Streetdoc77
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LED's tend to be very focused especially if you use any type of lenses , the t5s cover all the shaded parts of the tank while bathing the coral in a balanced spectrum. My coral growth took off when I added t5 with the led .
SPS Setup Check/ Advice Please :-)
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jonny19ireland
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Ok cool, thanks for that tip. I'll look into a t5 unit to accompany my LEDs. I picked up some livestock at the weekend from a guy who was running that very setup.... just had the bulbs sitting on top of the tank.... any issues with this other than possible electrocution and death?
Streetdoc77
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Exactly! Possible electrocution and death !!! Best thing to do would be build a canopy or hang the lights from the ceiling or brackets .
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Lighting
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jonny19ireland
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Lighting
Those are your t5s on the tank mounts yeah? They're nice and neat.
Streetdoc77
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Yeah I think these fixtures were like $50 bucks each
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jonny19ireland
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What brand are they? I really like the look of them.
Streetdoc77
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The legs are fully adjustable as you can see .
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jonny19ireland
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Sorry guys, another question (not worthy of a new thread) that you may help me out with. So setting up a DIY HOB Fuge and am wondering about light. Will macro algae grow under blue LEDS? I only ask as I have a fairly decent set lying around spare and thought I could put that to useful appropriate rather than purchasing another unit.
Streetdoc77
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I have always found the best spectrum for macro is 5500k , but I would use what you have and see that macro might grow just fine and won't be a need to buy something else
I know it's been touched on a little bit, but I really want to bring it back into focus, flow, flow, flow and more flow. We give lighting so much attention, but most of the commercial options are just fine for SPS unless it's something silly like a marineland LED strip - but there is plenty of feedback on here about lights. T5, LED halide - it's all just fine. Fuge or not, skimmer or not, plenty of people do either/both neither and have good systems.
But flow really makes or breaks SPS. It's surprisingly over looked, most people will obsess about lighting in great detail, but gloss over what powerheads they have and how they run them. Even with products like vortechs many people run reef crest and as it cycles up and down the overall rate it produces in that mode is quite a bit less (50%?) than the max you have it set at. Yes being variable is good, but it's the inches per second passing the coral that reduce the boundary layer of water.
It's tricky to get the flow right with several powerheads especially if you have sand, but very important to keeping healthy sps and growing them to colonies. I personally shoot for 100x tank turnover for sps - that is not ramping up and down, 100x flow per hour min. Yes you have to still be smart about it and not just get that number (no blowing right on corals and such), but I just want to impress how important it is. I can grow SPS with no skimmer, or no fuge, or with LEDs, MH or T5, but without good flow those frags will become colonies and die off.
But flow really makes or breaks SPS. It's surprisingly over looked, most people will obsess about lighting in great detail, but gloss over what powerheads they have and how they run them. Even with products like vortechs many people run reef crest and as it cycles up and down the overall rate it produces in that mode is quite a bit less (50%?) than the max you have it set at. Yes being variable is good, but it's the inches per second passing the coral that reduce the boundary layer of water.
It's tricky to get the flow right with several powerheads especially if you have sand, but very important to keeping healthy sps and growing them to colonies. I personally shoot for 100x tank turnover for sps - that is not ramping up and down, 100x flow per hour min. Yes you have to still be smart about it and not just get that number (no blowing right on corals and such), but I just want to impress how important it is. I can grow SPS with no skimmer, or no fuge, or with LEDs, MH or T5, but without good flow those frags will become colonies and die off.
