new lighting wow what a difference...

[daytonaconnecti]

i just went form pc lights to 150w MH / 2 X 24w T5 10,000k not sure what to make of it.... it looks good real bright and blue hue,

 

[Krish]

Sounds good Bill!! Any pics???

 

[daytonaconnecti]

hears a bad pic. View attachment 26631 should i leave the two t5 on all the time with the mh

 

[mattleycrue76]

i know what you mean. I recently switched from pc to mh and my jaw about hit the floor. I leave my actinics on from one hr before the MHs till one hour after.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

i know what you mean. I recently switched from pc to mh and my jaw about hit the floor. I leave my actinics on from one hr before the MHs till one hour after.

so they both stay on togeather for most of the time....mine is set for 12hr on and 12hr off not sure if it is right....

 

[Krish]

Looks good!! If you want you can leave them all on for the most part of the day, however just have the T-5's come on at the beginning of the day first for like an hour (by themself)and then in the evening, let the T-5's stay on again by themself for an hour again. It will give the tank a dusk to dawn effect.

 

[SeaMonster]

looks good! I hope you remember to acclimate your tank to the new halides especially if you have a torch

 

[daytonaconnecti]

Looks good!! If you want you can leave them all on for the most part of the day, however just have the T-5's come on at the beginning of the day first for like an hour (by themself)and then in the evening, let the T-5's stay on again by themself for an hour again. It will give the tank a dusk to dawn effect.

is it important to do it that way? also what does the t5s bring to the tank.... i see tanks with just mh only...

 

[daytonaconnecti]

looks good! I hope you remember to acclimate your tank to the new halides especially if you have a torch

thanks... i have no torch, just lr and a group of shrooms...the tank has been going for some years now...its the frist few days with the new light.. i would like to get more color,to the tank but i have no idea what to get as new additions for the tank..

 

[burning2nd]

a hanging kit would make it so you cound square the light up with the corner......

looks great tho....

 

[Krish]

is it important to do it that way? also what does the t5s bring to the tank.... i see tanks with just mh only...

You don't necessarily have to do it that way. Alot of people have everything come on one shot/one time every morning. However, some people prefer to replicate nature a bit and allow the fish to slowly adjust to the lighting each day coming from total darkness. Just imagine you're asleep in a pitch black room and someone just opens your blinds at mid day! :shock: As for what the T-5's bring to the tank as opposed to just metal halides, as some people use, is for one, you get a a bit more wattage out of the setup. Secondly, if you are running something like a 10K metal halide bulb, sometimes the only way to supplement a bit of blue color (actinics) in there is through the T-5 just like it is with some power compact fixtures. With power compacts you usually have equal amounts of blue bulbs (actinics) to match your "white bulbs". Some people however will just run a higher kelvin rated bulb when only using metal halides like a 14K or 20K which the higher the kelvin rating, the more blue color you get out of the bulb so in that case, T-5's aren't totally necessary for actinic supplementation. Last thing I could think of is to allow for the "dusk to dawn" effect like mentioned before.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

i like the idea of the t5s coming on before and after the mh... is an hr before and after ok?

 

[daytonaconnecti]

a hanging kit would make it so you cound square the light up with the corner......

looks great tho....

could you tell me more..

 

[daytonaconnecti]

so as for getting more color to the tank, with flow ok and the lighting ok, what can i add to the tank that is not to hard to take care of?

 

[burning2nd]

as long as your useing a timer... what ever happens with your lights your fish will adjust..

my fish all know when the lights are comeing on, and turning off....

 

[daytonaconnecti]

a hanging kit would make it so you cound square the light up with the corner......

looks great tho....

iam sorry i ment about the hanging kit aquaring up with the corner

 

[Krish]

i like the idea of the t5s coming on before and after the mh... is an hr before and after ok?

Yeah man...That's how I use to run mine

 

[daytonaconnecti]

iam sorry i ment about the hanging kit squaring up with the corner

square the light up with the corner

 

[daytonaconnecti]

Looks good!! If you want you can leave them all on for the most part of the day, however just have the T-5's come on at the beginning of the day first for like an hour (by themself)and then in the evening, let the T-5's stay on again by themself for an hour again. It will give the tank a dusk to dawn effect.

so the hr before and after should be part of the 12hr period

 

[Krish]

Either way...You can do 1 hour t-5's, 10 hours everything and then 1 hour T-5's or 1 hour T-5's, 12 hours of everything, and then 1 hour of T-5's. It all depends on how many hours you want all the lights on for. Your corals don't necessarily need 12 hours of everything each day so you can do what you prefer the most