T5 advice required

[Wee Mad Arthur]

I’m thinking about changing to T5 lighting to get better spread over my tank as I have corals end to end and I’m just not happy with my current led light spread and don’t want to spend loads more on a 2nd unit when moving to T5 would cost a fraction of the price. I’m also sick of the fan noise.

My main query is do I go with a 2 bulb fixture or a 4? (2ft fixture)
My tank is 60cm long x 40cm x 40cm and I only keep leathers, zoas and palys at various heights.

My second query would be what color bulbs to go with?

Plugging it in and just turning it on really appeals to me. I’ve spent a great deal of time fiddling with sliders on my led unit. On my very first reef tank many years ago I had metal halide and I miss the simplicity of either on or off. Everything loved the light, no fiddling required. Metal halide units don’t seem to exist in the U.K. anymore but T5 ones still do.

 

[Pisanoal]

I don't think people regret going with more light very often. Id say go with 4. If its your only light source, definitely 4.

Color is very much a personal preference. Some combination of blue +, coral +, actinic and purple +. Id say 1 b+, 2 c+, 1actinic or p+. If you like it more blue, switch out a c+ for a b+.

What is your current LED? You will likely want more actinic supplementation regardless of bulb combo.

 

[A. grandis]

I’m thinking about changing to T5 lighting to get better spread over my tank as I have corals end to end and I’m just not happy with my current led light spread and don’t want to spend loads more on a 2nd unit when moving to T5 would cost a fraction of the price. I’m also sick of the fan noise.

My main query is do I go with a 2 bulb fixture or a 4? (2ft fixture)
My tank is 60cm long x 40cm x 40cm and I only keep leathers, zoas and palys at various heights.

My second query would be what color bulbs to go with?

Plugging it in and just turning it on really appeals to me. I’ve spent a great deal of time fiddling with sliders on my led unit. On my very first reef tank many years ago I had metal halide and I miss the simplicity of either on or off. Everything loved the light, no fiddling required. Metal halide units don’t seem to exist in the U.K. anymore but T5 ones still do.

If you want to go with a T5 only fixture get the ATI 6 bulb non-dimmable Sunpower.
You will need to search for the bulbs you want. It's all personal.
I bet if you look for metal halide in UK you will find online. You need to decide if you want T5s and/or halides. The combination of both is the very best one can offer to any reef tank!
A T5 only system will also offer a strong quality uniform light to a 40cm high tank too.

 

[Big E]

4 bulbs is what I would go with.

 

[Wee Mad Arthur]

Thanks for the advice so far. I‘m going to think about it for a few weeks to see if the changes I’ve made to my current light work as it seems my light was too high and there was a better choice for settings. Additionally I’ve drastically reduced the fan noise.

 

[dwest]

Have you considered a T5 led hybrid? My aquatic life hybrid uses 4 T5’s. I use 2 blue plus and 2 coral plus to compliment my LED’s.

 

[Scoob]

I run a Hamilton 6 bulb t-5, It's nice to get the bulbs included. Nothing against ATI, they're great. This just worked out for me and I really like it