Best T5 for my tank?

Zaphod

Zaphod

New member
My tank is 24" wide 36" long 24" tall I am running a 250 watt SE MH right now on a luminarc 3. I am thinking of switching to T5 I am looking at the tek fixtures but I have no idea how many bulbs or whitch bulbs to buy to get the best SPS coloration and growth.
 
Just curious, why do want to switch? IMO your setup is ideal. Unless you are really needing to pinch every penny on electricity, there is no point in switching IMO. The MH looks soo much nicer as well with the shimmer. You will miss it I think.
 
I don't quite get the coverage that I want and I don't have any actinic so the color is lacking but I love the Par of a 10k bulb. IMO the MH shimer is over rated.
 
There's a thread in this forum about T5's, ask this guy grimreefer, he should be able to advise you.

Edwin
 
zaphod i have the same size tank as you and iam running t5's. I went with a 6bulb set up retro kit. I have on tek 2bulb and the rest are slr/icecap set up. I realy like the t5 since they do give a lot of coverage and alot less heat. I also have 2 250 LM3 that I was running on my tank. I did get great covareg as well but could not take the heat and the fact that the chiller ran to many times and too long. As of right now I've only had the set up for less then 3weeks and I have not lost any color at all. MH are great and will be going back to them once the summer months are over. Hope that helps.
Oh and iam using 4attinic+ and 2 aquablue t5s
 
do you have a pic? What do you think the par rating is with that much blue? It would be cheaper to add another 250 watt MH but I don't think I ould fit 2 LM3's in my hood I will need to measure.
 
Shimmer is hardly overrated on an SPS tank. In a tank that lacks movement because of the stonies, the shimmer really livens up the tank. IMO T5 SPS tanks look a bit sterile. Even my wife LOVED the look of the tank when I switched from T5 to MH and she is not one to really notice things with the tank like I do.
 
zaphod as far as par iam getting anywhere from 225 to 275 on the sand bed depending on where the censor is. As of right now the best combo for me has been 4blue+ and 2aquablue. Iam thinking of adding another set up t5 for a today of 8. I am also looking into getting some more AB t5's to see what that does. Growth so far has been realy good and color is = to a mh. As far as what kit I like the best so far I think the icecap/slr combo is the best for two reasons the reflectors are better and the ballast will drive the bulb higher. Let me see if I can shoot a picture for you.
 
okay here is what my tank looks like its very close to what it looks like to my eyes, the camera does pick up more blue. Excuase the eggcrate racks.
whole-tank8-5-06.jpg
 
any perticular reason the retro is more expensive? also what is the spacing of the reflectors and how high off the water should they be?
 
the retros are more since it comes with everything including bulbs the whole fixture does not. they take up 2.5" or so, about the same size as the endcap. Mine are 4" from the top of the water.
 
4" huh? do you need to clean the bulbs and reflectors often? do you have some sort of pully sysem riged up?
 
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