t5 has to be be as bright or brighter than mh

[chadfarmer]

i set the lights up on friday

well it is monday and have 4 corals that arent to happy (very pale in color) that i had to move down in the tank.

i have decided to change out my some of my 6500 k for some blue plus that i seen on a fellow reefs tank on another site

 

[trottman]

just to let you know, i bleached every last coral in my 10 gallon tank with T5... people dont know how bright they are.

it is not the brightness of the light that helps the corals, it is the TYEP of light. since MH is closets to the sun, then it makes sense that corals grow best under them.

T5 is bright.... and a different type opf light than MH.

from what i have seen in my tanks, you either need half the T5 than you do MH. if you need 300watt MH go with 150-175watt T5

 

[fkdenton]

I havent had any problems with my t-5s. Granted I dont have the selection you guys do but my frogspawn, torch, xenia, anthelia, finger leather, colt, star polyps and mushrooms all seem to be doing fine. I do have to shade my mushrooms, leather and colt. But they are all doing good and growing.

 

[Letmegrow]

Were you using HO or NO T-5's FKDenton ?

 

[trottman]

T5 is a whole differnt type of litghting. you do not need the mega watts.

i would say that for an sps tank start off with 4-5 watts a gallon of t5 HO (mostly 6500k). for other reefs star off with 2-3 watts of HO (mostly aquablue)

that is for a standard 20 inch deep tank.

 

[fkdenton]

I have the 36 inch tek t-5 system

 

[chadfarmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7328456#post7328456 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fkdenton
I have the 36 inch tek t-5 system

THAT IS WHAT I GOT ALSO

i have the 6 bulbs (3 inches off the water)

trottman you are right to a degree (the dirtier the water the more light you need to hit the bottom, the cleaner the water the less light you need)

 

[ol'saltybastage]

so t5 over mh hands down huh?

 

[chadfarmer]

this is just what i have seen in the last 3 days


i am getting my new bulbs hopefully friday

waiting on UPS to update


i just want to say that the corals are getting light from 180 degrees

he is a pic that sold me on them (just a 55 and you can change the color all you do is change 1 or 2 bulbs and go more blue, white or yellow

 

[drgabe]

Its the PAR of the T5's that make them so good (or bright). They also have superior penetrance over other VHO lights.
I think at this time it is tough to say if they are "better" than MH's, just an alternative them. Generally cheaper, and they run cooler.
My tank has loved the T5's so far, all corals doing great, even mushrooms high up in the tank (go figure).

 

[Arsenal11]

16 t-5's mix of aquablue+ actinic+ & 6500k daylights, no softies bothered by the light. I have no sps.

 

[ol'saltybastage]

hopefully they are the way to go in the long run.. cant beat cheaper and cooler.. plus its nice to have light coming from a source that is spread across the tank not just single points. looking forward to seeing the long term results.

 

[chadfarmer]

my chiller hasnt ran since i added them