Are MH's really the way to go

StirCrazy · #1 04-11-2006, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buk_A_neer

I have 400W MH on my tank and I do like the shimmer effect of MH bulbs ... however to say MH are a necessity is inaccurate

check out this SPS/LPS tank run on T5's

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=1

I don't think it has much to do with his lighting but rather all the other junk he doses daily, weekly, monthly... I never did find the part where he said how old the tank is.. might have just missed it. I think with more light he could dose less as he was saying that he can adjust the color from brown (from dosing to much ) to vivid from dosing the right amount.. also reading the picture files a little photo shop doesn't hurt either, in fact there is so much hue shift and saturation in one he has a green and lime sailfin tang, and a teal powder blue tang.

Steve

Buccaneer · #2 04-11-2006, 01:15 AM

What he doses the tank with has little to do with what corals need in terms of light intensity IMO ... Like I said I have MH but they are not a necessity

He has reduced excess nutrients to allow the colours to be more vivid but just uses T5's for light

Therefore MH are NOT required for SPS

Ruth · #3 04-11-2006, 01:45 AM

I didn't read the whole thread either although I have read a lot of it before. If I am not mistaken all of his T5 are on individual reflectors and are HO and changed out every 6-8 months. He also has a whole whack of them on that tank.
I think at the end of the day you will probably spend more on his system than you will on a good MH system and even with increased electrical consumption the cost of replacement bulbs alone will balance that out.

Buccaneer · #4 04-11-2006, 01:59 AM

He does have over 800 watts of T5's on that tank which if it was 6' long as I suspect it to be would mean you would be using 3 MH equivalents prolly in the 250W range = 750W ... plus maybe some actinic supplementation of a couple hundred watts

Changing bulbs of any genre 6 to 8 months is IMO too drastic a schedule but hard to argue with success of his tank

I would hazard that anyone that disagrees with his choice of lighting has a tank looking as good or better than what he has accomplished

Quote:

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

also reading the picture files a little photo shop doesn't hurt either, in fact there is so much hue shift and saturation in one he has a green and lime sailfin tang, and a teal powder blue tang.

Steve

Please post a pic of what you are referring to ... he does not own a powder blue tang so not sure what tank you are looking at ???

I did not mean for this to be a contentious issue

If you like MH then buy MH ... The question posed at the top of the page was whether it was necessary to have MH and that tank proves that it is not ... thats all

StirCrazy · #5 04-11-2006, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buk_A_neer

Please post a pic of what you are referring to ... he does not own a powder blue tang so not sure what tank you are looking at ???

the first pic at the very begining of the thread, you linked tothe second half

and ya not a powder blue but a powder turquoise

http://http://reefcentral.com/forums...5&pagenumber=1

anyways no one said you need MH, but rather instead of screwing around with other types it would have been much more cost effective to go MH in the first place.. I had SPS under all types of lighting and I can from experence say while I have growth under PC's I never experenced the color and vibrance I get from MH.

Steve

Willow · #6 04-11-2006, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

the first pic at the very begining of the thread, you linked tothe second half

and ya not a powder blue but a powder turquoise

not a powder anything, it looks like a naso.

somewhere on that thread there is a video if you don't believe those colors are real. i believe he used prodibio and zeovit so it's not surprising the colors are so vibrant.

Snappy · #7 04-11-2006, 05:42 AM

I was thinking about adding some extra lighting to my system. I think I'll take a look into some T5's and see if I can mount them into my existing unit. Even if those pictures are tweeked a little with photoshop the stuff looks great.

Buccaneer · #8 04-11-2006, 05:33 AM

Thats a naso tang by the looks of it on the right and it looks more grey in the body than turquoise to me ( I also own a naso tang and it looks a awfull lot like that one with MH lights ) ... the only other fish is a sailfin tang in the middle and a purple tang to the left ... any of those you calling a powder brown tang ?

You may want to get that monitor of yours checked or a optomitrist appointment may be due

anyways no one said you need MH,

the author of this thread was advised that MH was the only way to go ... I was merely pointing out that there are alternatives to MH and I doubt that these T5's would cost more than a MH setup

and we are not talking about using PC lighting for SPS as a alternative ... instead that beautifull tank is run with 100% T5's

PS ... if you read that monster thread that got auto split by the RC forums ... the tank is 2 years as a mostly SPS dominated tank ... FOWLR previous to that

StirCrazy · #9 04-11-2006, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buk_A_neer

Thats a naso tang by the looks of it on the right and it looks more grey in the body than turquoise to me ( I also own a naso tang and it looks a awfull lot like that one with MH lights ) ... the only other fish is a sailfin tang in the middle and a purple tang to the left ... any of those you calling a powder brown tang ?

Um, monitor is fine, didn't spent this much money on it to be not fine

and Naesco/powder blue I am always getting mixed up so either way they should be blue, and yes I did get my glasses and have another look

and where did powder brown come from?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buk_A_neer

the author of this thread was advised that MH was the only way to go ...

you know, I just reread this thread and I didn't see a statement at all implying MH are the only way to go, I see a lot of in the long run you'll save money by going MH, and a lot of personally I like MH the best out of all my set ups, but yes we all know you don't need MH, if the tank is shallow you can get away with NO lighting and if you use the vodka and chemical method you can probably have a beautiful tank, but as most of us 99% are not into fussing 3 times a day or daily or some even weekly and are not willing to shell out the big bucks for these new systems on the market, in all reality can you say anything bad about going with MH aside from you might need to find a way to cool it down if your set up is designed wrong?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buk_A_neer

and we are not talking about using PC lighting for SPS as a alternative ... instead that beautiful tank is run with 100% T5's

It doesn't matter weather it is PC or T5HO (which we can't seem to get in Canada anyways, or if we can not that easy) with the chemical regiment he is doing, he would probably get the same result. Besides a PC is a T4Ho anyways which has an intensity higher than a T5, but its down fall is its folded design which ends up making ~33% of the light unavailable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buk_A_neer

PS ... if you read that monster thread that got auto split by the RC forums ... the tank is 2 years as a mostly SPS dominated tank ... FOWLR previous to that

I saw the sps but I missed the 2 years, to much reading, well actually tired of sifting through the RC crap to find some useful info. I remembered why I don't go there any more now, thanks.