lighting comparisons for sps

bamachamp92 · Aug 9, 2008

I know a few of you guys with the really nice tanks are using single end bulbs with radiums, right now im using de and t5, I have an 8 foot tank with 4 250 hqi 14k pheonix bulbs, was thinking of going to moguls i would like to hear some comparisons from people who know. also suggestions on ballasts and reflectors
Thanks in advance, hoping for some good info

bamachamp92 · Aug 9, 2008

bump .

FateX8 · Aug 9, 2008

icecap ballasts and lumenarc reflectors

revhtree · Aug 9, 2008

Man I ran HQI over a small cube so I really don't have anything to compare to. I will say that I will never go HQI. I love mogul for many reasons and I see great growth and color. Right now I am running ARO 250w electronic ballast firing a Radium 250w.

dan10342 · Aug 10, 2008

my biggest mistake was going HQI.

i should have went SE. IMO they have better coloration etc etc etc. also no need for a special reflector with that UV glass.

bamachamp92 · Aug 10, 2008

Thanks guys, I was told to use hqi balasts with the se radiums do you know anything about that

dan10342 · Aug 10, 2008

i recomend ARO with SE. idk y... just seems like a lot of people use them.

also PFO has pretty decent stuff

bamachamp92 · Aug 10, 2008

thanks for the input, i have used hqi w/t5 supplement and straight t5s, right now i have hqi with t5 on one side of my tank and straight t5s on the other, now that i have gone to mostly sps i am just looking for a little more pop in color. i have seen an increase in color since putting the t5 8 bulb fixture on one side of my tank, but imo not up to the potential i think it could have.

bamachamp92 · Aug 10, 2008

i took a lot of pics under hqi/t5 combo before i switched to only t5, it has been about a month and a half so i will try to get some pics now and post the comparison shots.

dan10342 · Aug 10, 2008

IMO t5s are all based on what bulbs you get. what bulbs are you using?

revhtree · Aug 10, 2008

The ballast I use are HQI as well....

They are basically Icecap without the pretty box.

surfn · Aug 10, 2008

the best tank i have ever seen was a 120g, with 2 DE phoenix 14k bulbs over it run on HQI, along with 2 geisman blue T5's and 2 geisman purple T5's. it was all run in geisman fixture that was hung over the tank (open top).

colors of the corals were absolutely STUNNING!

in fact......come to think of it.....the top 3 tanks i have EVER seen all run DE phoenix 14k bulbs in combination with some T5 bulbs. one of those tanks was even an RC tank of the month.

thats not to say i haven't seen some great tanks run with radiums, i also run a 250w radium on HQI ballast (SE). but those tanks that ran the DE bulbs had some explosive growth and coloration that was out of this world!

bamachamp92 · Aug 10, 2008

jjjo10342 said:
IMO t5s are all based on what bulbs you get. what bulbs are you using?

Right now i have
3 10k current (only cause it came with them)
1 aqua blue plus giesman 15k i think
3 geissman blue actinic
1 uv super actinic

this combo has colored up my limeade that had no color at all under hqi

bamachamp92 · Aug 10, 2008

I have already spent so much money on lights changing around, if i change to se radium i want to be sure i am going to stick with it. Also does depth effect se bulbs much i forgot to add the dimensions of my tank it is 96x24x30 deep. i appreciate you guys helping me.

ofblong · Aug 10, 2008

I will say that RIGHT NOW I had someone give me 4 SPS corals as their tank crashed and all these SPS have browned out. Some of you know my tank is only like 2 weeks old but I already have 1 rock thats 1/4ish or more corraline covered and the rest are getting spots. I also wanted to try and at least help him out until he can get his tank fixed. I mean my tank is better than his right now lol. Anywho the brown is starting to turn BACK to the origional colors. I am running 2 t5 pro blues and 1 250w HQI over my 29g. I have all 4 corals at the bottom (take that back 3 at the bottom the orange monti is 1/4 way up). The superman has already grown some (these SPS have only been in the tank 24hours) the rainbow monti the polyps are coming out (no color change) and the acropora has turned from brown to a bluish green tint. The monti is well still orange lol. either way I am using the 14000k Phoenix bulb for the HQI. Oh and an ice cap ballast.

I can only hope that with regular water changes the superman will continue to grow and turn color. in his tank the superman polyps wouldnt come out so I thought it was dead. But when I got it in my tank the orange polyps came out.

bamachamp92 · Aug 10, 2008

your doing something right then because ive never been able to see noticable growth on sps in 24 hours.

dan10342 · Aug 10, 2008

my tyree ponape birdsnest shows growth every day

bamachamp92 · Aug 10, 2008

wow, thats pretty good. i didnt make myself totally clear i was talking about within 24 hours of putting it into my tank. usually mine take a week or so to settle in, maybe because i dip pretty hard.