Best lighting for fastest growth

[brad65ford]

I think the answer is obvious but I wanted to hear others that have had extreme growth success.

My guess is mh take the cake for the most growth over all., correct? Though led's are great is there no comparison?

 

[A. Grandis]

Between Metal Halides and T5's = MH, yes!

Ushio 6500K were the best with supplemental HO actinic blue, back in the days.
I never used other than that for zoas. Today I've got T5s and have a decent growth.
When using T5s we need the "white/blue" balance for better results.
Bluish tanks will have slower growth most of the time.
Some say LEDs are great too, and no heat.

Zoa health and growth are not related to light only.
That means that you can have the "best lights", just because someone said, in your tank and a very low growth/reproduction rate.

It plays with dissolved organics, how clean the water is, colony location in the system, light preferences for that particular species, water flow, colony size, temperature, synthetic salt quality/salinity, etc...
Just to remind us!

I've had some good results with target feeding.
Some other people have reported that too.

I didn't mean to go off subject.
I like this type of threads. We always learn some!!!

Let's see what others will say...

Grandis.

 

[howze01]

Yet again, I have to agree with Grandis. I have a lot of zoos in my DT under MH. They do great and multiply like crazy. I also have a frag tank that is (for now) lighted with PC. I don't get the same growth as under the MH but they definitely still grow at a pretty good rate. It's just as much about the water as it is anything else. IMO stability is the key. Keep your params steady and you will be well on your way!

 

[heckfire]

interesting side note here, a few months ago i moved a piece of live rock into my fuge, its lighted 24/7 by a 6500k cfl, i did not know at the time but the rock had a zoa on it and the thing multiplied like crazy . makes you wonder

 

[brad65ford]

Thanks guys for hearing this question. I'm running a bunch of 1 watt LEDs and at full blast they do not like it, I cut back light just to make them happy. I believe the light given off by mh is more like the sun and can cover a much broader/wider spectrum to the zoa's or any coral for that matter. Mad I hate the heat from mh but they are the best for growth still IMO. LEDs will take over though it's enviably.

 

[sqwat]

i personally dont like the look of halides most lps look better under t5 lighting pluss you .can play with the colors with differant bulbs and if you want the halide shimmer add leds .i dont use attinics in my t5 ballist anymore all daylight bulbs and for attinics i use led and also some white and red leds to mix the color and i love the growth and look of my corals.hlides also look great with t5 supplimentation.but you need to put the halide up so high for coverage and if the t5's are in the same settup they might be to high to look that good.i personally love my deep blue 96 watt four bulb unit they legs slide to fit any tank top great reflectors and you can probram it allot easier.its up to you what you want to pay .