How much can I keep with HO T5's?

J

jackie dh

Guest
It's a 55 gallon with 220 watts of light. I am having trouble with some of my corals not opening up, frog spawn, torch (actually died) and hammer coral. Do I need MH bulbs or should the T5's be enough?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I'm assuming it's a 4 bulb 48" fixture?
This "should" be enough with proper placement or corals, but there are some other factors such as what type of bulbs (brand/etc) you run and if you have individual reflectors or not.
I don't think you'll be able to keep much SPS, but LPS should be okay, especially if you place higher light demanding LPS in the top half of your tank.
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
How much does the MH fixture run up you electric bill. Mine is already near $400 in the winter, I really would hate for it to go much higher. :p It would probably be some were over 500 watts if I went with the MH's.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
First off...Are you sure it is your lights, how old are the bulbs. The new lights are energy efficient, so MH won't be much different. Have those corals ever opened up? What are your water test readings?
 
dmanatee

dmanatee

Member
I am wonderinf about the placement of those corals in your tank and age of bulbs. Because I use t5s and the hammer that I bought three weeks ago is already growing like mad.
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
The bulbs are 3 or 4 months old. I moved the corals up some, to the top 3/4 of the tank. The tests were 0 for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
I don't have test regents for those. We have hard water, so I have always assumed that the calcium would be high enough. Yeah, I know.....
 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
I would test for cal and alk before doing anything else.If your going to have any coral your going to have to keep testing these all the time
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
It's a 55, temp 80*, salinity is 1.026, ammonia 0, nitrates 0, nitrites 0. The other corals are mostly zoo's, Xenia, a toadstool and mushrooms. There is an old false percula clown, small green chromis and a coral banded shrimp and a basic clean up crew. The filter is home made, a 20 gallon tank with baffles, a 200 micron sock and the middle is packed with plants. My eshopps skimmer died, the parts should be here any day, I think that will help a lot.
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
What would be the test's that I need, a PH for the calcium and alkalinity test? Or am I backwards? I have a PH in my kit but I need the regents.
 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
ph is 1 test alc is a test and cal is a test.you can get a basic reef kit ,and when you can later get mag and strontium kits
 
snowflakeclown

snowflakeclown

Member
I have a Wavepoint T5 HO's 4 bulb 56w each with reflectors. You can keep anything with these lights, the placement of the corals is the key.
 
mkroher

mkroher

Member
T5s can be brighter than metal halides.
I would bet that your coral are too close to the surface. Try moving the coral down, maybe shade it a little under a rock.
I've had bleaching problems before.. I reduced the photo period, and shaded some corals. I'm am now seeing great results.
Metal halides are more direct light. T5s cover more area with the round bulbs and the reflectors. I really think you're cooking your corals.
To answer your question.. you can keep anything under T5s. You just have to place the corals correctly.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
In most cases............................
Bleaching = too much light or too quick a change to higher lighting.
Browning = too little light.
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
Well, they are staying closed. The Frogspawn has opened up just a little and the hammer is wadded up like a tight fist.
 
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