dumping MH/LED, need t5 bulb recommendations

[Caravanshaka]

Haven't been too thrilled with my 3x250w radium and 3x AI hydra 52 combination on my 60x30x24 tank. I really need 3x250w to get the right coverage, and would then need to go t5 or a different LED to supplement, and having over 1,000 watts for lighting on that size tank just doesn't sound fun.

So I spent hours looking through several tank builds and found that most of the ones I loved are t5. So I am taking the plunge and getting an 8x80w sunpower fixture, but need some recommendations on bulb choice.

I like a bit of blue, but not too much. In the past, I would have probably said a 2:1 ratio of blue+ to aquablue special would be about what I like. with 8 bulbs I have a lot of choices though, and there are quite a few newer bulbs out that I have seen people using. I know ATI bulbs well though, so if I am sticking to them here was my thoughts:

4 Blue +
1 Actinic
2 coral +
1 purple +

not sure which bulbs are the dawn/dusk, but would do the actinic and 1 blue + on that set.

Thoughts? suggestions?

 

[TreyK]

I would go with a 10 bulb fixture. An 8 bulb will be fine, but a 10 bulb will be better

 

[Caravanshaka]

I do plan on adding a DIY LED strip on either side for actinic, so I think the 8 bulb will be good with that.

 

[Peter Eichler]

I do plan on adding a DIY LED strip on either side for actinic, so I think the 8 bulb will be good with that.

If you're going to do that then I would do 4 blue+, 3 coral+, and 1 aquablue special

Or... 5 blue+ 2 coral + and 1 GE daylight

 

[kevin_e]

If you aren't happy with halide and LED, you won't ever be happy in this hobby lol.

 

[sahin]

If you're going to do that then I would do 4 blue+, 3 coral+, and 1 aquablue special

Or... 5 blue+ 2 coral + and 1 GE daylight

+1 to this. Very good combos.

If you aren't happy with halide and LED, you won't ever be happy in this hobby lol.

+1 to this as well.

If the issue with halide is too much heat and electricity cost, then cool...but if its related to SPS colours...then I dont think T5's are going to change that. Whatever T5's can do, Radium can do (probably better).

I've used T5's for the past 5 years or so...but before that was a MH user.

 

[jroovers]

+1 to this as well.

If the issue with halide is too much heat and electricity cost, then cool...but if its related to SPS colours...then I dont think T5's are going to change that. Whatever T5's can do, Radium can do (probably better).

I've used T5's for the past 5 years or so...but before that was a MH user.

I would agree also. I'm moving from T5/LEDs to MH/LEDs with my new system, and am excited about it. Both are great though, but definitely given my past experience with MH I am pumped about going back.

I like Peter's and Sahin's recommendations, but I would include at least one pure actinic bulb and at least one aquablue special.

 

[pirate2876]

If you aren't happy with halide and LED, you won't ever be happy in this hobby lol.

+1

What are you not happy about? Color of specimens, or tank? Growth? Heat? Cost?

Find the source of what is going wrong and change that. I run 250 Radium and I love the color and growth.

 

[Caravanshaka]

First let me clarify that the colors and growth are great under the Halide, so that I am definitely happy with. I know I have the gold standard there

There are 2 things really that I am not happy about:

1) 2x 250w radiums aren't giving me the coverage with PAR on my 60" tank that I was hoping for. I considered changing reflectors from the lumenbright mini's to something with more spread, but then I would have to lower the fixtures and heat would come more into play (no chiller).
2) the Hydra 52's, I am just not a fan of how they look with the amount of surface agitation I have. I was hoping the tight clusters would reduce disco, but it hasn't. I have also bleached a couple corals that were under mainly LED, with the hydra's set max 50%, about 13" AWL. It's noticeably dimmer than the halide area as well, which I am not a fan of. Love the sunrise/sunset with them though.

My options were:

1) switch reflectors and/or get 3 halides and move to strip-type LED's or T5 supplements. The downside here is either heat from moving the fixture lower, or 3 bulb replacements and a bit more heat from doing a 3 bulb setup. both options would likely leave me over 1,000w too
2) switch to an ATI sunpower setup, and after I sell my old stuff, add an LED strip on either end. The downside of this is very little, if any shimmer, and 8 bulbs to replace (but the cost of those 8 is roughly the same as 2 radiums anyway)

That led me to the search for what I liked best. after finding a bunch of tanks here that I liked, the majority were running either Sunpower or Powermodule fixtures. I also thought back to my last tank tour in the area, and remembered my favorite tank was running an 8 bulb sunpower with a reefbrite XHO actinic. I've also had success in the past with T5's.

Also, the tank is a through-the-wall setup, so it is viewable on both sides. This means that all of my rock structure is centered along the tank, and goes end-to-end. This rock structure lends itself more to a t5 setup which has more even par end-to-end with the most par centered, rather than the halides that will have more hotspots with 2-3 humps of higher par.

thanks for the bulb suggestions guys! I ordered enough to play around with a few of those combinations. Unfortunately Premium Aquatics doesn't carry the GE Bulb, so I may try and find that locally.

 

[Caravanshaka]

don't mind the messy sandbed, was waiting on a light for my frag tank so they were covering my sand. Also, the crappy untouched iphone pics...just wanted to give you a visual of the rock structure:

 

[bogg]

Thats a big tank I personally would do 400w halides
Although your corals look great how it is imo

 

[jgalen0025]

if you put t5s on a deep tank like that you will be dissappointed as far as sps goes

 

[Caravanshaka]

It's only 24" deep, 30" is front to back.

 

[Moser]

if you put t5s on a deep tank like that you will be dissappointed as far as sps goes

I'm not sure that's true. How do you know?.

Mo

 

[Big E]

T5's will work fine for a 24" depth..........30" probably not but restricing acros to the top 24" of a 30" tank is hardly an issue.

 

[foundnemo11]

I have reefbreeders and my corals are growing fast. I have sps lps soft and my tank has exploded in the past year

 

[fq600]

Nice looking tank. I recommend going with 4 blue+ n 4 coral+. Actinic is a waste of space. The coral+ has purple+ blue + n aqua blue special. It's a white bulb with other colors blend in. You'll get a very even spread across the whole tank.

an issue I find with blending too many different bulbs is that the color spectrum isn't the same across the whole tank. The spread on t5s is pretty narrow, especially on a wide tank like yours.

You'll love that combo. It also has very high par. The coral+ bulbs r designed for sps corals.

U have thought about supplementing your mh with kessils? The shimmer is very natural looking. Very much like mh.

my tank is 35 inches wide. Here's how I have mine setup. No issue with heat at all n I live in houston, tx. I love the color n look of the combos. Not too blue during full daylight n not too white either. Every pop like crazy. My sps look better with the coral+ on then just blues.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I recommend what works for me: 5 B+ and 3 C+. My Acroporas grow very rapidly under this combination and exhibit good colouration.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Thanks all, I've got 16 bulbs to play around with and will test some of these combos
Got:
2 purple plus
4 coral plus
2 actinic
8 blue plus

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Thanks all, I've got 16 bulbs to play around with and will test some of these combos
Got:
2 purple plus
4 coral plus
2 actinic
8 blue plus

Hmm, in which case please have a look at Scotty's tank thread. He uses:

2 P+
4 C+
2 actinic
2 ABS
6 B+