divewsharks
Active member
Yes you would have plenty of light and you would just have some lower light area's (6") on either end, where you would place lower-light liking corals.
Sunpower & SPS
- Thread starter drtrash
- Start date
Yes you would have plenty of light and you would just have some lower light area's (6") on either end, where you would place lower-light liking corals.
Fibinotchi
Upstanding Citizen
Can you keep under HO or does it have to be VHO bulbs and ballasts? I have a planted 55 gallon I want to convert to saltwater and I have a nova extreme 4 54 watt HO fixture on it. Would that be enough for sps in the top half of my aquarium and be fine for lps near the bottom?
divewsharks
Active member
You do not need VHO, VHO (in the T5 world) are T5's that are overdriven by the ballast, most commonly an IC660.
Does you Nova have individual reflectors or one big one, that will be the biggest thing in your consideration. The reflectors on the Nova's aren't as good as the ATI, Aquatinics or Tek fixtures; having said that, that does not mean you can't keep SPS under them. In a 55 with high-quality bulbs keeping SPS in the upper portion of the tank should be quite doable. You'll want to make sure your water quality/stability is good as well as the current -- all 3 are critical to success.
hth
Fibinotchi
Upstanding Citizen
It is one big reflector but wraps around each bulb so I am sure that would be considered individual.
divewsharks
Active member
so yes, go for it. If you are still running the stock bulbs, i would change those out.
Fibinotchi
Upstanding Citizen
Thanks, it will be a long build because I am going to do a custom stand and everything for it. But I am going to work towards it. Thanks for the advice.
Fibinotchi
Upstanding Citizen
What bulbs should I put in. Like one actinic and 2 10k 1 6500k or do I need 2 actinic?
divewsharks
Active member
That really depends on what 'color' tank you like. My preferences would lean toward using:
2 ATI Blue+
1 ATI AquaBlue Special
1 KZ Fiji Purple
The Blue+ & AB would be high-par bulbs that also (especially the B+) would give all the actinic phosphors you would need for the pop and be very good for growth.
this would be a brighter/bluish tank. The KZ FP would help pop the reds/pinks/purples.
If you used a GE65K bulb, it could make things yellow, its good for growth but not the best for aesthetics -- imo.
Denadai
New member
Hi,
Thankรยดs. Iรยดm really loving my ATI Sunpower
The size is : 25x21x18
More pics :
your tanks look beautiful, guys...i am setting up a 135g with 28" deep, thinking about 6-48" fixture, either sunpower or tek light...will it good for some animal at 28" deep water? or i have to go back to MH....does it still give me a light shimmering as with MH?.....thanks in advance for ur input, guys
Denadai
New member
divewsharks
Active member
what are you looking to keep down near the bottom? 28" is pretty deep if you are looking to do SPS down there. If you are set on going T5's, I'd go with ATI, it is proven where as the Elite is still new. Alternatives (more expensive ones) would be an ATI Powermodule or an Aquatinics Solar Flare, it uses the IC660 ballast so it overdrives some of the bulbs and puts out some real serious light.
If you are doing a mixed reef with corals which are not as light demanding towards the bottom, then you should be good to go with either.
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