Switching from MH's to T5's what should expect

[NewbieForever]

My tank is a 58 oceanic, 20" depth.

I was using 2 x 400 watt radiums and 2 x 96 watt actinics =992 watts

I have on hand a 8 x 39 watt Tek light hood = 312 watts,

so obviously my watts are cut by 1/3.

I was having some heat issues with the halides, my chiller had to run all day.

With the new set up I just popped on I am using

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
KZ coral light
KZ figi purple
KZ Coral Light
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

I am assuming the par is much lower although the lighting itself seems much more even with the T5's.

What should I expect from here? I have the fixture 7 inchs above the tank the halides I was running 9 " above. DO you think the total par is way lower? Think my growth with slow down or speed up, it wasnt fantastic with the radiums but the color was nice, much bluer then the combo of T5's I am using.

[Ding2daDong]

I have noticed that some corals switching from metal halide to t5's get a pastel/washed up look. I would make sure to slowly acclimate them to the t5's even though you had 400w MH.

Hope this helps

-Matthew

[aaron7405]

I like the color on T5, But I must say than Tek fisture balast are not the best, I have retrofit with 2 IC 660 and a fried has a Tek and the T5 bulbs seams dimer on the Teck than in my retro.

Beside you may also expect the corals not to grow that fast as on the MH 400W but I really like the color on T5

IMO

[avaneaton2000]

your IC 660's over drive your T5's thats why they look brighter than your buddies tek fixture.

[aaron7405]

I knew that LOL, it just saying than the balast on the Tek do not overdrive the T5

Thank you

[NewbieForever]

The ballast they use in the tek fixtures are accustart 5 triad brand.

[avaneaton2000]

Sorry for expecting a newb. I have thought about modding my 4 bulb 24" tek light with a pair of 430's so I can control two sets independently. I think it might be a little too much light with a tank that is 24"L 12"H 12"W.

[60Cubed]

You will notice a huge difference in growth and coloration. Don't just switch them. You need to acclimate them. You might still have coloration issues. I think you need to overdrive the bulbs to really get the growth and color you are looking for.

[nicklepickle]

I have had corals that lost color when I went T5 for a bit. They grew and appeared healthy they just did not have the rich color they had under the MHs

[dwilly]

You also need to watch for corals that may have been out of the direct light under the mh's that now will be getting pretty intense light. With the T5's there are no low light spots, so those corals will need to be acclimated carefully.

[PrangeWay]

Yeah even at 400W Radiums aren't a PAR heavy bulbs. The corals I'd be careful (or move if they aren't encrusted) are the ones that where "away" fromt he point light of the halides, ie the ones towards the edges of tank and middle. These are the ones that are going to bleach/fade. If they are high up and on the sides, probably very quickly...


PW


Edit: Did some quick checks.

Based on Grims test of a Tek-6 and my own Tek/ATI measurements I'd expect a Tek-8 to do around 250 par wise, maybe higher depending on cooling bulb.

From Sanjay's site a 400W Radim on a standard Magnetic ballast (not an HQI is 90) So 2 400W Radiums are at 180, significantly lower than what the Tek will give you.

So I'd be really careful, maybe some screening just incase.

[Twisted]

I can say that my experience with the tek fixture has been nothing short of impressive.
I have corals that came from MH lighted tanks that actually have better color then they did when I first got them.
but I have a 6X54w tek fixture on a 55 gallon tank, so might be a little more then most people do.

[NewbieForever]

Cool I'll run the light a bit high for a while and lower it down over time, thanks for the help. I am excited to see what this fixture brings me.

[AR 15]

Looking to get a t5 fix for my new 40 gal frg tank 36*16*15. The tank is going to be just for lps and softies is the tek 6 bulb fix worth its price or should i just consider the current nova ? Also if any one has any experince with the tek any sugg on the bulb config. Thanks

[crichard6069]

I run a tek t5 6x54 on my 75g and love it. Granted, I've never had MH on my 75 (just on my little Aquapod 24g) but my lonely green digitata is doing amazingly well...

I do need to upgrade to some ATI bulbs though... I hear they're amazing.. I forget the brand I'm running now but I'm positive they're not ATI bulbs. I've got 4 10ks, a daylight, and a true actinic running... coloration looks pretty decent..

[SunnyX]

As others have stated I would acclimate the corals slowly to the the T5's. I had corals in my old tank only inches under the 400W XM 10k's that bleached on the sand bed with the new T5's.

Other than tat expect great growth and color. :thumbsup:

[flyingphish]

just wondering if there is an application for me. currently i run a grotech photon 400wx1 20k radium and 4x24w t5's.

ati powermodul has a 8X24w and 10X24w

which one

tank is 30 wide 20 high 22 deep. the 10x24 is 21.5 deep.

[dobly_1999]

I switched about a month ago due to heat and energy cost. My corals are doing well under the T5s. I started slow for the first 4 days. 4 lights for 9 hours and all 6 for 3 hours.

Now I run 2 lights for 14 hours, 4 lights for 9 hours, 6 lights for 7 hours.

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/SylvesterinFL/Aug28_2008_CoralUpdate/photo#5239543539823049506"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/SylvesterinFL/SLaZFtRYeyI/AAAAAAAABl8/1UM4fY7rw4o/s800/Aug%2028_2008_Coral%20Update%20004.JPG" /></a>

[Mykel Obvious]

Remember, watts and PAR are not equal in any way, shape or form... the T5s have good PAR in several bulbs (I think the ATI Blue Plus is the highest PAR, but don't quote me on that)... I'd say go with a reduced photo period AND hang them higher to start... or add several layers of window screen over the tank and take a layer off every week

I'd vote for going to the Lighting forum and ask The Grim Reefer for the best advice... BUT he's probably going to tell you to get a combo of ATI and UVL bulbs

Most likely something like this (what I'm planing on using in my future upgrade):
FRONT
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Pro Color
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

The Tek is an OK fixture, but without active cooling it won't put out as much PAR as the similar fixture from ATI... T5s prefer to run about 95F at the "cool spot", which you won't get from the Tek... Hahnmeister did a fan mod to a Tek ( about 1/2 way down this page: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1013083&perpage=25&highlight=Nova%20Extreme&pagenumber=8 ) there are also some PAR readings in that thread

HTH and let us know how it works out for ya!

[plyle02]

No technical info to offer, but my previous tank of 75 standard under tek 6x54 was colorful and the growth was outstanding. I used similair bulbs, kz coral life, kz fiji purple, and geis as well. Sounds like IMO it will be more than enough light.....

[mcliffy2]

IMO that is way way more light than you need for a 58g. 6x54w would be plenty. You can do it, but be very careful you don't bleach the corals when you make the switch. I'm guessing you can't raise the tek unit up, so I'd start slow, have the unit running full for maybe 4 hours a day, then slowly ramp it up.