dumping MH/LED, need t5 bulb recommendations

[Caravanshaka]

That's a good looking tank! I will probably start with:

4 blue +
1 coral +
2 Actinic
1 Purple +

Depending on how blue that is, I may go to a coral + to replace one actinic.

 

[VisionsOfSalt]

So will you be selling the 52's?

 

[jgalen0025]

T5's will work fine for a 24" depth..........30" probably not but restricing acros to the top 24" of a 30" tank is hardly an issue.

Sorry the tank looked like it was at least 30 inches. Picture is deceiving.

OP
But it is way more of a pain to change out bulbs in a powemodule compared to a halide pendent bc of the acrylic splash shield, you must take the entire unit out which is a pain and you need two people.
Also t5 lose par and are really only good until 10 months with a loss of about 5-7% each month(I ran a ten bulb powermodule). Because you have very little rock in your tank you will have to lower the t5 fixture as the ten month period goes on to get the same amount of par and growth which leaves little room to work in the tank especially with a canopy(lower height). This thread should help you on the par levels ( http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1641235 )

You are MUCH better adding another bulb and getting strip leds (almost nothing power consumption wise compared to your AI's.)

 

[markalot]

Personally I would make sure you have at least 4 coral+, I think they look fantastic and have plenty of blue in them. Purple+ really adds red so I only use one of them. In my 6 bulb fixture I' using 3 coral+, 2 blue+, and one purple+. I also supplement with one BML 20K strip light.

The ATI fixture has fans that blow on the cool spot in the bulb (make sure to put the labels on that side) and the air then moves down the length of the bulb and out through a gap on the other end. PAR on the 60" fixture is nothing sort of amazing. I'm at 200+ down on the sandbed in my deep but narrow tank. Bulb life with the ATI should be around 8 months based on what I've read. Considering each 60" bulb is only a few $$ more than the shorter bulbs the 60" really saves money on the bulb cost IMO.

 

[Moser]

T5's will work fine for a 24" depth..........30" probably not but restricing acros to the top 24" of a 30" tank is hardly an issue.

How do you know they won't do 30"?
Is it another propagated myth, or have people tried it?!

Mo

 

[Big E]

How do you know they won't do 30"?
Is it another propagated myth, or have people tried it?!

Mo

Because based on my experience with T5s when par is much below 250 you can't pull out good colors on all acros. Smooth skins types will color at those levels but not much else.

I tested my T5 bulbs and at 24" from the fixture I get 200 and those are overdriven bulbs. I've also tested other tanks with Sunpowers and once you get to that 24" area you're at 200-250.

These are another reefers numbers with a 10 bulb fixture 24" deep tank---

Here are my numbers 4x54w overdriven--

The lights are 6 1/2" from the surface and total water depth is 18 1/2". The first number is the level from the floor of the tank. The number in ( ) is the distance from the bulbs.

1" off the bottom-- 200 (24)
3"- 260 (22)
6"- 280 (19)
10"- 300 (15) This is mid level area of the tank.
11"- 325 (14)
12"- 360 (13)
13"- 400 (12)
14"- 430 (11)
15"- 470 (10)
17"- 500 (8)

 

[kevin_e]

I would get a 3rd halide. Suppliment it with the blues on your AIs.

 

[Piper27]

I like a 12k look and just switched. This is what I use.

Abs
Coral+
Kz super blue
Abs
Kz new gen
Kz super blue
Coral +
Abs

I like the super blues better than blue + bulbs. I feel like they give a more solid blue and I can get away with more white bulbs which I like
I tried a 5600k bulb but it was to yellow and I don't want to run as many blue bulbs as it took to offset the yellow.

I wish they made a bulb that was inbetween a 5600 and a 10k t5 bulb!

Also I like using the LED bars from 21 led to supplement my tanks. They are nice and provide way more bulbs than a reefbrite and are twice as cheap plus controllable.

 

[Caravanshaka]

I went with this for now:

4 Blue +
2 Coral +
1 Actinic
1 Purple +

The first pic is bluer than in person, but the other ones look pretty close

 

[cleverbs]

I really like the amount of light in the tank now. Before you could see that on the ends it was darker because of the LEDs and now you have a nice even light spread. Did you try the same bulb setup but switching out the Actinic with a Coral+? I would think that would give you a better color and more par.

 

[Caravanshaka]

I like having at least one actinic to hit that spectrum, so if I did switch in another Coral+ it would replace the purple or one of the blues. I need to get my par meter out and do a check and see where I am at...been a little lazy doing that

 

[Caravanshaka]

Well, we got snowed in so I am "Working from home"...so I decided to grab a few par values:

750-800 just under the water, 250 on the sand in the middle, 300-500 par on all my SPS. Fixture about 10" above water:

 

[sahin]

Great looking tank! Love it! :beer:

 

[toothman]

400 watt radiums are much better,