T5?

showtime305 · #1 08/16/2006, 01:39 AM

I'm considering T5's for my 72 gallon bow front. I'm definitely going with the 54w bulbs, but I’m not sure if 4 bulbs would be the best option for my tank. I don't think I can fit a 6 bulb fixture in my canopy. Can someone please advise? Thanks in advance for your help.

yamaha racer · #2 08/16/2006, 02:03 AM

what do u want to keep? the 4 bulb should be enough for lps and zoa's, rics, shrooms, and softies

showtime305 · #3 08/16/2006, 02:05 AM

I currently have both soft and LPS corals under 384w of pc. I'm hoping to eventually move into SPS and clams also.

yamaha racer · #4 08/16/2006, 02:10 AM

check swf.com i just answered it

reef211 · #5 08/16/2006, 11:02 AM

Hey there guys, i post this up last time about my 75g with 8, 54 watt bulbs from Tek light. I had the light for about 3 month now and i love it but the only bad thing is that my zoo's and shroom are bleaching. This is what i have 3 aquablue, 3 blueplus, 2 03 actinic. I have a mix tank with, zoo, shroom, soft coral, lps, and sps. My SPS, and LPS is doing well. i know it hard to have a mix tank and try to make everything happy. Any suggestion on the lighting would help.

BLockamon · #6 08/16/2006, 11:05 AM

You can also check out the Aquactinics fixture (http://www.aquactinics.com/). It's 5-bulb and can be run under a canopy as long as you drill holes opposite the fans. One of the testimonials on the site is from a guy with the T5 fixture over a 72 bow.

Jeanniee · #7 08/16/2006, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by reef211
Hey there guys, i post this up last time about my 75g with 8, 54 watt bulbs from Tek light. I had the light for about 3 month now and i love it but the only bad thing is that my zoo's and shroom are bleaching. This is what i have 3 aquablue, 3 blueplus, 2 03 actinic. I have a mix tank with, zoo, shroom, soft coral, lps, and sps. My SPS, and LPS is doing well. i know it hard to have a mix tank and try to make everything happy. Any suggestion on the lighting would help.

WOW! that's a lot of light. I have a 75 gal bow front and 4-54 was recommended and I could upgrade to a 6-54 to keep anything I could possibly think of including clams. An 8-54 may be burning your corals.

reef211 · #8 08/16/2006, 11:42 AM

Should i remove two of the bulbs out an would that mess up the light unit in long run? Jeannie what type of bulbs do you have on you unit?

Jeanniee · #9 08/16/2006, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by reef211
Should i remove two of the bulbs out an would that mess up the light unit in long run? Jeannie what type of bulbs do you have on you unit?

There is a huge thread called t-5 Q&A it is 19 pages and I admit I read the whole thing. It is my understanding that you can remove bulbs without a problem but I have no experience with this. If you can't get an answer here, shoot an email out to reefgeek.com. Greg was very patient with all of my questions and I highly recommend them. As for my bulbs, I have yet to decide on a combination. A lot of folks recommend ATI bulbs. I have a thread on what combination to use for a slightly bluer look but haven't gotten a response yet.

horkn · #10 08/16/2006, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeanniee
WOW! that's a lot of light. I have a 75 gal bow front and 4-54 was recommended and I could upgrade to a 6-54 to keep anything I could possibly think of including clams. An 8-54 may be burning your corals.

exactly. 5-6 x54 will easily do what you need.

also, adding a 5th t5ho (54w) will help to get into sps and clams on that 72 bowfront. i dunno how much room you have after you put 4 in there, but 1 extra would help

showtime305 · #11 08/16/2006, 01:21 PM

How deep will T5's penetrate through the water?

reef211 · #12 08/16/2006, 01:42 PM

Thank man, i will give Greg a call on that.

blackie lawless · #13 08/16/2006, 01:43 PM

I am running 4x54w (over driven) T5's on a 90G and growing SPS.

My LPS and Zoa's love it as well. Shrooms (as expected) have moved themselves into shaded areas of the tank.

Get a good set of reflectors, they are essential when using T5's.

Good Luck

David Grigor · #14 08/16/2006, 02:11 PM

A 72bow front, is very narrow on the ends. You will have a tough time fitting more then 4 in there from end to end. When I had a 72g bow, 4 VHOs was a tight fit. With reflectors, T5s take up about the same amount of space.

