Lighting setup advice

Tab28 · Nov 16, 2013

Diazreeflife said:
So I could get away with going with non HO T5's? Since it's just for supplemental lighting

Yes you are not running t5 as your main light source. Actually many running mh do not have any supplemental light source. Your corals will not suffer if you have no supplemental lighting it is only for viewing. A 20k bulb for many, needs no additional enchantment. All personal preference .

Diazreeflife · Nov 18, 2013

Tab28 said:
Yes you are not running t5 as your main light source. Actually many running mh do not have any supplemental light source. Your corals will not suffer if you have no supplemental lighting it is only for viewing. A 20k bulb for many, needs no additional enchantment. All personal preference .

So in all actuality I don't need T5's at all for any coral crow the it's just "lighting affect" so I can us the MH and but to descend Led strips to do what the T5s would do but the led will probably be better at it since there is so baby options?

Tab28 · Nov 18, 2013

Yes the mh is all you will need. T5 and led for personal effect on the look of tank. As long as you leave them on for enough hours a day. Do not forget 250 mh will be too much for most lps. You will need to create less light areas if you want them like scoly, chalices, and trachy. Even at a depth of around 30 (top of sandbed to bottom on 250 mh can keep a clam alive. That is still high par. But not enough for most sps corals like acro. They like higher par upper 1/2 of the tank.

Diazreeflife · Nov 18, 2013

Tab28 said:
Yes the mh is all you will need. T5 and led for personal effect on the look of tank. As long as you leave them on for enough hours a day. Do not forget 250 mh will be too much for most lps. You will need to create less light areas if you want them like scoly, chalices, and trachy. Even at a depth of around 30 (top of sandbed to bottom on 250 mh can keep a clam alive. That is still high par. But not enough for most sps corals like acro. They like higher par upper 1/2 of the tank.

There is no way around that correct other then creating a shadow area or placing those low par lps at the lower part of the tank? What do u personally do to fix this problem? Would u recommend to so LED with the MH or all three?