Lighting suggestions for 58 Reef Ready

Or, FWIW, go with a 4' tank instead. As you look around, you will find that everything good is made for 4' tanks... 4'/54wattT5s, 4' tanks, 4' stands, flow works better with the longer tank... and costs are even more reasonable due to the popularity of the 4' tank. A 75g might costs the same if not less than a 58g, and is much easier to light... dual 250watt halides, MH+T5, or a 6 bulb T5 unit. Unless you have space constraints, the 75g is just the better tank to consider over a 58g.
 
My friend has an Oceanic 150 with dual overflows lit with 8 80 watt T5 HO's. I have to admit that is able to keep some pretty SPS corals. I still don't think the shimmer is near as nice as a halide, although that's not really a big issue. I just like that effect but its not really necessary. I'm still torn between just 1 250 watt HQI supplemented with 2 of the 2 light 36 inch Tek T5 HO systems for my actinics or going with 6 39 watt T5 HO's.

Honestly at this point I'm sure which way I want to go. But I'm going to set my tank up this week and let it cycle for about 6 weeks. That will give me a little time to marinate over this. In the mean time anymore input will definitely give me something to think about. And if anyone has pics of there system please leave them or a link to them. Thanks.
 
I know what you mean. Its hard to just 'jump in' to all T5s after having halides, and having such good results with them compared to the PC/VHO's that you might have seen or used before them. Kinda makes you wary about trusting phosphor based lighting again...

Ready for a story...??? I am in the process of buying all of the equipment for my new 130-150g. Its a 42"x36" (almost square) base that will be about 20-24" tall. I already have one of the 250wattDEs I intended to use on it, and I had intended to use another 250wattDE. The tank's dimensions were intended to give me the most possible square footage with only 2 250watt halides for light after all... that was the whole idea. But my success with the 6x39wattT5 tank (I usually only run 4 of the bulbs out of the 6 anyways for a 40B, and I run bluer bulbs at that 2xaquablue, 2x blue+, 2x actinic03) makes me want to use T5s on the new one.. at least partly. One of the best looking tanks (best coral growth I have seen and best coral coloration) I know of is a 120g with dual 250wattDE Ushio 10,000Ks and 4x54wattT5s (2x blue+ and 2x actinic03). You know how some T5 lit tanks have a very pastel, yet slightly faded coloring to the SPS? And you know how halides give many corals a deep intense coloration? Ok, combine those two together. His tank, with a 2:1 halide-T5 wattage ratio has some of the most intense coloration for any of his corals that I have yet to match with any MH or T5 only system.

So then I thought, why not run the one 250wattDE I have with 6x39wattT5s on the sides of that? Ok, sounds good, but If Im going to get the same great coloration, and then considering what bulbs I would use... (with the dual halides I would have just used two pheonix bulbs)the MH+T5s that I would most likely use would be a 10,000K for the 250wattDE and 4x blue+ & 2x actinic03 for the T5s. But that would give me a really bright 10,000K spot in the center of the tank, and less intensity all around the rest. So the best I can come up with is using a slightly bluer bulb in the 250wattDE, like a pheonix or ushio 14,000K, and then using my existing T5s in a full spectrum arrangement of 2x sun, 2x blue+, 2x actinic03... But that would mean less overall output for the halide, or a 'hot spot' in the middle of the large yet shallow tank... so then why dont I just do all T5s then?!?!?! Lol.

