around for a bit, they been growing, but all my stuff just bleaches up and then browns out, or they start to turn brown in the process. Is it me or there are at least 2 people on this thread who has this problem as well?

 

[dvanacker]

I keep SPS with T5's and have not experienced this. All my SPS acro's included have either kept they brillant color I bought them with or gotten better. Except for a milli I put at the top which grows like a feind but has bleached out.

If you have quality T5 equipment I would be looking else where as in water quality and flow. If their is excessive nutrients in your water that could also cause browning.

 

[brentp]

I have a 30 gallon frag tank with a 250 14k hamilton and my main tank is 150 gallons with 7, 80 watt T5's. For me the corals color up better under the T5's. FWIW, the bulb over my frag tank is about 3 months old and my T5's are about 18 months old. When I move a frag to the main tank it seems like they brown a little for a week or two and then get more colorful than they were under halides. When I move a frag from the main tank to under the halide they lighten up and lose color. Growth seems about the same in both tanks.

 

[ONEMANBAND]

There is alot more to keeping corals alive and colorful than just lights, what are your parameters?

 

[Horace]

I would look at your phosphate levels before your lights if you have good coverage and good reflectors/bulbs. Some T5 tanks are the most amazing ones out there. Its alot more than just light when it comes to SPS.

 

[spykes]

po4, and no3 are both undetectable. SG 1.025, CA 450, alk 9.6dkh, mg 1450

 

[spykes]

my frags are like brown in the sideside the tips are colored tho. But my corals loose some color after a while under t-5s and only tips remain.

 

[brentp]

David,

Which bulbs, ballasts, and reflectors are you using?

Brent

 

[Flipturn88]

It's important to remember how much the design of the reflector impacts the amount of light reaching the coral--especially when T5s are used as the sole source of light. Notice that danano uses parabolic reflectors, which is one of the reasons why he gets such great color and growth under a strictly T5-lit tank.

With that being said, I use a combo of T5 and MH for my SPS tank. I wouldn't mind trying T5 only if I had the right reflectors, though. HTH

 

[spykes]

i have the SLS ones? I have the tek t-5 4 bulb fixture over a 15 " tank, nearly covers the width.

 

[Covey]

I keep SPS with just T-5s and have not noticed any changes. Like the other DOZEN people said I think it is the nutrient levels in your tank.

 

[Covey]

BTW the nitrate test is about worthless when it comes to SPS. By the time it detects any nitrate your probably killing coral. A better question is how often do you have to clean your glass?