Ditch the T5s unit and add some MH?

[martinmcnally]

I am getting SPS growth but at a very very slow pace and only from the corals at the very top of the tank. Thinking maybe I should ditch the T5 unit and upgrade to something with MHs. Maybe even break apart the T5 unit and just build a custom hood using all the existing T5 stuff and add an MH or two.

Is this a wise move? I mean for coral growth? I am getting great growth from my Zoas and mushrooms.

[sphelps]

Before you consider changing your lights make sure low light is the problem. Be sure all your levels stay high and consistent and you nitrates and phosphates are low.

[Canuckgod420]

whats your tank size and how many T5s are you using?

I run T5s and can honestly tell you, my corals have never looked better, growth rate and colour are amazing(take a look at my tank thread).
I used to run MH and dont think I could ever go back(although I do miss the shimmer).

[brizzo]

What does your current T5 system consist of? (ie; fixture, reflectors, how many bulbs, wattage, bulb color, and age of bulbs).

What is the depth(height) of your tank, and how many gallons?

Like sphelps suggested, parameters severely effect hard coral growth, not just lighting alone

[martinmcnally]

36L x 24H x 18W

I have a suntek tight with 4 T5s in there, bulbs are just a month old or so.

Ph: 0.1
CA: 450
dKH: 8
Nitrate: 5

Looks like I could use some work on the Nitrate.

[martinmcnally]

Sorry I cant remember what the parameters of the lights are now, I got them from Golds in Calgary not too long ago to replace some older bulbs that were in there. I took their recommendation.

I want to say something close to 2x 14K and 2x ReefBlue or Antics.

[chris88]

6 bulbs would be better and i think your bulbs could be replaced for bulbs with higher par.

[mr.wilson]

Wait another six months for a decent mass produced LED to come on the market.

[Slick Fork]

Individual reflectors on the T5's?

4 bulbs on a 33 gallon should give you lots of penetration IF they have individual reflectors... How high above the tank is the fixture? Glass shield? If so, how clean is it?

[martinmcnally]

Its 75gallons, individual reflectors no glass. The reflectors could use another clean i think, cleaned about 2 months ago but the salt is wearing them down.

Light is about 4 inches above the water (as low as the legs will go).

[chris88]

I would go mh at that depth or add two more t5's

[the marine apprentice]

hey martin. id stick with the t5 set up or maybe upgrade to a six bulb. im running t5s on my nano and will never go back to mh on it. i also have a 250 watt mh setup on the hex tank which is 24 deep and it works well also. but i just hate the heat that it puts off. get a good selection of bulbs in there and i am sure your sps will be growing soon enough. mine dont grow as fast as id like them to but i am happy with the way they look and the way they are growing.

[Slick Fork]

Right, don't know why 33 was stuck in my head :) I'd second the call for another 2 bulbs in T5.

I had a full T5 setup on my 110 (8 bulb) and ended up swapping out 4 of the bulbs for 2 175 watt MH's. For me, I got decent results with both. I just preferred MH for the shimmer. Plus my tank was in the basement so I had no worries about heat.

Not sure what to tell you about why your corals aren't growing. Your light setup seems ok. Individual reflectors, close to the water... that all seems fine. Two bulbs will give you extra spread from front to back but won't necessarily add more light to corals in the middle for example. If the lamp is functioning correctly then I would guess the problem lies elsewhere.

[Red Coral Aquariums]

Before you change to MH consider some decent T5 bulbs. KZ or ATI or Geisemann. Wave points are a lower end bulb and you and your corals would see a difference.
Kevin

[viperfish]

Also keep in mind that on a four bulb fixture with two actinics, you only have two bulbs doing the work. The actinics do nothing for coral growth. Like Kevin said, go with the higher quality bulbs. You could also use a higher spectrum bulb instead of actinics for the blue look, that way you make use of all four bulbs and more light for the corals.

[StirCrazy]

yes, by all means, you need MH, T5s are for kids silly rabbit :mrgreen:





now in all honesty while I like MH, and as was mentions LEDs, I can't say run out and change tomorrow, nor can I say give it more time.

what are you water peramiters? Ca, Alk, Mg, Ph, Temp. how much water flow do you have. befor spending a tone of money for MH I would make sure that you corect any other issues first.

Steve

[Canadian]

If I was in your boat I'd wait for a good mass-produced LED fixture to be released as previously mentioned.

I don't think your issues are inherently a T5 problem. It's an issue of a suboptimal T5 fixture with suboptimal bulbs and suboptimal number of bulbs problem. You just don't have a very good T5 setup all around.

With that in mind, I would certainly suggest a change given your aquarium dimensions and desire to keep SPS. I would just be inclined to make the change to LEDs as opposed to MH.

[bauder1986]

hey martin, maybe switch out the actinics for a giesman aquablue+ for a higher PAR rating, and maybe retrofit 2 more t5's into the whole deal with either 14000K's or a aquablue+ and a 14000K or maybe a fiji and a 14000k but careful with those fiji's, if your phosphates are there and your healthy bacteria culture is abit premature you may get red slime algea due to the red spectrum coverage of the fiji's

[martinmcnally]

Thanks for all the advice guys. As for parameters I posted those a further back in the post. Nitrates are my only problem I think currently at 5. Temp is around 26/27 oC and Salinity 1.0025

I have been battling red slime agile now too for way to long and its starting to **** me right off.

When I got these new set of bulbs I noticed the tank was a little duller, despite being told this would be better than my last setup :/

Anyways I guess based on all this I should get another 2 bulbs plumbed in somehow add 2 more hight output bulbs and consider changing out the new ones for something better if the two extra don't make a significant difference.

[StirCrazy]

36L x 24H x 18W

I have a suntek tight with 4 T5s in there, bulbs are just a month old or so.

Ph: 0.1
CA: 450
dKH: 8
Nitrate: 5

Looks like I could use some work on the Nitrate.

sorry missed that, I would say with a Ph of 0.1 you are lucky to have anything left in there at all, should desolve the flesh and the rock. unless you are talking about phos, then .1 is a little high and will fuel algae, for normal test kits you should read 0.0 and there will still be some.

you are pushing the lights for the depth of the tank so ya if you got the money MH would probably give you a good boost in light. do you have any corals higher up in the tank? never mind. so ya waiting for a LED fixture that is worth it is probably at least a year off and its going to be expensive, so if you are happy going with MH then I say go for it and use your T5 for actinics if you can fit them both on the tank.

Steve

[martinmcnally]

hahaha yes Phosphate is 0.1 thats way lower than its ever been before I started running a lot of Rowaphos I was getting readings above 1 sometimes even 2. Ive been running Rowaphos for a few months now and its working great.

pH is around 8.2 or 8.3

I guess i could modify the tek light for MH instead of additional T5s. hmmmm