sps lighting
 

Ive spent the last few days finally setting up my 4x2x2 120 gallon and today im filling it up , ive got all my equipment but lights . Ive seen a few 6 bulb ati t5s for sale and I wonder if a 6 bulb fixture is enough for a full blown sps reef or if its just not going to be enough ? So what are folks using on there sps reefs?

I use an 8 light fixture, and not sure I'd try a 6. But I like a lot of light. Probably depends more on the layout and where the corals are located though. I'm sure there are SPS tanks with 6 bulb fixtures.
That being said, I wish these came in 10 bulb :)

I think that if the SPS corals were very high up in the tank, 6 bulbs would be okay. I'd recommend 8 though.

6 bulb with good reflector is perfectly fine to grow anything in an SPS tank. But height and width should be considered. I have acros from middle to top (top being 12"+ distance between the light and the location of the coral) and montis from low to top and things color up and grow just fine. But I believe the water parameter and the aquascaping also plays their fair share of role. Ofcourse in case of T5s, the more the better. But 6 bulb is perfectly fine as long as your width and height is within 20". But since yours is 24", I would say go for 8 bulbs ATI.

Happy with my 8 bulb ATI powermodule.

Or get yourself some leds and save your self the few hundred dollars every 6 months. I had leds before and am currently running T5 now, and man do I miss my leds every day. Not a big fan of the T5. Iv noticed colours don't pop like they used to. If you do go T5 my 6 bulb fixture grows all my sps just fine so you would be fine with 6. Just not as visually appealing. Just my opinion.

With your tank being 2' deep I'd think you'll need an 8 bulb fixture, plus the width of 2' will be hard to cover with a 6 bulb unit
I use an 8 bulb unit on a tank 19 tall and 18 deep

I love my 8 bulb T5 and wouldn't trade it for anything else currently available, unless I were to fall into possesion of some dimmable ballasts

I only change my bulbs every 12 months, not 6, or 9, and I spread out the changes throughout the year to not only offset the costs but to not shock the tank

Well thanks for all the input looks like an 8 bulb fixture is going to be in my future , I really want this to be a tank that thrives and looks good and skimping on the lights isn't going to get me anywhere .So anyone have an extra 8 bulb ati fixture for sale?

Brand new, used price. He might ship

http://www.usedvictoria.com/classifi...-bulb_21555983

Thanks for the link that's perfect.

His name is Joel, guy that used to own Progressive. If he won't ship and you're interested in it, let me know.

T5 FTW! :D I too am a fan of T5. If you're worried about the cost of bulb changing, you're in the wrong hobby. :eek:

Not worried, just a waste of money compared to LED. I think most people that are "for T5" just haven't had a good set of LED lights. Not all, but most.

I like the versatility of leds, get a diy kit and you can customize it anyway or color you want for cheap. Different optics for different depths and takes very little time to do. Also no replacing bulbs maintenance or buying a buying a small fixture and realizing it wasnt enough then having to flip it for a bigger one.

+1

Great fixture , but where do they come up with that price, $1200 new?!?!?

Its $680 + 5% tax brand new shipped from reef supplies.

I'm not saying the price hes selling it for isnt a good deal. It just drives me nuts when people bump the price of retail up so high to make a sale sound like an amazing deal. Typical "jewellery sale" , mark everything up 50% and then throw a 60% off sale lol.

The 1200 was probably "suggested retail" when it was obtained. It was bought new probably 3 years ago. Progressive's prices were always competitive, so not sure how valid that price is/was.

I already have a set of diy led fixtures I made and they are ok but I want something sleek , powerfull and proven . This is going to be my first sps reef and im going to have enough challenges I dont want lighting to be one.

