Upgraded!

whyzee429 · Feb 17, 2011

Nothing crazy, but I finally upgraded to a 4 bulb t5 from a twin bulb unit. What can I expect?

MimicOcto8 · Feb 17, 2011

what kind of T5s did you get? how many watts and what are the bulbs you are running, whats the depth of the tank and what corals?

dougers31 · Feb 17, 2011

Be very careful to slowly acclimate your corals to the extra par. I had a friend who went from pc to t5 and lost a lot of livestock.

Alattner · Feb 17, 2011

good for you hopefully i would be upgrading my lighting to a mh unit from t5 within a couple weeks

MimicOcto8 · Feb 17, 2011

+1 with dougers.

alatter-i'm not quite sure you'd be upgrading...I had MH and went to ATI T5 and it was a HUGE upgrade. tremendous color increase and growth out of my corals.

Alattner · Feb 17, 2011

really how many bulbs are you running in your t5 set up. right now im only running to cuz one of my fixtures broke so really anything would be a upgrade for me at the moment haha. MimicOcto8 what about a mh/t5 fixture?

MimicOcto8 · Feb 17, 2011

I had MH with two T5 bulbs...it was cool until I upgraded to the ATI 6bulb sunpower fixture. HUGE difference

Alattner · Feb 17, 2011

mmmm have any pictures of the differnce between the two setups? i would love to see the color difference. how is your growth with the t5 fixture?

MimicOcto8 · Feb 17, 2011

sure I'll post a new thread right now titles. Upgraded to T5's...give me about 10mins or less

Alattner · Feb 17, 2011

what kinda of fixture do you have? and how big is your tank? can you moderate when each light comes on?

Alattner · Feb 18, 2011

thanks MimicOcto8 that would be awesome. i have no problem with going to t5 i just always thought that mh were better

whyzee429 · Feb 18, 2011

I got the fixture a my lfs. It's called an Omni t5 made, in part, by the owner. I'll have to take pics. Front to back, I have:
ATI BLUE+
(no name) 10k
(no name) actinic 03
ATI BLUE+
216 watts total. I know that's not a lot, but don't rain on my parade guys! Haha

My previous setup was the two ATIs that I purchased a month ago. Right now, 1 blue+ and the 03 come on a half hour before the other blue+ and 10k. It's in a standard 75 with nothing special except some zoas, mushrooms, and a montipora cap frag that has been SLOWLY GROWING.