looking for a good T-5 retro kit
- Thread starter CamBarr
- Start date
james3370
Premium Member
can't go wrong w/ reefgeek.com for great prices, low shipping rates, excellent customer support & all the popular bulbs
* dual regular ballast kit - $289 including your choice of bulbs
* single icecap 660 ballast kit - $359 including your choice of bulbs
personally, i'd go w/ the dual regular ballast kit....
* no sense in overdriving the actinic bulbs
* can do seperate timing on actinics & regulars since seperate ballasts
* can buy an icecap 430 ballast if you feel the need to overdrive the regular bulbs
* dual regular ballast kit - $289 including your choice of bulbs
* single icecap 660 ballast kit - $359 including your choice of bulbs
personally, i'd go w/ the dual regular ballast kit....
* no sense in overdriving the actinic bulbs
* can do seperate timing on actinics & regulars since seperate ballasts
* can buy an icecap 430 ballast if you feel the need to overdrive the regular bulbs
james3370
Premium Member
i don't think 4 bulbs will give you very good coverage front to rear.....all 4 bulbs are 10" & you have 24" to cover. you might get away w/ 6 if you don't want hardly any light at the front or rear, but i think you are gonna need 8 bulbs to effectively cover that dimension
your other option would be a single 175w or 250w metal halide. the good reflectors will cover a 24x24 area w/ 1 single bulb & 18" of tank depth a 175w would work well for most except light demanding sps corals...then you might want to bump up to 250w if you want to do them
your other option would be a single 175w or 250w metal halide. the good reflectors will cover a 24x24 area w/ 1 single bulb & 18" of tank depth a 175w would work well for most except light demanding sps corals...then you might want to bump up to 250w if you want to do them
james3370
Premium Member
not 50% of the tank....the reflectors are sorta u-shaped to focus the light downward
like i said....6 might be ok if you don't want much light at the front or rear, but honestly, 8 would be optimal. 8 bulbs still leaves 2" front & rear since that is 20" (each bulb takes 2.5")
like i said....6 might be ok if you don't want much light at the front or rear, but honestly, 8 would be optimal. 8 bulbs still leaves 2" front & rear since that is 20" (each bulb takes 2.5")
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