T5 bulbs for zoa tank

Fakegolfnews · Sep 25, 2020

A. grandis said:
Here some inspiration for you boys... 2 X 250W metal halide and 4 X 54W T5s:

The system above had T5s only for 10+ years!
Offer the best and you will have the best results!
At one point my T5 6 bulb ATI Sunpower was only 4 - 5 inches from the top zoas. Best colors/health and reproduction, just like in the ocean. Treat your corals with love and give them the best you can!
I know what I'm talking about.

When I want a tank full of brown zoas I know who to talk to at least.

A. grandis · Sep 25, 2020

Fakegolfnews said:
When I want a tank full of brown zoas I know who to talk to at least.

Those are the only species we can collect with permit where I live. The zoas you guys get from the store aren't available here in Hawaii. The ones we have are less colorful, but not brown.
I hope your friends here will tell you what you want to hear.
Good luck with your choice.

Weasel1960 · Sep 25, 2020

A. grandis said:
I think you're confused. You need to choose the type of fixture you want first and plan to get it. I don't put price tag before my priorities setting up my systems, so I don't suggest to others. I think quality is what's important in the long run. We call this a hobby, but we are keeping live organisms.
I can't just suggest 2 T5 bulbs if you are still undecided about the fixtures in the first place.
ReefBrites does not substitute T5s.
If you keep asking here everyone will give you all different types of suggestions and you'll be even more confused. Set up your priorities and go for it. If the priority is cheap, you won't get the best out of your zoas. You get the results for what you pay for.

Isn’t that the point of the forum to get information from more than one source? Not all of us can throw endless money at this or any other hobby but we can still enjoy it just the same. After all there is a whole section and lots of threads about DIY.

A. grandis · Sep 25, 2020

Weasel1960 said:
Isn’t that the point of the forum to get information from more than one source? Not all of us can throw endless money at this or any other hobby but we can still enjoy it just the same. After all there is a whole section and lots of threads about DIY.

Yes, I just gave MY suggestion. He can do whatever he wants. I won't change my mind though. It will all depend on what results he is looking for. I like DIY too.

Fakegolfnews · Sep 25, 2020

Weasel1960 said:
Isn’t that the point of the forum to get information from more than one source? Not all of us can throw endless money at this or any other hobby but we can still enjoy it just the same. After all there is a whole section and lots of threads about DIY.

Exactly

Me: "hey what 2 $20 bulbs should I buy"
Him: "You must buy a $500 fixture (minimum) and $120 worth of bulbs, this isnt a hobby these are living organisms."

This happens everytime i ask a question on here. I get people that tell me I have to do something completely different and when I tell them thats not what they asked they parrot the same old line "Oooo, you just want someone to tell you what you want to hear" No, I just want my question answered and not be told to do something completely different. Its like they copy and paste eachother

Fakegolfnews · Sep 25, 2020

A. grandis said:
Yes, I just gave MY suggestion. He can do whatever he wants. I won't change my mind though. It will all depend on what results he is looking for. I like DIY too.

Can you go away? I dont take advise for zoa lighting from people with a tank full of brown zoas. Thanks

A. grandis · Sep 25, 2020

Fakegolfnews said:
Exactly

Me: "hey what 2 $20 bulbs should I buy"
Him: "You must buy a $500 fixture (minimum) and $120 worth of bulbs, this isnt a hobby these are living organisms."

This happens everytime i ask a question on here. I get people that tell me I have to do something completely different and when I tell them thats not what they asked they parrot the same old line "Oooo, you just want someone to tell you what you want to hear" No, I just want my question answered and not be told to do something completely different. Its like they copy and paste eachother

People want to tell you the truth... what's the best! Not what you want to hear.
You should just go ahead and buy what you want then.
If you ask here, the experienced people will tell you the truth and what they think it's the best. They want to help you.
I just proved to you that zoas love strong light.

A. grandis · Sep 25, 2020

Fakegolfnews said:
Can you go away? I dont take advise for zoa lighting from people with a tank full of brown zoas. Thanks

LOL! Good luck.

Fakegolfnews · Sep 25, 2020

A. grandis said:
LOL! Good luck.

Dont need luck or your condescension. Heres what colorful corals look like in case you were wondering.

Fakegolfnews · Sep 25, 2020

A. grandis said:
People want to tell you the truth... what's the best! Not what you want to hear.
You should just go ahead and buy what you want then.
If you ask here, the experienced people will tell you the truth and what they think it's the best. They want to help you.
I just proved to you that zoas love strong light.

