Growth t5 vs MH

I have had my system back up for over a year. While I feel like some things are growing, and others havent at all. I am running 6 t5 bulbs and have them on a replacement schedule so the oldest bulbs are replaced at around nine months. I.E. 2 bulbs get replaced every 3 months once they area about 9 months old.

I feel like I put alot of money into this setup thinking it would be great, but I feel like I may have made a poor choice.

Can you really get similar growth with t5 when comparing to MH.

 

I believe you can but you need a good reflector.

What corals are you trying to grow? And at what level of the tank are they placed.

Size of tank and brand of bulbs?

 

Sure, even better growth. But you have to compare directly to see, using a PAR meter on the same system with the two sets of lights.

Jeff

 

IME in this hobby, t5s just dont do it for me.. halides to me just straight up grow corals faster.. even when i had my 40 breeder and had a 1000$ ati powermodule 6 bulb fixture over it, i still didnt see as much growth as i am in my 150 and the 150 has only been set back up for 6 weeks..zoas are already multiplying by the day, and my hammers have 4 new baby heads popping out..

 

well, if you really wanna see what t5 can do, look at some TOTM winners. here is my all time fav, using T5.

Reefkeeping Magazine - Tank of the Month

 

Enough said IMO. That's why I love t5. That's for sharing the link.

 

I was getting good growth with my corals but the growth accelerated after I moved my bulbs up to 11" above the water line from 7". My corals colors have improved also. You have to be careful with T5HO or you will inhibit the growth of corals and bleach them out with too much light.

Also lighting may not be your issue. Are your params steady are they in the recommended ranges for our tanks?

Please list nitrate, phosphate, Ca, Mg and alk levels of your tank. Also list your tamp and SG.

 

I've used both numerous times, on a number of tanks. Some tanks, I've switched back and forth and really don't see much if any difference. Maybe some corals respond better to one or the other, but a lot of that is probably also due to slight differences in spectrum, intensity and such. There are a lot of factors for coral growth. Lighting is very important, but light is one out of many factors. Honestly, I think there are a lot of factors, such as flow, nutrients, food, etc... that are just as important as light. If all things are equal, there isn't a huge difference.

 

Another thing is bulb selection. More towards 20K will give you awsome color and slower growth. More towards the 10K will increase growth with less or average color.

 

BTW, John's tank is about as diverse as they get. If you want an add for T-5s, sometimes pictures speak louder than words

http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-of...-reef-updated-6-18-11-page-73-a-81680-73.html