SPS and T5HO VS MH

[Koresample]

I have an Aquatic Life 24" T5HO set up for my tank (2X 700+ NM + actinics moon glo LED's etc) that have been making my softies and LPS grow like crazy over the last 5 months. Is there any reason i cant try some SPS or am i just wasting my time until i go to MH's? My hammer coral has grown 3 new heads and has great colour and my moon coral has kept its brilliant colours the entire time and has grown about 20+ new polyps. I had a bit of an algae outbreak after going on vacation after my son accidently unplugged my skimmer, but it is almost under control. I know i need near perfect water conditions for them (currently sg 1025, Nitrates and nitries = 0, PH 8.2, Ca 450, MG 1400 and 10 dKH0), which i plan to wait for, but what about the lighting? I know this generally sparks a huge debate, so i would like to hear feedback from those that use T5HO successfully and from those that swithced to MH please.
thanks!

[hummer]

I'm using 48" Tek Light High Output T5's right now. I have 1 hammer, 2 bubble corals, some mushrooms, couple of zoas and mostly SPS frags and they have all grown nicely. I've never had MH but I'm thinking you would get much better colour and growth out of the SPS.

[Marlin65]

24" is a bit small I tried that on my tank. (4 bulb fixture) They lived and thrived but the color just was not the same as under my MH. I think if you had bigger bulbs with more length you would be OK. I know there is lots of tanks out there with 36" and 48" that look great. I just found my MH did a much better job than my 4-24" T5

[fencer]

I was told on a tank with 18in depth you need 6 -8 T5 HO's.

[fkshiu]

I'd get at least 6 T5HOs for an 18" deep tank if you want SPS.

The difficulty with general statements such as "can you do SPS with T5HO" is that there's a lot of variability with T5HOs. Maximizing PAR output would include:
- using individual gull-wing reflectors like Icecap SLRs
- overdriving them with, for example, Icecap 660 ballasts
- actively cooling them with fans

You won't get the same type of output with a standard Tek or Nova Extreme unit.

There's also bulb selection. With MH you've only got one bulb and one PAR reading coming out of that bulb. With a T5 unit you've got a myriad of options for bulb combos which can cause a lot of variability in PAR output.

As proven by numerous T5-lit tanks out there the short answer is "Yes" to the question, but don't expect your Oregon Tort to stay deep purple if all you've got is a two bulb Hagen Glo unit.

[Stones]

With your 4 bulb T5HO fixture, you shouldn't have any problems keeping SPS corals in the top 1/3 of your aquarium. Any lower than that, you are going to need to get a 6 bulb fixture to help increase PAR levels.

I have a SPS only 90 gallon tank and decided to switch from metal halides to T5's last Christmas. After 7 months of running the T5's, I couldn't be happier. I replaced a 2 x 250 watt HQI metal halide setup (which I had used for the past 4 years) with a 8 x 54 watt T5 fixture that does not overdrive the bulbs. Colours are improving in my acros weekly and I don't have problems growing acros on the sandbed at a depth of 24".

Like the others have said though, good individual reflectors and active cooling really help boost the PAR output of T5 fixtures so that you can keep corals you would normally need metal halide for.

[RuGlu6]

I have 6 bulb TEK T5, tank is 24" tall, and sps grows ok wth nice color at 20 inch deep

[Myka]

The way I see it is that SPS frags are cheap, why not give it a try. If all else fails you can give them away. :)

[subman]

The way I see it is that SPS frags are cheap, why not give it a try. If all else fails you can give them away. :)

+1 and there are many different types of sps some will do better than others just like lps or softies. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to lights just give it a shot.

[Canuckgod420]

I just recently swaped out my 2x250W MH system for an 8 bulb 4' T5 fixture, and I think its great(i'm only using 7 bulbs though....damn bowfront...lol).
When I stopped using ZEO my ENTIRE system had a major brown out(almost all SPS and 1 large duncan colony), so I thought this would be a great time to re-do the whole setup. Out came the halides....in went the T5's, also removed 80 pounds of rock. built new rock towers put in brown frags from mother colonies, and 3 weeks later i'm starting to get color.
Weird thing is, corals that where once green are now starting to show signs of orange and yellow with green polyps....pretty cool actually.
So to make long story short, I like the T5's for SPS.

