Is anyone running t-5s over softie tanks?

[dangeroo]

I'm unpgrading my 10 g to a 65 g in the coming weeks. I'm looking at all of my lighting options and i'm considering a t-5 setup from reefgeek. Will this be to much light for my shrooms and ricordias? the tank will be fairly tall (22 in). thanks

 

[sir_dudeguy]

I highly recommend the icecap retros from reefgeek. Thats what i had over my 40b and i grew whatever i wanted, although it was by far a softy dominated tank.

You shouldnt have problems w/shrooms and rics as long as you shade them under ledges and stuff. Sometimes you'll even get them to do fine under direct light.

 

[jayke]

my rics are doing fine under T5's, they are slightly above the midway point of my tank. My leathers are doing well, too. My mushrooms started to shrivel and lighten in color. They seem to be alright, but I moved them to the bottom of my tank. I noticed that the mushrooms that were shaded had better color. I have a 4 x 39 watt fixture.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

I just started nearly the same setup. I have a Tech 70 (36"x18"x25") and bought the Tek T5x6 setup. The setup might be a bit underpowed for SPS, but should be plenty for most anything else.

 

[michaelg]

I have 4 t5's over a 30- and it's 90% soft corals. I'd go with 6 bulbs on the size tank you are thinking. My other tank is a 58, so can appreciate that depth (though my tank is sps dominated and I'm still running halides over it).

 

[burks]

What do you guys think about a 75g tank, 4x54w or 6x54w?

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

I would definitely do 6.

 

[dangeroo]

how wide would 6 bulbs be?

 

[steri]

I have 4 T5's and a single strip T8 on my 75. I have all softies in there except for a frogspawn. I see a lot of growth in my softies from my T5's....personally.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

how wide would 6 bulbs be?

depends on what setup you go with. I highly recommend the Icecap ones from reefgeek.com. The icecaps have the SLR reflectors which are a bit narrower than others. The SLR's are only 2 inches wide, whereas the Teklight ones are 3 inches wide. I only had 8 inches to work with, so after buying the SLR ones, i'm glad i did so. I wouldnt have been able to fit them otherwise w/out sawin my canopy back

 

[b16drag]

Got a 90g with 4 T5's driven by IceCap ballast and my softies do much better under the ledges or somewhat shaded... I had a kenya tree out in the front of the tank, and it stayed shriveled up until I put it towards the back where I didnt have any directly above light bulbs.

If you are overdriving your bulbs, I'd recommend most softies in the lower 1/3 of the tank. You'll bleach out zoas and make your blue mushrooms look like blue-silver mushrooms if you are not careful. If you are definately not careful you'll bleach out SPS as well.

Yea they are T5's but they work very well especially the IceCap SLR with IceCap Ballast version

 

[dangeroo]

thanks for all of the replies! I think i'm going to go with the reefgeek ready fit.....4x39w. If it seems too weak, i can always add the extra 2. thanks for everyone sharing their opinions!

 

[Tiduch]

I bought TEK-2 T-5 from ReefGeek, wish I bought the Icecap though. Smaller size reflector and little better from what I hear.
I am keeping mix corals in my tank and all the softy doing very good and grow big fast

 

[dangeroo]

what size tank and how many bulbs if you don't mind me asking?