Bright colored corals?

[Dave VG]

Seems like the brighter the corals the brighter the lights that are required to grow them. So the question is. I bought a T-5 light that consists of two 10,000k Daylight and two 460 NM Actinic with a total wattage of 216 watts. Will that cover everything or would some corals still need MH’s. I would rather stay away from MH’s.

Dave

 

[nwrogers]

Do you have a link to the fixture?

 

[Dave VG]

http://www.petsolutions.com/Nova+Extreme+HO+T5+Fixtures-I-42901121-I-C-40001722-C-.aspx

 

[Blugobi]

I have a friend of mine that has a smilar 6x54 watt set up and he has some SPS that are growing...Colors are not as bright as the should be, but they are growing none the less. I'm still a die hard MH user and will be until I see that either T-5's or maybe even LED's can do the same.

Geo

 

[Piazzon12]

Dave,

 

[Piazzon12]

Dave,
I think it will depend on the corals you select and their placement. You will definately be able to keep plenty of colorful corals, it's just that some of the high light corals just won't be as bright as under MH.
Adam

 

[Dave VG]

I plan on keeping soft corals toward the bottom and SPS or LPS toward the top. I know I would probably be able to keep them alive, but how much will the growth be stunted if any under these lighting conditions? Blugobi how much color loss do you think there was percentage wise with your friends corals?

Dave