What does everyone think of T5's for reefs

[Doug]

Originally Posted by kaboom

There are a lot of ways to grow corals and there are alot of ways to waste money. I've done them both. IME, T5 does not penetrate very well, therefore good for shallow tanks and corals that doesn't require intensity. To the naked eye it appears a littly hazy, like a slightly overcast day . MH on the other hand is a sunny day, and don't we all love sunny days.

The reason why I stated that is because most people start out with lighting, or other equipments, that are gearing for the current interest, and perhaps lack the future interest for keeping SPS(everyone's goal ). Investing in something for the long run is always wise and saves you money in the long run. IMO, T5 cannot bring out the vibrant colors of the corals that MH can, and that is truely the main objective, isn't it.

Just to add more thoughts. I dont follow the colour thing, as I have seen some pretty brilliant coloured sps T-5 tanks. And I think they are as bright or brighter than some of the higher "K" halide bulbs we use.

I feel they are correct lighting for many set-ups but not all. I do agree with you on the purchase of good equipment from the start. Now by that, I would not use the multiple T-5 set up on a larger tank. However if oneswishes to run a whack of T-5,s over a large tank, it should provide enough light but I would say, halides are much more simple for that and provide as good, if not better light, in that situation.

My friend chucked his T-5,s from his 180 after a year of use and went back to 400w halides. {I can say he would not use them again but still loves VHO lighting}. I sold my 4ft.s and just used my 175w halides. I now say that was a mistake, as the T-5,s were better lighting and brighter than the 14K bulbs I was running.

As I had access to several 3ft. T-5 fixtures for my new 30g long, I sold the halides and went with them for this particular situation.

[Ephraim]

I'm still new to this game, but i can tell you that T5's have been working well for me. I dont have any basis of carparison to MH as i have never used them. I think one of the most important things with coral color and t5s is your bulb selection, that make all the difference from pastel to the bright neons we all desire. I went with the hagen glo fixtures and was pretty impressed with the brightness. All of my LPS and softies are thriving 12"-24" from the lights. My zoos a spreading like crazy, every day i am seeing new buds. I decided to try a birdnest frag a couple weeks ago (5" from top) and it's put on some thickness and new branches are sprouting. I would like to have some of that shimmer effect, but the heat from MH in my living room simply would not be comfortable during the summer.

[trilinearmipmap]

I am going on 3 years with my T5-lit 120 gallon tank 48" x 24" x 24". It is an 8 x 54 Watt Tek Light.

It is a mixed softie/LPS/SPS tank.

The light is too bright for some softies eg. mushrooms will not grow.

The sps have done fine however I only have the easier sps for now Monti caps Monti digitata and horn coral. One Monti cap frag I got about two years ago was 1" size now it is about 10" across with multiple sworls and I have taken quite a few frags off it. I don't know how this would compare to growth under halides.

I am getting a calcium reactor in the next month or so and then I will try some harder sps.

[RonPeter]

That's good to hear as I am setting up a 90 gallon withe a 6 light Aquatinics SolarFlare fixture.

[ron101]

Has anyone seen any quantitative head to head comparisons? I hear a lot of claims about efficiency and brightness without any supporting numbers.

[marcingo]

thats the biggest problem. But if you search in google T5 vs MH you should find a guy named sanjay who is doing it. Im not sure if he has posted his results yet but he might have.

[mr_alberta]

That's odd, my softies are loving the new 36" 4 bulb tek light system I have on my 6" deep tank!

Originally Posted by trilinearmipmap

I am going on 3 years with my T5-lit 120 gallon tank 48" x 24" x 24". It is an 8 x 54 Watt Tek Light.

It is a mixed softie/LPS/SPS tank.

The light is too bright for some softies eg. mushrooms will not grow.

The sps have done fine however I only have the easier sps for now Monti caps Monti digitata and horn coral. One Monti cap frag I got about two years ago was 1" size now it is about 10" across with multiple sworls and I have taken quite a few frags off it. I don't know how this would compare to growth under halides.

I am getting a calcium reactor in the next month or so and then I will try some harder sps.

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by mr_alberta

That's odd, my softies are loving the new 36" 4 bulb tek light system I have on my 6" deep tank!

I've got a chunk of toadstool bout 4" across that's about 9" from the water surface that's been doing ok. Now mind you there's aanother chunk from the same colony which fell under my rockwork and has been GROWING in the dark shadowy spot between a rock and the glass. So I don't think it's too picky for light anyways lol

advanced aquarist this month did some testing to find the lux requirements of various coral, and found that some soft corals require just as much light as SPS.