Metal Halide or High output T5 or Both

[mrgreenthumb]

Ok i think its time we travel down this road since it seems to keep coming up in different places. Time for me and everyone else to back up what they are saying. Are you hardcore t5 only, or are you die hard metal halide, and why. So in this thread words aren't going to be enough. Lets see the pictures!! If you are one way or the other or think one is better than the other be prepared to post some pics to back it up!! It would be great if people could post pics of their choice as well as a couple of baseline corals for comparison. I think the only way this will work is if people post pics of their common named sps corals(lps and the rest are great but their is little variation in color from mh to t5). It's fair to say that most of us have an oregon tort so lets make that the baseline. Any other common sps would be great as well, such as superman monti, rainbow monti, orange digi, ora green birdsnest. I'm just really wanting all of us to compare the same corals under different conditions. So make sure to post ALL your lighting specs and water params. Proof is in the pudding. Just remember (worthless)

 

 

So I will start. I'm a metal halide with t5 supplementation type of guy. I use this because I believe its the best of both worlds. I get the depth penetration and shimmer of point source as well as the ability to drastically change the appearance by changing out the t5's. I also like using both because I can have the t5's come on before the halides and go out after the halides. This gives me an extra 4 hours of viewing time!! I also like this combination because I can get more wattage for the space as compared to using only t5's.

Tank Specs: Lighting- PFO dual ballast 250w mh. I use XM 15k bulbs. reflector is the cheap wing style

2 4ft overdriven t5's with gieseman pure actinic

 

Cooling- I use a 4in inline exhaust fan. I mounted it under the house and ran the

ducking into the hood. No temperature issues and the fan is extremely efficient

 

Circulation- Mag1800 and scwd with eductors.

 

Filtration- Aqua UV 36 watts, filter sock, Korallin biodenitrator, carbon ran one week out

of every month, ETSS reef devil deluxe skimmer, and phosban reactor.

 

Water supplementation- Korallin calicum reactor with knop koralith media, lugols iodine,

Salifert amino acids, and magnesium(the last three are added

monthly)

 

Other tank info- Tank is a standard 90 gallon with a 20 gallon sump,and a 20 gallon inline

frag tank. I preform a 10% monthly water change just for fun and clean

the skimmer at the same time.

 

Water Parameters(all salifert test kits):

 

Salinity 35ppt

PH 8.1-8.3(depending on time of day)

Alkalinity 10.4

Calcium 420

Nitrate 2.5ppm

Phosphates 0ppm

magnesium 1300 mg/L

 

Alright now for the pictures!

 

Oregon tort from upscales

 

Oregon tort from Soutas

 

Orange monti digi

 

Superman monti at bottom of tank

 

Superman monti at top of tank

 

Green cap

 

Orange cap

 

ORA green birdsnest

 

Chili pepper monti

 

Cali tort and true undata

 

Sunset monti

[reef-fisher]

Forget sharing pictures...let trade some corals!!!!

I have one tank on t-5 and one with halides. I will have to get some recent pictures of both with the lights on to share, because I really like this topic. I dont think there is one TRUE answer, but lets see what happens:D

 

PS nice pics!

[mrgreenthumb]

Yea i thought it would be fun!! definitely not looking to argue just to see the different routes people are taking to get to the same goal!! PLus it seems alot of people have a hard time deciding which way to go and I figured if they could see the different set ups in action with corals to compare, could prove to be of value to them.

[TheGooseWhisperer]

Separate but related question.

 

If one were to grow SPS under T5's in a frag tank and then move them over into a display lit by MH...would the color change be instant? that is, does the coral have the pigments naturally and the lighting pics them up and shows them off differently? OR do the corals produce different pigments/combinations of pigments in response to different lighting. I dont have anything to contribute to this thread in terms of pics, but I am very interested because the SPS bug is nipping at my heels:p

[spectra]

Separate but related question.

