One of the best tank I've seen is running 8 bulb ati, you have nothing to worry about Wayne. It's all about bulb combination.

~Tony

For now I'm going 3 Blue+, 3 Aquablue Special and 2 Purple+. Worst case scenario is I kill everything and start over (love watching frags turn into colonies).

and prayers!

I would do 4 blue +, 2 coral+ and 2 purple +.

~Tony

I like your attitude :biggrin:

Are you new to T5s? I don't recall hearing anyone say they bleached their corals from T5s. T5 light is so uniform, enveloping and smooth. It doesn't blast out light like LEDs and halides. The only sucky thing is having to replace all those bulbs. Some people replace T5s every 6 months :surprise:

+ brazillion!

Glad you think I have one of the nicest tanks ever ... Just Kidding lol

But seriously, this is the same reason I bought the ATI 8 Bulb. The nicest tank I've ever seen is the July 2010 TOTM on ReefCentral by Lunar

He runs a 10 bulb powermodule, but I bought the 8 bulb Sunpower because thats what I had room for.

And with active cooling, bulbs are good for a year with the ATI fixtures as opposed to 6-8 months with most others.

I love T-5 ... I won't change as long as it's available.

We've had a few TOTMs on here that ran T5s as well. Lobsterboy's and Fishytime's tanks just to name a couple. Both of those tanks definitely inspired me when I was but a reef padawan back in the day. T5s rock!

Interesting thread, has me thinking. I ran a 2 bulb T5 unit and supplemented with LEDs. I had amazing coral growth with this combo, great colors (no sps), to the point that my corals were too big for the tank. I moved to Radions on my 180 and have lost every single one of my first three corals. Not to bleaching or anything, not exactly sure why they died. some corals have done amazingly well, others, not so much. I do know I am not seeing the same success on the 180 to what I saw in the 55. Is it lights, is it maintenance, not sure, but definitely something to think about.