mushrooms under 6 t5 bulbs?

[bigfruits]

i want to set up a mixed reef and im leaning on t5 as the lighting. i was wondering if anyone kept mushrooms under a 6 bulb tek fixture.

im planning on buying a 90 gal tank (24 inches high). would i be able to keep mushrooms low in the tank but not in the shade with 6 bulbs?

thanks in advance
-z

[roader247]

My guess is no I don't have my 90 up yet so I really don't know I'm starting with 4 on an Icecap ballast. I think you could shade them and they might be ok and make sure you adjust them to the light slowly

[ernordstrom]

I only have the 4 bulb 2" tek fixture and let me tell you these lights are bright!! you may be okay with the mushrooms but I know that mine personally looked real bad until I moved them to the shade. I only have 1 left..the others seemed to have just disapeared. t-5's = poof (your shrooms are gone) I have SPS up hight with all my LPS and clams on the bottom. check out my gigas...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=794383


my 2 cents.
I personnally wouldn't recommend any regular mushroom corals however my Orange Ricordia love the lights... others may have other experiences with them

[horkn]

i may be going the same route with my 90g (5 or 6 retro t5ho), but i can say under 3x39t5ho with aqualux reflectors, I can keep any type of shroom but the green striped ones. those merely melt away in a matter of days.

however, since the tek reflectors are 20% less PAR (at a depth of 16" or so) as the ic or aqualux reflectors, any shroom should do fine under even 6 t5ho at the bottom of a 2 foot tall tank.

what bulbs were you thinking of going with? and what kind of corals do you want in the tank?

[horkn]

I needed to add that I keep frilly shrooms, purple shrooms, and watermelon shrooms near the top of my tank, at the same height as my acropora, montipora, and pocillopora, while the blue shrooms i have are at the bottom of my 17" tall tank.

[landragon]

I had bad results under 6 x t5ho in my 90, with shrooms. Some handle most don't. The redder ones sem to take it a bit better, as do riccordia florida. All my yumas dissolved, as did many others. Blue ones took the biggest dump.

[horkn]

do you still run the 6x54 on the 90? or do you have a differnet ligth tactic now?

i ask because i am picking my 90 up this weekend. i plan on going mh and t5ho, but i want to see what others with 90s have done.

[bigfruits]

landragon- did you acclimate the shrooms to the light? the window screen method maybe?

horkn- i was thinking of going with 4 blue plus and 2 aquablues.
i want to be able to keep any coral but dont mind sticking sps up top. my favorites are mushrooms, rics and zoos. my tank will mostly be moderate to low light coral. (softies and lps)
what would you recommend, 90 gallon with 4 or 6 bulb tek or 75 gallon with 4 bulb tek

thanks again
-z

[landragon]

Horkn, For the reccord,I got a 6 bulb retro w/ IC reflectors and Universal ballasts. I ended up getting a dual 250 SE 14k setup from Hamilton. I am using PFO Optimal Parralel Reflectors. I supplement their blueness w/ t5ho, 1 x Blue + and 1 x GE SUN. It sounds odd but works well. Pre halides hours are yellow due to my tank setup not allowing the tubes to mix as much. My manifold for CL blocks the direct down path of each T5. Like this

The halides are mounted perpendicular to the leng of the tank. Like this

I am very happy now, and my shrooms are not as hard hit. It kinda sucks I had to put in more watts to get less light, but I am starting to see T5HO more usefull in high light demand situations than low ones.

Slap, I acclimated slowly using Eggcrate and plastic screen for embroidery from a craft store. They were acclimated from a tank with t5ho. 3 x 39 watters. two AB+ one B+ . Being overdriven!! It has been noted prior, that the 54 w are more efficient by far. Perhaps the most efficient source available now. I have any bulb sold for aquarium use in in America that is T5HO, except AB bulbs.
CV and AM are the same. As are Geissman/ATI/DD from the same manufacturer. I am not Grim, but have done a fair share of testing. I feel 4 bulbs will suffice most corals in either tank, Not many shrooms in the 75 though and not as well for clams at the bottom of the 90. I would use a more even spectum blend. Unless you want tidy bowl. 4 B+ and 2 AB+ is nasty IMO. This is way too blue for me and most, and sems to really wash out the colors. When using all T5Ho, I settled on1 x B+ + 1 X PA for outside actinic in the 1 and 6 position, then 1 x ATI sun + 1 x B+ in the 2 and 4 position, and then 2 x AB+ in 3 and 5. These were staggered throughout the day to slowly bring up the light. I had visions of those mega $$ dimmable T5HO ballasts and a well written cloud/sun cycle, but I am not there yet. This combo gave me a very white look, with the hints of blue, + mega pop. I prefer the appearance now only due to the shimmer.I am about to setup 3 x 75 frag tanks. I will use 2 t5ho over each, 1-2" from surface as I still have a full four bulb setup. I also have too many extra bulbs, an extra ballast, and 24 dry endcaps to play with. All i need is two more reflectors, and I will experiment for growth and duration of good results before need for bulb change. Quasi scientific of course

[old salty]

I have red shrooms and they haven't been happy until recently when I moved them almost completely out of direct light (under a rock at the bottom of the tank.) This is using a TEK 6 bulb fixture.

[landragon]

Interesting. Mine all acclimated well to higher light and flow than my blues.

[landragon]

but I run a very low nutrient system.

[horkn]

nice drawrings landragon


but they were helpful

my plans ever since this 90 came into my thoughts were to go mh and t5ho on it. but i am thinking 1 250w de in the middle (or 1 400w de) and the t5ho in front and back. i am palnninga euro mod brace to allow this.

i have put tons of hours into t5ho research, along with grim when he was here.
even though i am fluent in t5ho, theres still so many variables in every tank to make complete blanket statements.

I am glad i de bunked the myth that workhorse ballasts kill t5ho bulbs prematurely in aquarium use

[landragon]

I like to do drawrings!
But I suck.
As for WH I do feel they use up the useful spectrum faster than say a universal. But that is total conjecture, and based soley on 2 years of using them. I did see a difference day to day that was very slightly noticable to the eye of the brightness when using WH. I used to OD my two bulbs, but since using it to ND three it is better for sure. I wish I had rebraced this tank too. Do it now or it will never get done. If you go single SE400 or SE250 I highly reccomend mounting the bulb perpendicular to the tank. I played around a bit first and had a lot of light out the front and back of the tank. Since changing, I am much happier as more of the money I spend on power gets directed in my tank now. Now if those damn UVL / URI t5ho's..............