What corals will live under T5-HO bulbs?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
It's hard to tell but if each lamp has individual reflectors, then it is a great fixture. You might want to go to Reef Central though--see if you have a local reef club & see if anyone has a used one FS.
 
Pufferpunk;2466554; said:
It's hard to tell but if each lamp has individual reflectors, then it is a great fixture. You might want to go to Reef Central though--see if you have a local reef club & see if anyone has a used one FS.
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i could try but this area isnt big on fish.
 
i wouldnt go any other way then T5s I have 8 on my 120 now with 2 more to be added shortly. I keep softies, leathers, lps, sps and clams, 0 issues. T5s IMO are the best bang for the buck, you dont need to replace the bulbs as often, they cost less, use less electricity, emit more lumens then PCs will, have less heat transfer to the water, and with the use of individual reflectors you have 360 degrees of light being put into the tank, per bulb, and with a total of 10 bulbs ran on 2 IC660 and 1 IC430 ballast, or similar product you will be able to grow a palm tree.
 
Nic;2465577; said:
next time im at my friends house ill snag some pix of his 75 with 2 bulbs and a sick amount of nice corals.... fixture is nova and geisman(sp?) bulbs
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nova is either a 4 or 8 bulb system. you can upgrade it with individual reflectors easily too. I just don't like t5. I run t5 with individual reflectors and don't like it. I am upgrading to a metal halide. I am gonna run a 250watt metal halide hanging 12 inches over a 29 gallon reef. I know it's overkill, but I want my sps to look good.
 
sweeTang21;2477738; said:
i wouldnt go any other way then T5s I have 8 on my 120 now with 2 more to be added shortly. I keep softies, leathers, lps, sps and clams, 0 issues. T5s IMO are the best bang for the buck, you dont need to replace the bulbs as often, they cost less, use less electricity, emit more lumens then PCs will, have less heat transfer to the water, and with the use of individual reflectors you have 360 degrees of light being put into the tank, per bulb, and with a total of 10 bulbs ran on 2 IC660 and 1 IC430 ballast, or similar product you will be able to grow a palm tree.
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I have 6 t5's over my 29 and I just don't like it. it's opinion when you are comparing t5 to metal halide though I guess. i just don't like my t5's they just don't look as good as the metal halide that would cost the same amount. check out hellolights.com. they have some killer prices on retrofits and such.
 
ive never had a t5 but im getting a nova extreme 8 bulb fixture and i might put individual reflectors in it if i can find a retrofit.
 
You MUST use individual reflectors for T5s or you are waising your $$$ on them.
 
puffcrusader696;2478363; said:
ive never had a t5 but im getting a nova extreme 8 bulb fixture and i might put individual reflectors in it if i can find a retrofit.
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if you buy the reflectors for doing retrofit setups you can make them work with a little bit of ingenuity. I don't know if that fixture has them when you get it though. it might. it is the fixture that most people point to when you talk t5.

as a side not. you can't light a 34 inch deep aquarium to where you can keep sps on the bottom of the tank with 250 watts of t5 no matter what you do. it just doesn't get the same penetration. a local reefer has 4 250 watt metal halides on his 320 (8x2x3tall) and he keeps sps throughout and clams on the bottom. it is a mixed reef, but it only cost 260 per fixture to get that power on his tank. he just used luminark reflectors with 20k radium bulbs on icecap ballasts and can keep anything he wants wherever he wants. you just can't do that with t5
 
There are plenty of cool corals to keep towards the bottom. Mt SPS are from the middle on up.
 
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