Best lights for growth

[ptreef]

Depends on what kinds of corals you want to grow, but without question T5's would be better than halides. They have a stronger light output and more importantly have uniform light coverage in every section of the prop tank which you'll never get from halides. Also lower power usage and heat, along with better bulb configurations. I was getting about 1/8" every other day on most SPS with 6 ATI blue plus, 1 ATI blue (14k), and one ATI pure actinic, have yet to ever see a halide-based prop system that can outperform T5's.

1/8" every other day?! we are talking like an .5" a week and 2+'" a month!

Very Nice!!

I did notice that i was bleaching frags in a 30g when I went to a 4 bulb t-5 from 250w MH....cut back to only 2 of the t-5 for most of the day now

 

[ashish]

I am trying to decide what would be the best lighting for a 48'' by 36'' 8'' frag tank.. I want to keep cost down while keeping growth HIGH.. So planning on a 400watt 10k reeflux on the largest reflector I can find. Top that off with 2 vho actinic supplementation and I think this could result in great growth. This will keep my bulb replacement at $100 per 8 months.
Has anyone done this?

 

[NeilFox]

Depends on what kinds of corals you want to grow, but without question T5's would be better than halides. They have a stronger light output and more importantly have uniform light coverage in every section of the prop tank which you'll never get from halides. Also lower power usage and heat, along with better bulb configurations. I was getting about 1/8" every other day on most SPS with 6 ATI blue plus, 1 ATI blue (14k), and one ATI pure actinic, have yet to ever see a halide-based prop system that can outperform T5's.

What I have seen, he is 100%correct. Maybe not the prettiest but they make stuff grow!!!

 

[ashish]

T5 do produce better spread of light in a tank resulting in more even growth. However, if you are fragging corals in a propogation tank you won't have that big of a problem with light spread (as long as reflectors are solid). The reflectors make a hugh difference and for my grow out tank I am looking for fast growth so I can offer larger corals for better price.

I feel this way after studying Sanjay's 2 500 gallon sps reefs. one of his tank's(penstate) has 4 x 400 watt MH with large reflectors. His home tank has 3 X 400 watt mh on reflectors (no actinic supplementation). This is on a 30'' deep tank as well as 48" front to back from a guy who study's different lighting technology. His tank has 1200 watts on a 500 gallon SPS tank 2.2 watt per gallon.. I don't think he has an issue growing corals with very minimal HO lighting. Sure if he added some actinic's I think his colors would POP but it does not seem to be neccessary.

IMO T5 are great but bulbs are way to high to replace considering the amount of light output they produce. Less likely to get replaced on time if the cost is higher and constantly having to acclimate corals to new bulbs.

 

[SantaMonica]

2+'" a month!

Yep that natural growth rates. 'Bout time someone did it.