Supplemental T5 lighting?

[motti]

I am running 5 DIYs radions 3 fixtures over my 7' tank. BRS sent this video today which ignited a little bit of interest in T5, and I was thinking that it might be a good idea to add few t5 tubes to the setup.

 

Does anyone here have experience mixing the two type of lights? One of the things I love about the LED pucks is that it causes a very nice shimmering effect in the tank, I do not like the heavy shadows tho. 

 

Would love to hear about what people here have experienced and any tips for retrofitting.

 

Thanks1

[YHSublime]

Yes. I ran two ATI coral plus bulbs on my two tanks one room build. 3 radions down the center, a bulb in the front, a bulb in the back. The most note able effect is that the shadows all filled in. It's worth it imo. You can see pictures if you go back far enough in my build.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gmerek2]

If you are LED fan put reef brights in very front and back of tank. If not T5s work good also. The radions do shadow like spotlights. Not a problem till you see SPS colonys years later

[motti]

Yes. I ran two ATI coral plus bulbs on my two tanks one room build. 3 radions down the center, a bulb in the front, a bulb in the back. The most note able effect is that the shadows all filled in. It's worth it imo. You can see pictures if you go back far enough in my build.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Isaac, took a while to find that post but I I did at the end. Do you think one 60" bulb would be enough to to cover the length of a 84" tank?

 

Was thinking to do one in the back and front. Or maybe 3-4 24" ones in between the radion fixtures

 

[YHSublime]

Thanks Isaac, took a while to find that post but I I did at the end. Do you think one 60" bulb would be enough to to cover the length of a 84" tank?

 

Was thinking to do one in the back and front. Or maybe 3-4 24" ones in between the radion fixtures

 

I don't think it would be enough, but you could settle for the edges of the tank being "darker."

 

I think it would be cleaner to run front and back vs. in between the fixtures. If you can, I would do 4 bulbs, my 150 was narrow, so space was dictated when execution occurred. I also angled the reflectors on a diagonal, to cast the light into the center instead of down the side.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[YHSublime]

If you are LED fan put reef brights in very front and back of tank. If not T5s work good also. The radions do shadow like spotlights. Not a problem till you see SPS colonys years later

The reef bright is a great idea, but from my experience, won't fill in the spotlight effect of LEDs. There is no substitution for the full and pop, imo.

 

Out of all the lights I've run, my favorite hands down is this combo of t5 and LEDs. It may not grow as fast as metal halides, but the cost and the heat have always been big players in any of my builds.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[motti]

Awesome thanks will try the front and back combination in the next couple of weeks. I might need to reconfigure the LEDs a little. Might take one of them out