BLockamon · #15 08/16/2006, 05:24 PM

I hate to re-itterate, but the Aqcuatinics fixture packs 5 bulbs in about the same space as the 4-bulb Tek retrofit. Tom places the individual reflectors in a slightly curved configuration similar to the curvature of a parabolic MH reflector. This would serve three purposes:
1) the fixture is fairly narrow (9.5" wide)
2) since the bulb beams overlap, you should get a good color blend if you load the bulbs symetrically
3) the light should be a little more focused than the standard (flat) configuration. There should be a (slight) hot spot, like a MH, and a little better water penetration.

reef211 · #16 08/16/2006, 05:46 PM

Hey there blackie lawless, what type of bulbs are you running on your 90gal and in what order from front to back?

Jeanniee · #17 08/16/2006, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BLockamon
I hate to re-itterate, but the Aqcuatinics fixture packs 5 bulbs in about the same space as the 4-bulb Tek retrofit. Tom places the individual reflectors in a slightly curved configuration similar to the curvature of a parabolic MH reflector. This would serve three purposes:
1) the fixture is fairly narrow (9.5" wide)
2) since the bulb beams overlap, you should get a good color blend if you load the bulbs symetrically
3) the light should be a little more focused than the standard (flat) configuration. There should be a (slight) hot spot, like a MH, and a little better water penetration.

I haven't gotten around to figuring out the fixture. Is the aquactinics the better fixture to buy?

BLockamon · #18 08/16/2006, 07:54 PM

Better than the Tek fixture? The Aquactinics is the one I plan on going with when I get the money scraped together. They have a fan, can sit on the tank, and they already come with the acrylic shield (with is extra with Tek). Also, their legs are cheap if you need them (Tek is like $60+).

showtime305 · #19 08/16/2006, 08:14 PM

The aquactinics fixture looks great. I'll be choosing between the Aquactinics and the Tek fixture. Any opions on which fixture will be better? Thanks for all of your help on this. I've used other forums before posting here and the help was no where near as good as this.

horkn · #20 08/17/2006, 08:21 AM

on the 72 bow, the aquactinics may be the ticket. fitting any more than 4x54 in the tank would be tough otherwise. at least the aquactinics uses 5 bulbs.

oldimpala · #21 08/17/2006, 08:43 AM

I actually run the Tek-6 bulb unit on my 72G; the corners or the fixture, but not the "bulb area" hang over the edges, slightly, by about 3/4".....

It's allowing me to keep just about any SPS I want; it's a great unit, and is working really well, now only if it could keep my Phosphates low, I'd be all set...

-Andy/Oldimpala

blackie lawless · #22 08/17/2006, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by reef211
Hey there blackie lawless, what type of bulbs are you running on your 90gal and in what order from front to back?

(2) AquaBlue Plus's (Giesemann)
(2) Aticnic Plus's (Giesemann)

Front
Aticnic +
AquaBlue +
AquaBlue +
Aticnic +
Rear

This gives the tank the slightly bluish tint I like when looking at it from the front.

I am thinking of getting a GE Daylight bulb and throwing it in the second to last spot.

Hope this helps!

floridareefs · #23 08/17/2006, 09:53 AM

you could easily do it with 4 bulbs. Blackies setup is premo. That is what I would use.

reef211 · #24 08/17/2006, 11:12 AM

Blackie Lawless, Thanks man. Here is what i'm run on the tek light
please tell me that i am crazy to do this, but any suggestion would help me out.
FRONT
BLUEPLUS
AQUABLUE
O3 ACTINIC
03 ACTINIC
BLUEPLUS
03 ACTINIC
BLUEPLUS
BLUEPLUS
BACK
and it is on from 12-9, the first set is on from 12-9 and the other is on from 1-7. and if i need to remove any of the bulbs please tell me which one. thanks

David Grigor · #25 08/17/2006, 12:10 PM

I really see no advantage of stuffing a Tek 6 bulb on there. With bulbs reaching all the way to the front and back. Probably those end two bulbs are not providing as much useful light to the tank with spillage and who has corals that close to the edges. Especially using a fixture without a canopy to help keep the light in.

Also when you consider that the Tek reflectors provide 20% less light ( not hearsay I've done the tests with a par meter and others have similiar results ) , a four bulb retro with icecap reflectors is probably just as useful and less wattage ( I'm not a fixture person because I like the freedom of picking the best individual components for my application ).

I honestly don't see how anyone can say you can keep SPS under any better 6 bulb and not under a 4 bulb in this situation.Coral placement is the key. I doubt a single coral placed in the upper 1/4 of a tank with 6 bulbs will recieve direct light from all 6. So stuffing 6 bulb fixture there is definately some diminishing returns epsecially on a 72g.

If this is going to be a community tank, you wouldn't want the entire tank blasted anyways. I'm sure there would be lower light corals very suitable of areas under a 4 bulb configuration.