 

If one were to grow SPS under T5's in a frag tank and then move them over into a display lit by MH...would the color change be instant? that is, does the coral have the pigments naturally and the lighting pics them up and shows them off differently? OR do the corals produce different pigments/combinations of pigments in response to different lighting. I dont have anything to contribute to this thread in terms of pics, but I am very interested because the SPS bug is nipping at my heels:p

 

 

Yes it can make a differance. I was looking for some old pics but can not find them. I had a stag I got from Izzypop and it was a dark purpleish brown color and had it in my old 90 under an 8 bulb tek light. Coral lived under those lights for about 5 months until I took the system down and switched over to a 250 14k MH. Once under the MH the coral turned to a greenish color with bright blue tips and to this day is still that color and doing great. It seems to be my one sps that is thrivingDOH!

[TheGooseWhisperer]

spectra...how long did the color change take to occur? Thats the mainly what I was asking.

[mrgreenthumb]

IME each coral is different on average i would say 2 weeks though.

[mrgreenthumb]

C'mon lets see those pictures!!! where's all the t5 only tanks?? Do they even exist . I'd really like to see some pics of sam of sunlight supply's tank, with the zeo vit and all. Still yet to see a local zeo tank....espically one lit by only t5's. Lets see those tanks, don't be scared the waters warm :p

[reef-fisher]

Came home to find my wife took the camera with her for the weekend(flame). I will post up pics when she gets back. there is a definite difference between the two light schemes. A purple rim monti in the halide tank at the bottom is green and at the top of the t-5 tank is yellow. placement and water quality will affect color as well(mrgreenthums post is a great starting point).

Doesnt anyone else have pics???

[mrgreenthumb]

wow i figured the t5er's would jump on an opportunity to show off their sps..................its funny that people are head over heals to talk about/recommend t5's as a sole light source but where are they now?

[mrgreenthumb]

wow I was realy hoping to have a nice comparison thread for noobs to help them decide on their lighting. It sure would be valuable and a benefit to everyone to be able to compare the same coral with the same genetics from one tank to the next, and be able to see the lighting and tank conditions to aquire those results. really there is no one else willing to throw up a simple picture of an oregon tort and give a quick explanation of their tank and equipment? C'mon people

[reef-fisher]

Im working on mine. Havent been home when the lights are on to take pics yet...but where IS everyone else?

[Nyles]

I like both for different reasons, I think it has a lot to do with tank size and what color your after, also what kind of heat issues your setup can handle. Overall I prefer MH for the colors and the shimmer but I liked the variety of choice I had with my T-5 and that they ran fairly cool. I did not like that the T-5 light feels like a blanket light source, everyone that came over to see my T-5 tank (155 bow) always where shocked at how bright it was, and it was just too bright, even after adding actinic and removing most the blue+. With MH its settled down (but I downgraded tanks to a 75) and I like the light source much better, buying 8 (T-5's) was over $200 and I could run them 18 months If I pushed them but I could start to see the bulbs fading. Buying 400 MH cost me around $56 each and run them 9 months (SE bulbs)

 

on my 72" long tank with T-5 (8 bulb) $16.50 per month (I replace bulbs yearly adding $218-230)

 

 

On my 72" tank with MH (400w SE PFO) 3 bulb ran $23 per month (per year amortized $214 at a 9 month life replacement)

 

 

None of these bulbs where overdriven to get most life I could within reason.

 

 

I think the real question comes down to can your tank handle the heat of MH. I use some 12" fans in my sump and one on the MH bulb that kick on if the heat goes over 1 degree higher than holding point. Only when the temps goe over 96-98 degrees does my chiller kick on. Honestly I could do with out it but its a good piece of mind for vacations.

 

If you have room you can try a combo of both but after running the coralvue 20k I just don't see the point in actinic as the light from the MH bulb I feel gives the corals all they need, they look better under that light than under my actinic setup previously used.

