Not happy with my switch to T5

[Fred Phipps]

i switched to A 4 x 24watt ATI sunpower fixture a little over a month ago when I set my new tank up. I had a kessil A360we over my last tank but wanted better growth and color in my new tank. Plus my kessil wouldn't cover the spread in my new tank.

Since I made the switch, I haven't quite been happy with the colors of my coral. Some have browned out and they just don't "pop" like they did with LED. I just spent a lot of money on this light and I'd like to stick it out and see if it improves.

I read a lot about how T5 gives better color and growth. I can see the growth but the color is just not there. I'm running from front to back: blue plus, purple plus, coral plus, blue plus. Light is 8" above the water and my tank is mostly leathers. My toadstool is not happy and only opens for a day or two at a time. My nuclear green palys are brown and the only two acros I have (which I've been trying to sell locally) are brown and used to be red and blue.

I had my light 12" above to acclimate but have lowered it because someone suggested that it could be too high and causing the coral to brown out due to lack of light. I bought polyplabs reefroids and started feeding that this week to see if it improves.

All parameters are in check and I'm at a loss. Any suggestions? Could I just be so used to the clean look of the Leds? I have done this switch over before on my 125 from a DIY rapid Led to an ATI sunpower 6 bulb and was happy. Not sure what's different about this one other than the 4 bulb vs 6 bulb.

Do you think this

 

[CMD2213]

Best to use t5 with led mix.
Also did you acclimate your corals to the new lighting?

 

[DSC reef]

Maybe getting rid of the purple plus for an actinic will add more pop to the mix. It will take more than a month for the corals to acclimate and color up from the switch.

 

[GoVols]

It will take more than a month for the corals to acclimate and color up from the switch.

+1

 

[Fred Phipps]

Maybe getting rid of the purple plus for an actinic will add more pop to the mix. It will take more than a month for the corals to acclimate and color up from the switch.

I'll keep waiting then! I'll try swapping it out for an actinic but I also don't like the really blue look. I have an actinic sitting around so I'll try it out and see.

The way I acclimated was by shortening my photo period and gradually increasing every week. I also had the light up around 12 inches for a few weeks and just recently moved it down as per the recommendation I was given.

Thanks for the feedback

 

[DSC reef]

The actinic will be different than straight blue. Give it time to heat up as well, my actinic take a few to light up fully. Let us know how you like it.

 

[Fred Phipps]

The actinic will be different than straight blue. Give it time to heat up as well, my actinic take a few to light up fully. Let us know how you like it.

It gets me the pop but as I said, it's a lot more blue. I guess I can't be too picky.

Should have bought a 6 bulb ;Shifty

 

[BoomCorals]

T5 won't give better color and growth. It'll be the same as LED, unless you didn't have enough LED or you didn't have them running at high enough intensity. And yea T5 will make the tank look flat rather than the pop you are used to. But LED and T5 will color and grow coral the same, assuming you are using the right setup for either.

 

[DSC reef]

It gets me the pop but as I said, it's a lot more blue. I guess I can't be too picky.

Should have bought a 6 bulb ;Shifty

If you still have the kessil you can add that to the T5 fixture or just give it a little more time.