Looking for 24 Inch T5 Lighting

[Stray32]

Hoping to spend $150 or less on a 6-8 bulb T5 fixture for my frag tank. I know that's probably a stretch, but let me know if you guys have any.

I am thinking about doing a retrofit in leiu of a fixture, but don't have the know how, so if any of you guys would like to help out, I can pay you with cold beer and frags haha.

Cheers!

 

[bigmatt1992]

i have that 48 inch 8 bulb tek light dont know if thats to big for you or not.

 

[Stray32]

Yep, just looking for 24 inch fixture, the tank is 22 inches square. Thanks though.

 

[bigmatt1992]

opps did see that lol

 

[bnmir]

You might not need 6-8 bulbs, depending on how much space you're covering. I'm running 4 over an oceanic 37g and bleached a few things.
for that price, fleabay or horticulture are probably your only option, you wont get bulbs ballast reflectors and endcaps in that price range.

 

[acer]

JARED- WHY NOT A 150 WATT DE PENDANT - pick one of those up for $150 used with a bulb I would expect. That is what we are using on our 37 cube. Since it is a pendent that you can hang over the tank you have much easier access to the tank for cleaning ,etc. We have a clam, SPS, and other corals are all doing OK under that light.

 

[Stray32]

The tank is 22 inches square, so I am not sure if 4 bulbs would be enough to get the coverage that I want. I plan on keeping mostly zoas/palys, but there will be SPS in there eventually.

The guy I bought the tank from has a really nice MH pendant and ballast for sale for $125, but I am hesitant since I will be keeping mostly zoas/palys in the frag tank. They have thrived in my DT under T5 lighting, and I dont want to take the chance of them not adapting to the MH. TJ had this problem recently, and his thought was the the MH lighting was too much for his polyps.

 

[acer]

Just place the pendant further away from the water and use a 20K bulb rather than a 10-14K bulb. The zoas are doing well under a Icecapp 15k bulb in our tank.

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15477463#post15477463 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stray32
TJ had this problem recently, and his thought was the the MH lighting was too much for his polyps.

Yep, it's a mess. My tank is only 16" tall though. I've ran T5's and Halides on tanks, and I like T5's so much more.

 

[Stray32]

Yeah this is Pat's tank, it's only 12 or 14 tall I think.

 

[cloakerpoked]

I think I'm having a problem with some of my polyps in direct light too under my MH. My lighting is pretty close to the surface and they seem to do ok in the lower areas of the tank, but high up they've really been suffering.