I know what you mean, to say the least. But recently I saw a friends tank who I had helped with new lighting suggestions. He has a 150g, with 2x250wattSE 20,000Ks at each end, 1x400wattSE Radium in the middle, and 2x 160watt VHO's. His tank was very blue to say the least (every coral in the tank was either blue or green even if they really werent), and sucked up wattage. He also had a 40B with a big halide over it for his frag tank...just like I have. I suggested he try T5s after I saw how much brighter my 6x39wattT5s were compared to my halides... so he bought a 4 bulb Tek with 2x sun bulbs and 2x blue+ bulbs. He loves it. Because of the sun bulbs, he gets that intense coloration (not faded pastel) look in his SPS like halides do... there are many corals in this tank that look better than under the halides. I saw it, and was very surprised how nice the combo really is. The sun bulbs look red/green and pukey when I tried them (but I tried them alone and decided against them), but with the blue+ bulbs to even them out... they look awesome... much like a ushio 14,000K. His corals looked awesome too with that light... the tank looked much brighter, and the overall wattage for that tank went down by 100 watts. Then he swapped out his 150s lights for a combo of halides and T5s (a 72" maristar... he was confident in T5s and DE's, but reluctant to make a 100% change).... reducing his overall wattage, and getting a much brighter tank (using 3x250watt Ushio 14,000Ks and 4x39watt Blue+ T5s)... so much that a couple deepwater acros bleached out. The combo has also colored up his corals to the point where I can say the previous lights werent doing his tank justice... he actually has corals that look really sweet that looked ordinary before. Now, he is considering just removing the MH/T5 combo over the tank and going with all T5s (when ATI gets the 5' powermodules here)... 6x80wattT5s for his 150g... and he is wary that it might be too bright for some of the corals towards the bottom of the tank, because he sees now how T5s really do penetrate so much better than his halides.

I know you might be reluctant (I am too), but a T5 only tank would be the smarter and easier thing to do in the long run. You just have to keep telling yourself that until you get it set up and you realize it. There is just no reason for the halide other than 'its what you are used to seeing'. One trip to Germany to visit the shops there, and you wont even doubt T5s or wonder any more.

The only other option I would say is to save up for a LED system. As much as T5s are the present best technology, LED's promise to be the next big thing... dont know if they are quite ready yet though... but its not going to be long before they are for sure. Maybe in a couple years we will see a Maristar with LED's for main lights, and T5s for supplimental...
 
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I also run 2 250W 14K's on my 58 without any problems. No center brace either BTW. FWIW I run the bulbs on 6 hour intervals overlapping the two for 4 hours. My tank is almost all SPS and they seem to thrive with it.

14K's and 20K's have pretty low par. I would say that if you wanted to run 10K's or lower then 2 250W bulbs may be too much.

Just one mans humble opinion though.
 
If I do go with all T5's do you think a 6x39 system would be too much and what bulb configuration would you guys consider going with.

In case you haven't figured it out Hahnmeister, you're about to talk me into an all T5 HO system. That is , unless I can convince myself otherwise. LOL.
 
If you go with 10ks and keep acros toward the top 3rd of tank acros should be fine. I kept an Acro and monti cap this way.
 
Sorry for the long wait on a response. I was modding Aquaclear powerheads into needlewheels tonight.

For a first T5 setup, I would try to get a mix with one of everything. Since you dont know exactly what to expect (unless you see someone elses T5 setup and decide to copy it, as even most photos on the internet dont tell the truth 100%), I would start with one of the ATI blue+, one UVL Super Actinic, one G-man actinic+, one ATI Sun Pro, one ATI Aquablue/12,000K, one UVL Actinic White. Thats a wide mix that will cover all spectrums, leaving you with a very blue/white look similar to a 12-13,000K when they are all on. The wide range will also appeal to the widest range of corals, allowing not only blue and green corals to color up well, but also reds and oranges. Because of the brighter sun bulbs, you will get loads of bright light as well. If you get a Tek fixture, you could get a 8 bulb unit and still fit over a 18" deep tank as well. This might be a good idea too because the Teks have slight drop offs in the top few inches, and at more than 18" of depth when compared to Icecap's SLR reflectors. The catch is that the IC reflectors are only sold as a retrofit unless you pay up for a Aquatinics Icecap Fixture... but I dont think they are worth it. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=893956
They use the Icecap VHO ballasts which overdrive the bulbs which means more heat... more heat means harder to keep cool, and with T5s, cooling is everything. They run pretty cool as is, obviously, but their best operating conditions are when the bulb is kept at 95 degrees. Some tests I have seen show T5 output to go down by as much as 25% when run w/o ventilation. This is why I am a bit wary about the current Teks as well. Luckily, I have a running bet with SLS for their new Tek units... if the tests they run show a boost in output with active ventilation, they will add fans. Or, there is the ATI powermodule that Reefgeek should have in a couple months. Its a bad@$$ looking fixture that is prolly one of the best looking uinits around.. in every respect...
 
