Show off your T5 run (non Zeovit + similar) SPS tank please

Wow, these are some very beautiful and inspirational tanks. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to post them. Thanks. :)

I can clearly see deep colours in most of these coral shots. I used to tend to have the impression that T5's would provide more or less pale colours, so the questions is; is it a higher level of fishload/feeding and consequently feeding that is helping to achieve the deeper colours?
 
Wow, these are some very beautiful and inspirational tanks. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to post them. Thanks. :)

I can clearly see deep colours in most of these coral shots. I used to tend to have the impression that T5's would provide more or less pale colours, so the questions is; is it a higher level of fishload/feeding and consequently feeding that is helping to achieve the deeper colours?

I think the higher level of available nutrients plus the type of light distribution T5's bring play a role. I feel like the light is spread is more even about the coral instead of single point source lighting. I noticed in both my DIY LED tank and my Kessil lit nano the undersides are a much paler color or even brown sometimes. I think my ideal setup would definitely be a hybrid of T5+LED.
 
My current tank has only been lit with T5s. When I fist started my Tank, I aimed for very low nutrients and even though the frags kept their color, they did fade and become somewhat pastel.. Over time as my bioload increased with more fish and coral, my colors began to deepen really nicely.. I really did not change the way I was caring for the tank during this time.. I aim for weekly wcs, but it ends up more like twice a month due to my schedule. The only ill affect of skipping weekly WCs may be growth and even that is questionable because I have not noticed any difference.. So, my take is a slow increasing bioload that the tank (biologically), your husbandry and mechanical filtration can keep in check. However, shooting for undetectable levels of N & P may become a misnomer in the hobby. As for lighting... you choose, but I do feel that 400W MHs are more forgiving on a tank with a higher bioload than a T5 lit tank in the short term... On the other hand, I'm one of those who feel that the general understanding on how to have a thriving; beautifully colored reef with LEDs is not there yet. I have seen very few impressive pics on the net with LED setups and personally seen too many tanks that have been bleached out by them.. I think the potential is there for LEDs, but we need to understand more about what's required in terms of bioload and nutrient export when running LEDs in order to experience more consistent success.
 
I just started adding SPS frags to my tank i have 6X54 wats ATI bulbs the light Fixture Is Aquatic Life My Tank is 24" deep My Bulbs are a mix of .
2x Purple Plus
2X whites
1 Blue Plue
1 Coral Plus
I fill like all my SPS need to be up High on the rocks .
what do you all think could i get away with puting some lower on the rock work ?
I will Try and put some pictures up
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forgot it in my last post: if there is a build thread for this beauty tank i would love to have a link.

and if anyone else can answer the question regarding the hiding of the overflow... please feel free!
 
@Catchoftheday,

You might think about changing your bulb setup. Please choose whatever bulbs you want, there is no right way or wrong way, but if you start doing more SPS, you might want to look into more of the blue plus. They have a fairly high amount of PAR. You could probably take out one of the purple plus and exchange it with a blue plus.

Just a thought.
 
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250 Deep Dimension with 8 80 watt t5s.
Pardon the crappy cell phone pictures.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
 
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@Catchoftheday,

You might think about changing your bulb setup. Please choose whatever bulbs you want, there is no right way or wrong way, but if you start doing more SPS, you might want to look into more of the blue plus. They have a fairly high amount of PAR. You could probably take out one of the purple plus and exchange it with a blue plus.

Just a thought.


Thank you I have been thinking the same thing
 
t-5 125g tank

t-5 125g tank

here is my first and only 125g reed tank. Mostly soft and LPS under only T-5 lighting. Input appreciated!
 

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I am blown away by the tanks in this thread. Awesome job people!

Michael B that tank is breathtaking (goes to find asthma medicine) :)
 
I followed your bulb combination and have to say its much whiter than what I expected. I was really expecting a bit more blue (like your pics) that what I see in person.

Also for anyone running a 8x39...which slots on your fixture are running the sunrise and sunset? I thought it was 2 and 5 but mine is 3 and 6...

Change Fiji Purple for an actinic or change it to a blue +, if you want more purple /actinic light => change Fiji Purple to Blue + and change one of your Blue + to an actinic. its all personal taste... play until you see the colors you want to see.

a healthy coral can be beautiful under many colors of light (20k 15k 14k 10k)
there is always a trade off => 20k corals grow slower then 10k. i like blue look of 15k to 20k corals pop and grow a little slower.
 
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