LED's or T5's?

M

mwilk19

Membership Expired
Hello,
I have a 120 gallon reef tank that I currently running 4 Build My LED fixtures. My tank has done fairly well but my SPS has never really thrived. I rented a PAR meter and started checking to see how my lights were doing. Basically, if I run all 4 fixtures at 100% I can get a PAR reading of about 270 at the top of my rock formation. PAR at the bottom of the tank is about 150. I can't add any more BML fixtures as they are no longer in the aquarium lighting business. My lights are hanging about 4" above the surface of the water. Any thoughts about maybe an ATI 6 or 8 bulb fixture to replace the leds?
 
Have you considered keeping the LED lighting and adding some T5's as supplemental lighting? Maybe a 2 bulb fixture in front of your LEDs and another 2 bulbs behind? I use a led/T5 combo with pretty good results. I enjoy the 3 hour ramp up/down of the LEDs and run the ATI bulbs 6 1/2 hrs per day while the LEDs are at their peak.
 
Mike,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, that could also be an alternative. I know that there are hybrid fixtures out there that a lot of people are using. I'm ramping up my lights to 100% but I'm not sure that it's going to be enough. I'm just trying to weigh options and keep it as cost friendly as possible.
 
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