Suggestions on lighting for 90g??? MH and/or T5

[EvMiBo]

Hey there, searched around the forums some and couldn't find a thread directly related to this.. SooOOoo, in a few months I'll be getting a 90g tank. I want to keep a variety of SPS, LPS and softies. I'm leaning towards MH but am open to T5 recommendations too. What lighting setups have been successful in your 90g tanks? What have you seen on a 90 that did well?

Thanks!


:D

[Doahh]

MH with T5...
Although I run MH only

[nu2reefva]

ive seen both done on a 90 with great success and im in the process of setting up a 90 gallon SPS dominated and i just decided to go with t5s only because of heat and energy and ease and price the list goes all day i will miss the MH shimmer but its worth it and if its done right the growth is amazing under t5s.

[EvMiBo]

thanks guys. what are a few solid companies that sell fixtures with MH and T5's that you would recommend?

[Doahh]

I recommend Retrofit

[nativecracker32]

ice cap retro's or ATI fixtures. they both have good reflectors. I think t-5s are the best chose for sps tanks. the color and growth are great!

[EvMiBo]

im interested in the ATI sunpower 6x54w

are these available in the US? I'm only getting german websites.

Also.. What would you all recommend for the bulb combination? x2 actinics? then some 10-14k bulbs? I obviously need to read up more on this stuff but what has worked for any of you that have had a 5 bulb setup?

[EvMiBo]

edit: 6 bulb setup***

[SHOmuchFUN]

You'll be more successful with MH out of the gate...
You CAN be successful with T-5's but it takes much more attention to your equipment and parameters.

[EvMiBo]

I just saw someone ask a pretty much identical question in the T5 Q&A thread regardling ATI and with lights for a 90g and was answer by grim. So I now know what I'm looking for if I do get an ATI 6x54w.

MH does seem much easier to do though. I change my mind on this stuff everyday it seems like lol. Seems like people tend to like MH retros more than fixtures.. am I right?

[SHOmuchFUN]

I flip-flopped for a while...
I had a Sundial 4x54w T-5 fixture over my 75 for about a month after switching over from a 33gal tank. Although it looked like the corals were slowly recouping from red-bugs (as I had treated during the transfer process), I was worried that my lights were part of the problem.

Rather than gamble on another T-5 fixture, I went with halides for an easy win.
Do I regret my decision? A little... It would be nice to not have to run a large CFM fan on my wall to help keep the tank cool. But when I've already seen my corals respond to these halides and I've only had them on the tank for 3 days, I know I made the right decision. I'll be able to frag my corals much more frequently than I ever could with the T-5 setups.

Obviously, YMMV

[EvMiBo]

What MH setup did you go with? (Leaning back towards MH, again lol)

in most cases, would MH fixtures that work on a 75g work on a 90g?

[grigsy]

Yes it would. If you are doing a lot of SPS, I would suggest 2 x 250 watt (or even 2 x 400 watt) and VHO.

[martinphillip03]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1384067

check this thread out

Marty

[SHOmuchFUN]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12946223#post12946223 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EvMiBo
What MH setup did you go with? (Leaning back towards MH, again lol)

in most cases, would MH fixtures that work on a 75g work on a 90g?
I went with an Aquamedic Oceanlight.
2x250w HQI MH with M80 ballasts and 2x54w T-5's for actinics.

[tpenn187]

i have seen several successful 90 gal tanks with t5 only. if you are looking for an all in one fixture i would do t5 and get a solar flare fixture, or the tx5 fixture, overdriven with icecap ballasts. this combo should be great, even though i use 2 250 watt MH on my 90 with to actinic t5 supplement. i love the shimmer of MH. one thing that i like about retros that cant really be done with a fixture, if you ever plan on upgrading to an even bigger tank it is easier to use the retro as part of the new lighting than it is a fixture.

[qfrisco]

I started with 4x54w T5s overdriven by an Icecap 660 over my 90g. I had individual Icecap SLR reflectors, and I think all my corals (including all SPS) responded pretty well. I did have to mount my SPS towards the top to maximize PAR. The color was great, thanks to Greg Morgan at reefgeek who helped pick out my bulbs. But I ultimately missed the shimmer.

I had been planning on adding a couple more T5s, but happened upon a used pair of AquaMedic MH pendants from a fellow club member. I was able to get the pair for $250, so it was a no-brainer for me. Having had the MHs for about 3 weeks now, the growth of my SPS has exploded, and their native colors are even coming out now - light blues on the tips of my acro tenuis, etc.

I know my power usage is higher with the MHs, but I do think they are doing better than my overdriven T5s, albeit I knew the 4x54w (though overdriven) was just barely enough to light my 90g, and that I probably need at least 5 or 6 total T5s.

Based on my personal experience, you'll be fine with either T5s or MHs. If you go with T5s, make sure you go with a good fixture (ATI or Aquactinics) or good retrofit kit (I recommend the SLR retrofit kits from reefgeek.) At the end of the day, the selection of lights becomes such a personal preference that there's really no way to know what will work for you unless you try them out!

[EvMiBo]

If I get MH, should I expect to get overages on utility bill? (I'll be living in an apartment with a set amount of energy usage, and we're charged if we go over... im unsure about how much we're able to use).

I know MH suck on energy so it wouldnt surprise me if the answer is yes. In that case, I might be forced to go T5 even if I want MH's...

Thanks for the info everyone, you've really been a great help and I love knowing what people use, what works well, and what will make my reef thrive whether it be MH or T5 setups!

[EvMiBo]

Well, I'm 99% sure running MH would kill my Elec bill.

That being said, I'm interested in the Aquactinics TX5 fixture.. Would 5 bulbs be enough kick for the 90 (5x54w)? I'd probably buy the bulbs separately, ATI's, etc.

Any thoughts?
Thanks again eveyone, you've been such a great help.

--- I tried searching TX5 on here but the server is busy or w/e =(