Are you switching to T5

[Joe Reefer]

It seems a lot of people are running or switching to all T5's lately.
Are you planning on running just T5 lighting on any of your tanks in the future.

[mark]

Love to replace the NO fluorescents I'm using for dawn/dusk (with actinic) with a mix of T5s.

See no advantage to get rid of the MHs though.

Since first missed the JUST part, didn't vote.

[Joe Reefer]

I just noticed there was a typo in the poll title. Is there anyway to change that?

[michika]

I wanted to change, but the initial start up cost is so prohibitive at this point in time.

[andresont]

I switched about 3.5 moth ago and like it so far.
SPS color is very good. I can see the difference from 2x96Watt PC i had before.
I had brown miliporah SPS frag for long time it turned back to pink (very nice strong bright pink)
The other one (SPS frag) that was brown is dark green now, i also have bright red SPS frag that i got about two month ago and i already fragged it.

So i can say Yes to T5 (I got 36" long TEK T5 x6 bulbs , 39Watts each).
Bulbs are:
two pink "ProColor" K color unknown i think 6k but maight be even 3K.
one white 14 K ATI
two 60%blue 40%actinic bulbs ATI.

Overall coral growth is good i had to sell leather coral and some other because of space issues, SPS growth is not fast but noticeble good enough to enjoy it without a lot of fragging.
I also have light green with teal polyps leather and it had very hard time adjusting to that much more light compare to PC's. I had to move it few times and it is happy now in the corner where is less light.

Mushrooms do Not like that much light; open but not as wide. Rics OK but i think too much light also had to relocate to the side.

The only LPS i have is green torch and green frog spawn both, but i think i have too much flow for them in my tank and might be selling these corals soon..

I am not good with photography , but if anyone wants to come over and see this light fixture you are welcome.

[Delphinus]

I voted "no" but ... it's more of a "not completely". I will be running T5's in addition to halides. I hope for the best of both worlds this way.

I actually would consider going all T5 but at 30" depth I think I'll be happier with a combo.

I'll tell you one thing, I don't think that the costs of T5's are really that much less than halides, once you consider that by the time you add up all the watts and the replacement lamps, they're only marginally cheaper. However have you looked at the costs of T5's versus PC's? Wow, if nothing else, T5's will totally take over PC's in the marketplace, no question. That's my prediction anyhow

[Doug]

I put yes, as I already run them. I only have 4 HO T-5,s over my 90 and my sps has nice colours and decent growth, although not fast.

[Buddyboy]

Doug, do you find that a 4 bulb T5 fixture is enough over your 90 G tank? If you could do it again, would you get a 6 bulb T5 fixture instead? What fixture (retrofit) do you have?

Also, contrary to what some people believe, is it possible to have good SPS growth and color under T5 lighting?

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Buddyboy

Doug, do you find that a 4 bulb T5 fixture is enough over your 90 G tank? If you could do it again, would you get a 6 bulb T5 fixture instead? What fixture (retrofit) do you have?

Also, contrary to what some people believe, is it possible to have good SPS growth and color under T5 lighting?

I have the duel 4ft. SWC units. {SaltWater Connection, Winnipeg}. Yes, I think 6 would be better and I will likely add another fixture at some point. But also may not if everything is doing well. It would just increase growth rates, I assume. It would be neat to say, "look at this sps growth & colour with my 4 bulbs." I wont do so at the cost of any of the corals though. Because of my in tank skimmer, I cant now , unless it was a 3ft. fixture.

I am impressed with the way the corals are encrusting. Seems more so that than vertical growth. Coralline also seems to love the light. Of course, more time will tell how decent they really will be, including longevity of the bulbs. I run open top and keep them fan cooled. I believe there is a pic of them in last months FOTM, where the staff tanks were featured.

As a futher note, I like them better on this size tank then when I had halides. However if I moved and had a larger tank again, I would run halides and not the multiple banks of T-5,s some use.

[Jason McK]

I ran 4 bulb T5 on my frag tank and it quickly browned out all my SPS frags. I'm back to MH