T5 vs cfl

[Davesgt]

I have a 10G nano that has a 72w compact light setup on it as of now and has been great for the 3 years that its been setup. I have a small ultra red brain, toxic green plate, RR torch coral, and a few other lps and some monti caps along with zoas that thrive excellent under this light and have great color. The only thing is i see t5 lights that give that nice blue color and some better coloration to lps and i want that. my compacts are nice but color choice with them are limited in the size, so i purchased a 72w t5 fixture on impulse lol. My question is i know they are both 72w fixtures and im sure the t5's are going to give me my color i want but will my coral thrive as well under t5's of the same wattage as my CFL? i guess im just worried of losing my amazing growth and happiness in my tank.

 

[-Logzor]

I would just be careful to acclimate the corals, the T5's will pack a larger punch with the same wattage. You don't want to shock your corals or bleach them out with too much light.

 

[Davesgt]

the setup i bought is going to be hung from the ceiling so ill probably mount them a little higher to gradually adjust them

 

[Davesgt]

any thought on bulb combos for this lighting

 

[JSB]

any thought on bulb combos for this lighting

I recommend a combination of ATI Coral+ and ATI Blue+ bulbs. On my office tank, I originally had tried a 420nm and 12KK bulb combo to find my corals washed out. I replaced it with the above combo and am very happy. Here is the before and after:

 

[Davesgt]

trust me i would love to use ati bulbs but they dont make 18w t5s or at least i cant find them

 

[JSB]

Yeah, a quick look tells me you are correct. Did not think about that. Good luck. Sorry I could not help.

 

[Davesgt]

yea seem to be a problem of finding cool stuff for such a little tank

 

[JSB]

I was recently going to set up a ten for my office, but could not find the light fixture I wanted, so I upgraded to the 20g. Had forgotten about the difficulty in doing so, and had never go around to looking for bulbs.

 

[Davesgt]

there has been alot of stuff that ive had to modify or just simply make to make my nano run like a larger setup. Its a pain in the butt, but it is my baby, i baby it more than all my tanks besides my aro tank