Supplementing LED with retro t5. Help me out

[super stooge]

Hey guys.

I've been running 3 hydra 52s over my 6x2x2 tank for two years now and while I love these units, I'm thinking about upgrading my lighting with some retrofit t5 kits. I just haven't been happy with the health, growth and colour of my corals over time.

Admittedly, these grievances could all be due to other factors such as water quality and feeding, but I've recently started taking a quizzical look at all parts of my setup and how I can improve it.

Today on the chopping block; my lighting! and I need your help.

1. Do you think it would be worth the extra (significant) investment to add some retrofit t5 kits to my system? Or would I be better served by getting a par/spectrum meter like the seneye and trying to tweak my LED settings more accurately?

2. What kind of retrofit kit would I need for my 6x2 tank? is a 5ft long fixture sufficient for my 6ft tank? Should I be looking at getting two kits in order to achieve even coverage in my tank with an arrangement such as:

============ -Double t5 tubes
[[[]]] [[[]]] [[[]]] -LED units
============ -Double t5 tubes

3. What kind of retrofit kits should I be looking at? Gear is a bit harder to come by down in Australia so my options are somewhat limited. So far the two I'm considering are:

2x Litemaster 5ft fixture by octopus
http://thereefshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_8&products_id=1602

-Total cost: $430 WITH BULBS

Or

2x Giesmann razor t5
https://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=5392&catID=86

-Total cost: $760 WITHOUT BULBS

Theres a huge price difference between the two units but is this a case where I'll be getting what I pay for? I know giesmann are a very reputable and well respected company in the lighting sphere while I wasn't even aware that octopus made lights. Will I regret going for the cheaper option in the long run? Is the extra cost for the giesmann fixture justified?

I'f I could get on my virtual knees here and beg, I would. I've never used t5 lighting before so this is a world that I'm completely lost in.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have a Reef Breeders Photon V2 that is 50" long over my 125g 5' long tank. I'm perfectly happy with the coral growth and health. You may be right, in that your issues may not be with the lights.

Anyway, I need more light front to back because I have coral up close to the front glass and 2/3rds of the way up the back glass and the led just doesn't spread enough. So I got a Sun Blaster Nano t5 and added it to the front of the fixture. Like you, I thought it might also help with color and coral health/growth. But with a 10,000K t5 bulb, my tank looks like somebody took a leak in the tank! Way too warm (yellow).

I've got 2 new bulbs on order, but if they don't look a lot better, I'll just get blue led strips and hang them off the back. I understand that Reef Breeders is getting some in this month that are designed to clip onto the Photon V2.

I'd be looking for other improvements to make. IMHO your leds are more than capable of growing colorful coral. You could spend the money, not care for the new look and not get any significant change in your coral. I know led/t5 hybrids are becoming a big thing these days. And I see some advantages, but I'm not sure it will solve your issues.

Have you tested your led settings with a PAR meter? I'd sure do that before I spent money on t5 hardware you may not need.

 

[super stooge]

Thanks for sharing your experience, ron. It is very much appreciated. I'm glad to see that the 5 foot fixtures will be suitable for my sized tank if i do choose to go down this path. I think my first step will be to invest in a seneye to test my par and spectrum so i can tweak them more precisely as you suggest.

Id still like some information regarding which t5 fixture i should be looking into so that if i do decide to go down this road, i have a plan of action ready to go.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I like having control over the intensity of my light as the days goes along. It's not for the coral, it's for me. I like to see the tank evolve over the course of the day. But for many people, that's a waste of money because they aren't home to see it.

So for me the ATI fixture with bulbs that can dim is the way I'd go. But there are a number of good 4, 6 and 8 bulb fixtures in the market. Just remember you'll be buying 4, 6 or 8 new bulbs every year at $20 to $30 each. I haven't shopped it, but the t5 bulbs that dim may cost even more?

 

[wildman926]

I run only a pair of T5 bulb, ATI Coral +, with my actinic led strips (BML and 21ledusa) and have excellent growth and color.

 

[zsuman101]

I ran radios with t5s for two years, it took me 1 years to really dial it in, but was not happy with growth, color is really impressive. I live 2 miles from cherry corals and went to see them. I was quite surprised at how low there lighting is and their length of photoperiod. Having seen there obvious results I am now only using the blues on my radios and have an ati dimmable sunflower (8 bulb) I use 2 actinic, 3 coral plus and 3 blue plus. The coral plus is used as my white or full spectrum for 4 hrs/Day the actions are on for 10hrs and the blue plus are on for 8 hrs. The radios are on 11.5 hours with a ramp up and down and at 30%. All the lights are 16 inches above water surface with most of the coral starting about 12 inches down. So after all the work dialing in the radion with t5 supplement I have switched to t5 with radion supplement, and my corals are thanking me for it. My frag tank has a single 250 watt radium mh with no supplement and it blows my display tank away. So this long winded reply old school still rules nothing beats halides. Btw cherry corals lights are about 4 feet above the surface and they use aqua blue special bulbs with a 6 hour photo period. The rearing tanks are so dim you would not believe coral could survive. Really an eye opening experience. Good luck... zsu

 

[zsuman101]

Hmm, how's that predictave text zsu...

 

[GrampaDon]

I use 4 t5 retros with Kessil in the middle all in a canopy.
The 5ft t5s work fine as well.


I would save the cash on the Litemaster.

 

[super stooge]

Thanks for the insight guys. I think the litemastet is looking like a pretty good buy right now over the giesman. It's getting really hard to justify the extra cost of the giesmann in my mind.