Lighting a nuvo 25 lagoon t5 vs led zoanthinds

Juka087 · Jul 30, 2020

so i am doing a nuvo 25 build with the intent of growing only zoanthids. If i go t5 i plan to do 2 ati blue plus, and 2 ati true actinic. I will be using a 24" 4 bulb fixture. Now in terms of led. I have no ides what to use or get. The t5 setup would cost 180$. Any led option i look at aside from a noopsyche seems to be insanely expensive. I really do not know that it would be worth it. The only reason i hesitate is that to truly enjoy zoanthids atleast in my experience you need leds. However if you buy the t5 at 180$ and add in 2 reef brites thats a good 480$. You at that point couldve just bought a radion g5 defeating the entire purpose of saving money. So the question is what would you do to light a 24x24x10 zoanthid frag tank? If t5 what bulb combo? If led why? Is doing led+t5 really worth the money in such a small space. I kinda doubt it. Its a hard choice to make, and so i am asking the communities opinion.

Thank you

Chibils · Jul 30, 2020

Juka087 said:
The only reason i hesitate is that to truly enjoy zoanthids atleast in my experience you need leds.

What makes you say that? I think your answer to that question is at the crux of your post above.

Juka087 · Jul 30, 2020

Chibils said:
What makes you say that? I think your answer to that question may answer your question above.

They do not fluoresce as heavily under t5s or that i have seen. However I have not seen the pop from ati true actinic bulbs yet. I doubt it would match leds though.

Juka087 · Jul 30, 2020

Tuffyyyyy · Jul 30, 2020

I'd say single AI Prime and then add a second one down the road if you feel like you need it. I think T5 doesn't bring out the colors as well for zoanthids. It may be just me but every time I've had a T5-LED hybrid setup it seemed like the T5 setup made the colors dull even during the LED portion of the day.