Lighting (T5) question

J Rog · Sep 25, 2017

Hi Everyone,

I left the hobby for about a year when I moved and decided not to take my tank with me. Well, I think i may be getting back into it as I found a killer used tank and not sure if i can pass up the deal. Going to see it tonight. I have been itching to get back to tell you the truth..lol Anyway my last tank I ran Radions for a couple of years. Started off when the Gen 1's came out and eventually upgraded to the Gen 3's. I could never get great color out of my sps.. I was tired of messing with the spectrums and intensity.. It would drive me crazy.. So with this tank I want to go with T5's. The tank i might end up with today before the day is out is a 70 gallon custom tank. Its 36 long, 22 wide, and 20 high. Im planning for it to be sps dominant. I also plan on putting all blue reef brites on the fixture because I love the way they look. So my question is do I go with the 6 bulb or 8 bulb ATI (non dimmable)? I was thinking 8 bulb but with the reef brites im not sure if that would be over kill or not? Feel free to post a pic of your set up if you have a similar light set up! Love eye candy and opinions.. lol Thanks!

Tuffyyyyy · Sep 25, 2017

Not to try and sway you back, but I think the Radions are the current hotness for SPS. Grab one of those bad boys and use the Radion SPS ab+ template and you've got a beautiful tank. That said, I know this forum still seems to have a preference for T5s. As for your question, I think I'd go with the 8 bulb.

J Rog · Sep 25, 2017

Tuffyyyyy said:
Not to try and sway you back, but I think the Radions are the current hotness for SPS. Grab one of those bad boys and use the Radion SPS ab+ template and you've got a beautiful tank. That said, I know this forum still seems to have a preference for T5s. As for your question, I think I'd go with the 8 bulb.

Lol there is no talking me off the T5 ledge. lol I swore to myself when I sold my last tank if I ever got back into it I was going to go T5. Just want to try something different. Not to mention a little cheaper. I have to baby daughters now so I need to try to save money where I can on this project.

blkhwkz · Sep 25, 2017

I have Radions on my other tanks, but I went with T5 on my Red Sea Reefer XL425. I went with the 8 bulb dimmable for a few reasons. Only one power cord, I could dim if I want to (though I haven't,) and I figured I can always run 6 bulbs if I wanted instead of all 8. I have a Reefbrite XHO on the front of the fixture. Tank is SPS and clams and I blast them with all 8 bulbs for 7 hours and 1 hour of just 2 blue+ bulbs. Reefbrite is used for an hour to start and end the light cycle and have it on for a few hours with the T5's, but you really can't tell. I would get the 8 bulb, you can always install less bulbs if you want.

Greybeard · Sep 25, 2017

I hung a 48" 8 bulb Tek unit over my 60" x 30" x 18" tank. I was burning corals. Pulled two bulbs, things are looking up. A couple moni caps that I thought were goners appear to be coming back.

BRS did a bit on ATI T5 lights, and their results showed 8 bulb units were way overkill. 6 should be plenty. Add in reefbrite strips, and you might even go to a 4 bulb T5.

I may put a couple very low par true actinic bulbs in the two open spots, or I may buy a 6 bulb dimmable ATI unit... eventually. Going to leave it alone, for now.

J Rog · Sep 25, 2017

Greybeard said:
I hung a 48" 8 bulb Tek unit over my 60" x 30" x 18" tank. I was burning corals. Pulled two bulbs, things are looking up. A couple moni caps that I thought were goners appear to be coming back.

BRS did a bit on ATI T5 lights, and their results showed 8 bulb units were way overkill. 6 should be plenty. Add in reefbrite strips, and you might even go to a 4 bulb T5.

I may put a couple very low par true actinic bulbs in the two open spots, or I may buy a 6 bulb dimmable ATI unit... eventually. Going to leave it alone, for now.

Thanks for the heads up! Good info

saltyfilmfolks · Sep 25, 2017

Go with the 6 bulb and the reef brights. Get the controller for the leds. They pack a punch. You could do the 8 but just stagger the bulbs more and have a shorter peak.(longer bulb life there too.

IMO get a wb led so you can enjoy the ramp up and down, the blue pops and also the shimmer of the White. Like a stunner strip.

Best of both worlds there.

saltyfilmfolks · Sep 25, 2017

Keep in mind hanging height will change the intensity a LOT.

So a six tube at 6 in is a LOT etc.

J Rog · Sep 25, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
Go with the 6 bulb and the reef brights. Get the controller for the leds. They pack a punch. You could do the 8 but just stagger the bulbs more and have a shorter peak.(longer bulb life there too.

IMO get a wb led so you can enjoy the ramp up and down, the blue pops and also the shimmer of the White. Like a stunner strip.

Best of both worlds there.

What's the "WB" Led?

Greybeard · Sep 25, 2017

J Rog said:
What's the "WB" Led?

I think he was meaning 'reef brite'

rtparty · Sep 25, 2017

6 bulb no question. 8 is complete overkill and wasted light IMO.

J Rog · Sep 25, 2017

Greybeard said:
I think he was meaning 'reef brite'

Got ya

J Rog · Sep 25, 2017

rtparty said:
6 bulb no question. 8 is complete overkill and wasted light IMO.

Thats what im thinking

saltyfilmfolks · Sep 25, 2017

J Rog said:
What's the "WB" Led?

White Blue.
Rather than just a blue.

IMO a better more flexible use.
I.e. I hr blue only led, one hour W/B led then two t5, 4t5 , 6t 5 etc to complete the photo period.

The last pair of t5s will last the longest.

Greybeard · Sep 25, 2017

I don't know that an 8 bulb light is a waste... on the right tank. If you have a very deep, very wide tank, it might well be suitable. On my 18" deep tank, it was too much,

rtparty · Sep 25, 2017

J Rog said:
Thats what im thinking

I also would look into the 24" version over the 36" unless you plan to upgrade to a 48" tank and want to take the 36" fixture with you.

If you think about it, you'll only need to light at most 30" of corals unless you run glass to glass.

Greybeard · Sep 25, 2017

rtparty said:
I also would look into the 24" version over the 36" unless you plan to upgrade to a 48" tank and want to take the 36" fixture with you.

If you think about it, you'll only need to light at most 30" of corals unless you run glass to glass.

Good call. BRS went with 5' lights on a 6' tank, I went with 4' lights on a 5' tank. Save a few bucks, prevent spilling quite so much light outside of the tank.

smh254 · Sep 25, 2017

Go with the 6 bulb. This will leave you enough room in the front and back for Reefbrite.

blkhwkz · Sep 25, 2017

Mine is the 48" over a 48" tank. If I recall off the top of my head lights are 10.5" over the tank, 12" from water. I don't feel like it was overkill or wasted light going with the 8 bulb or that I should have gone with the 36". And the less than $80 price difference (non-dimmable is under $60 difference)between the 36 and 48 wasn't going to have any affect on my budget. But that's just my experience. Also had plenty of room on the front for the Reefbrite. My plan was always to only have one RB though, not 2.

J Rog · Sep 25, 2017

Just picked up the tank! I have a feeling it's going to be a slow build but I will start a thread. Still up in the air about the 6 or 8.. lol but here is a pic of the tank.. not on the stand or anything. My wife and I got everything in the garage for tonight. Hopefully can do a leak test tomorrow. But I might have to change out all the bulk heads.. they look a bit dingy and maybe even not very trustworthy ..