T5 only

[GTR]

Any T5 only users here?

I need to light another 12" x 72" x 12" tank.

I have one with 3- 60" VHO and three with MH. MH is not really suited to the 12" width.


SteveU

[gqjeff]

Steve, get ahold of Tank on RC. You can find him in the reefclub forums under brotherhood of the reef.. His tank is a 240 or 250 with T5 only lighting.

Peace, jeff

[skeletor]

is that tank only 12" deep and 72" long ? You should be fine with T5's... I'd be inclined to put a couple of 70w MH's over it with maybe a couple of T5s or VHOs running the length of the tank. If this is a frag grow out tank then you could use something like a 5500K MH bulb with actinic T5/VHO which should give you both good color and growth.

I just threw a couple of 24w T5's over my tank and those things are bright.. reflectors make the world of difference, as with all lighting...

a lot of the nicer SPS tanks I've seen running T5 use a combination of many different K bulbs to achieve a nice look and color, with a narrow tank you will be limited to one or two bulbs..

[GTR]

Yes they are only 12" tall. The one with VHO I was able to get three bulbs over it and not be over the euro braced top. The opening between the bracing is only 8".

The problem with small MH is I don't have any. I'm running 1-250DE, 2-175's, 3-250's and 1-400. I could set up 4 more MH in those size ranges but the spread of the MH is such a waste on these tanks.

SteveU

[bluereef]

GTR I saw recently picture of very reputable german wholesale-aquaculture facility ,loots of tanks,tanks up to few meters long,50 cm deep,full of acropora and only t5 lighting,he dont have a single hqi bulb,lol.Corals was excelent with excelent colours and growth.
I also saw picture of his 5 meter long home reef aquarium,full of hard corals from botom to the top ,with only t5 lighting too.
You can miss with t5 light.

[Aged Salt]

Hi Mirabell, did he have the T5's stacked across the top of the aquarium? Do you know if his home aquarium is > 50cm. height? Thnx. Bob

[bluereef]

Hi Bob
I forget how he have t5 mounthed above his home reef aquarium,and yes his home reef is above 50 cm in height.
I was quite suprised with the fact that he have t5 only above such a big aquarium,90 procents of the corals inside are sps corals.
I was expected bunch of t5 aboves frags tanks but he actually have qiute ordinary set up,IIRC only 6 T5 in a row,they did not even sit right on the tank lid but was very high above the tank.
I buy few acropora from him and cultured frags was very big almost a colony with very nice green and blue colours.

[moonpod]

there is a coral farm outside of Dortmund or something like that in Germany that uses T5 exclusively for the grow out. It's pretty shallow from the pix I saw, but I do not know the numbers.

Bernie Mohr in Germany uses T5s over his home system and that tank is outrageous. He DOES have as many T5s with reflectors over the top as he can fit. His tank is like 30+ inches deep and is THICK with acros and what not.

Fridmani (RC) uses T5s in his growout. Albeit his grow out is like 6" deep and he doesn't grow out stonies really. Mostly softies and zoos, but he's stored clams in that system without trouble.

My office tank is a 55 with 4 T5s over the top (teklight hood). I put some zoos in there for yucks (I'm actually going for a seagrass type dealy), and the zoos are begining to grow really, really fast....

Also FWIW, once upon a time my 180 was lit by 6x80w T5 and 2x54w T5. I had no problems with anything down to about 20". Past 20" I had some brownouts and the clams didn't open up nice. up near the top of the tank I vaporized a bunch of zoos (seemed like they got light shocked) that came out of the holding systems at PacAquaFarms (MH holding systems, albeit pretty high up). I switched to MH to get the lighting to penetrate all the way down to the bottom, but in terms of "color blending" it was much easier to get the right look with 8 bulbs to play with.

[OUinLA]

Steve, I use to have a T5 only tank and i've thought about doing it again. Most stuff did very well but a few acros didn't color up as nice. but, I only ran 4 when I should have been running 6. With 6, I have no doubts I could have kept anything. With shallow tanks, they are fine. Plus it's a really nice quality of light that is very pleasing to look at.

[scottw]

Steve, I use to have a T5 only tank and i've thought about doing it again. Most stuff did very well but a few acros didn't color up as nice. but, I only ran 4 when I should have been running 6. With 6, I have no doubts I could have kept anything. With shallow tanks, they are fine. Plus it's a really nice quality of light that is very pleasing to look at.

I second that for sure. With 12" you will be fine with T5's only. Esp if its a frag tank. I will be doing a T5 only tank on one of my frag tanks just to show people you dont have to have MH to grow SPS.

[GTR]

Well it appears I can get 80w bulbs which are 57.5" long and reflectors that are 54" long. If I understand correct I'll need 2-IC 430 ballasts to drive four bulbs.

Anybody know how many of these bulbs a 660 would drive? I know it will drive 3-60" T12 VHO. Not sure how the T5 would compare.

SteveU

[GTR]

Ok from Ice Cap the 660 will only run 3 80W T5's. So I'd have to go with two 430's to drive four 80W bulbs. The SLS reflectors are 2" wide so I can only get 4 over the 8" opening between the top bracing. I'm not sure the added startup expense and cost of bulbs is worth any difference in these shallow tanks. T12 VHO's are $25-29 and T5 are $28-39 each.

SteveU

[moonpod]

Steve, IC can modify an IC660 to run 4x80w. I had modified ICs. Actually I've still got 'em.

[GTR]

Chuck... is one up for sale?

Steveu

[moonpod]

Well...maybe. I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do with my next tank. I might go only MH, I might mix, I'm not sure.

I haven't heard back from Con yet on a potential stand so I'm not sure which way to go with my tank.