T5 and coral growth...

[kriz2fer]

Yeah the powermodule is so powerful I can literally melt Sps in the middle of my tank. The par and intensity this fixtures puts down is more them any metal halide fixture I have ever owned.

[PowderBlue]

If you are going to be changing bulbs soon, I would go with ati or giesman bulbs. I have an ati sunpower fixture and the bulb combo I use goes as follows

 

1. Blue Plus

2. Aquablue Special

3. Purple Plus

4. Blue Plus

5. Aquablue Special

6. Blue Plus

 

Thats front to back. I have great success with just about everything I put in my tank, and if I don't. It's probably because of my maintenance.

 

You might also be able to swap out the reflectors in the fixture you have. A good reflector makes the world of difference. I definately noticed when I switched from a tek light to an ati.

 

Awesome! Thanks!! It seems like I'm far from even close to where I need to be with the color of the bulbs, I just went with what I thought would look nice, wasn't sure with the purples and blues etc, was just too many choices and I had already sold my old light. I'll order the same setup and see how things go! I'm thinking about also ordering the same reflector material I had in some of my old grow lights, it was the dimpled German material. Any input on that? I have a buddy that can get it for me cheap.

[PowderBlue]

Well, I seem to be doing quite well at growing SPS in my 10 gallon under T5's.

 

My arrangement is four 24" T5 HO bulbs on an inexpensive Odyssea fixture (It's not bad, really. The reflectors are decent and the daylight, actinics and moonlighting are on separate circuits).

 

From back to front, the bulbs are: ATI Blue +, ATI Blue +, Geissmann midday, ATI Purple +.

 

So, that's a total of 96 watts of T5 HO on a 10 gallon 24"x10"x10" tank. I'm surprised at the growth rate--almost as good as most bigger tanks with fancier lighting. Also, the colors really pop with this configuration. I think the Purple + adds a lot, and I suspect the midday bulb is largely responsible for the better growth.

 

I should mention that this is enough light to bleach out a lot of corals. I have to hide chalices in the shadows, and some softies just bleach out.

 

Dang i had that same amount of wattage over my 40 breeder for like a month!! That's a ton of light! Must look awesome over the tank

[OwenReefin]

I run 4 T5's over my 40 breeder and am having great success with it. I don't keep sps on the sand but they all grow. Now that your are on the verge of changing bulbs you are going to start seeing some success. The thing about ATI bulb combos like you are considering peak at the spectrums that REALLY promote coral growth and color. If you are interested in staying with T5's and don't wanna fork over ATI module cash, google LET retrofit fixtures. Same quality reflectors, same quality ballasts, add your own fans and bam, 4 T5 SPS system with these, 6 would be boss though.

[PowderBlue]

I'm going to start with the bulbs, if that doesn't do it I'll order the higher end reflectors, if all else fails its simply down to ballasts at that point! Bulbs will be ordered in a couple weeks probably along with the reflector material at the same time!!

[Mohaynow]

I haven't seen any t-5 fixtures or retrofit kits with the dimpled reflector material, you normally see that used in halide. It'd be interesting to see how it works, but I think that if it was a big upgrade you would probably see fixtures coming with it from the factory.

 

I think it works better with halides because the source of light is much smaller that it is in a florescent tube. A small arc tube vs a long tube. and the small dimples gather light from that smaller source better as where the smooth reflector shines the light in a wider angle wherever the reflector is pointing. Does that make sence? (scratch)

[OwenReefin]

The LET retro reflectors have a dimpled flex to them, seem to work pretty good.

[Blackhand]

If you are going to be changing bulbs soon, I would go with ati or giesman bulbs. I have an ati sunpower fixture and the bulb combo I use goes as follows

 

1. Blue Plus

2. Aquablue Special

3. Purple Plus

4. Blue Plus

5. Aquablue Special

6. Blue Plus

 

Thats front to back. I have great success with just about everything I put in my tank, and if I don't. It's probably because of my maintenance.

 

You might also be able to swap out the reflectors in the fixture you have. A good reflector makes the world of difference. I definately noticed when I switched from a tek light to an ati.

 

thats exactly what i would do

[PowderBlue]

I haven't seen any t-5 fixtures or retrofit kits with the dimpled reflector material, you normally see that used in halide. It'd be interesting to see how it works, but I think that if it was a big upgrade you would probably see fixtures coming with it from the factory.

 

I think it works better with halides because the source of light is much smaller that it is in a florescent tube. A small arc tube vs a long tube. and the small dimples gather light from that smaller source better as where the smooth reflector shines the light in a wider angle wherever the reflector is pointing. Does that make sence? (scratch)

 

Looks like I'm going with the smooth material, only thing that sucks is the ATI reflectors say they should only be used with their setup due to the distance. So I am trying to find one that's better than the TEK light ones.