T5's: A cautionary note

[Drewpy]

Codeman00:
If you are running that many watts... Why not run halides? If i had a 75 gallon and wasn't concerned with heat i would run a halide/t5 Maristar fixture.... T5's over vho just for the potential fact the bulbs last longer (i don't see a huge difference in vho actinic v.s. the t5 blue bulb personally) and the fact it is a ready made fixture...

I mean not trying to criticize.. but the entire reason for me running the T5's was to reduce wattage to the minimal and still keep some high light species... So far i have i cut my wattage in half and everything is doing well... It's nice too during the fall, winter, and spring i have no need for a fan so the fixture is completely silent...

You probably do have the ability to change your bulb combinations to find a cool look but if i was you i would do halides...They are tried, tested, and commonly have great results...

At reef club meeting we watched a video that summarized a study done on corals and how too much light can stunt growth... Maybe try reducing the lighting...

 

[wrz0170]

Hi there,

I've been reading this thread with great interest. It's been said that the T5 carrys the PAR far down the tank.

Besides creating overhangs to protect the low light lovers, would raising the canopy also be a viable solution? You can buy an adjustable cable system or even the adjustable leg brackets.
Or am I missing the point?

 

[Codeman00]

Codeman00:
If you are running that many watts... Why not run halides?

I guess in a way, that's where I was going with my thoughts posted above....Halides. (I'm one of those that has been consulting with Uno through PM so I didn't cause a rift)

Its funny, because I chose T5s to save on electricity, to have different coloration than everyone else had, and to reduce heat. Then after doing more research, I realized that the T5s didnt have a good actinic, so I thought I would put in a VHO for the purple actinic..and then I would have the best of both worlds. Then I discovered that with either 2 or 4 T5s on, the VHO actinic was so dim that the flouresce doesn't show up like I would like. So I added another VHO and now I'm up to 435 watts to get great color! But sometime in between all of that, I took a liking to SPS and found that to make it grow, I had to up the lighting and then my softies reacted by jumping out of the light. I think I made a mistake.

So now I'm pretty sure I'm going to switch to halides (might as well because I'm already at 435 watts!) and hopefully everything will grow better..and I will be able to keep the SPS a little more happy. Yeah, live and learn.

I do want to say (just like Uno) that T5s are nice and they will for people depending on what their goals are with their tank. I think 2-3 54 W bulbs would be ideal for a softy tank at 20" deep. Its amazing how happy my softies were just running 2 T5s and a single VHO most of the day. Its been proven to that you can have great T5 SPS tanks by ramping up the wattage (Icecap) or adding more bulbs. But having both at the same time is tough because like I said, the T5s put a ton of par all the way down to the sandbed where as halides dont. From what Ive seen and experienced, its much easier to have a mixed tank with halides than it is with T5s..and that's why I'm going to make the switch.

 

[Drewpy]

Codeman00: "Yeah, live and learn."

Wow, i can't agree with that statement more! I have changed things many times on my system... The key is to find what works well enough for you (in terms of your expectations) i guess...

If you have seen halide tanks with better growth and you expected the t5's to have similar growth and they are just not producing that growth--- i would be frustrated then too-- and make the switch...
Look forward to seeing halide pics

Halides will certainly create intense areas for SPS to grow and will have much less intense areas for your softies to thrive... Honestly, i think they are a "better" light for just those reasons... But they come with two major draw backs-- cost and heat...

For people like me though prioritizing cutting costs, i will just have to deal with the intense blanket of light that some corals love and others, all be it only a few, do not... That said aquascaping has solved most of my problems with the light. I can't compare growth will halides b/c i have never had them but i can tell you all my corals except the mushrooms have grown faster then PC's once placed appropriately...

wrz0170:
The reason i would not raise my light up is that the really intense lighted areas are near the bulb... Some of my critters need that light... namely two croceas and some SPS... Thats were the problem of a mixed coral tank Codeman00 is desrcibing comes in...

