can i keep sps with t5 lighting???

[sanababit]

hello guys, please let me know if i can keep sps with t5 lighting, im planing on buying a 6 bulb 54 watt each fixture, and please i dont want a debate on MH is better or t5 are better, a simple answer is greatly appreciated, thanks

sana

[steven_dean17]

Yes.

[jvr1102]

Don't know if this is 100% true but I was told you can however the corals may not have as brilliant of colors as MH

[fewells]

yes you can many are doing it now

[Dano999]

The Reefkeeping Magazine Tank of the month for October used solely T5 HO lighting and the coral was very colorful. So the answer is Yes.

Quote

Lighting

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The lighting over the tank consists solely of T5 HO bulbs. At the front of the tank are two 4’ long, eight-bulb TEK hoods; and across the back are two 4’ long six-bulb hoods, for a total of 28 54-watt bulbs, or approximately 1,500 watts. I really like the Giesemann bulbs and, for the most part, there is a 3-to-1 ratio of actinic blue to 11,000K whites. Through trial and error, I have found that this combination best enhances both the tank’s and the corals' color. The lights turn on in a staggered formation over 30 minutes and remain on from approximately noon until 10 pm.


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-10/totm/index.php

[Putawaywet]

Yes...

Just as long as you tank is in the 24" range and as you are buying HO T5 with individual quality reflectors, and not one of those junk units off of ebay. Also, make sure to spend the money and buy good bulbs and not the knock-off that saeem to be flooding the market.

Unfortunately, there have been a lot of vendors capitalizing on the T5 bandwagon and not all T5 is created equal.

Brett

[MetalReef9]

I have seen a lot of really nice SPS tanks with T5's only.

[kau_cinta_ku]

alot will have to do with the type of fixture, as stated T5's with individual reflectors are your best bet. unlike the nova fixtures that use 1 reflector for all the bulbs

[sanababit]

how about the tek t5 systems, would those work, btw my tank is 48x24x18, i have been reading that separate reflectors are the way to go, any toughts???

sana

[steven_dean17]

1 light+1 reflector=success. A t5 fixture is great, but lets face it, you don't have any extra light to give away like MH lights. You want every little lumin to reach the bottom. With out good reflection half the light is being wasted.

[steven_dean17]

1 light+1 reflector=success. A t5 fixture is great, but lets face it, you don't have any extra light to give away like MH lights. You want every little lumin to reach the bottom. Without good reflection half the light is being wasted.

[steven_dean17]

srry bout the double take

[techreef]

I've got 6 bulbs total of T5 on my tank; a 4-bulb IceCap retro kit and a 2-bulb Tek retro kit. I'd recommend going with only IceCap. They have nicer reflectors (both IC and Tek are individual reflectors, ie each bulb has a reflector that clips onto it), the IC ballasts are much nicer and will overdrive the bulbs, giving you more watts, (note: you must figure out a way to install a fan or some manner of cooling breeze down the length of your bulbs if you overdrive them, as overdriving will shorten the lifetime of the bulbs if you let them get too hot) and the wiring harness on the IC kit was much nicer, simpler, and more professional than the Tek kit. Lastly, I can't prove it, but I think the Tek ballast is so electrically "noisy" that for the first year or so it would trip my GFCI outlet daily.

[papagimp]

Originally posted by Dano999
The Reefkeeping Magazine Tank of the month for October used solely T5 HO lighting and the coral was very colorful. So the answer is Yes.

That article for the TOTM did no where near justice to P. Whitby's tank. He had loads of metal halides and eventually swapped it all out for the teklights and I gotta say, in person, it looks ten times better with the t5's than the metal halides ever did. Although I miss the nice shimmer he had going, the coloring has definatly improved.

[Boca Kris]

Originally posted by papagimp
That article for the TOTM did no where near justice to P. Whitby's tank. He had loads of metal halides and eventually swapped it all out for the teklights and I gotta say, in person, it looks ten times better with the t5's than the metal halides ever did. Although I miss the nice shimmer he had going, the coloring has definatly improved.

I just ordered the TX5 unit from Aquactinics, and was curious as to what exactly causes the 'shimmer'? I've heard it before as a difference between MH & T5. I am assuming the difference is that the MH put light out from only one point so there isnt as much light rays crossing over each other like the light from the full length of a 48 inch bulb say.

Would that be true?

I have seen beautiful tanks here in the local marine club, and they did use halides....I just cant use them because of my layout.

[Davidb6]

LFS has a deep (50 gal) tank with T5’s and is growing sps frags. I’m sure it has more to do with experience than just the lighting though.

Seeing this tank made me research for a long time the difference between T5s and MH. I opted for MH due to my experience level.

[steri]

yup! I do it. I'll be honest, I just started putting SPS in my tank about a month or 2 ago, but my bird's nest looks awesome under my T5's.

[techreef]

Boca Kris, yes, the shimmer effect is due to MH's being a point source light vs. the non-shimmer of flourescent lights due to a spread out light source along the entire bulb.

FWIW, if you have large quantities of cash and are into really noodling with your setups, there is also the option of LED lighting like the new-ish Polaris light hoods. They are still really expensive, but allow you to program moon lighting, moon phases, dimmer settings, etc. And they give the tank a shimmer effect. Not sure how, seeing as how there are over 100 different light sources, but I've seen it with my own two eyes...

[cd77]

Boca -- I'm using a 7 bulb Aquactinics Constellation. They make beautiful fixtures. I think you'll be very happy with your TX5. The choice of lighting is important, so make sure you ask around. There are some good bulb recommendations in this thread. One thing I've found with my fixture is that it is extremely bright; more so than some MH setups I've seen, but, like you mentioned you'll lose the shimmer effect. Life is a trade off

FWIW, I've just recently started keeping SPS and they're all doing great and look wonderful under T5's. As mentioned before, using individual reflectors makes a world of difference.

[stephensturman]

so what do u think about the tek 8 bulb t5 fixture with this bulb setup for sps?
front
super actinic
aqua sun
aqua blue
ati pro color
blue plus
aqua blue
blueplus

[jadeguppy]

Go to the light forum and post the type of look you want. Grim Reefer can tell you the light bulbs to buy. I have been reading his answers for weeks now and he is awesome! The thread is the T5 Q&A.

[demonsp]

If this will be a SPS specific tank i would only use MH for best results.