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View Full Version : Adding T5s to MHs.

maroon2
01/19/2010, 08:30 PM
Well I have a 75g mixed reef that has a 500w MH fixture hanging from the ceiling. The fixture hangs around 9.5 inches from the top of the tank. I ordered a current 108w T5 fixture w/ only actinics 460/420. My Q is will the MH fixture overpower the T5s? Am I just wasting my $$.I just want my corals to have that "pop". I was planning on placing the T5s towards the back of the tank as my MHs are directly over the center of the tank. Any suggestions.
maroon2
01/20/2010, 07:56 PM
Does anyone have this type of set up??
sedor
01/20/2010, 07:59 PM
The T5's will definitely lend their color to the mix, especially if the bulbs are actinics. What kelvin in the current halide bulb? What type of T5s are you planning on getting?
maroon2
01/21/2010, 07:17 PM
The T5's will definitely lend their color to the mix, especially if the bulbs are actinics. What kelvin in the current halide bulb? What type of T5s are you planning on getting?The halides are 14k and I just got the t5 fixture its a deep blue solarmax w/ 2 actinics. One of them came w/ the fixture and the other is a current sunpaq.
sedor
01/21/2010, 08:05 PM
The actinics will change the overall color a little bit in the sense that it will pull out some of those hidden colors much like a black light does. Its good that the T5's are actinics otherwise it is a bit pointless IMO. Another benefit you have when using halides and T5's is you can shorten your halide light span down to about 6 hours (many argue this provides optimal growth) and still have a nice tank to look at with just the actinics on.
maroon2
01/22/2010, 07:19 AM
Yeah I can see what you're saying. I need to get some different MH bulbs though. I have oddysea bulbs and they are pretty yellow.
sedor
01/22/2010, 07:47 AM
Ya Oddysea bulbs are crap. There's really no way to get around spending some $$$ on a quality bulb.
maroon2
01/22/2010, 10:41 AM
Ya Oddysea bulbs are crap. There's really no way to get around spending some $$$ on a quality bulb.The fixture was a xmas gift from my mom. God bless her but she just didn't know any better.The fixture is very well made and the ballasts are the new electric ones, which seem to pull the right wattage, but the bulbs eehh...... not so much.