 

[Codeman00]

At least we were more fortunate than FastUno and others before him. They thought that T5=VHO or VHOs were more powerful. They then added the same number or more T5s for their tank and most all the corals were shocked by the experience. Months would go by and they couldn't figure out what happened..and by the time they figured it out, it was too late.

At least we got to create some shady spots to help this issue out. Same thing as I said before...T5s are nice bulbs with outstanding color, you just have to be a little bit more careful with them. Hence "The Cautionary Thread".

 

[Drewpy]

nicely said...

 

[FastUno]

"would raising the canopy also be a viable solution?"

As was said- that certain corals will have a higher affinity for the stronger light & raising the lights will have the inverse negative affect. To what degree all depends on the coral & its position.

Shading is a better option? What deterred me was the fact that I had 2-3 of my corals in shaded areas & they still reacted negatively. In particular the Green Wellsophylia Brain, Maze Brain, & my Red Mushrooms. This was too difficult for me to deal with & prompted my pursuit for MH's.

Very early on when I started this thread I posted an ideal condition where one would start with only SPS corals on the upper portion of the tank & with plenty of T5 light allow the corals to take over this upper region. To at end, providing shading for the lower light demanding coral additions. I have seen some very successful reefs unintentionally using this scheme.

In the past I have also presented my beliefs on MH lighting & have felt that they provide, more so than the T5's, a natural stratification of light. The conditions are more conducive to coral placement of mixed species.

 

[Codeman00]

Uno...thanks for all your report and all of your help.

One question, do your SPS grow faster under the halides than the T5s?

 

[FastUno]

Codeman, this is not such an easy question for me to answer since I don't have that many SPS's. I have the 1 orange monti cap, the 1 purple monti cap that is now being partially covered by the orange one, & a dreary looking monti dig that fell in a certain corner of the tank & that I have not attended to. I have not placed my hands in the tank that much since the MH addition, whereas before I was always moving & shifting things.

Based upon the orange monti growth in the past few weeks of MH exposure I want to say yes, but I will reserve myself & assume that it's the exponential growth that I have referred to. What I can say is that I have seen others do very well with T5 use on SPS's. I will try & post sequence growth of the monti soon & you can judge for yourself.

Codeman, I was not referring to you in particular as one of the confiders, although you were one of the last ones. There are more out there.

 

[FastUno]

One more note before the night. I just took another look at my Frogspawn tonight, while it was closing up for the night I have noticed that indeed I am getting further subdividing of heads. What used to be 1 head is now branching into 2 or 3 heads from all existing ones.

I started off with only 2 heads of this coral & now counted 14.

 

[Aaron]

Uno...thanks for all your report and all of your help.

One question, do your SPS grow faster under the halides than the T5s?

Code,
I have had these configurations on my 29gal tank over the past 3 years...

a) all PCs = 130w
b) all T5s = 120w
c) single 250w DE MH
d) all T5s = 120w

current) 70w DE MH & 54w T5s

I had SPS with all T5s and 250w MH... it definitely grew better and seemed "happier" under the MH but I also had twice as much light as that tank needed... too much in my opinion as it ended up "washing out" the colors when viewing (not bleaching the corals).

When I went from C to D a few of my sps started bleaching since they were used to so much light from the 250w MH. Since I changed to my Current setup they seem to be coloring back up.

The lessons I have learned...

1) you can almost never have "too much" light but your viewing pleasure will definitely change if you have a ton, your eyes will not pickup the colors of the corals since the light will overpower the colors.

2) The MH light is definitely something that I will always want since it gives a shimmer and the colors open up much more

3) The T5s are something I will almost always suppliment with since, to my eyes, the coral colors have more "pop" to them and they seem to fluoresce much nicer then any MH I've used or seen.

I think the key is figure out your goal:

More light = more growth, period, no matter what type of light.

