New Nova Extreme T5's arrived

M

mybug

New member
Wow, pretty darn bright is right !

Admittingly I'm just stepping up from about 40 watts of NO so what do I have to compare with, but geez, the unit appears to be well built and the lamps are bright.

I started with the actinics for well over a half hour and the fish didn't seem to like it. Pretty frightening to them it seemed.

Once I turned the 10K's on also that seemed to settle them down eventually.

Will be interesting to see how they react this evening when we retreat back to actinics and then white moon and then dark.

But, first impression is that these T5s are bright.

The real test will be how well I can get corals to live and grow.
 
Although they do not have single reflectors which means they get less output from a single reflector light fixture, they are still stronger than PC. I am interested in buying these lights as I will not be keeping SPS.. You definitley did not waste your money. You could have spent more and pruchased a single reflector system such as the tek. Depenending on what you have in your tank these should be fine for all LPS. Let us know how it works out!
 
Brighter than PCs no doubt

Brighter than PCs no doubt

Yeah, I researched them as well as I could. Yep, single reflector vs. the individual found in the Tek. However, when you compare the price vs. PCs I think I made the right decision.

Now I can take some pics given I have these lights. I'll do that and get some posted in the coming days.

The only problem I have now is the light overspill. I'm presently running topless and with the legs have the lights up above the tank. The light spilling into the room is pretty intense.

Now I know why some have a canopy.

I guess that is one advantage to setting the lamps on glass but I wanted the gas exchange.
 
If you wanted to run only LPS/Softies you should have just went with the CF IMO. The T5s w/out individual reflectors put out pretty much the same as CF does. So basically you just spent your money on one hell of an expensive CF unit. Sorry to say that, but that is basically what it boils down to.

Just understand that just because you have T5s, doesnt mean you will be able to run nearly as many types of corals as you could have with an efficient setup. Good luck!
 
Lots of compact flourescent lamps

Lots of compact flourescent lamps

That depends on what compacts you can have for $ 199. Obviously I decided on these over the CF units for the same money.

I'll report back when I take the next step with the tank.
 
good buy i bought the same unit 48inches my softies blew up my polyp colonies are multiplying alot faster its only been 2 months and my corals are doing 100% better, oh and u can do more than soft corals with t5 !
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6579617#post6579617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trekel
good buy i bought the same unit 48inches my softies blew up my polyp colonies are multiplying alot faster its only been 2 months and my corals are doing 100% better, oh and u can do more than soft corals with t5 !
Click to expand...

Oh boy here we go...Yes you can do more with T5, but not unless you have good reflectors. Those nova units dont produce half the PAR that a unit with individual reflectors will. Trust me, I have had both and I have seen the difference, even with the EXACT SAME BULBS, just switched into the new setup. The brightness difference was quite substantial. If you think your going to be able to do with a Nova, what others are doing with T5 setup correctly you are sorely mistaken. As I pointed out, look at the difference in coloration of just low light montipora digis in my link above, and that is only in 3 weeks of running new reflectors. Forget the difference it would have made with acros. You dont have a prayer with acros....
 
Never said it would

Never said it would

I never said it would compete with MH or T5s with individual reflectors.

But I'll keep more with these T5's than I could with a $200 set of PCs.
 
My son has the nova 4x54w t5 on his 55g. We both have been very impressed with the unit. I think it has been on the tank about 5 months now. He has digis and pocis showing nice growth and 2 acros are holding color and growing well also. He has plate coral, acans, and brains on the sand bed that are doing great.

Too many people think dumping a lot of light over any tank will make anything grow. I don't think they take the time to think about chemistry/clarity of the water in it.

I'm not saying it is growing acros and clams like my MH's, but for half the price of other T5 units they are nice. Use a little common sense about coral placement, flow, and water conditions. I think you will find the unit works well. Before he decided to buy it I figured we could always take the unit apart and retro it into a canopy with the SLR reflectors, but so far I've seen no need to.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6582402#post6582402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scottfarcuz
Before he decided to buy it I figured we could always take the unit apart and retro it into a canopy with the SLR reflectors, but so far I've seen no need to.
Click to expand...

Which is EXACTLY what I did, and the difference was tremendous. Im not saying its impossible to have SOME of the higher light needing corals in there, because I had an acro in mine that was fine in color, just not growing. But I will say its a far cry from a good setup for those corals. The nova realistically is good for mainly LPS/Softies and a smatering of SPS pending placement like you said.
 
Your favorite LPS/softie

Your favorite LPS/softie

What do you like for softies ?

I've got three LFS that I trust to buy corals from but not sure what I'll begin with.

I've got high flow now across a lot of rock.

Not sure if I want to lower flow as I've had such success thus far. Tank is 13 mos. old and I've lost nothing.

I guess I need to research what likes higher flow.
 
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