[dreef]

I'm gung ho for quality T5's.as with individual reflectors,and quality tubes.Been using T5 for 3 years,very happy,never using anything else.

[Koresample]

Thanks for all the comments! My tank is about 24"X 24" X 24" approx, and with my HOB fuge and skimmer, i don't have the room to set another duplicate fixture on top (although i have another 24" AL identical to the one i am running). The fixture has individual reflectors for each bulb and has 2X 420/460 actinics + 2 X 700+nm plus the LEDs and a built in digital timer, which is sweet. Based on what i have read, I should have decent PAR values from this set-up, but at what depth i don't know. I was considering getting the Odyssea fixture with the single 250w HQI MH + 2X65w actinic PC lights, then getting an ice cap ballast and different bulbs ($169US plus $181 Ice Cap ballast and $120 giesemann 250w HQi 14500k) for under $500. My rock is arranged like a wall with my softies on/near the bottom and my LPS near the top, but i am running out of room. Is there anyone in the Kelowna area that wants to sell some SPS frags so i can experiment?

[Myka]

The fixture has individual reflectors for each bulb and has 2X 420/460 actinics + 2 X 700+nm plus the LEDs

What are 700+nm bulbs? Your actinics are really taking away from PAR. Actinics have lower PAR. I would suggest getting some AquaScience or UVL bulbs in there with at least one around 10-15K on your next change out. Instead of actinics use blue bulbs. If that was my fixture I would have 2 Fiji purple, 1 AquaScience 22000K and 1 AS 15000K. The AS bulbs have really high PAR even with the higher Kelvin. What brand are the bulbs you're currently using?

[Koresample]

The 700+ NM are basically 10k bulbs, the others are a mix of actinic and blue and they are made by aquatic life as well, here's the linkhttp://aquaticlife.com/lamps/index.html

According to their literature, the set-up should be ideal for any type of coral, but i don't know enough to say whether or not that is correct. Their web site has some pretty detailed test results for all their bulbs, but again, i am not well versed to know what the results really indicate.

[fkshiu]

One potential issue with that fixture is the G12 base halide bulbs it uses. I'm not aware of any other manufacturer of G12 bulbs for reef use so you'd be stuck using only their selection of bulbs. There is much larger variety of DE MH bulbs and an even wider selection of mogul-based MH bulbs.

[Koresample]

One potential issue with that fixture is the G12 base halide bulbs it uses. I'm not aware of any other manufacturer of G12 bulbs for reef use so you'd be stuck using only their selection of bulbs. There is much larger variety of DE MH bulbs and an even wider selection of mogul-based MH bulbs.

It says on their website that they use DE HQI bulbs, aren't those pretty standard? J&L sell quite a few different types of the 250 watt version.

[fkshiu]

It says on their website that they use DE HQI bulbs, aren't those pretty standard? J&L sell quite a few different types of the 250 watt version.

This is a DE MH bulb:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13948

Notice the difference with the g12-based bulb shown in the link you provided? The g12 plugs into one end, a DE bulb slots in on both ends, a mogul bulb screws in on one end.

[Van-rookie]

May I know what bulbs you are using for the T5 ?

I just recently swaped out my 2x250W MH system for an 8 bulb 4' T5 fixture, and I think its great(i'm only using 7 bulbs though....damn bowfront...lol).
When I stopped using ZEO my ENTIRE system had a major brown out(almost all SPS and 1 large duncan colony), so I thought this would be a great time to re-do the whole setup. Out came the halides....in went the T5's, also removed 80 pounds of rock. built new rock towers put in brown frags from mother colonies, and 3 weeks later i'm starting to get color.
Weird thing is, corals that where once green are now starting to show signs of orange and yellow with green polyps....pretty cool actually.
So to make long story short, I like the T5's for SPS.

[Koresample]

This is a DE MH bulb:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13948

Notice the difference with the g12-based bulb shown in the link you provided? The g12 plugs into one end, a DE bulb slots in on both ends, a mogul bulb screws in on one end.

The link i provided was to the Aquatic life T5HO that i use now, the Odyssea link is here http://shop.aquatraders.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=54201 and if you mouse over the picture of the MH bulb it looks identical to the one in the link you sent me..no?