Switching from mh to t5 u think be beneficial for sps?
- Thread starter BrentH
- Start date
billyzbear
Active member
The fans wear out and the ballast can go bad.
3ft, try to get all the same. A three foot fixture will need to be higher than a four foot to cover the extra 6" on the sides.
Usually people have them mounted 3-5" above tank. To raise and lower I thoght a pulley system would be cool. It's doable but I haven't seen one.
3ft, try to get all the same. A three foot fixture will need to be higher than a four foot to cover the extra 6" on the sides.
Usually people have them mounted 3-5" above tank. To raise and lower I thoght a pulley system would be cool. It's doable but I haven't seen one.
billyzbear
Active member
I would think side to side.
You can do some cool illusions of depth as you look into the tank. It would help if you angle the fixtures in an upside down "v" above the tank. Like a 20 or so degree angle but not mandatory.
You could hang with a hook in ceiling and a chain to fixture. When you want to move it up reposition chain on hook.
You can do some cool illusions of depth as you look into the tank. It would help if you angle the fixtures in an upside down "v" above the tank. Like a 20 or so degree angle but not mandatory.
You could hang with a hook in ceiling and a chain to fixture. When you want to move it up reposition chain on hook.
jackson6745
Yeah Yeah
Richard if you are going for T5, get 2 x 6 tube Sunpower units. Either dimming or non dimming. If you want only 10 tubes then get 4 and a 6 tube units. An 8 tube unit with 2xReef brights on either side is more or less like a 10 tube unit.
FWIW, I wouldnt be worried about replacing so many tubes every 8 months...I replace my ATI tubes well into a full year. Scotty runs his T5 tubes like every 16 months or something...and his tank is a TOTM tank.
Thats IF you really wanted to switch from halides...
Don't really want to switch but I think the tank will benefit from the T5's. The growth is becoming dense. I even had to get silly with the flow
. Running 4 vortechs and a Grye 130 in there now. I really want to grow this tank into one blob of acro :twitch:I might be getting one also. This is a dimmabe 10 bulb with analog controls. I think there is a way to dim it with the apex, but I barely know how to use my Apex :uhoh2:
Sorry for jumping in on your thread, but it got me thinking about the same switch
. Actually, once I get an idea in my head, I usually end up doing it. I'm sure there will be t5's over my tank soon. Post some pics of the t5 when you get it over the tank.
BrentH
New member
No prob please jump in one thing I noticed with the t5 I put the fixture over the tank last night for a min is maybe not as bright as metal halides but u can see into the tAnk better and it does illuminate every inch it's over I'm excited for this I hope my across don't choke out on me there doing well but I feel can do a little betterQUOTE=jackson6745;23515329]Don't really want to switch but I think the tank will benefit from the T5's. The growth is becoming dense. I even had to get silly with the flow . Running 4 vortechs and a Grye 130 in there now. I really want to grow this tank into one blob of acro :twitch:
I might be getting one also. This is a dimmabe 10 bulb with analog controls. I think there is a way to dim it with the apex, but I barely know how to use my Apex :uhoh2:
Sorry for jumping in on your thread, but it got me thinking about the same switch. Actually, once I get an idea in my head, I usually end up doing it. I'm sure there will be t5's over my tank soon.
Post some pics of the t5 when you get it over the tank.[/QUOTE]
. Running 4 vortechs and a Grye 130 in there now. I really want to grow this tank into one blob of acro :twitch:I might be getting one also. This is a dimmabe 10 bulb with analog controls. I think there is a way to dim it with the apex, but I barely know how to use my Apex :uhoh2:
Sorry for jumping in on your thread, but it got me thinking about the same switch
. Actually, once I get an idea in my head, I usually end up doing it. I'm sure there will be t5's over my tank soon. Post some pics of the t5 when you get it over the tank.
[/QUOTE]
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Which daylight tubes are you running? I use at least 2 ATI Aquablue specials. These have significant spikes in the green/orange/yellow/red parts of the spectrum and consequently brighten up the tank. I also like Richards idea of using a GE 65K tube; it is visually quite bright.
billyzbear
Active member
BrentH, which MH bulbs are you using?
You can use the fixture you have, I would suggest you get all the same or atleast two that are the same. It will make it alot easier when it comes to getting bulbs and will look more uniform over the tank. So get another one like you have then get two 4 ft 10 bulb fixtures or get three more like you have.
You can also get reefbrights, royal blue and or other color leds and put them inside or hang them on the sides of fixture.
You can use the fixture you have, I would suggest you get all the same or atleast two that are the same. It will make it alot easier when it comes to getting bulbs and will look more uniform over the tank. So get another one like you have then get two 4 ft 10 bulb fixtures or get three more like you have.
You can also get reefbrights, royal blue and or other color leds and put them inside or hang them on the sides of fixture.
BrentH
New member
Thanks my bulb combo is 3 Aqua blue +3 corsal+ 1 purple plus and 1 act nice in sure in time I'll play with bulb combos . I run radium bulbs 4 400 watt and 3phonjx 250 14k in back I just purchased 2 more 8x54 48" fixtures I couldn't afford 3 at once lol so I need to buy one more and about 500 bucks in bulbs and I'll be good !!!! I'm going to run the 4 48inchers side by side it will cover almost the whole tank im anxious .... I'm the same way as Jackson once I get an idea I obsess on it...ps sorry for misspellings and punctuation being so off I'm kinda do 2 things at once here
billyzbear
Active member
14k phoenix bulb really isn't blue. If you have 3 blue plus, 3 coral plus, 1 purple plus, 1 actinic and it's not bright enough. You could swap out coral plus with ge 6500k or another white bulb. The difference between GE and coral plus, GE has more green, yellow, orange and red and less blue. A GE looks good when flanked with blue plus. Corals use more blue and red to grow. Fish and some coral look better with all the colors. The actinic plus looks like blue plus but makes the coral pop more and is a lighter shade of blue. Par is lower than blue plus. If you read that link, blue plus is close to the highest par with spectrum meter. Par isn't everything but that is a long discussion. I thought you would want it bluer...
Side by side? Do you mean length wise across front?
I guess you could go length wise front to back but it will be harder to balance the color across the front of display.
Side by side? Do you mean length wise across front?
I guess you could go length wise front to back but it will be harder to balance the color across the front of display.
billyzbear
Active member
Frying coral, bleaching? I would have to know the hole story before I could comment. Generally no bleaching. You will need to acclimate coral to light. Have light on for 2-3 hours then off for a couple of hours. Repeat for one day. Two weeks should do it. You could also raise lights so they won't be soo intense.
Moser
Active member
+1
If it's not bright enough, Aquablue specials will make it much brighter.
GE6500 are too yellow for my liking.
Be careful though, too much and they wash out the colours! A bit like 10k v 20k I suppose!
Mo
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