Since my Red Sea Reefer Nano has been up and running I have been using a Kessil A360WE. I have excellent color and decent growth in areas the corals have light, but none in the areas in the shade. This was only causing concern in the Acro’s I have, all other corals are doing excellent with zero issues( monti, chalice, gonipora, torch, acans, leptos). So I added the Aquatic Life T 5 fixture paired with 4 ATI blue plus. The T5’s originally were on for 2 hours and I’m up to three hours, increasing every week by an hour with a target of 6 hours total T5. Here is the issue... the day I added the T5’s I was surprised to see the acros shaded areas under the Kessil are completely white under the T5’s but you can’t see it under the Kessil. Will these areas color up eventually? These areas get no light under the kessils but now get light under the T5’s. The acros look amazing under the Kessil but pure crap under the T5’s which bothers me. The areas that have light under both lights look picture perfect. The acros are growing and have good polyp extension just curious if they will color up in those areas over time.
Sps under T5 hybrid
- Thread starter grove2nmb
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Bpb
2500 Club Member
Yes the white areas will color up and the corals will eventually be far more vibrant than they currently are. 4 blue+ bulbs is fantastic for growth but not very flattering visually.
Putting in 2 coral+ bulbs would do wonders for color development
Putting in a purple+ and an actinic will do wonders for displaying colors.
Whichever way you decide to go, realize it will take some months before you corals, and your eyes adjust to the look of t5ho bulbs. They’re not the type thing you put in and suddenly are dazzled. They’ll need some tome to do their work. There’s a reason Jason fox relies so heavily on them. He has some of the most vibrantly colored corals available and his lighting choice is part of the puzzle. Yes most his pictures are taken under pure LEDs though.
Putting in 2 coral+ bulbs would do wonders for color development
Putting in a purple+ and an actinic will do wonders for displaying colors.
Whichever way you decide to go, realize it will take some months before you corals, and your eyes adjust to the look of t5ho bulbs. They’re not the type thing you put in and suddenly are dazzled. They’ll need some tome to do their work. There’s a reason Jason fox relies so heavily on them. He has some of the most vibrantly colored corals available and his lighting choice is part of the puzzle. Yes most his pictures are taken under pure LEDs though.
Thank you for the help! I just get frustrated, I gave LED another go of it on this tank and it has been nothing but tweaking, my other tank has halides with Phoenix bulbs and 2 Reefbrite actinic strips and it’s perfect, I can throw anything at it and it just works without a hiccup.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
Yeah that’s a high bar you set previously. I think you can get close with your setup but as you’re seeing it’s just not as easygoing as halides are. I think that fact is lost on a lot of new hobbyists who never used MH
100% agree, my best tank I ever had used halides (sold it due to a move) and I just can’t explain it but it just worked... don’t get me wrong I love leds and I think they have their place but for me halide has always worked and never let me down.
adtravels
Active Member
I have an ATI PM hybrid 4x39watt T5 and 2x75watt led clusters on my 36x24x24 90 gallon reef.It really has been a great set and forget option once I set it up correctly and updated the firmware, 12 months down the line I have zero shadowing and fantastic color and growth. I have sps on the bottom of the tank growing well.