[coralreefaquarist]

my tank is t5 only.its an 8 bulb teklight the reason i went t5 over halides was because with 8 bulbs i can tweak the spectrum of lighting much more than 2 hallides. i was also scared the halides would make my tank to hot in the summer and dont have money for a chiller.the bulbs were a bit pricey around 200 something for all 8 i went with guismen bulbs and i love them i have 6 daylight bulbs 1 midday and 1 actinic. its very white and lets you see the true colors of the corals as where alot of tanks with like half actinics or higher k bulbs stuff looks really cool and fluorescent but i think that you miss alot of colors because the tanks seem darker.also i will probably run them a year before replacement.i think the growth i have had with the t5s is amazing and the colors are great i would recomend them to anyone.i am in no way saying there better then halides just that they work great for me. heres some pics i just took recently most just now.hope you enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mrgreenthumb]

ALRIGHT!! nice looking corals coralreefaquarist!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!! Your tank looks great! I bet it was a challange to aquascape with it being viewed from three sides like that!! How many gallons?? 40 breeder? what are you using for filtration? how many gph are you running total? how do you dose calcium? how often do you do water changes? what kind of salt? Just trying to figure out how you acclompished the results you did so other people reading can be informed!! Lighting is a huge factor, but so is everything else!!

 

 

I wish I could get my macro shots to trun out that good!!! amazing!!

[coralreefaquarist]

aquascaping was actually pretty easy that was the first and last take and took about 30 mins.it is a 40 breeder as far as filtration i have some cheap petco canister filter with some carbon and cermic rings and a no name cheapo protien skimmer which i moded the pump on and made it so i can hang it on the tank no sump. so 40 gallons and the canister and skimmer mabey 41 gallons total.i use kalkwrasser when i remember to. when i top off my water at night i mix l ike 1/4 teaspoon it in cold water and pour almost all in but the bottom of the jug.i use instant ocean salt and i only water change ever month to a month and a few weeks. when i do change its about 5 gallons.canon powershot a470 its 120 at walmart and the best macros for the price range real nice camera.

 

thanks

 

for the comments

[coralreefaquarist]

oh and i dose vitamin c 1 1000 milligram tablet dissolved in saltwater and duped into my powerhead once in morning and once at night. and phyto everynight

[mrgreenthumb]

cool i'm always amazed how howm many different routes you can take to reach the same end result of a happy healthy tank!

[undrtkr_00]

Thanks for sharing. Those are some great shots. Also, it's good to hear about a (relatively) low tech reef that looks so good. How long have you had the tank?

[stylaster]

ok here is a tank that was lighted with power compacts

 

and the same tank with 150 w 20k halide

 

IMO i think the halide looks a lot better

 

Roy

[coralreefaquarist]

my tank is not quite 1year the lack of coraline is because i just put in like 10 pieces of dead rock and i had a longspine eating all the coraline till a month ago.looks good i agree the halides are so much nicer looking than the pc lights. i had pc before my t5s heres pics of some of the ame corals like 5-6months ago look at the color and growth differances its like night and day i hve had a zoo frag go from 5 polyps to 30 plus in like 3-4 months under the t5's. i love em

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mrgreenthumb]

Yea i'm definitely not a fan of power compacts, they just make everything look so drab and yellow. Major improvement from them to the mh and t5's. Its crazy how much better they make your eye precieve it, because its not like the corals changed colors overnight.

[SamatSLS]

C'mon lets see those pictures!!! where's all the t5 only tanks?? Do they even exist . I'd really like to see some pics of sam of sunlight supply's tank' date=' with the zeo vit and all. Still yet to see a local zeo tank....espically one lit by only t5's. Lets see those tanks, don't be scared the waters warm :p[/quote']

 

 

I do not own a good camera nor do I have skills in that area. You should just come by and see it if you want to.... It's not RC tank of the month material, but I think you'd approve.

 

 

BTW, I'm not running full zeovit anymore. It is so [language filter] complicated, I gave up on it. I'm not cut out for it at the moment. I got to a point where I either needed to spend 500 bucks to automate the system or just ditch it. It's hard to dose twice daily with my work schedule.. I dose some zeo stuff still, but I'm not full on like I was. The tank is still doing well though.

 

I'm still curious to see a nice LED tank. If anyone has seen one of those, let me know, lol. (I'm convinced they don't exist)

 

Sam

[andy]

I haven't seen any serious SPS tanks lit by LED yet either. I'd love to see an example, maybe Bigfoot has one.

[spectra]

Ok here are a few of mine from a few months ago and will take a few of it tonight for growth comparison. The first one is from July and the second is from March. There are a few corals for comparison and others that have died or disapeared to other tanks. Also lost about 6 montis to them nudis that no one likes(flame)