T5 lighting

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Here are my experiences with T5 lighting - 432 watts on a 120 gallon tank.

I have had the lights for I think 3 years, maybe I am wrong and it is 2 years.

In my tank I grow mixed softies/SPS/LPS/anemones.

LPS grow great under my T5's whether high or low in the tank.

I have two SPS, a purple monti cap and an orangish/purplish montipora digitata, they both grow great under the T5's near the top of the tank.

BTA's grow fine around mid-hight in the tank.

Softies grow OK. Mushrooms shrink and shrivel away even at the bottom of the tank, I think it is too much light for them.

The downsides to T5's are:

Bulbs difficult to get and harder to ship than MH bulbs, and for a comparable wattage replacement MH bulbs would be cheaper than T5 bulbs.
More expensive than comparable MH units nowadays, since I have noticed the MH prices seem to have come down a lot in the past few years.

If you want to buy a T5 setup try Ocean Aquatics.

If I were going to do it again I would just go with MH.