Lighting thoughts

mike wilson · Aug 17, 2015

Would am 8 bulb t5ho over a 75g be to much light for lps and zoas

cloak · Aug 17, 2015

I don't think so, especially if the bulbs will be predominantly blue.

swk · Aug 20, 2015

It would be overkill. Rule of thumb is one bulb for 3" of depth front to back. On a standard 75 that is 18" would equal 6 bulb. I use a 6 bulb ati on my 75 sps tank and it is more than enough light. I get par of 330 on the sand bed lol...

mike wilson · Aug 21, 2015

ok then my next question would be and i dont want the its personal preferance stuff lol. what would be better for mainly acans, brains, and chalices. 20k look or 14k look. obviously i want both growth and amazing color.

steiger33 · Aug 28, 2015

Following

mike wilson · Aug 29, 2015

anyone got any comments on there thoughts of 14k look over 20k look for color and growth with LPS

swk · Aug 30, 2015

Can't comment. Sps guy....

SPSREEFS · Aug 30, 2015

The 14k is a awesome look for sure. I had 20K metal halides for years!!!! Over lighting is just as bad as under lighting. I agree with the overkill for a 8 bulb fixture. However, it does depend on the fixture too. 6 bulbs should be plenty.
But you could go LED and save money, and have ANY COLOR YOU WANT ON THE FLY!!!

Vaughn17 · Aug 30, 2015

I would go T-5 and LED. IMO, the T-5 will make corals happy and colorful, while the LED make me happy has it displays the corals much nicer, especially in the 18 to 20K range.

Vaughn17 · Aug 30, 2015

Also, if you purchase an adjustable T-5, the eight bulbs would not be a problem.

tigerdragon · Aug 30, 2015

A lot of chalices dont like high extreme light like sps so a 20 k look should be good

jeremy · Aug 30, 2015

I run all blue plus and true actinic over my LPS tank. Everything looks and grows great.

mike wilson · Aug 31, 2015

Thanks for the info everyone. I run straight LEDs right now over my mixed reef. That is why I'm going straight t5 over my lps tank just new to them so getting all the info before the tank goes wet