Lighting a 135

clopez · #1 12/06/2006, 02:14 AM

I have pretty much garbage lighting right now but i dont have any corals at the moment. The tank is 72 long 19 wide and about 21-22(didnt measure this but i know its close). I was really interested in the TEK lights but cant afford buying two of these things. I was really mostly looking into T5. I just am a bit clueless on how to go about lighting this thing.

pondfrog · #2 12/06/2006, 09:01 AM

You really have a few choices depending on what kind of corals you want to keep.

Assuming you will follow the tried and true (read: lemming

)path of coral progression (softies to LPS to SPS), you should be fine for most of those with T5s. some will argue to jump right to metal halide and there would be some defense for that, however there are many successful tanks out there running sps with T5s and those bulbs should be good for some early learner corals as well.

Start looking at some of the plug and play options offered by the sponsors here. You should be able to find a nice 6' system with T5s alone or a combo lighting fixture with some T5s and a couple 250w DE metal halide bulbs.

The real question is what corals do you want ot keep and what color do you like your tank, but as you are just starting out that is a tough question to answer.
My opinion is you will find the T5/metal halide combo a nice happy medium.
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...=Oceanlight-T5

HTH
Steve

clopez · #3 12/06/2006, 06:53 PM

Really want to avoid metal halides. Mostly looking into something which i can attatch to the canopy. Like retrofit t5's or even halides if i have to. I just dont want to increase my power bill too much with halides. Would 1 halide per 2 feet be acceptable?

jmcmahon66 · #4 12/06/2006, 08:55 PM

I think the lights suggested by pondfrog are perfect. A T5/MH combo is my personal favorite. IMO, 1 halide per 2 feet is perfectly fine. My only problem with T5 lighting ( I do not have them by the way, so I'm just guessing ), is the number of bulbs you'll need for a 6 ft tank. At the minimum 4 bulbs would be needed, right? So at bulb change time you are doing 3 MH and 4 T5 bulbs. I know they are cheaper, but it seems like a lot to me.
You have PM by the way.

clopez · #5 12/06/2006, 11:55 PM

Thanks for the inputs. I am now considering just switching to a 48" length tank. I had just seen the TEK T5 lights in person and all i can say is wow it looked amazing. I have decided to avoid metal halide and strictly adhere to T5.
I think a 48" tank would just suit my needs (space, light fixture etc.)