Lighting help for my 75

[gjuarez]

I have been researching some lighting and I am more confused now more than ever. I wanted to go metal halide with vho actinics. I started searching some sps tanks under t5 lighting on RC and they are just amazing. SOme of hte most amazing tanks are being kept under t5. I believe some of you guys have tank setups with t5s. What do you guys think? Tim, I think you are one of the the guys who has t5s. What do you think so far?

[gjuarez]

Here are some pictures of a german tank kept under t5s only.

[gjuarez]

THis person has amazing color and growth and does not use zeovit. Texas Todd ask the person a few questions as far as what type of bulbs, what combination, and how far from the surface. Once the person answers I will post it here for those who are interested. I have seen so many great tanks with t5 lighting. Last month's TOTM on RC was all t5 lighting. If this is the real deal I would like to try it out, it gives more bang for the buck. T5 users, what do you think? Should I go for it. Please post experiences.

[dwdenny]

Not sure if it is 36" or 48" tank but I would go with a 6X54w if 48 or 6X39w if 36" T5. 2 GE daylight(6500k) 2 Aquablue(11kk) and 2 Blue+(arounnd 20kk) woud look blue but not all the blue. On RC look for a thread called a T5 cautionary note or something like that. Tons of information and setups with nothing but T5. If you retro with an IC 660 the 54w T5 are overdriven to like 80w each. Whatever you do make sure you get the good reflectors like the IC or the sunlight supply. There is another one at aqualuxlighting.com that whn I talked The Grim Reefer he said that they are better the sunlight supply ones but they are like 3" wide compared to the IC at 2 1/8" or the sunlight supply at 2 1/4" but at 18" depth there is really no difference. Her is the is the thread it is split so if you want to read all of it you will have to go to the first page http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=602732&highlight=T5 HTH

[gjuarez]

Thanks Doug. Tim, how do you like yours so far? I am thinking of keeping sps but I want some info first. I am not sure yet if I am going T5, I have had great success with metal halide. If I go metal halide it will be 2 250 watt DE pendants. I plan to use phoenix 14k bulbs with vho actinic supplementation. I like the blue look. ANyone out there with T5s on a sps tank.

[Polkster13]

I have T-5's only on my personal tank (135 gallon - mix of SPS and LPS) and I am using two 250 watt DE MH 10K with 4 T-5 actinics on my frag tank (mostlt SPS with some LPS as well). I just recently purchased Tim Marvin's Frag system (lots of SPS and 6 different clams) as well and he was using the same lighting setup on his. We both like the color and growth that you get with this combination. I have personally seen others that run only T-5 systems (Greg Houston comes to mind as well as Don in SA) and I really like theirs as well. And I am not saying that just because I sell T-5 lighting systems. I was using these lights BEFORE I started my company. I was so impressed with them that I decided to sell them as well.

[dwdenny]

Sorry Polkster13 I forgot to mention you as well when I responded earlier. I am still up in the air about what I am going to do with my setup as well but leaning to T5 as to try to avoid the heat and not have dark ends. But not sure yet if I am going to go with a 250w SE with LAIII mini reflector with 20kk bulb or the 4X39w T5's.

[BadPig]

I know warehouses use them now instead of MH. I think they put out more lumens per watt than MH. They also give off less heat per watt than MH.

[dwdenny]

yeah I know with the IC 660 the 39w will run at like 60w and the 54w will run at like 80w and the 80w at 100w with not much premature death of the bulb. IC is still saying 18 months on the higher K bulbs and 24 months on the lower K bulbs. That is a long time between bulb changes. I just figured it would cost me 100 and some change to swap out all 4-39w T5 at one time. Not bad just a little cheaper then one MH depending on what bulb you use.

[gjuarez]

THanks frederick. I sent you a PM. Don-n-Sa, if youre reading this can you please give me some feedback.

[gjuarez]

anyone out there? Common. I know there is some people with T5 lights. I really need your help on this one guys.

[pilot_bell777]

Don's tank is the only one I have seen in person running just T5's and I was amazed! He even said that he burned one of his corals and had to move it. Forgot what he was running, but dang you would have swore it was a lot of MH just looking at the glow of the tank.

Beautiful tank Don-n-sa!!!!

[gjuarez]

Thanks a lot Pilot. I am seriously thinking of going all T5 for an sps tank. Your comments sure helped get rid of some of my skepticism. I never thought sps corals would be able to be kept in anything less than metal halides but now my opinion is starting to change.

[BIGBIRD123]

If I remember correctly, then Don's running 10k, actinic (420 nm) and aquablue (460 nm). I believe if you go back to the March Reefkeeping magazine, there was a guy on the cover with one of the finest SPS tank I've ever seen...ALL t5s. Here's the link:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/totm/index.php

Steve

[dwdenny]

yeah and he is from Austin originally. Awesome tank.

[gjuarez]

"I started out with six 54-watt T5s, but it wasn't long before I increased the lighting to eight 54-watt T5s with the addition of more light demanding corals. The bulb combination now consists of five ATI Aquablue Special (11,000K) and three ATI Blue Plus (Radium equivalent) for maximum intensity and yet still provides a balanced spectrum for coral growth and color." Daniel Gan

This is what Danano was using on his tank and it just looks amazing. That was one of the tanks that inspired me to find out more about T5s. I enjoy going back and looking at his tank and comments. It is just beautiful. Thanks Bigbird

[gjuarez]

I already have a clue as to what to get for my 75. That is a nice combination. Anyone now of a good place to find these?

[gjuarez]

Hey Tim, this is the one. What do you think about clams with T5s?

[Tim Marvin]

Greg was running T-5 on his 150 and the clams did just fine. He had some big clams also not tiny one that feed.

[gjuarez]

Thanks Tim, I was wondering about the clams. I really want to keep them so I wasnt sure if I was going to go T5 after all. That is very good to hear. I definately want to go T5. Thanks

[gjuarez]

Polkster, email sent on T5s.