T5 lighting enough for a 90g

fishytime · #1 06-14-2010, 02:57 AM

an 8 bulb HOT5 would be more than enough.....as long as you dont plan on putting your sps in the sand

Myka · #2 06-14-2010, 03:09 AM

You will get lots of opinions on this subject! Personally, I'm a diehard metal halide fan.

On my 90 I have 2x250w DE halides w/ 2x39w T5HO supplementals. The T5s are from a 3' tank I used to have, they are just temporarily (for the last year LOL) placed on top of the tank until I manage to set up the 48" Tek Retrofit I bought 8 months ago.

Anyway, I used to be an LPS collector, and swore I would never go back to prissy, finicky SPS. Well, my fixture is too much light for most of my LPS to show their best colors so the SPS have been moving in in plague proportions. All my LPS are on the sand or off to the side away from the halides. Having said that, I know lots of people with 250w halides that have LPS near the top. Go figure. Everything else aside, mine have best coloration with less light than SPS want. My Hammers and Frogs I gave up on and moved into a tank lit by T5s.

dynamite · #3 06-14-2010, 03:14 AM

Get a powermodule

You'll be fine with 6bulbs.
I'm ditching the MH and getting a PW in july

bignose · #4 06-14-2010, 04:13 AM

I'm sure you would definitely see a lot more growth with MH lighting. I have a 6 bulb over my 90G and grow sps just fine. Another thing with T5 is you can choose a bulb mixture to suit your tanks needs.

dynamite · #5 06-14-2010, 04:27 AM

Maybe because you have a tek, I've seen tanks with powermodules and the growth is as great or better than with MH and the colors are just amazing. That's why I'm ditching my MH

Quote:

Originally Posted by bignose

I'm sure you would definitely see a lot more growth with MH lighting. I have a 6 bulb over my 90G and grow sps just fine. Another thing with T5 is you can choose a bulb mixture to suit your tanks needs.

intarsiabox · #6 06-14-2010, 12:00 PM

I do want to keep both SPS and LPS, I hadn't realized that MH may be too much for the LPS even low in the tank. I have a couple of SPS frags I got about a month ago under T5 lights (about 13" under light source) and my digi has already sread to the rock I glued it to with lots of new growth. My milli started to lose its polyps at first but has since revived and has started to grow out as well.

BlueTang<3 · #7 06-14-2010, 12:58 PM

If your on the fence with t5s feel free to come over. Running a 180 gallon sps tank with a 8x80 watt t5 power module can grow sps on the sand. You just have to commit to changing your bulbs twice a year.