Cyclist
Active Member
I think we need manufactures to start taking out the equation
Leds or T5's?
- Thread starter mwilk19
- Start date
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mwilk19
Well-Known Member
There's a thread in the 180 gallon tank build forum started by Terrence from Neptune Systems. At one point the Hydra 52's are mentioned and he and another poster agreed that the Hydra's give you so many options that it becomes overwhelming to try to find the right combination of spectrum.
BryanS4
Well-Known Member
I think you will be good with either. I personally have 6 bulb fixtures over sps heavy sps and they grow the corals great.
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mwilk19
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the response. What spectrum bulbs do you use?
BryanS4
Well-Known Member
Front to back on display. On frag tank I have one less blue plus and an extra coral plus.
C plus
Act
B p
P p
B p
B p
luke33
2500 Club Member
I think all of the above will work for your tank but it just depends on what your looking to do. I have ran MH's for 2.5yrs, LED only for 5.5yrs and T5's for 6yrs. I have been able to grow sps just fine under all three but when i noticed issue's with led it was always from only having fixture's with blue and white or using fixtures that ramped up and down. So now i run an 8x80w ati fixture over my 180g and i'm using two blue pop e5 led's in the fixture so i still get the dusk/dawn led look that you just can't replace. All my corals are happy currently : ) I think t5 and mh are the easiest lights to use for sps but led's make your corals look great so tough not to use them these days.
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mwilk19
Well-Known Member
Luke,
I'm currently ramping up my four LED fixtures to 100%. This is where they'll have to be to provide sufficient PAR for SPS. At 100% they're just barely powerful enough. I want to be able to grow SPS. My LPS and Zoa's do well as it is right now. I'll give it some time and then decide if I want to go with more powerful LED's or move to the 8 bulb ATI fixture.
I'm currently ramping up my four LED fixtures to 100%. This is where they'll have to be to provide sufficient PAR for SPS. At 100% they're just barely powerful enough. I want to be able to grow SPS. My LPS and Zoa's do well as it is right now. I'll give it some time and then decide if I want to go with more powerful LED's or move to the 8 bulb ATI fixture.
luke33
2500 Club Member
Sounds like a plan. Generally I like to keep milli's in the 150-300 par range, depending on what pulls multiple colors, acro's in the 300-600 range, digi's in the 150-250 range and monti's anywhere from 150-1000 par range. LPS 100-200 and most softies in the 50-300 range. A few exceptions would be plate's and acans as I could never get acans to grow well under LED as they really had a hard time adjusting, same with plates, i'd keep them low if you have any. And this is all imo : ) as many probably get different results, that is between 7-8.5 alk
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mwilk19
Well-Known Member
I just rented a par meter and my lights on 100% just reach 300 at the top level of my rock. I'm at about 130-150 on the bottom. I have acans that are doing well but are kind of a bland red in color. My wife just bought me a plate for our anniversary and as of right now it is doing well.
luke33
2500 Club Member
If this is a standard 48x24x24 tank can you fit in some 48" t5's, say two 48" retro's for 4 bulb's?
Something like this
http://hamiltontechnology.com/item/Aruba-Sun-High-Output-T5-Retrofit-Kits---V-SERIES-2036
Something like this
http://hamiltontechnology.com/item/Aruba-Sun-High-Output-T5-Retrofit-Kits---V-SERIES-2036
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mwilk19
Well-Known Member
Yes, my tank is a standard 120. I've thought about something like that. I have my LEDs hanging from the ceiling, so I would need a fixture that I could do that with as well. I'd like to get hybrid fixture but those are pretty pricey.
luke33
2500 Club Member
Gotcha, yea, that won't work then. You don't have to have an expensive hybrid fixture. I run led and t5 and just use an ati t5 fixture. I run 6 t5's and two e5's which are blue led. The e5's fit directly into the fixture just like a t5 bulb, so i get the blue led along with the spectrum and par from the t5's. I use to run led bar's on the outside of the fixture but after using the e5's i'm sold. Although i have heard they do not do well in the dimmable fixture. hth
luke33
2500 Club Member
Yep, was talking about a t5 fixture. If you go with ati it has active cooling. The Giessmann t5 fixture's are pretty cool too, may want to compare them before you make your decision.
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mwilk19
Well-Known Member
Ok, I pulled the trigger on the ATI dimmable 6 bulb fixture. I'm going to run my BML actinic along with it. I understand that the t5's have to be run at 100% for 55 hours for a break in period? Am I going to have an issue with corals being burned? What's he best way to deal with this?
