Help ,, T8 Bulbs ????

[commonstranger]

Need some feedback on who has used these in the past. Im helping a guy with a 150 who has two T8 bulbs on it. He wants to use them for now and upgrade later on. Any suggestions on what he'd be safe to keep in the tank with these just starting off. I thought softies,zoas,shrooms and some LPS would be ok but wanted to check around since Ive never used them before. Oh yeah he wants an Anemone as well. Thanks in advance for the feedback.

 

[ameares8]

I think softies and shrooms can thrive under a match light if they need to lol. I remember seeing someone using T8's somewhere, but I cannot remember how long and what the results were. I will try to look back and see where that thread is.

 

[dvmkv]

i tried it before i got good lights, and only can keep shrooms and it depends on what other softies, not all can go under that light. I believe zoas need at lease pc.

 

[AdrianBryce]

with only two bulbs, I would keep soft coral only. no anems for sure, and lps probably won't last long.

 

[commonstranger]

Thanks for the feedback. Please chime in if anyone else would like too.

 

[teamreefers]

Someone around Huntsville has a softie tank with standard fluorescent lights. They had good color and growth. Maybe Mariner?

Jack

 

[zef004]

Rhett with two t8 in 150gal tank. All I can see it growing is algea. And two more he may get away with shrooms and zoa top half of the take.

 

[Pickupman66]

agree on the growing green grass. I used NO bulbs a long time ago. think they were the t-8's. didnt keep much alive. If I were him, I would invest in something more suited. I use t-12 vho bulbs. ou can get a ballast, and endcaps used pretty darn cheap.

 

[commonstranger]

Yeah think we'll end up going with a T5 retro build. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[NeveSSL]

I've kept a leather and a mushroom or two alive with regular fluorescent bulbs before (T8), but I never attempted anything else.

I wouldn't do it. Just get some better bulbs.

Brandon

 

[gflat65]

I kept a full tank of softies under T8's years ago, but we're talking a 20L (12" deep) versus a 150 (27" deep?). I believe the Dive Shop in Memphis used to have a decent sized tank with just NO's, but they kept mostly mushrooms and the like. I replace VHO's at 6 months and can really nocite a difference, so if it were me, I'd be replacing NO's every three or four months, max, which would start to make a better lighting system look more appealing pretty quickly... That and the fact that the list of animals you can keep grows exponentially with better lighting, assuming a major jump up from T8's.

As for anem's, I'd tell hi to stick with Majano's and Aips. I'm sure they'll grow for him. When i first started this addiction back in the mid 90's, I was so excited about the free anemones I got with my rock. I fed them every day until I had monsters of 6"+ diameters. They love krill.

 

[commonstranger]

Gary you can always make me laugh man. Thanks for the input.