Lighting Gossip
 

Rally the troups! ;)

Word is Sanjay Joshi's tests to compare T5 lighting fixtures to MH concludes that a rinky-dink Sunlight Supply Tek light at 4x24W is comparable to the output of a good 175W MH setup.

Obviously we'll have to wait until he finally makes his results public to confirm the veracity of this gossip, but whaddya think?

illumenating
 

Yeehaw, cowboys! So one of those 8x54W bad boys is a serious alternative. I used to read the odd "watch out for this 8x54 Tek light 'cause it'll bleach your corals" post with a skeptical eye.

Looking forward to updates (including my own). :cool:

I have an 8x39W unit and yes....it packs a punch :)

I could sort of see it... T5's are good lights given the individual reflectors idea that even the rinky-dink Tek's do have.

What I would be interested to see if his results show PAR comparisons between a typical 4x24W and a 175W Iwasaki 15k. I have both setups, I run the Iwasaki because Sanjay's tests showed really high PAR and nice colour from this lamp, but it would be interesting to see how they shake out. I guess 96W is only, what, 54% of 175W?

Yeah PAR is the big question on my mind. My hunch is that it will be comparable. But yes, I have a single 54W T5 HO actinic to supplement my 175W halide and it definitely puts out some serious blues.

I have 8 x 54 Watts over a 120.

It grows easy sps like Monti caps and montipora digitata no problem.

My horn coral isn't growing at all.

I haven't tried any other sps or clams.

I think there may be more things at play in your tank than just the lighting that relate to growth. For instance, I don't know if your signature is up to date, but if the flow in your tank is one 6045 Nanostream and your Mag 12 return pump then I'd look at your flow more closely.

Agreed.

It was never meant to be an SPS tank but is has kind of been turning out that way.

I am thinking of one of the new nano waveboxes.