Need help with finding the right lights.. T-5

budbreak96 · Mar 26, 2009

Hello everyone,
I have a 75 gallon tank and right now i have 2 48" vho and a corallife pc 48" 4 65 watt. bulbs. I want to go with t 5's and want to get the right set up. I want to be able to keep any coral without having to worry if the lighting is good enough or not. Im thinking about an 8 bulb set up, just not sure what to go with and what bulbs to get. I want my colors to be bright and colorful. So bulb choice is something i need help with also. Thanks for the help and all suggestions are greatly appericated.
Thanks, Joe

budbreak96 · Mar 26, 2009

Anyone???

nahtanoj · Mar 27, 2009

you are going to get a lot of opinions on this question.
8 bulb is more than enough. you could easily get away with 6 bulbs, or even 4 with good reflectors and ballasts. a problem i ran into when i ran 8 bulbs is actually too much light for some corals. so keep that in mind.
are you wanting to go retrofit? or a fixture?
retro's i would go with an icecap ballast. they out perform pretty much every ballast and they overdrive the t5's.
fixture, this one is tough, there are a lot of options out there, some better than others, but you will pay for the quality. probably one of the better fixtures is the tek fixture. it has individual reflectors. but it does not come with bulbs, so you are adding $200 on top of the price right there. current nova extreme pro's are a good affordable fixture as well. not the best, but i've used them for years and they still work just fine.
if you get a fixture with no bulbs, i recommend geisman, or ATI bulbs. the nice thing about 6-8 bulb fixtures is you do have a lot of options with mixing and matching to get the right look you want.
hope that helps a bit, and i'm sure others will have a totally different input on this subject.
jon

budbreak96 · Mar 29, 2009

Jon thanks for the help. I am getting an icecap 660 ballest tuesday. Just the ballest and heatsink. Then i need wiring harness for it, endcaps, and reflectors.

What reflectors would you recomend and where is the best place and price to get them?
Thanks again

JLAURENCE32 · Mar 29, 2009

Icecap's aren't cheap, eh? But they're well worth it. I think with 6 bulbs driven by Icecaps you'll have enough light. I think that means you will need another IC ballast. The best reflectors are Aquactinics or Tek. Aquas are smaller, so you can fit more in. On the bulbs ATI are my favs. The Blue+ put out the blue you need for flouresence but also put out alot of par (intensity) that sps need. I like three Blue+ and three 12k/10k or so.

Elan · Mar 29, 2009

I have a TEK HO 8 bulb over my 75. Couldnt be happier. The only thing i would do different is get a fixture with built in moonlights, because they are awesome.

budbreak96 · Apr 2, 2009

Got the ballast and wiring harness. I need endcaps, reflectors and bulbs. I am going to just run 4 bulbs overdriven. What bulb choice would you all recomend? Do you think that 4 overdriven t 5's will be enough light to keep anything? Thanks.

holdyourlight · Apr 2, 2009

3 blue pluses and either an aquablue or a fiji purple. can't go wrong with one of these combos!

gparr · Apr 2, 2009

I have an Aquactinics unit with five lamps, individually reflected, on my 65. I keep mostly LPS and it's proving to be too much light for just about everything. T5s are much more powerful than we give them credit for. I think four overdriven lamps will be a good start, depending on what you're planning to keep.
Gary

holdyourlight · Apr 2, 2009

gparr said:
I have an Aquactinics unit with five lamps, individually reflected, on my 65. I keep mostly LPS and it's proving to be too much light for just about everything. T5s are much more powerful than we give them credit for. I think four overdriven lamps will be a good start, depending on what you're planning to keep.
Gary

how do you know it's too much light? is the coral browning out?
i have 6 over my 75 and while its super bright, i don't think its too much..

gparr · Apr 2, 2009

I've had too many LPS starting to bleach or shrinking away until put into shade. I'm going to try a couple of different lamps to take the edge off of the light and see what results I get.
Gary

budbreak96 · Apr 3, 2009

so just one opinion of the 3 blue+ and 1 aqua blue.
Anyone else?

Poseidon · Apr 3, 2009

4 Over driven T5's will be plenty for most anything as long as you make good decisions as the reef keeper.

I have 6 OD T5's over my 90, and I too tend to melt acans and other LPS. My SPS love it for the most part though.

As for bulb choice, I would do 50/50 Aqua Blue Special and Blue + by ATI. I have seen that combo on some very nice tanks. The blue + has a LOT of PAR and it produces excellent color on the corals, so it is hard to argue that as a bulb choice.

budbreak96 · Apr 3, 2009

Poseidon, You have one 660 running 4 bulbs and one 660 running 2 bulbs? If i got another 660 can i just overdrive two bulbs on it instead of 4?

TORMENTOR · Apr 6, 2009

I just ordered an Ice Cap 4x54w T5 retro fit kit for my 75g tank to go in the canopy. I ordered 2 Actinic White bulbs by UVL and 2 Super Actinics by UVL. I hope there will be a big difference in lighting compared to the 4x65 watt pc retro fit kit I have now. I look to receive them by Wednesday.

Ladipyg · Apr 6, 2009

Just remember with T5's its all about the reflector and I can't say this enough...INDIVIDUAL REFLECTORS ARE A MUST...otherwise you are wasting between 45% and 55% of your light. A parabolic all in one reflector will not do it. Ice Cap ballasts are great...I just got a great deal at Premium Aquatics on a 6 bulb T5 fixture with individual reflectors...the light is blinding. I am looking forward to not having to run a chiller this summer.

atlfishes · Apr 6, 2009

If you overdrive your bulbs they will last longer if you have fans blowing air over the endcaps.

TORMENTOR · Apr 11, 2009

I just got my Retrofit kit this morning and let me tell you 4 54w T5 bulbs are plenty on my 75 gallon tank.
I got 2 Actinic whites and 2 super actinics and they really light my tank up compared to the 65w x 4 Pc lighting system I had.
I see more colors in my tank now that I switched to the Ice Cap retro's.

I will post some pictures up tomorrow after I figure out the new camera...

Poseidon · Apr 11, 2009

budbreak96 said:
Poseidon, You have one 660 running 4 bulbs and one 660 running 2 bulbs? If i got another 660 can i just overdrive two bulbs on it instead of 4?

I am using a 660 for 4, and a 430 for the other 2. I can't fit more then 6 bulbs over my 90, so the 430 was an easy choice.