Which is weaker?

Okay so I am doing that combo since I think it will look nice IMO. So seems like everyone is against the GE 6500k bulb what would you replace it with in that combo?
4 -- ATI Blue Plus
2 -- UV Lighting 75-25
1 -- ATI 12000K Aquablue
1 -- GE 6500K Daylight
I know you guys are going to hate me after I say these next couple of sentences. Okay yeah so that GE6500k Bulb might grow algae but the odds are that it will not cause well...here it goes....I am using a scrubber! AAaaaww. lol I like my scrubber so far it is very efficient and is doing its job correctly. Scrubber aside what bulb do you think would go with that combo. I also agree with John this thread has been very informative and recommend any new reefer to read this.

 

I should mention this cause I have know clue what the light requirements are for anemones would these be able to keep anemones think 2-3 anemones and few softies and lps because well anemones can kill things lol. I really like anemones please do not tell me I need to get MH because you will break all my crayons :/

 

Anemones can be kept under T5s. However. Big however. I don't recommend anemones in any tank less than a year old owned and operated by an aquarist with a few years experience. The average lifespan of your typical anemone in captivity is around 6 months. When it goes, it releases toxins that can wipe out the tank.

Packleader lost most of his tank to a dead anemone. I lucked out when mine got caught in the powerhead. I got it out before it died. I will never have another. There are tons of anemone horror stories out there......but this is an entirely different thread.

Have fun dude. You will love your new lighting. I still look at mine in awe.

 

Okay I think I am pretty much done with this thread thinks for all the help everyone thank you john +1

 

Okay.... This thread is getting interesting! I have read ALOT of info, some good, some bad, some right some, well....not so right!!!

Ok. Lighting... T5 CAN grow SPS!!! I am doing it now!! SPS on the sand bed of a 24" tank! I have seen better tanks as well that are all T5!! Look at Papareef's tank, its all T5 and it is fantastic!!
MH is great as it is a highly concentrated lamp, so the intensity is great from penetrating deep tanks... BUT the light is chaotic, you might have 500 uMOls next to a spot that is 250 uMol due to the refraction of the light.
PAR or PUR ARE a very good way of determining how your lighting system is working good or bad. BUT corals and SPS esp need more than light. Water clarity, water quality, movement, food and parameters are all equally important. It was once thought that SPS gained upwards to 98% of their energy from light, that has now been bumped down to maybe upwards to 80% or so, while its still alot there is obviously other sources that SPS is getting energy from.
In simplistic terms, any light can grow corals.... I know you are all thinking WHAT?!?!?
The problem is the effeciency and intensity...
For example, since I have had this Quantum meter I have been testing everything, lamps, sun, anything.
Just for fun I tested the PC lights you use in your house to be "green" I wanna say 13w lamps. I put the probe about an inch from the lamp, the PAR was 756 uMol/m2/sec, I moved about an inch away and it was down to like 20 uMols. About another inch and it was under 10. So, THIS light COULD grow coral, if the PAR could go more than one inch away from the lamp. It is not intense enough to work. IF you had a 2 inch deep frag tank, and the PC was right on the water you could grow coral with that $4 PC lamp.

MH will continue to get strong reviews as they have been around for quite some time and on top of that they WORK...
T5 on the otherhand are "new" and have not had the time to prove they can do it....They are making strides but haven't officially one everyone over.

John you asked what SPS T5 can't grow.... tough to say, depending on the depth of the tank and the amount of lamps you can probably grow anything MH does... except of course some SPS that no one has kept sucessfully with MH yet.

Also, spectrums..... 6000K doesn't necessarily spark or promote algae.... Nutrients do. 6000Ks typically have more PAR and that is what will most likely spur the algae growth, not the color per se. Some have said that bluer lamps will contribute less to algae but I have seen blue tanks with algae and again, if you have a 20000k look, you most likely don't have as much PAR in the tank either.

Blending is more for our eyes and coloring of coral than it is to growth. Many aquaculture farms love the 6000k MH lamps...the growth is great.

Lastly as my kids are fighting as I type this......
Anemones....
Where is it written that a dead anemone will nuke a tank? Has this been documented anywhere? Any dead creature will release NH3 and that will throw the tank out of whack but aside from Boxfish, or cucumbers I have not really read, heard or seen any other creature "nuke" a tank.....

Ok, gotta go, be back later. Happy lighting!

The Doc

 

DrFrag, is there a rule of thumb you can give as to how much PAR or PUR is lost with each inch the T5 lamps are raised above the tank?

I KNOW you've studied this with that fancy meter of yours ... ;D

 

Well.....I respectfully beg to differ. Tanks enjoying direct sunlight tend to have more algae problems than ones in indirect. Placing a 6000K bulb in the mix will not promote algae growth on it's own, but it will accelerate the process. They just like the spectral characteristics of bulbs of the 6000K ilk.

And WRT anemones, I cannot pull an article out to prove what I am saying. Just going on what those before me have stated. It has, for lack of a better term, become common knowledge. There are some members on the forums here who have suffered at the hands of a rogue anemone. So if you are looking for a formal article on the subject, you will probably have to dig for a publication. All you really have to do is use the search engine on the site you will find references in real life.

That is the wonderful thing about discussion forums.;D

 

Okay I do not think that 6000k will not be the main cause of algae but I do believe that it has some affect on speeding it up. I have read in articles that anenomes take tanks down and accept this fact.

 

While I agree that a 6000-6500k bulb will be the main cause of algae as well, I recall a pair of tanks in a test, both sharing the same sump, and both were identical minus the 6500k MH on one, and a 10k bulb on the other. Guess which one had algae issues? The lights wee changed form the 6500k to the other side, and the same 10k to the other side that had algae, and the tank that now had the 6500k bulb started growing algae,a dn the 10k lit one started clearing up and becoming algae free. Odd, but I think there is something to it.

As far as what sps corals I had issues with under onlyt5ho, I can say i bleached out a few SPS frags when I had them in my t5 lit tank. It did not matter if they were on the bottom or not, the same ones bleached. Even easy to keep ones like green slimers that were directly under 250w 10k halides where the frag came from. other corals I had had the same issues, and some LPS I had, despite being on the bottom of the tank would get a "sunburn" at the top of its skeleton. This was all in a tank that was up fro 4 years.

I have not personally heard of dead anemones nuking a tank like a dead sea apple can.

 

I have a feeling if my Sea Apple went, it would take out every tank in a five mile radius. But it is still a very cool specimen. It is feeding tonight, so it is open wide. Found a food called Oyster Feast that the critters seem to enjoy.....