T5 supplement for LED question

[Mshort03]

I've been running ocean revives for almost 2 years (love them) and I just added a t5 retrofit kit (Miro 54wx2) one coral plus bulb in front one blue plus in back. Already I LOVE how it fills out the tank.. I see things I never saw before due to shadowing... Now I'm starting with two hours and will slowly work up to 4 or so supplementing my led.. My question is, what is your opinion on when I should have the t5 on? During full spectrum time for like a "peak daytime" like scenario, or should I have them on from 8pm-10pm so they have one hour full spectrum/t5 and one hour blue/t5. I do like how tank looks both ways but don't want to have t5 on during blue only period if its only for my visual liking. I'd like to get most benefit from this addition.

View attachment 20181026_233655.jpg

 

[Crabs McJones]

If you have your leds ramp up and ramp down in the morning and evening, i'd run the t5's inbetween that ramping. For example if your lights come on at 11am and ramp up until noon, id have the t5's kick on at noon, and if they start ramping down at 8pm i'd have them turn off as soon as the leds start ramping down

 

[Mshort03]

If you have your leds ramp up and ramp down in the morning and evening, i'd run the t5's inbetween that ramping. For example if your lights come on at 11am and ramp up until noon, id have the t5's kick on at noon, and if they start ramping down at 8pm i'd have them turn off as soon as the leds start ramping down

My led doesn't ramp. Blues come on at 12 off and 12 whites on 3-9. I was gonna start slow with t5 and slowly increase duration because I don't want to shock anything.

 

[Crabs McJones]

My led doesn't ramp. Blues come on at 12 off and 12 whites on 3-9. I was gonna start slow with t5 and slowly increase duration because I don't want to shock anything.

Very good plan with any lighting change it should be done slowly. I don't see any reason you can't run the T5's with the LEDS for the full photoperiod

 

[Daniel Waters]

I've been running ocean revives for almost 2 years (love them) and I just added a t5 retrofit kit (Miro 54wx2) one coral plus bulb in front one blue plus in back. Already I LOVE how it fills out the tank.. I see things I never saw before due to shadowing... Now I'm starting with two hours and will slowly work up to 4 or so supplementing my led.. My question is, what is your opinion on when I should have the t5 on? During full spectrum time for like a "peak daytime" like scenario, or should I have them on from 8pm-10pm so they have one hour full spectrum/t5 and one hour blue/t5. I do like how tank looks both ways but don't want to have t5 on during blue only period if its only for my visual liking. I'd like to get most benefit from this addition.

View attachment 20181026_233655.jpg

In general, I'd run them however you like. I doubt your going to shock your corals from the addition of just two T5 bulbs. Corals are pretty adaptive anyway, but I've always found my corals can tolerate T5 lighting changes much easier than increased LED intensities. Starting with a 2 hour photo period and adding an hour a week is a prudent plan. I would just start them in the middle of your photo period and add time to each side of that each week as you see fit. The only reason I would not do that is if you are ramping your LEDs in such a way where you are already running a super intense period of par in the middle of your your photo period with your LEDs. With any lighting change, just monitor your corals reactions and adjust accordingly.