Any one in the HRRC Use T5 lighting?

[The Shrimp X]

Just wondering, that way i can possibly see T5 lights at work!!!
I mean i am for sure going to be getting the 6-54 watt T5 Tek-light but i wouldnt mind seeing them first hand.

Now for a few questions.
What bulb combo are you using?
What do you have in the tank?
Are you happy with them?


thanks for any help.

[BigEasy]

I do. Tek 6x48" fixture with stand legs on a 90 gal. Use Blue +, Aquablue, GE day, Blue+, Aquablue, Blue + from front to back. The Blue+ on the outsides come on and off 1 hour before rest. This is a little on the blue side, but everyone seems happy for now. I have an extra GE day ready to go if I need to replace the middle blue +. I don't have much as far as corals yet, as I have just finished my transition fro FOWLR to reef set up to add them. The xenia, mushrooms and leather took about 2 weeks for photoacclimation. Shrooms and leather are near the bottom and xenia are anout half way down. So I will be starting the LPS/SPS plunge this week! I envy you guys talking about all of your corals. Went yesterday but Fish Safari was closed. I did catch Leroy there who gave me 40gal of water while he was there feeding. Very nice of him. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[BigEasy]

Couple of other things too. Order from ReefGeek Great customer service and a good deal). If you go with a fixture, use the Tek, if retrofit, do IceCap with the 660 ballast. Use ATI bulbs for everything except the day. Use GE day. If you get the stand legs for the Tek, be careful on the 90 with the 48" fixture. It can slip. I glued two pieces of 1/2" by 1/2" wood under the leg to make sure it couldn't move around. If you plan to use a canopy or skirt, 6x48 fixture will be the largest you can get, due to the fixtures width. The built in ballasts can run 2 more bulbs though as add ons later. Later upgrades could also be ATI SLR reflectors, but they add only 10% more PAR at 18" of depth (may not be worth the money). I hope I didn't waste your time with stuff you already knew.
Steve

http://www.reefgeek.com/

[The Shrimp X]

It was in no way a waist of time!!! I did know some of the info you wrote, but everybit is helpful. Leroy from Fish Safari is an amazingly helpful guy!!! I plan on ordering my T5 6-54 watt teklight through him if he can give me a good deal. I plan on using a combo with more GE daylgith bulbs, because there is a lot of rumors that they give awsome growth. SO i probibly will have

Front-Back

Blue+/daylight/aquablue/blue+/Daylight/Blue+

or something along those lines.

[BigEasy]

Sounds good. I would compare whatever price Leroy gives you with ReefGeek. See which is best, because T-5 aren't in stock at Fish Safari. May be hard to beat Reef Geek's price. You also get bulbs included with some deals.

Don't know what lights you are using now, but these will surprise you. Alot of PAR for the watts.

[datog]

one thing i've noticed recently at the jungle - they've started carying coralife fixtures of all kinds - even the new t-5 fixtures. they're cheap too. my tank is 30" wide, and i think a double fixture was only somewhere around $40 - $50. the fixture is super small too (1-1/2" high x 3" wide x whatever length your after). the 48" double fixture went up to about $60.

i use a single and a double pc fixture (3 x 65) over my 37, and was thinking about adding one of these things too - heard good stuff about them.

[BigEasy]

Before you buy it, you should take a close look at the ballast and reflectors. There may be a reason it is so inexpensive. Do your research.

One easy thing to check is to see if each bulb has its own reflector that has multiple bends and has a highly reflective finish.