chuckdallas
Tank Tinkerer
I was told by one person in the "New to the Hobby" forum that I don't have enough lighting for my nems.
I have a large (7-9 inch) Carpet Nem gigantea. I also have a small 2-3 inch BTA that moved to its current spot in a sheltered part of the rock and hasn't moved since day one about 6 weeks ago.
Before I got my T5 fixures, I had a 4 bulb retrofit PC unit that was running 65 Watt bulbs. I bought a 2 bulb High Output T5 fixture that has reflectors on each bulb and it has an ATI Aquablue Special and an ATI Blue Plus, so I used the PCs in the back and the T5s in the front for a week. Then, I borrowed a used 4 bulb T5 fixture from a friend who said the bulbs were 6 months old, so they are probably 8 months old. It has a nice clean reflector but it doesn't cover each bulb individually. All of the T5 bulbs are 54 watts, so now I'm running the new T5s in the front of my 120 gallon and the older T5s in the back. I have a canopy to focus the lights downward and there's a 1/8 inch piece of glass (cleaned every 3-4 days) between the lights and the top water level.
1 - What do I need for lighting for a Gig Carpet that is 24-26 inches below the T5s? Are my 6 X 54 Watt T5s enough? I know I should replace the older T5s but I need to wait until next month (already spent $264 on some new live rock and $300 on the skimmer I need, this month). Since the PCs do not have individual reflectors are they better since they have 65 Watts? I paid $149 for the new T5 2 bulb fixture, $300 for the PC retrofit kit (before I thought I needed T5 lights) and the used 4 bulb T5 can be returned or I can pay $80 from a friend. Someone said I need 4-6 watts per gallon, which if I use 4 watts (no corals yet), then I need 480 watts in my 120 gallon tank. I was going to get a T5 fixture from the LFS but he only had a "regular" fixture and not the "High Output" fixture. He ordered one that took a week to come in.
2 - If I buy this used 4 bulb fixture, how do I know if I can put in "high output" T5 bulbs?
3 - Does the wattage of the bulbs tell me if they are high output bulbs or regular output T5 bulbs?
Comments?
I have a large (7-9 inch) Carpet Nem gigantea. I also have a small 2-3 inch BTA that moved to its current spot in a sheltered part of the rock and hasn't moved since day one about 6 weeks ago.
Before I got my T5 fixures, I had a 4 bulb retrofit PC unit that was running 65 Watt bulbs. I bought a 2 bulb High Output T5 fixture that has reflectors on each bulb and it has an ATI Aquablue Special and an ATI Blue Plus, so I used the PCs in the back and the T5s in the front for a week. Then, I borrowed a used 4 bulb T5 fixture from a friend who said the bulbs were 6 months old, so they are probably 8 months old. It has a nice clean reflector but it doesn't cover each bulb individually. All of the T5 bulbs are 54 watts, so now I'm running the new T5s in the front of my 120 gallon and the older T5s in the back. I have a canopy to focus the lights downward and there's a 1/8 inch piece of glass (cleaned every 3-4 days) between the lights and the top water level.
1 - What do I need for lighting for a Gig Carpet that is 24-26 inches below the T5s? Are my 6 X 54 Watt T5s enough? I know I should replace the older T5s but I need to wait until next month (already spent $264 on some new live rock and $300 on the skimmer I need, this month). Since the PCs do not have individual reflectors are they better since they have 65 Watts? I paid $149 for the new T5 2 bulb fixture, $300 for the PC retrofit kit (before I thought I needed T5 lights) and the used 4 bulb T5 can be returned or I can pay $80 from a friend. Someone said I need 4-6 watts per gallon, which if I use 4 watts (no corals yet), then I need 480 watts in my 120 gallon tank. I was going to get a T5 fixture from the LFS but he only had a "regular" fixture and not the "High Output" fixture. He ordered one that took a week to come in.
2 - If I buy this used 4 bulb fixture, how do I know if I can put in "high output" T5 bulbs?
3 - Does the wattage of the bulbs tell me if they are high output bulbs or regular output T5 bulbs?
Comments?
