I dont understand...

Brian_G

Brian_G

overly obsessed
I just spent a couple hours going over RC's t5 forum that was listed on Project's thread.

After i read a lot of it i noticed that many people prefer t5's over mh's. They produce more lumens per watt. And they had so many odd color combinations. Anyone know more about that?

I have always heard that i keep alot of sps or a nem because I dont have enough lighting power with t5's.

So my question is, If I get another fixture off craigslist for cheap and put 2 t5 fixtures on y 75, do you think that would make a difference in what corals i can keep? I would have 10 t5 HO rather than 6.

I recently lost my red planet acro and am unsure why because my other acros are doing great, just that one went sour.
 
You can always lose a coral. Kinda like losing a fish no telling. As for the T5 to MH debate. I have loved my MHs. Not so sure today when tank got to 81F but I do have a skylight in the room. Plus T5s can't make the shimmery look ;)

Oh also if you got the proper wattage you can have a nem and sps. I've seen others do it with T5s.
 
Last edited:
I know T5's can have great PAR and the color combinations are endless.... but I still prefer MH as the main light source with T5's used as supplementation, mainly in the blue spectrum. MH imho are the closest thing to recreating sunlight.
 
I have both and never wanted metal halides until I bought one. Now I don't want to change to t5s again. It is just so much better in the looks. But you can use T5s and get great growth as well.
 
well, i thought about going mh, and at the time that i was doing it, i was re-using parts from a previous fixture that i had, so, i ended up saving money at the time by going with the t5's...

if i had the money at the time that i built my first canopy, then i woulda prolly gone MH cause i like the shimmer, but i just couldnt pull it off... so, now that i have a bunch of t5 stuff, and now i have a new tank, i just retro'd the older t5 stuff over and just added a bit to it to get what i have now....

thats how i ended up where i am now...

if in the future, something happens and i have a chunk of money that i can spend on all new lights, i might just think about a combo fixture... but thats not likely to happen any time soon...
 
its just the nova extreme pro 6 bulb t5 HO fixture with individual reflectors.

I was thinking about either retrofitting to get a ten bulb fixture or just adding another 4 bulb fixture with my 6. that would give me 7.2 watts per gallon.

Im hoping I would see better growth out of my sps and would be able to keep clams and such.

I have never tried mh's but im not sure i want to, they pull more electricity for the amount of light you get. I know a watt is a watt but i get more lumens of light with t5's. And i have read other forums that people do a lot with them.

Im not sure what to do, I just want better growth and be able to keep more sps.
 
With the Nova Extreme Pros over a 75, you should have no problem keeping SPS, clams and anemones. Those lights will allow you to keep whatever you want. Those are the same lights I'm running over my 90. I don't know where you heard that your lights weren't strong enough, they are good.
 
Well I assumed that because my red planet acro came from under mh's that I lost it because I had t5's and they werent enough power for them. I put them about 5'' from the surface of the water.

I have had no problem keeping acros in the past and the first 2 I got(Oregon tort and scripps) are still alive and growing. Polyps fully extending out. I have no idea what could have gone wrong with it. But I guess that happens sometimes. out of 23 frags I have, only losing 1 thing so far I guess isnt too awful bad?

Do you think bulbs make a big difference?
right now im using 3 10K
and 2 460 nm actinics
1 420 actinic
 
Last edited:
Did you start the acro on the bottom and acclimate it up? Even if it started under MH, it still needs time to adjust to your lights.

Even so, you can't make that assumption based on one frag. There could have been many things that contributed to that acro dying.

I don't think the bulbs you are using make a difference at all. With T5s, half daylight and half actinic is the norm.
 
I didnt think i needed to acclimate it because it was under such strong lighting. I guess that could have been it. But its hard to say what it was, I know what you mean.

yeah i have half daylight and half actinic now, but i have heard of people using red and other colors too. whats the difference? Just appearance?
 
Brian_G said:
I didnt think i needed to acclimate it because it was under such strong lighting. I guess that could have been it. But its hard to say what it was, I know what you mean.

yeah i have half daylight and half actinic now, but i have heard of people using red and other colors too. whats the difference? Just appearance?
Click to expand...

I actually found when I was running T-5s,that light acclimation was more important than with my halides.If I didnt start each and every frag on the bottom with the T-5s,they would be bleached within a day or 2.
Now that I'm running MHs,I can actually start frags in the bottom 1/4 of the tank.But I do have trouble getting into the top 1/4 still.
 
yote said:
I actually found when I was running T-5s,that light acclimation was more important than with my halides.If I didnt start each and every frag on the bottom with the T-5s,they would be bleached within a day or 2.
Now that I'm running MHs,I can actually start frags in the bottom 1/4 of the tank.But I do have trouble getting into the top 1/4 still.
Click to expand...

well now i know, man, it sucks to learn stuff the hard way.

does bleached = dead?

im not 100% sure my red planet is dead, its not completely white like I have seen corals look like when they are dead. Its just way lighter than it should be and I can still see polyps( I think, or it could be wishful thinking)
 
I would move it lower in the tank maybe kind of under a ledge for a few days. It might need to relax a bit. Then gradually move it to where you want it. It might make it.

When I acclimate my corals, I put them where I want but I shut the lights down to 30 minutes in the morning then 30 minutes in the afternoon. Then add 15 minutes on each every day. It takes almost 2 weeks to get it up to full time lighting, but it has worked for me.
 
If it's lighter, and you can see polyps, then it's not dead. It still has a chance to recover. If it's dead, it will be white, and no polyp extension. It will basically look like a rock.
 
bjohanson1234 said:
I would move it lower in the tank maybe kind of under a ledge for a few days. It might need to relax a bit. Then gradually move it to where you want it. It might make it.

When I acclimate my corals, I put them where I want but I shut the lights down to 30 minutes in the morning then 30 minutes in the afternoon. Then add 15 minutes on each every day. It takes almost 2 weeks to get it up to full time lighting, but it has worked for me.
Click to expand...

I may try to move it to the sandbed for a few days and then slowly back up.
do you think this would work for me? It wasnt cheap so i would definitely not like to lose it, not to mention i hate to see anything die
 
You can increase the PAR by 30-50 percent by replacing the slimpaq bulbs with ATI and UV bulbs.No need to add more bulbs,fixtures.
 

Similar threads

Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
661
Mike
Mike
Jacob Voelker
Just "jumped in" the hobby with a 28g nano and got lotsa ??s
Replies
13
Views
2K
monique
M
homefry319
Light Combinations
Replies
4
Views
990
d2mini
d2mini
cmejio
Assistance with buying new aquarium
Replies
14
Views
2K
Aquarian
Aquarian
Z
New 30g saltwater tank
Replies
10
Views
2K
ReeferRob
R
Back
Top