75g Lighting Options

I vote for halides, you can't beat the shimmer!

Check out this site: http://www.aquaticlight.com/retrofit.html

I have had 4 of their 250wt retros running for a few years on my 135g. I also used to have a 75g with 2 of thier 250wt retros running CoralVue 14k bulbs and it looked GREAT! All corals showed steady growth, and had good color. I have heard good and bad about eBay bulbs, but you could get a lighting set-up pretty inexpensively if you get those retro kits and a couple bulbs off eBay. I think this would be more than adequate for the corals you have expressed interest in.

Good luck
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9713910#post9713910 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenmonkey51
Are the Tek T-5 retrofits as good as the hoods and everything else. I'm thinking of going with those. What couldn't I do if I went with 4x54wt Tek T-5
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Get it from reefgeek.com and pay a little extra to swap out the SLS refelctors for Icecap reflectors and they're better than any Tek light.
 
I just can't justify the cost and energy use of halides. From what I've seen T-5's produce almost as much light as halides and use half the energy. I can get a very good 4 bulb T-5 retro for the same as 2 lower quality halides. I'm gonna go with diyreef.com since they're a bit cheaper. Is 3 maxijet 1200's enough flow for this tank right now. I want to upgrade but I need to get some livestock in it first.
 
I'm currently running 2- 250w MH and 4- 54wT-5's on my 75g. I recently got a candy cane that has bleached a bit but is still eating. I moved it down and hopefully it will recover. My mushrooms have also moved to more shaded areas at the bottom of the tank. What would you guys do in my shoes? Turn off the MH? Or perhaps eventually switch to 175's? Cause you guys are making it sound like i have way too much light.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10337235#post10337235 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenmonkey51
I just can't justify the cost and energy use of halides. From what I've seen T-5's produce almost as much light as halides and use half the energy. I can get a very good 4 bulb T-5 retro for the same as 2 lower quality halides. I'm gonna go with diyreef.com since they're a bit cheaper. Is 3 maxijet 1200's enough flow for this tank right now. I want to upgrade but I need to get some livestock in it first.
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If you're going to keep anything besides animals that prefer low flow it's not enough. If you got some mods for the Maxijets that suggestion would change.

If you order from Reefgeek it's only a small amount more and they will swap out the IC reflectors for the Tek refelctors, plus Reefgeek carries ATI bulbs.
 
What should I be looking at for a moderate amount of flow. Would 2 koralia 4's be enough with 2 maxijets going. Or would the maxijets even do enough compared to a koralia to keep them running.
 
2 Korlia 4's would add a lot of flow and you could keep a wide variety of organisms. You probably wouldn't need to use any Maxijets with the Koralias. I'm not sure what you mean with the last sentence, but 1 Koralia 4 would be more flow than your 3 Maxijets combined.
 
Potsy, not true t5`s is better . becuse of the reflectors. Psimitry is right. Greenmonkey, I have a 75gal. , with a koralia 4# and a maxi 12. I`m going to get get a nother koralia 4# . Petereichlers is right, about the flow! I have a pc 4 65 watt blubs from aquatraders.com 99$ I have alot of things you have I have a {Tridacna crocea} and he is doing nicely, lps, and sofftys.
 
I'm gonna order a couple 4's tonight, and then still use a couple maxi 1200's to vary some flow. As far as lighting right now, I'm getting 2x54w T-5's to be able to keep some lower light corals and then in a couple months add another set to let me keep the higher light corals suitable for my tank and setup. I'm wondering though what 2 bulbs I should get for my first light set.
 
i have a 4x54 t5 retro kit on my 75 and its great i do anywhere from shrooms to sps.. and just to reinforce or state the reason that t5's are better than pc's is because t5's can have a much more efficient reflector built around them than the unusual shape of pc
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10341942#post10341942 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenmonkey51
I'm gonna order a couple 4's tonight, and then still use a couple maxi 1200's to vary some flow. As far as lighting right now, I'm getting 2x54w T-5's to be able to keep some lower light corals and then in a couple months add another set to let me keep the higher light corals suitable for my tank and setup. I'm wondering though what 2 bulbs I should get for my first light set.
Click to expand...

Just 2 bulbs can be tricky, but I'd try the ATI Blue + and an ATI Aquablue.
 
I have 2X250W 14k AC bulbs over my 75gal. I love the setup and my rics and zoas grow like weeds. I have them isolated on another rock. I have a hammer, two brains, three clams, xenia (weed), lots of mushrooms, blastos, goniporia, GSP, acans, and a mixture of SPS. With some carefull aquascaping it works out fine.

I personally like the MH over the T5s, but I think it is all preference.

Just don't be scared about having too much light. I haven't bleached anything yet and I think the added light helps with growth. I keep my SPS directly under the MH.
 
i had MH on my 50 gal and i loved it.. i love the shimmer effect and such.. i chose t5's in my case mainly because of bulb life, cost, and heat.. its in my room so i dont want to die from the heat.. i only had 1x175 i couldnt imagine 2x250s in there.. but thats what i wouldve ran if i wouldve went with mh which was very close btw.. i still wonder if maybe id like to switch..
 
I run my Hydor 3s up near the water's surface to create a "shimmer" effect in my T5 equipped 75 gallon.

Sure, it is no where near what a real MH setup would have the effect is nice.

For what it is worth I have a mixed reef in my 4x54 75 tank and stuff seems to grow no mater where I put it. I have a few SPS that got pale high in the tank and a few mushrrom that shrank down if put out in the light but other than that it doesn't seem to matter much where stuff goes.

Sure I am not getting the explosive growth others may have but I don't particularly care. The faster it grows the more work I have to do fragging and such ;)
 
i tend to agree with barjam.. shrooms dont do good in open.. and sps cant be right at the top.. but other than that i dont have to worry about placement at all.. i actually had been getting great growth out of sps and everything until my calcium dropped
 
Under my planned setup could I keep a "purple haze" acropora. Thats the only question I have about T-5s is if they can support high light acroporas.
 
I know this doesn't go into the theme of the thread but I'm at the point where I've got to add some life in the tank. I threw in a dozen ceriths a couple months ago and thats it. My tank has been setup for 3.5 months so far with rock and I haven't added anything really. I'm trying to decide whether or not to get a decent cleaning crew or get the 2 black and white clown I want. I know I can't do both. My rock has some detritus on it but I was hoping the new power heads would blow it off. Any comments.
 
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