And I will continue to tell experienced (dogmatic) reefers on here to kick rocks if they ignore my questions and demand i do something completely different than I asked about. You proved that you can grow common zoas and turn them brown, CONGRATS on that amazing feat.

Whats it gonna take to get you to leave? Do you need the last word in my thread? Is that it?

nereefpat · Sep 25, 2020

Fakegolfnews said:
Got a cheap coralife 48w 2 bulb 24 inch T5 light for my zoa tank. Tank is 23.62 x 14.17 x 7.09

Couple questions:
Is just 2 bulbs enough to cover the tank?

With the tank being so shallow, it could be that 2 bulbs would be enough. I think 4 would be better.

As for 6: I don't think a 6 bulb fixture would fit over a 14" wide tank, and it would be overkill for 7" deep.

Fakegolfnews said:
How high should i mount them?

Somewhere around 6-8" is probably reasonable. You may want to go pretty low if you are really trying to just use 2 bulbs. Of course, then you will deal with a little salt creep on the light.

Fakegolfnews said:
What 2 bulbs would be best for growing zoas? Im thinking ATI Blue plus for one but no idea what to do with the other.

Really, any quality bulbs from ATI or Giesemann or some others will grow corals. Most people that keep zoas want the fluorescent type color. For 2 bulbs I would probably just go with 2 Blue+. If you went with 4 bulbs, as I think would be more ideal, I would do something like: 2 Blue+, 1 coral+, and an actinic from Giesemann or purple +.

Fakegolfnews said:
Also considering adding a reefbrite if these 2 bulbs arent enough to cover the 14 inch depth.

I'm not experienced with reefbrites. But if you are thinking of spending the money on those fixtures, I would suggest just spending that money on a 4 bulb T5 fixture instead.

Midrats · Sep 25, 2020

The Coral Plus Blue Plus 1:1 ratio is great. I run three of each in my six bulb. It's pretty blue to my eye, but I'm old school. The Coral Plus really brings out the reds and purples.

Fakegolfnews · Sep 25, 2020

squareriggersailor said:
The Coral Plus Blue Plus 1:1 ratio is great. I run three of each in my six bulb. It's pretty blue to my eye, but I'm old school. The Coral Plus really brings out the reds and purples.

Thanks, do you have any pics of the color that look pretty true to in person?

Midrats · Sep 25, 2020

This tank was commissioned eight weeks ago. It's really is hard to get a good pic with my phone.

Fakegolfnews · Sep 25, 2020

squareriggersailor said:
This tank was commissioned eight weeks ago. It's really is hard to get a good pic with my phone.

O i really like that! Great tank as well. Thats pretty close to how it looks in person?

Midrats · Sep 25, 2020

It doesn't look washed out like the picture. The rocks are pink and purple and red with coralline. The yellow on the Starcki damsel is bright, and the elongate dottyback is nice and pink. The C+ brings out all the colors, while the B+ shows fluorescence. It's insanely bright, I'm burning in the bulbs for 50 hours at 100% right now before I can dim them, hence the light height. Tomorrow I'll lower it to 8" or so so I don't feel like I'm in a tanning bed in my chair. Check out some of Big E's pictures, they are a much better representation of the C+/B+ combo than my crappy phone pic.

Fakegolfnews · Sep 25, 2020

squareriggersailor said:
It doesn't look washed out like the picture. The rocks are pink and purple and red with coralline. The yellow on the Starcki damsel is bright, and the elongate dottyback is nice and pink. The C+ brings out all the colors, while the B+ shows fluorescence. It's insanely bright, I'm burning in the bulbs for 50 hours at 100% right now before I can dim them, hence the light height. Tomorrow I'll lower it to 8" or so so I don't feel like I'm in a tanning bed in my chair. Check out some of Big E's pictures, they are a much better representation of the C+/B+ combo than my crappy phone pic.

The site wont let me search anything for the last few days, just says "no results found" can you link it?

Chibils · Sep 25, 2020

This video is a great resource for visualizing bulb pairings.

Chibils · Sep 25, 2020

https://www.reef2reef.com/members/big-e.20023/#latest-activity

I'm also having trouble with the site right now. This is the best I can do. It will get you to all of his posts.

nereefpat · Sep 25, 2020

6 bulb T5 fixture. 4 blue+ and 2 coral +. 18" wide 125 gal.

I'm bad at pictures. The photo looks bluer than reality. And I just have 4 colonies of zoas in various places.