LPS under T5s. Anyone?

[Giz]

I have a 65 gal with 4x39w T5 TEK light retro (very bright). I found that my LPS seam to do the best of all my corals under the T5s. Is anyone else using T5s on thier tanks and what are the results?

A while back I was looking over some pics of some Acen Lords and some Blastos and I thought, "Wow! Gotta have some!" What do you think, all?

 

[joe18]

you are not the first to relize this,
i know several people who are getting beautiful collors on their LPS, acans and echinos, to be more exact.
a guy i know uses only t-5's and is having great succes. and has beautiful corals

 

[David Grigor]

I was using T5s overdriven by Icecap for a year now and will say that when overdriven I don't get as good of results with LPS as when I used VHOs on the Icecap. I'm in the process of switching back now.

I was using the Aquablues in combination with VHO actinics. Some say you need a variety of spectrum bulbs to make it work but I hate the fake blue from the blue+ and the daylights are just too yellow. Aquablue was the only T5 bulb I liked aethetically but did not like the results with several LPS. SPS/Acropora exceeded expectations.

I am sure others mileage varies but personally I wasn't impressed.

Overdriven, blastos didn't expand much. Acan expanded okay but the colors for both the blastos ( merletti ) and acans turned much lighter in color.

 

[blange3]

I'm in the process of setting up a 75 for LPS and I've been wavering between T5's, VHO's or a combination. I currently have a 55gal softie / LPS with 440w VHO, 220w of which are URI actinics.

I was thinking of 4 54w T5's and 2 110w VHO actinics. I was thinking of 1 daylight, 1 aquablue and 2 blue+ for the T5's.

My other choices would be 660w VHO or a 6 bulb tek light.

Planned corals are well spaced Euphyllia's, some blastos and candycanes, and maybe some acans if I hit a lottery.

Any suggestions?

 

[mschriskim]

David, hmmmm I am using kinda same setup but mine works vary well. Have been using T5s for 7months now.

I have 100gallon long 60x18x20 I think.

I have 4 T5s now (I used to have 2x ATI Aquablue and 1x ATI Blue+ and 1 URI VHO superactinic. T5s are 80watts but overdriven to around 100watts by ICECAP and 1 VHO 140watt.)

I only took out VHO and replace with blue+ because I want more light on bottom. I will be putting VHO back later on so I will have 2x ATI Aquablue, 2x ATI blue+, 1 URI VHO superactinic)

My blastos on the bottom doing vary well and all Acans are happy. Also I have some montis on top of my tank.

blange, personally I like T5 but T5 true actinic bulb is not so good so I would use VHO combination only for superactinic if you could go that route. (I guess that's your plan)

Also keep in mind that if you mix 2 Aquablue with 2 Blue+ it looks white than 14k MH that I have (250W HQI Pheonix). I used to like MH 20k but not anymore and I like my MH 14k color so I will be adding VHO back for sure.

As far as how LPS do in T5 lights I would say mines are all happy with my light.

Good luck.

 

[David Grigor]

I started with 4 T5 Aquablues and 2 VHO Actinics,
then 3 T5 Aquablues and 2 VHO Actinics,
then 2 T5 Aquablues and 2 VHO Actinics, 1 VHO 50/50.

Lights all driven by Icecap. Mounted 1" from the surface, tank 20" deep, 12-14 hours a day.

I should add that mine I had lots of SPS, tank was bare bottom, heavy skimmed, twice weekly siphon detritus, twice weekly 10% water changes. Very Low nutrient. Perhaps my water was clearer thus more penetration. SPS/Acropora did great, Softies did fine, Alveopora, Elegance, Fox, Open Brains, Acan, Blastos all either didn't expand much or shifted over time to a light/pale color. Things like hammers,bubbles,frogspawn,torches did just fine. Now setting up seperate SPS show tank ( 400W MH ) and LPS tank (VHO ) so can have 2 different lighting to best suit each others needs and not community tank.

 

[blange3]

Thanks for the feedback!

David, hammers,bubbles,frogspawn,torches were going to be the focus of the tank. With some blastos and candycanes filling in between sweeper zones. It will be deep sand bed, some fish load and currently I feed my LPS 2x a week.

In addition to the higher PAR with good reflectors, I was looking for the energy savings so I wasn't planning on overdriving Icecaps. Grim reefers early numbers showing 4+ amp draw kind of scared me off.

mschriskim, I've read about the T5 true actinics and that is why I was considering a T5/VHO hybrid.

Since you both ran VHO actinics, what is your opinion of the colors when you run the T5 bulbs only?

I run a dawn to dusk cycle and my wife's favorite time to view the tank is at dusk when all the LPS are glowing nicely!!

 

[David Grigor]

T5 Actinicblues only there was still no pop in the corals ( meaning much flouresce ) but the color looked good ( meaning no yellow ).

 

[David Grigor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6485888#post6485888 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blange3
I was looking for the energy savings

I'm not here to change your mind, but rwhen your talking 65g tank your talking pretty small scale here.

Electricity usage for VHO ( remember on Icecap your not running VHO at the standard ballast rating of 95W it about 40% less ) or T5s IMO is negligable. Your just talking just a dollar or two a month max between the two. ( about 20W per bulb for 36"ers)........