Have you seen Rich or Ryans tank?? Looks like LEDs work great to me. But I understand what your sayin. Each to there own :biggrin:

Rich's tank is the one that inspired me to give up on LED and go T5. His T5 frag tank had better colors than the LED display tank! Same corals, same system, different lights. Nobody says LED don't work, they just don't work as well :razz:

I think thats a matter of opinion. It seems to be almost 50/50 for led and T5. Im just speaking from my personal preference, but compared to my leds Im just not getting the same colour as i had before. I won't deny the growth with T5 is great. I just really don't like the lack of options and control, as well as spectrum. Since swapping to T5 all my zoas that were crazy coloured have faded drastically. My sps seems to love the T5. But with the LED everything seemed brighter and happier as a whole in my tank. Just my personal preference though. Opinions are like a**holes, everybody's got one.:mrgreen:

I guess my opinion and observations are limited strictly to SPS. I've never kept zoas or other colorful LPS. I found growth the same with LED vs T5, but color tones of SPS display better with T5. In Rich's tank, it wasn't a matter of opinion at all, one piece in particular was a solid color under LED, about 5 different tones under the T5. I found, with the same piece, I got the same results when going to T5. Yes, I miss some of the function of LED, although spectrum isn't one of them. Once set, I left it at a color I found pleasing. Dimming would be a nice feature to have back though.
All that being said, if I could, I would go back to MH if I could manage the evaporation :)

Yea I can't argue with that, but it could also be certain corals in particular do better under T5 or LED. It seems every tank I see has varied results. Iv deff seen some impressive tanks on both types of lighting. If the price of the hybrids wasn't so insane that would deff be the route I would go.

If I were to do it all over, I would go that route. Hell, that's what I spent on AI's anyway! If only I could figure out a way to deal with humidity without spending a big bag of money...lol

Yea I guess depending how many ai's you need I guess it almost works out the same. This is definitely a "you gotta pay to play" kinda hobby

LED vs T5s
 

I'm convinced that lighting preference has more to do with an individual's eyes and their color perception. As you know, this can vary greatly with people to the point where some are nearly color blind and don't know it.

With my LEDs, I use the natural mode setting, which uses the full spectrum. I have had people over and looking at my corals, and some couldn't tell the color difference between some SPS, and were even mixing up some green and red hues, which are so different to me... That was very telling to me.

But with my LEDs, I can change the colors to pretty well anything I want with my spectrum control settings (and by time of day). And am quite sure can duplicate any T5 bulb combo, too.

So, I really don't understand why some people are so against LEDs. Perhaps some are not as good. But I sure like my Radions. And can't argue with the SPS growth I am getting.

I think T5's will soon disappear from the marketplace, just like incandescent did quite some time ago. LEDs just have too many advantages, and the price keeps dropping.

+1

Yes, agreed. In my case, LEDs bother my eyes. I get the same "tired eyes" feeling when I watch a 3D movie at the theater or if I wear cheap sunglasses.

I do like the options of led but until I can get a mitras for the price of my halide set up I'm happy

I think some people need to give it a rest, not every thread about lighting needs to become a LED vs whatever thread. Seriously not even close to what the thread is about yet here we are. The first post asks about 6 and 8 bulb T5 fixtures for an SPS tank and the last post talks about how LEDs hurt your eyes... I don't even know where to go from here, oh wait I know...

For an SPS tank 8 bulbs is obviously better than 6 but 6 won't be that limiting either. If you're looking for a used fixture then take your time and look for both, if you find a great deal on a 6 bulb fixture it might be worth while going that route and upgrading later if you find yourself limited as resealing it might not yield a huge loss. With T5s you also have the option of using a canopy and retrofit T5 kits (or just buying the parts separately) that way you can add to it anytime.

:der:

Because the OP had several good answers on page one that covered his questions very well. Where were you on page one? ;) Also because every lighting thread has to be LED vs T5 vs halide...of course.


Sent from my Dungeon using mad Ninja Skillz.

welcome to the controversial world of aquarium lighting :mrgreen:

Well, if we're expanding the field, MH is the best. Just sayin'...

Duh. :wink:

Thanks sphelps , helpful reply . Im going to follow aquattros lead on the 8 bulb fixture but if that dosent pan out I know of a 6 bulb for sale and ill go for that . I wanted a t5 fixture due to the efficiency , lack of heat and the fact I don't need to become a subject expert just to pick a light .