Tons of light can = less "color" viewable by human eyes due to the light overpowering the colors of the corals

I go for the balance. My 70w MH is at the center of my tank and thus I keep the SPS in the center. The T5s are lining the front and back of the canopy covering the entire tank. This allows me to have almost any type of coral and I can place it where it is most happy... high-med-low lighting areas of the tank.

hope that helps

 

[Codeman00]

Aaron..thanks for the info....interesting..very good points to look at during my transistion to MH. I have questions...

What exact MH bulb did you use (and what K)?
What exact MH bulb do you use now (and what K)?
What T5 bulbs did / do you use to supplement the MH?
I'm thinking about using 2 x175W XM10K bulbs..but I can't figure out what to supplement with...VHO or T5?
Do you get any flouresce out of the MH so that you don't need the VHO super actinic and can use T5s? Or I could use one of each I guess..

 

[Aaron]

Aaron..thanks for the info....interesting..very good points to look at during my transistion to MH. I have questions...

What exact MH bulb did you use (and what K)?
What exact MH bulb do you use now (and what K)?
What T5 bulbs did / do you use to supplement the MH?
I'm thinking about using 2 x175W XM10K bulbs..but I can't figure out what to supplement with...VHO or T5?
Do you get any flouresce out of the MH so that you don't need the VHO super actinic and can use T5s? Or I could use one of each I guess..

250w 13k DE Megachrome
70w 10k DE Ushio + 3 Helios T5s: one 10k, two 03blue "true actinic"

Use T5s... longer bulb life, smaller physical profile, lower heat, lower elect use, lower cost overall.

only MH flouresce is typically with 20k bulbs and they are too blue for me. Maybe with 15k Phoenix bulbs, not sure have not seen them.

 

[Codeman00]

I'd love to use T5s, but I haven't found a T5 that has actinic to it. I hate to buy 2 new Helios bulbs and try them...they really don't have a proven track record yet...although I know Grim loves the the Helios T5 actinic. I know it will be more expensive to supplement with VHO, but thats probably what I'm going to do instead of buying 2 bulbs from a website that won't accept credit cards or paypal. The last time I checked, they haven't even put the bulbs up on their site. Thanks Aaron for the info.

 

[Aaron]

I'd love to use T5s, but I haven't found a T5 that has actinic to it.

What do you mean... I just told you I use Helios true 03Actinic???

I hate to buy 2 new Helios bulbs and try them...they really don't have a proven track record yet...although I know Grim loves the the Helios T5 actinic. I know it will be more expensive to supplement with VHO, but thats probably what I'm going to do instead of buying 2 bulbs from a website that won't accept credit cards or paypal. The last time I checked, they haven't even put the bulbs up on their site. Thanks Aaron for the info.

I've used Helios for 2 years... before anyone knew they existed... they are decent not spectacular. for the price nothing beats them.

 

[Codeman00]

I had no idea they had been out for 2 years because the first post on them (on the T5 threads) that Ive read came in about 2 months ago. Another $60 on bulbs when I already have 5 T5 bulbs here plus my VHO setup? Decisions decisions. I'd like to hear Grims thoughts on this when he gets back from where ever he is before I decide.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

At this point I have gone from T5 to halides and the halides are nice but my new tank will have T5/6 lighting with perhaps 20K 150 watt halides for supplimental lighting. Still working things out.

 

[Codeman00]

T5s with halides for supplemental lighting.. Now that's something you don't hear every day.

 

[merk1_99]

I have checked back with this thread. I would like to report with my Tek T-5's I haven't experienced any problems. My growth is slow to medium but they are growing. I am using a 6 bulb 39 watt a pc system. I think using the 39 watt system has led to me having less to none issues. I currently have 2 actinics. They aregoing to be replaced sometime this week. One with a GE 6500, and the other blue plus special. Then we will se if I start experiencing the problems....

 

[Codeman00]

I wouldn't say that I had problems either, except for bleaching a orange cap and a green slimer because I put them at the top of the tank.