t-5'S FOR A 125

[skjohn98]

Does any one have any idea's on using T-5's on a 125 I am looking to have SPS's in the tank. Are there bulbs that will work in a 6 ft long tank or do they have to have something like 36" longs doubled up end to end?

John

 

[kgross]

The longest T5 bulbs you can get are 60 inches, so to fill out a 6 foot tank, you need to do 36" bulbs end to end.

Kim

 

[lubyone1]

You can get away with 6 60" bulbs in a 125....just keep your lower light corals in the corners. T5s can be more overpowering than you'd think. Some of my corals didn't color up until I moved them to the sides of the tank....

Considering the bulb replacement cost, I'd definitely go with 6 bulbs over 12.

 

[8BALL_99]

I had T5s over my 125 and hated it.. I had two fixtures with 6 bulbs each.. That was 12 freaking bulbs to change. Not to mention IMO the 36" bulbs aren't that great. Mind you I didn't overdrive mine. But the difference between 48" bulbs vs 36" seems to be alot. My fixtures added up to about 468 watts and with a bulb cost of 265+ I replaced the fixtures with a single MH fixture that has 3x150Mh.. The mh is brighter and cheaper to run. only 450 watts and bulb cost is around 180.

If you can run either 48" or 60" T5 bulbs staggered that would cut your running cost and would probably make T5s a much better fit for that size tank..

 

[sreefs]

Use 6- 80 watt bulbs and stagger them! Also use ice cap ballasts to over drive them, you will get more light than 3 250 watt MH.