starting to like t5's

[CoryDude]

Always been a fan of metal halides. My first setup consisted of the standard 5K bulbs. I remember when 6.5K daylight bulbs came out. Then the German 10K's were the newest thing.

But, I bought a 4-bulb tek fixture a few years back, because I didn't want the heat of a halide on my 2nd tank. What's the main thing I like about this type of lighting? You can customize the overall color of a t5 fixture much easier than halides.

Recently, I bought 2 - pure actinics and 2 - 50/50 actinic whites. Thought it was a little too yellow for the tank, so I replaced one of the 50/50 with a 15K 75/25 bulb to add a little more blue to the overall spectrum. I can only imigine the combo's you could do with a 6 or 8 bulb fixture.

What do y'all like about t5 setups?

[allan]

I have 10 under my hood, and not having any experience with any other form of lighting I like them fine.

I've burned coral and I've starved it for light so it's dependant on what I want to grow.

The only issue I have with mine is that I've got 48" bulbs running from left to right, because of that I'm focussed in certain sections of the tank from back to front. I recently burned a coral because the point where I placed it was directly under my Fiji Coral Stim and Coral Enhance bulbs. I think. I don't really know as the bulbs aren't labled. But only a few corals can live very high in that location.

[txav8r]

The color combinations are endless but the bulb life is short. I ran T5's for a year or so on my reef tank and loved them but the color spectrum seem to drift pretty soon after they were installed.

[CoryDude]

I have 10 under my hood, and not having any experience with any other form of lighting I like them fine.

I've burned coral and I've starved it for light so it's dependant on what I want to grow.

The only issue I have with mine is that I've got 48" bulbs running from left to right, because of that I'm focussed in certain sections of the tank from back to front. I recently burned a coral because the point where I placed it was directly under my Fiji Coral Stim and Coral Enhance bulbs. I think. I don't really know as the bulbs aren't labled. But only a few corals can live very high in that location.

Wow, I thought 8 bulbs would be too much. 10 bulbs?!?! I need to check out your setup on the tank tour.

The color combinations are endless but the bulb life is short. I ran T5's for a year or so on my reef tank and loved them but the color spectrum seem to drift pretty soon after they were installed.

The bulbs I replaced were 2 years old, so I completely see your point, Jack. It was like night and day, literally, between the old bulbs and new ones. I still use VHO's, so I'm used to color shifts after 6-8 months. I don't agree with the retailers recommendations of replacing t5's between 12-18 months.

I'm still a halide fan, but if I had to setup a completely new tank and had the funds to start completely over, I might be tempted to go with a 8 bulb ATI fixture.

[allan]

Wow, I thought 8 bulbs would be too much. 10 bulbs?!?! I need to check out your setup on the tank tour.

Yeah, I crammed what I could under there. Probably I could get another two bulbs in there. 3'x4' is the surface area.

[FireWater]

I love the t-5's. You can do cost comparison all day - I see no advantage in pricing (whole set up or running) between t-5 and MH. Ambient temps around and in the tank seem to be cooler w/ t-5 lighting though. I ran a nova extreme on the old 90g and grew the heck out of coral with nice colors. The different color combos can be challenging and fun all at the same time. With that said I plan to run either ATI or Tek elite on the new 120.

[Europhyllia]

I really like my ATI. Was considering LEDs then I read a thread on colors on RC and remembered I'd be limited to just more or less blue.
I am so used to being able to play around with different bulbs -just more or less blue seems kinda boring...

[CoryDude]

No offense to any LED'ers out there, but they kind of remind me PC's when they came out 10 years ago. Everyone's crowing about them, and they have carved a niche for themselves. But, until they come WAY down in price and offer more color choices, they will never go mainstream.