MH vs T5

[Jaws]

Is anyone using fiji pink T5's with MH lighting to enhance certain colors? Do you notice it make any difference or is that mainly designed for a full T5 lighting system? Thanks.

[Trigger Man]

Originally Posted by Jaws

Is anyone using fiji pink T5's with MH lighting to enhance certain colors? Do you notice it make any difference or is that mainly designed for a full T5 lighting system? Thanks.

I've seen a few tanks that have added the Fiji Purples with MH to make certain corals pop and they swear by it now. So in the end maybe it will become the usual to have both MH and T5's in ones light setup.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Jaws

Is anyone using fiji pink T5's with MH lighting to enhance certain colors? Do you notice it make any difference or is that mainly designed for a full T5 lighting system? Thanks.

I have 2 Fijis running with 2 250W 14K Phoenix Halides and I like the effect they give. I find them to be brighter and produce better coral color than blue or actinic bulbs. I also run 4 coral light T5s as well. I think it's important not to run too much purple, just enough for the color pop, too much purple ratio makes for a funny looking purple tank and takes away from the color pop effect, IMO.

The only change I would make to my current combination is switching 2 of the coral lights for the new gens.

[Jaws]

I'll be running two 400W MH's and I'm wondering how many fiji purples I need to run that won't just get washed out by the MH's.

[sphelps]

I've seen a 6' tank with 3 400W 20K XMs and 4 39W purples and 4 39W Blues and it looks pretty good, you can see the purple effect, but the tank doesn't look purple. I would personally switch the blues for something more useful like a 14K but that's personal preference.

[Jaws]

I'm in a real struggle here. I've got a 90G corner bow that I'm just about to setup. It's going to be sps dominant with rock walls tapering down from the two back walls towards the center of the tank. I've already got two 400W 14K MH's that I'm going to angle parallel with the each back wall to cover the highest sps growth areas. The front bow of the tank is about 46" and the tank depth is 25". I'm trying to figure out the best MH T5 combo to cover the most area with the best colour. I don't want to hijack this thread so I think I'll start another one but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.