Man! PC, VHO, T5, Halide and now LED... My head and eyes hurt. And there's no LFS open to compare... I will also check out T5's, the retro and TEK lights look impressive.

bigloggerhead,

What would you say a 24" and 36" bulb would compare to say a VHO bulbs?
 
T5 and halide are the only ones you need look at right now, unless you want to be an early adopter and get LED's. Dont get me wrong, LEDs are great, but the products that are available right now arent as good as T5s, and the technology is developing sooo fast that it just doesnt make sense to buy into it yet... this is what is keeping many companies from production as well. The units being sold are half as bright as those that have been developed in the past year and factories are being built for. In the end, LED's will dominate everything it seems (ok, except sola-tubes and skylights... lol), but for now T5s seem to be the best bang for the buck... yet halides still have their place depending on the tank.
 
I here ya. Don't wanna be a beta tester for new releases...

So what brands should I look at...I saw Sunlight Supply, Giesmann and Aqua Medic. Is there a brand that does all electronic ballasts for the fixtures and retros? Some of them ballast boxes look huge.
 
The retros, IMO, are the way to go. Icecap SLR reflectors, Advance Triad (not overclocked with Icecap 660 ballasts) ballasts, waterproof endcaps, and a fan for every 2 to 3 bulbs. But I understand if everyone isnt so handy or has a canopy... fixtures then come up.

I wouldnt bother with the Aquatinics/Icecap one... too costly and too hot. The existing Teks are nice, just not quite as good of reflectors as the Icecaps or the German ones... but they are narrower, so you can pack more in the same space. My only concern is the passive ventilation. It might not be enough. Testing is being done as I write this to see how much light may be lost since the Tek doesnt have an active cooling system. Stay clear of the Current USA/Coralife units. Cheap all over, and no individual reflectors. ATI will be the best you can get just short of importing a unit yourself and putting your own 110v ballasts in.

At that, if you want a nice fixture, and are a little handy, bending up a little metal to make your own enclosure is a piece of cake.
 
Well Hahn, you've been extremely helpful and have given me a great deal to think about. Right now though, I'm still leaning towards a 250 watt DE retro with 4 39 T5 HO's for my actinic supplementation. Probably going to go with a 10K bulb in the halide at first to see how it works. I may have to go to a 12K but I like the whiter light. I really think the 4 T5's will be enough blue for me to keep most any SPS. Just hope I'm right. Hey, half of this stuff is R & D anyway. I'm just not sure what combination of T5 bulbs to go with. I'll probably use the Geissemann bulbs. I here they're pretty good.
 
Sounds great... that should give you tons of light. If I might make a suggestion on a bulb... its a cheap one too... Ushio 14,000K. Its not blue like a Pheonix, but a very crisp white. Very nice looking, and I think it has a higher PAR than the 10,000K Ushio FWIW. I like the pheonix to run alone, but if I were running MH+T5s, I would go with the Ushio. I have a few friends that use them, and they love em, and from the transformations I have seen in a couple tanks with them... I have to agree.
 
14,000K can mean alot of things... just like a 10,000K (An Aqualine 10,000K is alot more yellow than a Ushio for instance). The pheonix 14,000K is pretty much a radium bulb w/o the actinic. The Ushio is a 10,000K with slightly less red/yellow/green, and just a tad more blue. They are very different compared to other 14,000Ks. Even hamiltons and other 14,000Ks tend to vary alot.
 
Well I really would like my metal halide to be a nice white light and use the T5's for my actinic. So would the Ushio 14K be the bulb I'm looking for to accomplish this?
 
That would be my choice for a white bulb... the Ushio 14,000K. It does look awesome in person. I know someone with a bunch of them (as I mentioned), and he pairs them with blue+ bulbs... the tank looks great.
 
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