T5 and softies

[gregrex]

I've got a T5 lit 55gal that I pretty much went way overboard with on the lighting (4x48" bulbs/IC660/IC reflectors). To further complicate matters, I plan to move the tank to my office and I'm not going to have time to maintain a lot of SPS there.

Sooo... In the interest of keeping softies and maybe a few LPS, I'm mulling the options for decreasing light intensity.

1> Take off a couple/all reflectors?
2> Run a bunch of actinic03 bulbs?
3> Tear it down and put up VHOs?

Anyone else in this boat? Opinions?
Thanks.

 

[dhoch]

You could add a screen for shading... Maybe the simplest solution...

Dave

 

[Horace]

4x54 overdriven on a 55g is not only a bit overboard for softies...its off the charts. That is A TON of light. Thats enough light for even the most demanding of SPS and then some. I would take the reflectors off of the daylight bulbs and see how that goes.

 

[gregrex]

Yeah, I got a little overzealous when I got this system a year ago... Oh well, there didn't seem to be as much info available at the time. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[psimitry]

In a similar vein, I tend to keep mostly softies w/ an LPS thrown in here and there - I'm getting ready to order a 6x 65W PC fixture. Is this too much?

 

[Horace]

PC is definatly NOT going to be too much for softies/LPS. I have never heard of anyone overpowering thier tank with PC and dont think I ever will. They are so big, your likely to run out of room to put them before you get too much light

 

[mufret]

Another alternative might be to replace the 660 with a couple of the "regular" T5HO ballasts (Workhorse, Triad, Advance). By not overdriving the bulbs with the 660, you'd be putting about 35% less light into the tank.

I did much the same thing last year by installing six of the 54w T5 bulbs over my 55 (4 are being overdriven by a 660). There wasn't as much info available at the time and I figured I would get as much light on the tank as possible. I'm still running that setup but it's pretty much a SPS tank.

 

[psimitry]

Ok - so same question (of too much light w/ LPS & Softies) replace 6x 65W PC with 4x 54W T5 - about the same?

Less? More?

I wish I knew about T5's like I do halides.

 

[horkn]

i would take the IC660 off, and get a couple advance or triads or workhorses.

maybe even run 3x54 and run it all off of one w7

 

[gregrex]

Hmmm... the idea of downgrading my ballast makes me sad. I think I'll just take off a few reflectors... turn them into glorified VHOs...

 

[Horace]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6960099#post6960099 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mufret
Another alternative might be to replace the 660 with a couple of the "regular" T5HO ballasts (Workhorse, Triad, Advance). By not overdriving the bulbs with the 660, you'd be putting about 35% less light into the tank.

I did much the same thing last year by installing six of the 54w T5 bulbs over my 55 (4 are being overdriven by a 660). There wasn't as much info available at the time and I figured I would get as much light on the tank as possible. I'm still running that setup but it's pretty much a SPS tank.

How exactly are you fitting 6 T5s over a 55g with individual refelctors??? the 6 I have on my 75 barely even fit and the refelectors are as close to eachother as they can get.

 

[mufret]

The length of my canopy allowed me to slightly stagger the endcaps. The canopy is also rather tall so I have all the endcaps installed on to a wooden backing fixture. This way I can raise and lower the bulbs and allows me to pull the entire lighting setup out of the canopy for cleaning and maintenance. Doing all of this gave me just enough room to be able to get all 6 bulbs with reflectors over the tank. I have 4 of the SLS Tek reflectors and 2 of the IceCap and there is not a single gap between any of the reflectors.

 

[gregrex]

shoehorn.

 

[h20cooled]

How about just turning off a couple of bulbs?

 

[zapata41]

i wouldnt remove the reflectors, just get a different ballast. you said it saddens you to downgrade the ballast, well then it should really sadden you to take off the reflectors since they make T5s what they are.

As for the guy with the PC wanting to go to 4x54w T5, that will be a lot brighter so acclimate the corals to the new lights slowly.

Tim

 

[FoothillCorals]

Take off one bulb, Just re-wire your 660 to run three instead.