 

[Giz]

Thanks for the input everyone. In IME so far has been that the T5s are very, very bright. I have some zoos that turned pale, see through/ bleached under my T5s and my tank is 24'' tall. I raised the lights up to 7'' off of the water and zoos startimg to look a little better though. Almost everything accept for my candy canes have turnd a mutated color, so I was suspecting most LPS would do very well under the T5s. Candy Canes look great though.

I'm think T5s are alittle harsh on softies. My Hairy mushroom looks see through also, even in a cave. I'm thinking though that it might be the actinics. I have 2xblue+ and 2x aquablue D&D bulbs with the individual reflectors. I'm thinking of either getting a set of NO t5 actinics to add to what I have or going VHO for my actinics so the colors don't wash out so much.

Anyone have any pics of thier LPS under T5s that they can share to see what we are talking about.

 

[Giz]

I would like to add that my water is also very clean and not a heavy bio load. Maybe this has to do with the good penatration to the bottum of the tank.

 

[mschriskim]

David, I agree that if you keep your water clean for SPS... it might not be so good for LPS as they like little dirty water : )

Once I connect my SPS prop in the back with my mostly LPS T5 tank (Some montis are there due to space issue in SPS prop tank) I try to make my system much cleaner and noticed LPS growth gotten little slower and I also see that I need a bigger skimmer for my SPS so instead getingg bigger skimmer than lifereef VS3-30 I used one HOB skimmer that I used have for my SPS tank. This makes SPS tank itself gets little more cleaner than my whole system and they are connected.

So far so good but I have not run this current system long enough to tell everyone how it is.

So, I have following setup.

100gallon (60x18x20 or 21) display
2x ATI Blue+ and 2x ATI Aquablue (Looks much white than 14k MH so I will put an URI VHO Superactinic back soon)
3" sandbed, 120lbs liverock

Around 15-18gallon custom made by myself SPS tank (24x16x12)
No sand
1x 250W HQI Bluewave ballast with phoenix 14k bulb

Around 30gallon tub from rubbermade (correct?) 30x13x12
No sand
2x 96W PC. 1x Blue bulb and 50/50 Actinc/Daylight
This is my LPS frag station or holding station.

All 3 tanks are connected with 2 sump with mangroves and chaetos. All 3 tanks are fully loaded.

Calcium Reactor.
Main skimmer is lifereef VS3-30 in sump. Carbon.
ETS Seadragon HOB skimmer in SPS tank

This is pics from my T5 light only tank (Yes, sometime ago I used to have one bulb VHO superactinc)

My blastos are on sandbed

Some of my Acans & Micros(Some are sandbed and some are around med)

 

[Giz]

mschriskim, Those colors are outrageous! Were those pics taken under actinics only?

Let's keep the pics comming. T5 LPS tanks.

 

[mschriskim]

No, I do not take pics under actinic only. Those are taken under 2x T5 Aquablue and 2x T5 Blue+ which is much white than 14k MH.

Only actinic pic show light green as blue but as you can see there is lime green and even white color on the pics.

 

[cmondo]

I recently upgraded my lighting to T5's on my 65, the 4x39 watt, and I have heard of some people keeping monti's in there, and even acros. Some have said they take a long time to adjust though. Anyone had experience with this. I don't plan on adding them for sometime, and filling with LPS in the meantime. thanks

 

[gsrracer]

interesting

 

[JTREAT911]

I have a aga 65 gallon with a 4x39 tek light running. Mostly euphyllia (hammers, frogspawn, torches) and they are all doing great placed from mid to lower tank. They all show great coloration and extension and they are all splitting well. I was also pursuaded to try sps by a local reefer with great results. I have an orange montipora digita frag about 10"s below the lights and a purple monti cap frag about 18"s below the lights. Both frags are doing great. I've only had them for two months and they are already showing amazing growth. These are the two easiest sps to start out with so I would definitely recommend trying these if you want sps in a T5 system. I haven't gotten around to trying anything else yet. I've been thinking about putting a pink mille in to see how that will do.

 

[blange3]

mschriskim, thanx for the pix, they're gorgeous!

So as of today I think I'll start off with the 4 bulb Sunlight Supply retro from ReefGeek with an upgrade to IceCap reflectors.

There should be enough room to add some VHO actinics later if I miss the extra fluorescence, or I may add 2 more T5's depending how the corals act.

Since I want the tank to be heavy LPS I'm starting with 4 bulbs and passing on overdriving with an IceCap ballast so I'm not forced into keeping everything on the bottom of the tank.

Of course, since I have to wait a couple of weeks to save up the funds, this is subject to change many times!!

 

[gastone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6497068#post6497068 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mschriskim
No, I do not take pics under actinic only. Those are taken under 2x T5 Aquablue and 2x T5 Blue+ which is much white than 14k MH.

Only actinic pic show light green as blue but as you can see there is lime green and even white color on the pics.

What camera did you use?

Amazing pictures.

G.

 

[mschriskim]

Thanks gastone

I use Minolta Dimage 7i. It is old camera and I think a used go for only around $300 on auction. Well it works for me : )