Not real happy with reef breeders led and sps...add T5 for better growth? Or go MH?

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by DavidinGA, Sep 15, 2014.

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  1. DavidinGA

    DavidinGA Fire Worm

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    I've been running two Photon 32 reef breeder leds over my 210gal for a little over a year now on my mixed reef, which is becoming a dominate sps tank now. While nothing dies under these led I have shadowing issues (bases of corals die) and the growth isn't that great (very slow growth for most sps).

    To the best of my knowledge all my parameters have been in line for a long time and I have never had any nuisance algae issues or other problems.

    Here's the info on my info:

    210gal dt (standard 6ft'er)
    250# live rock, 150+ # oolite sand
    75gal sump
    Reef Breeder Photon 32 x2 (running at max of 70/60 for 3 hours) new style led layout with greens/reds/violets/etc
    sro3000int skimmer
    eheim 1262 return
    fuge with chaeto (about a month ago I switched to a vertical algae scrubber that has only recently made enough green algae for one harvest so far. I have noticed only a very slight improvement in coral growth thus far with the scrubber; otherwise no noticeable impact from it thus far)
    Jebao WP40 x2
    Jebao WP60 x1


    15-20 fish mostly tangs/wrasses/chromis/clowns
    lps/sps/couple nems


    80F
    1.025
    8.1-8.2 pH
    Alk 9
    Cal 460
    Mg 1360
    PO4 (never tested but no algae issue at all)



    I am really considering dumping the leds and going just MH with 250w x 3 running either Radiums or 14k phoenix DE and maybe add some moonlights. Before I go all out there I was wondering what everyones thoughts were if I were to keep the leds and add some T5's. Would that possibly improve my slow growth and shadowing issues? If so, how many T5's would be advisable? I was thinking of running either a 2 or 4 bulb retro T5 setup with 2 bulbs each side of the leds, so I would add 4 60" T5's to my existing leds - thoughts?

    I have zero experience with T5's as I went led right from the start. If I added T5's what bulb combos would be the best in conjuncture with my leds?

    Understand that I am not really anti-led by any means but it seems they are so hard to dial in exactly what is needed in the spectrum that it's just so much easier to throw up some MH and watch the stuff grow like it should. However, since I have led's already I'm thinking it would probably be best to add to whatever it is my leds are missing by supplementing with T5's. I know it would be substantially cheaper on the electric bill to add T5's after running the numbers on the hit I would take to run 3 250w MH too....

    Thanks for any/all input.

    (and yes this is another one of those endless led vs t5 vs mh vs .... beat a dead horse threads
     
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  3. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

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    I'm a MH/T5 guy, amazing combination. That said, I believe adding quality T5 bulbs would help your lighting issues. Ditching your leds should be a last resort but you don't want to waste money. I've seen amazing tanks with T5/led combo's. If you add T5 supplement lighting try lowering the intensity of the led fixtures. Hope that helps. All else fails, get a nice halide/T5 fixture and a chiller then watch the growth in awe;)
     
  4. Kevin_E

    Kevin_E Giant Squid

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    I had LEDs and added two T-5 bulbs to the unit and growth was good. However, I decided to go back to halide.
     
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  5. gcarroll

    gcarroll Zoanthid

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    I have a few questions.

    Is your tank 30" tall or 24" tall?
    Are you stating that you are running your lights for 3 hours/day?
    If so, what is the reasoning for this?
     
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  6. DavidinGA

    DavidinGA Fire Worm

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    30"

    No my leds run at their max power setting for 3 hours. They are on for 12 hours a day total.
     
  7. gcarroll

    gcarroll Zoanthid

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    So it runs at 100% for 3 hours.
    What percentage for the other 9 hours? Light and water flow are usually the culprits when having the type of problems you are experiencing. Right off the bat I's looking at the amount of light as the problem. 450 w of light IMO is not enough for a successful 225g sps tank IMHO!
     
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  9. Servillius

    Servillius Montipora Digitata

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    I'm currently running an ATI LED/t5 hybrid and I love it. If I had any choice in the world for lighting today, I'd go halide. Do it - you won't regret it.

    I totally agree with you. I have no idea who is right about all the do LEDs work discussions. Just don't care any more, I'm too dumb to make them work and t5 and halides work great.
     
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  10. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

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    I'd like to see a reading on your PO4 as well as NO3 from a high-quality kit/monitor. If you're going SPS, you should have them. Those levels are critical to coral health and growth, as well as their sensitivity to light. Too low is just as bad as too high, BTW.
     
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  11. DavidinGA

    DavidinGA Fire Worm

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    I ramp from 50b/40w to 70/60w then ramp back down.
     
  12. gcarroll

    gcarroll Zoanthid

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    Yeah you are not running near enough light IMO. At least not for SPS. I had a successful 225g SPS tank. I was running 1200w of MH and 200w of LED. You cannot replicate my results with 300-350w of MH on that size tank. Although LEDs are efficient, they are not much more efficient than an optimal MH set-up. Yes you can get by with less, but not with just a fraction!