I've got T5's should I bother posting in this forum?
- Thread starter cmondo
- Start date
Brion~
New member
spykes.
There are could be several reasons for that.. one thing to note about using t-5's is that you have to have alot of them ... and you really have to bring them close to the water. a few inches. nutrient rich tank can cause colors to be darker as well sometimes drowning out those nice bright hues.
good luck. HTH
Brion
There are could be several reasons for that.. one thing to note about using t-5's is that you have to have alot of them ... and you really have to bring them close to the water. a few inches. nutrient rich tank can cause colors to be darker as well sometimes drowning out those nice bright hues.
good luck. HTH
Brion
Here's a shot of my 40g with an 8x39w T5 fixture over it. This shot is the morning cycle (2 actinic, 2 blue+, 1 10K). The full cycle adds 3 10K for a total of 8.
As you can see it's pretty stuffed with SPS. I switched from 250w MH a couple month back and so far so good.
~chris
As you can see it's pretty stuffed with SPS. I switched from 250w MH a couple month back and so far so good.
~chris
spykes
New member
my tank is nutrients poor, and my t-5s are 3 inch above the water level. i use 4 bulbs in the combonation of
blue+
sun plus
aquablue special
blue+
i dont know if it's the t-5s that make everything alittle washed out, but i skimm my tank really clean, i have a coralife 220 with oceanrunner recirculating on this tank, i dont know if it's the skimmer causing this, or is the lights doing this. but someone in my club reported the same thing with t-5s where the colors are a bit washed off after a while in their tank.
zapata41
In Memoriam
its not pratical for me because this:
i would need to buy the following, 4 slr reflectors, 4 sets of endcaps and standoffs, 4 new bulbs and another 660 ballast.
the power consumption on two 660 ballast is more than that of 2 250w icecap mh ballst and 2 110w vho on workhorse ballasts.
i paid less than 200$ for my new icecap 250w halide ballast and another 100$ for the two luminarc reflectors, add in 2 xm10k bulbs and the 2 vho bulbs and i am cheaper than adding on to the t5 setup.
now in 6mo down the road i will have to replace my first set of 4 t5 bulbs and then a year after that the second set. xm10k bulbs cost ~ 120$ for a pair of them and need to be changed once a year or so.
and the biggest factor, i want some lps down on the bottom of the tank and with the current lighting i cant keep them unless they are burried in the shadows, sps grow fine but other nice stuff like euphilias and brains dont, i know because i used to have a torch and a big open brain that withered away under my current lighting.
so that is why it is not pratical for me to run t5s over my new 180, oh yeah, i also want shimmer lines.
and to repeat myself from my first post, T5s do work awesome and i liked the growth from them. i just want to go the halide route on this tank.
Tim
zapata41
In Memoriam
also, you guys might wanna keep a sun bulb in there to bring out the red and orange in your corals.
I bought a awesome blue milli that was under a 10k halide with no actincs, when i put it in my tank i only have blue tips and a brown coral. not drawing any conclusions here but somne colors are washed out like others have said
Tim
I bought a awesome blue milli that was under a 10k halide with no actincs, when i put it in my tank i only have blue tips and a brown coral. not drawing any conclusions here but somne colors are washed out like others have said
Tim
zapata41
In Memoriam
well it depends on if you are overdriving the bulbs by using a ballast like the ice cap 660 and have boog reflectors like the ice cap slr's, if both are yes then you could keep them most anywhere, since i run my 4x54w bulbs on the above ballast and reflector and have a clam that is doing great on the bottom of the tank 30" away from the bulbs
Tim
Tim
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