t5 ho whats avaible

[lildingy]

Aight so in the planning for a 125 gal lps softy mixed. I got a great deal on some icecap ballasts 430 i belive, i think each will run 12ft, but only 2 total t5hos. The next question will be will this be enough light across the tank for said corals? I think most everyone has gone to MH or led but this is what i got to work with so far. I am guessing 4 t5ho 5' or 6' if they make the latter. Thank you in advanced for your input.

Btw i am trying to stay away from the MH cause of the heat they produce or what i can imagine they produce.

[hobogato]

the longest t5 bulbs made are 5'

since you are in rockport, i would recommend ordering from reefgeek.com, unless you are willing to make a trip up to one of our sponsor stores here in san antonio. if that is the case, you will probably want to call at least a week ahead of time to make sure that they have time to order the bulbs you want if they dont have them in stock.

[lildingy]

I will have to check out reefgeek havn't explored them yet, we do have a few LFS here in corpus, one i saw a t5 vho????? I could also go with 8x3' t12vho technically if that would be any better. what bulbs would you suggest for most pop and health from fish and coral? one antic and 3 10k? I belive they will be over driven a little bit so will fans be required for the t5hos? sorry for the wall of questions

[alton]

Fans will be required, ATI makes the best output T5 Lamps, Blue special puts out a bunch.

[lildingy]

Sorry for bringing this thread back but I am in a different situation now and was wondering if i can run 2 24" t5ho offa my icecap 430 without blowing up anything. The lableing says it will do it but i amworried that it may be too much wattage, or will the ballast know the difference? I really don't want to spend the money on bulbs if i going to blow em up, + i will have to build a canopy. I will be using them just for antec

[alton]

I have not tried it but after reading different post you will need to use UVL lamps T5VHO and where you would normally have 24" 24 watt lamps with the 430 they will be bumped up to 40 watts each.

[lildingy]

thank you for your response alton, i have searched for more info on the balast but have not been able to come up with much of anything except that they won't fire more than 2 t5ho lamps but i don't understand much else. the shape of our tank kinda limits me on what i can do with the equipment i have currently. I only have one antec t8 right now and would like to see what some t5s would do for the pop of my new little pets