Orion April 14, 2014 Author April 14, 2014 T5s are up, and I am really really really liking them so far. I do not miss the shimmer from the LEDs at all, and the T5s give the tank a nice crisp look along with filling the entire tank up with light. What is missing however, is the really big pop in color in some of the corals. I think only blue LEDs can replicate that so I will be adding a Reefbrite LED strip in the future. The bulbs I am using are - Front to Back Blue+ Blue+ Coral+ Purple+ Blue+ Blue+ In order to make sure I don't fry the corals I have the fixture hanging high at 10" above the water line, and two layers of window screen sitting on top of the tank to really lower the intensity. I'll remove a layer of window screen once a week or so, and then slowly lower the lights. Some pictures Ignore the browned out Rainbow Nasuta frag in the background. I got that frag from the winter meeting and it still has yet to color up. Crappy FTS with just the blues
YHSublime April 14, 2014 April 14, 2014 <sigh> I've been reading about A LOT of people making the switch. I'm curious, but just did a light change. Colors look great. Btw, my Rainbow Nasuta was browned out for a long time as well, then one day it just colored up great, it's growing like crazy now.
Orion April 14, 2014 Author April 14, 2014 <sigh> I've been reading about A LOT of people making the switch. I'm curious, but just did a light change. Colors look great. Btw, my Rainbow Nasuta was browned out for a long time as well, then one day it just colored up great, it's growing like crazy now. You could supplement your Radions with a couple of T5s...
Orion April 23, 2014 Author April 23, 2014 I think I figured out how to take better pictures of the tank without making the picture look washed out in blue. Swap out a Blue Plus for an Aquablue Special. This is what the tank looks like with all of the bulbs running... Will be adding a ORA Gold Assessor Basslet from Marco/monkiboy shortly, and the McCoskers wrasses will be ready in a couple more weeks. The Basslet should add a nice splash of yellow to the tank. Fish and corals doing well, especially the montiporas. They have started to take off encrusting and color up a bunch. Odd thing is they never moved or colored up under LED.
YHSublime April 23, 2014 April 23, 2014 So you're 100% satisfied with your light switch then? I've gotta say, it does look really nice...
Orion April 23, 2014 Author April 23, 2014 (edited) So you're 100% satisfied with your light switch then? I've gotta say, it does look really nice... Absolutely, 100%. I believe Flieger is going to do T5s over his 125g instead of Evergrows now too. Will see in another 6-8 months or so how much growth and color I get with them, time will tell. It is nice not having any shadows or shaded areas. I probably could have gotten away with the 24" long fixture as I have a bit of light spillage left and right of the tank. I may do a little rearrangement with the corals soon which is why I left them on plugs so I could see how they grow first. I have 3 new corals coming in from Battle Corals. The Green Slimer can be fragged again already. That thing just keeps growing like a weed. Edited April 23, 2014 by Orion
Flieger April 23, 2014 April 23, 2014 Yup. I was talked into the T5s. Now I have Evergrows to sell. Lol Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
DCReefer1964 April 23, 2014 April 23, 2014 You should try the T-5/LED combo . You will love the results as well. Best middle ground around on that subject JMHO. BTW Reef is looking good.
Orion April 27, 2014 Author April 27, 2014 Came home today after being gone for a week and the Pink Orchid Acro was almost completely bleached. Oops. It still has a little color left so I moved it to a low spot. Will have to wait to see if it will get its zooxanthellae back. It's definitely still alive as I see PE. These T5s are more powerful than I realized. Going to leave the window screen on for awhile longer. Everything else looks good. Oregon tort is starting to get a deep blue color. Wish it wasn't a slow grower!
YHSublime April 27, 2014 April 27, 2014 Every time I see your pictures it seriously makes me want to figure out a way to get t-5's down the outsides of my tank....
DCReefer1964 April 27, 2014 April 27, 2014 Every time I see your pictures it seriously makes me want to figure out a way to get t-5's down the outsides of my tank....It can be done Isaac. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk
Orion April 27, 2014 Author April 27, 2014 Every time I see your pictures it seriously makes me want to figure out a way to get t-5's down the outsides of my tank.... You have a canopy, correct? Just mount a couple of 48" T5s in front and back. I think there are a couple of threads on RC where people have done the same thing. You don't need fancy reflectors as your corals are getting all of their light from your Radions.
Orion April 30, 2014 Author April 30, 2014 Added a Gold Assessor Basslet today from Marco / ERC. Already swimming upside down! (They are cave dwellers and this is normal) Will post pictures in a few days once it gets acclimated, and colors up.
Orion May 4, 2014 Author May 4, 2014 Picked up a couple of eco-gorgs from ERC/Richard to add a little motion to the tank. SPS are nice, but they don't move much. This one is really nice as its stems are teal, and it has orange polyps. WWC Pink Passion taking off under the T5s. Can't wait for this to grow out so I can share with other members. Gorgeous tabling Acro. Upside-down Gold Assessor Basslet from ERC/Monkiboy. Cave dwelling fish that likes to swim this way in the evening under the rock. Starting to color up to a nice gold color, too bad this pic doesn't show it. FTS - Moved some corals around. There are some battlecorals frags that I am light acclimating that are sitting on the sand. All corals are growing nicely...
smallreef May 4, 2014 May 4, 2014 Looks great! Love the gorgs and your assessor...upside down and all...
Orion May 12, 2014 Author May 12, 2014 Just tested the Magnesium level today. 1240ppm. Looks like I need to start dosing that too! Plan on raising it back to 1350ppm or so over the next two days. Will test again in a week to see where the levels are at.
YHSublime May 12, 2014 May 12, 2014 Just tested the Magnesium level today. 1240ppm. Looks like I need to start dosing that too! Plan on raising it back to 1350ppm or so over the next two days. Will test again in a week to see where the levels are at. I've not had to dose for it yet, but it's my understanding it can be added all at once.... Do me a favor and stop posting up for a while... every time I check your build, I'm reminded about how nice those T5's are looking! You, that thread you shared, and D2Mini all have me second guessing my G3Pro choice, but I think I'm going to just supplement with T5's and show you the best of both worlds!
Orion May 12, 2014 Author May 12, 2014 I've not had to dose for it yet, but it's my understanding it can be added all at once.... Do me a favor and stop posting up for a while... every time I check your build, I'm reminded about how nice those T5's are looking! You, that thread you shared, and D2Mini all have me second guessing my G3Pro choice, but I think I'm going to just supplement with T5's and show you the best of both worlds! Randy recommends not to dose more than 100ppm per day. I'm going to split it up over two days and be more conservative. You know you want to come over to the dark side. You could sell those G3s, buy an ATI Sunpower, and supplement your T5s with Reefbrites/LEDs. Here is a picture of a display tank at World Wide Corals. T5s with Reefbrites as supplements.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now