Are T5 lights safe for corals and aquatic plants?
Although experts say that the T5 lights are definitely not as bright, they seem to work just as well. Corals and aquatic plants seem to have no problem thriving under T5 lights. If you have a deep tank it is recommended that you do not use T5 light bulbs because the illumination will probably not reach the bottom of your reef tank. What are some advantages to using T5 light bulbs versus metal halides? T5 light fixtures get warm after prolonged use but manufactures claim that the heat is not radiant which means they are not likely to overheat your tank like metal halides tend to do. You won’t see much of a cash savings if you switch from metal halides to T5 lights but on the other hand if you switch from regular fluorescents to T5 bulbs you should see a more substantial savings. T5 technology is fairly new, but from what experts have seen so far there is no bad effect to using T5 lighting fixtures in your aquariums.
