Need your opinions MH T5 LE

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Hey all,

Thought I would post this for a bit of fun and to help me make up my mind. I am very familiar with all of the different lighting options, but I'm looking for the best Coral health and growth.

I'll be posting a build thread in the next week or so. I have a new Red Sea Reefer XL 300 G2 that's doing great. Has 4 small SPS frags from ORA currently and I have some nice growth in the 1.5 months I've had them.

Three lighting options to choose from. I own all of these, brand new in the box.

Tank is 36" long - 22" high - 23" wide

1) Reef Brite 36" DE Metal Halide Fixture. Has 2 DE 14k Hamilton bulbs and also I have 2 brand new Reef Brite 250w ballasts.

2) ATI 48" 8x54w HO Dimmable Fixture - I just bought the dimmable for the option, would run at 100% as I hear they have some troubles with ballasts when dimming feature is used.

3) 36" Illumagic Blaze X Dual LED Fixtures - Current lighting on tank. I have 2 mounted and they are the best LED I've ever used. Just ready to see if I can grow quicker corals under T5 or MH. Pic of the Illumagic Blaze X Dual 90s on currently.

***Power usage, Heat, Cost of bulbs or other equipment, is absolutely no issue and shouldn't be factored in. I have central AC and plenty of cooling. ***

If you could run any of the three above, which would you go with and why?

 

[w8lifts]

I vote for option 2

 

[sfmacguy]

Halides

 

[Timfish]

Short answer, doesn't matter, somebody won't like whatever you choose.

Longer answer, here's a paper looking at the effect different lighting technologies have on two different species

Contrasting Light Spectra Constrain the Macro and Microstructures of Scleractinian Corals

The morphological plasticity of scleractinian corals can be influenced by numerous factors in their natural environment. However, it is difficult to identify in situ the relative influence of a single biotic or abiotic factor, due to potential interactions between them. Light is considered as a...

journals.plos.org

It also will depend on the species genotype and species and clades of simbionts.

Abd to complicate things, as if they aren't already, maximising growth probably isn't in the best interests of the corals.

Mechanisms and potential immune tradeoffs of accelerated coral growth induced by microfragmentation

Microfragmentation is the act of cutting corals into small pieces (~1 cm2) to accelerate the growth rates of corals relative to growth rates observed when maintaining larger-sized fragments. This rapid tissue and skeletal expansion technique offers great potential for supporting reef...

peerj.com

 

[minus9]

Two 14k Phoenix bulbs and xho's for the win! If you're leaning towards acropora dominant, then nothing beats the halide/xho combo. I went from all LED to halide/LED (quanta pro bars) and everything is awesome! But no matter what, pick what looks best to you. I will say this though, fish look amazing under halides.

 

[ReefGeezer]

5000 K metal halide light grow the heck out of stony corals. It makes them look awful though. When it comes to making corals look good while they are growing, there isn't a lot of difference in the different sources.

As for the choices you listed...
Choice 1: Halide certainly works. You might want to add some Actinic to that... T5 or Reefbrite Strips maybe. Heat, bulb cost, power consumption, and maybe bulb availability could be issues.

Choice 2: I use the ATI 8X 54w dimmable and like it. It is over kill on my 18" wide 90 Gallon though. In your case, is a 48" fixture over a 36" tank is wasteful? Wouldn't the 36" 8X39w be better? Better yet, maybe the 6X39w fixture with two reefbrite actinic LED strips would be a good fit. Some heat, some power costs, and bulb costs might be an issue. The light is very consistent all across the tank.

Choice 3: Your LEDs look pretty good. Issue might only be the variability of the intensity. PAR might be higher where the light is pointing and lower in the periphery. They look pretty white in the picture but I'll guess you can program more blue into the mix.

 

[minus9]

Two RB pendants with 14k Hamilton’s and three Quanta Pro Meso blue bars. No filters or post processing, taken with iPhone XS.

 

[A. grandis]

Halides! Not only faster growth, but also great pigment formation and general health for your system IMO!

 

[StatelineReefer]

... Am I alone in the fact that I run all three simultaneously for different reasons? Two 150w 14k metal halides, a 4ft. 4 bulb T5 fixture with fiji purples and coral II's, and 2 Noopsyche k3's running AB+ for that royal blue spectrum.

I mean, daylight in my basement? Yes please.

 

[Bpb]

If you already own them, and can handle/tolerate the heat, put a pair of 6500k or 10,000k bulbs in that halide unit and buy yourself some real ocean harvested live rock to supplement the tank with

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Thank you everyone. Excellent feedback from all!

Well, I laid them all out and tried each above the tank briefly. I can't believe I waited to do this.

Reef Geezer, you said a 48 inch T5 was overkill. Lol, I didn't think it would be that much of a difference when I purchased it last week, but boy was it. I really bought it for future use and I'll save it. I didn't even put bulbs in it or turn it in as I have anithet new 24 inch fixture T5 and the look is great, but not right now.

I decided to go with the 36" Reef Brite dual 250w 14k Metal Halide. I can't believe the difference. Just on looks alone it transformed the tank and the room. The wife hated the LEDs as they seemed dark when though I was getting 330 to 350 par on the Acro frags over halfway deep in the tank.

The fish even seem to like it more. They are very active and the Acro frags opened up immediately.

Again, I really appreciate the feedback from everyone. It was excellent. I'll keep you updated as a couple of months go to growth.

I'm going to Hamilton's website and going to order about 20 bulbs to cover a 10 year span. Never know these days.

The fixture is mounted 10 1/2) inches from the top of the tank glass. I have Kraken plexiglass/screen lids and they cut about 40 PAR when they are installed. With the lids installed I'm getting 300 to 320 PAR at the frags. They are all 12 inches deep. Derasa clam on the sand bed is getting about 260 PAR.

I had just installed and was cleaning the glass.

ORA VooDoo Acropora Frag 15 min after turning MH on for first time.

ORA Green Planet, you can see the shading from LED underneath. It hadn't fully extended PE yet as I had touched it with PAR meter.

Full shot, right after install. Was performing maintenance.

Fiji Bicolor Foxface and Yellow Scopas Tang

 

[Bpb]

Tank looks terrific

 

[Steven Garland]

I say halid/t5/led combo. You seriously cannot get a better light for growth & color. 14k halide (midday/peak),B+ and Actinic T5,ReefBrite Led's (from sun up to sun down).