Ditch the T5s unit and add some MH?

[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.

[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

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by 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.

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