nyctony

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i have a 72gal bowfront.. with alot of rock and a few pieces of coral and a few fish.. right now i have a 4 bulb t5 fixture and wondering if i should up the ante to a MH or more bulb t5 setup, my father thinks the growth in coral is due to light after moving 2 pieces from the bottom of the tank to the top and seeing them bigger..

my coral in the tank right now is
a bubble coral ( not bubble tip anenome)
2 anenomes long tentacal
2 sorts of mushrooms a green and a red
zenias
star polyps
and another sort of polyp forgot the name..

fish
yellow tang
hippo tang
2 orange clowns
1 maroon clown (nasty f*cker)

i have some crabs and snail and a banded shrimp

i know we wont get any acroporas basicly just stuff that look good under the light and have some motion to them.

any help with it would be awesome.. currently using a 4x54 wat set up.
 

boardryder

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CT
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I'm not the expert, but
1)There was more light after moving the corals higher making them happier
2)The corals liked the flow better making them happier
3)I believe the only thing you'd need better lighting for is your anemones
 

autoponicz

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Westbury L.i
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board ryder got it right....and water quality plays a role too

what brand of 4 bulb t5 are you using...if you add another 2 t5s in there then you'll have to bring the softies back down....

show us some pics..
 

that fish guy

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I do not like T5's, I do not like many things about them, I think MH is the best way to go. There are so many different brands and types of T5's and the regular T5's are not good and the T5 HO I think are too new. I also like the shimer affect the MH gives to the tank.
 

NYreefNoob

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poughquag, ny
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ok let me add too this, seeing i ran t5's for almost 2 yr's on a sps dominated tank. high output t5 is not no where new, and only difference in regular t5 and ho t5 is the ho is a over driven t5 bulb, alot say ho but arent really, they say that because they are using individual reflectors, a ho t5 is ne ran off the icecap 660 or 430, example, since ive done both, a regular 36" t5 bulb with regular ballast is 39w over driven it is 50w, and yes a noticeable difference, what i like most about t5's is the ability to run different tempature bulb's for a broader spectrum of light. for someone to say they dont like them and give no reason means nothing, i can give you alot of reasons i like t5 over mh, electricity, heat, bulb cost, broader spectrum, and you do get a shimmer with t5 just not as noticible as with mh. i am assuming you have a 48" light. i would suggest going with different bulbs from the one's that came with the fixture, i preffered the giesman bulbs myself, had great success with them and t5's some use the ati and a mixture of brands. that fish guy what light did you have ? bulbs ect ? lenght you used t5's and size of tank used on, nyctony there are several of us on here who use t5's and have great success, ming , alexpescado and these re mainly sps tanks
 

qy7400

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a 72 bow front is 48", your not going to get a good fill from a single halide; it should have 2. Cost wise 2 MH bulbs on average are $60 (120 for the pair), T5s average around $25 a bulb. Since the bow fronts are 13" on the sides you're looking at a 4 bulb setup, add in non-over driven bulbs can last 18 to 24 months and the savings add up quick without sacrificing PAR.

T5s are not new and proven to work just as well as halides on many tanks, just need good individual reflectors and ballasts
 

Rtam3185

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a 72 bow front is 48", your not going to get a good fill from a single halide; it should have 2. Cost wise 2 MH bulbs on average are $60 (120 for the pair), T5s average around $25 a bulb. Since the bow fronts are 13" on the sides you're looking at a 4 bulb setup, add in non-over driven bulbs can last 18 to 24 months and the savings add up quick without sacrificing PAR.

T5s are not new and proven to work just as well as halides on many tanks, just need good individual reflectors and ballasts
+1

I run 4 bulbs of T-5s (Tek Fixture) and I am happy with my setup. The only thing is...no shimmering effect. :grumpy:
 

NYreefNoob

Skimmer Freak
Location
poughquag, ny
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ok as stated i have kept alot of sps, would say over a 100 different ones and all under t5's, your not going to lose color under t5's . and as stated 1 mh isnt going to give coverage. not really are 2 cause of width of tank at the ends, ill let pic's speak for them selves, not that i consider my tanks great but here ya go, these are both tanks that had only t5's for lighting, the 50g i switched to vho for antic cause i sent my 430 out to be fixed and just never switched back. and if it wasnt going to cost me more to buy 6 new reflectors and 6 bulbs my current tank would be t5's also, as well my seahorse tank has t5's:tongue1:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/36815-50g-breeder-finally-up-4.html

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/sale-trade/29870-tank-breakdown.html

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/sale-trade/30030-sps-f-s.html
 

nyctony

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Location
queens
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currently i have 2 antic 54w each. the 2 bulbs are powerglow 18000k and 1 10000k.
the 2 antic go on at the same time and as do the reg bulbs b4 them.
 

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