Let's See Some T5 Only Lite Tanks (remember Just T5 Lite Tanks) :-)

IMO 4 or 5 bulbs would be enough to make them happy (assuming water quality and flow are good). To really get the par that makes T5 lights so great you would need to get the SLS reflectors from ReefGeek or another online store. HTH
 
I forgot to mention that you will also want to keep them in the upper half of your tank to get the best growth rates and color.
 
cool thx would i be a ble to keep them alive with 2x65 watt pcs just a question cause i might be getting those instead cause im a poor 12 yearold :( pity pity pity me :)
 
I wouldn't even try. Even if some of them would stay alive they would be suffering and would turn ugly brown. Just stick with softies and some LPS toward the top and you would be good.
 
jnichols said:
Hey Grim,

Do you actually have the Orange Discomas or are they ricordia? I just picked up some flourescent orange discomas and I have never seen any before.
Click to expand...


Regular old orange shrooms. I have some Ricordas too but they live on the sand.
 
How much T5 would I need to light a 120 4'w tank with enough light to keep the high light need corals? How does T5 equate to MH? What are the best T5 units?

TIA
 
I think you need to cover as much of the tank with lamps as possible. If that 120 is 24" deep (front to back) I would go with 8 lamps. If you want a pre made hood the Sunlight Supply Tek light is the only good Choice. For retrofits either Sunlight Supply or Ice Cap. You want the parabolic reflectors and currently those are the only 2 companies marketing them here.

You also have the option of overdriving the lamps with Ice Cap ballasts. The 4 foot lamps are driven at around 80 watts.

T5's are close to halides, one informal PAR measurment by a reefer gave reading as good or even better than 175 watt halides. If verticle space in a canopy or heat is an issue T5's are the next best thing. You alsohave the advantage of being able to mix and match lamps to get just the color you want. If youwant to raise crazy colored SPS or high lighting clams you can get away with T5's but your critters would do better under the halides.
 
Hey Grim Reaper,
I have been researching a lighting system for a 125 gal and want to go with Sunlight's 6X80 lighting system (the one listed in reefgeek's retro kits) and was wondering how happy you are with your set up? I plan on a mixed tank with the more demanding sps near the top and back of the tank. Any comments would be appreciated.
 
aqualux offers parabolic reflectors from germany that are not icecap or sunlight supply. but they also sell the sls ones too. i am very happy with my german aqualux reflectors....
 
Thats grim REEFER :D

I have some montipora frags near the bottom that seem to do as well as those up high. I would definatly spring the extra couple bucks for the Ice Cap reflectors if you can get a deal on them. Ice Cap was doing a deal on a two and three foot reflector for each lamp (they aren't making reflectors forthe 60" lamps) but they aren't quite as long as they should be so I would go with 2 three foot reflectors per lamp.

The Ice Cap ballasts are pricey but worth evey penny IMO. When I started my 125 I was running the lights, a Mag 7 pump, an internal fluval pump and 2 small Rio's and my power bill didn't jump 10 bucks a month. Very impressive as far as how energy stingy these are.

Make sure you demand Blueplus lamps. If reefgeek stillhas the obsolete blue lamps he will stick you with them, trust me on this. I would get 1 sun, 2 Aquablue and depending on yourpersonal prefference do either 3 Blueplus or 2 and 1 actinic in the remaining three spaces. Adding an actinic would actually make your light look less blue but might fluoresce the coralsa tad better. Iam really not impressed with T5 actinics. If the Blueplus are really better than the blues I think I would pass on actinics. the aquablue and blueplus both cause fluorescing in the corals.
 
Space and heat are definitely a consideration. The tank is an Oceanic RR with a canopy. Inside that canopy there's only so much room. I'd want a premade hood, so does that mean that the ice cap ballasts are out, or are they somehow an option? What do the ice caps overdrive the 80s to? I seem to keep coming up short with this whole lighting thing. I just can't seem to figure out what light is best for this confined space above my glass tops, inside my canopy. Too bad the canopies aren't made taller.
 
You could always add the Ice Cap ballasts down the road. They drive my lamps at around 100 watts according to ice cap.

Depending on your canopy design the retrofits are easy to install. Check Aqualux's pricing on the Tek hoods as they have a great deal on lamps going on. As far as retrofits I'd go with reefgeek. Aqualux has some decent reflectors for T5 that aren't parabolic but if you need to cut down on costs they are probably the next best thing to Ice Cap and SLS. There are pictures of their "computer designed" reflector, a German made parabolic and a SLS unit in my gallary if you want to see the differences. I can't say how much better job the parabolics do but I figure Ice Cap wouldn't have designed their reflectors simular to the SLS if the early German designs were better.
 
Someone posted in another thread that Ice Cap says they run around 7o watts. You could post in the Ice Cap forum to find out for sure. The Geeks has Ice Cap retros made up but they are expensive. You could always have him customize a kit using Ice Cap's ballast for the main lights and a standard ballast for the blue or actinics.
 
Yea, i've asked him about customizing the retro's. Greg or someone mentioned that the ICECAP will shorten the lifespan of the T5 lightbulbs.

Is this through - or is it the price you pay for overclocking the bulbs.
 
jnichols, I had the same problem with the red mushrooms. Once I put them in the shade, they stopped shriveling up. Why is this? Why can tanks with PC's & MH's handle those type of shrooms just fine? I think they do fine under 400W MH's as well?

Actually, same goes true with my purple mushrooms! I have one purple mushroom that is exposed to more light than the rest & it happens that this one is paler when compared to the other ones in the shade.

frankdreistein, I think you have one of the best tanks. What do you attribute your success to? What is the big secret?
 
According to Icecap, with their ballasts you only need to relamp every two years. According to other ballasts it is recommended 12-18 months.

I had mushrooms shrivel when going from PC to MH without acclimation (just like I did when going to T5). They will do fine once you acclimate, but don't like suddenly increased light.
 
Ice Cap claims that eventhough you are overdriving the lamps with their ballasts the frequency they run the lamps at and the starting method will still get you the same life as the other ballasts.
 
and to further confuse things, fulham says their instant start workhorse ballasts wont decrease the lifespan of the t5 ho lights either...
 
horkn said:
and to further confuse things, fulham says their instant start workhorse ballasts wont decrease the lifespan of the t5 ho lights either...
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that not only do fullham ballasts have the hard start, they also overdrive the lamps in certain situations. I would like to see what they have done as far as testing to determine their ballasts don't fatigue the lamps. I have nothing better to do all day (forced premature retirement sucks) so when I set up my prop tank I may run WH 7's just for giggles. I am ordering a PAR meter so Ican have some fun tracking things. It turns out Ice Cap doesn't recomend the URI ballast for T5's so I will run it til' it dies and willneed other ballasts available just in case.
 
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