T5 Lighting May Be For You

[brentp]

Got a question for you t5 guru's...

Is this high enough and do these lights put out enough light for it? I read that bigger clams need more light...

[

Drewpy, I've got a Squamosa that is footbal sized and a Maxima and a Crocea that are about 8" doing great under T5's. The Squamosa is on the bottom of a 24" deep tank under a center brace. When they get big they can get more of what they need from the lights. I wouldn't worry about phytoplankton on a large clam.

 

[Warnberg]

My entire tank is lit with T5's (30 inches deep) and I couldn't be happier. The sps, clam, zoo's, coraline, everything is growing quite nicely....

Look in my gallery for pics

Just my 2 cents

 

[MyMonkey]

Thanks SiDog. I checked that site. Very nice. I think T5's will be my next lighting setup then.

 

[kaweahnet]

I'm lit with T-5's exclusively and feed a capfull of DT's every two days. Mine is just fine - in fact it survived my crash I had last weekend when I lost half of the tank.

 

[Drewpy]

rjwilson37 and brentp and Warnberg and kaweahnet,

Thanks, makes me feel better... How about some current tank pictures?

 

[rjwilson37]

I did some serious re-arranging and fragging as well as got rid of some stuff, oh... and some more fish if that is possible in my tank. hehehe.....

I will post a picture tomorrow.

 

[new2u]

Whoever asked, i've got RJs lighting setup which I definatly wouldn't have without him, I'll post a better pic sometime today, I actually cleaned the tank this time

 

[rjwilson37]

I got rid of my Derasa Clam which is to bad, but it was getting very large and I am just not ready to move to the bigger tank yet. I have decided to try some different things and see what I can get away with as far as types of fish in my reef tank.

Here is the new list of fish

1 Snowflake Eel
1 Blue Tang
1 Lamarck Angel
1 Racoon Butterfly
2 Clowns
5 Green Chromis
1 Blue Reef Chromis
2 Orange Striped Cardinals
1 Banggai Cardinal
1 Half Black Dwarf Angel
1 3 Stripe Damsel
1 Neon Blue Yellow Belly Damsel
1 Royal Gramma
1 Scooter Blenny

I will post a picture as soon as I can get a good one with a lot of the fish out and about. That is 20 fish in a 55g which is definately a site to see with fish swimming everywhere.

 

[sidog1]

RJ,
Racoon Butterfly? Are they reef safe? Very Interesting. List of fish is long!

 

[rjwilson37]

No.. the Raccoon Butterfly is not Reef Safe, but I am trying to see what is nips at and what it doesn't in the long run. It nipped at everything the first day or two, but now it doesn't nip at anything. I am going through a transition with my tank and switching to a mostly fish with just a few corals, I am hoping to get a Majestic Angel sometime soon when I switch to a bigger tank.

 

[Drewpy]

Your corals look good...
i hope you get a bigger tank for them...

 

[PUGroyale]

VHO loses 50% intensity at like 12" down into the water, Power Compacts lose 50% at 19" and MH loses 50% at 23" down into the water.

There is not a document that states how far T5's penatrate before they lose 50% of there intensity, but they say that they are almost as good as MH which would put you at around 21" I guess. I do know that they do not recommend T5's for tanks over 24" in height.

I've seen you post that first paragraph numerous times. Could you please show me the data from which you base these claims? Is it somewhere in this thread?

In the second paragraph I qouted... who are "they"? TIA

 

[rjwilson37]

I've seen you post that first paragraph numerous times. Could you please show me the data from which you base these claims? Is it somewhere in this thread?

In the second paragraph I qouted... who are "they"? TIA

I don't know the exact article's location, but it is something that has stuck with me since I researched lighting to death just over a year and a half ago. I made the decision to go with T5's after reading a ton and almost doing an MH/VHO setup which would have been a great setup as well.

 

[rjwilson37]

Well, I have gone and done it. I decided to go with a glass aquarium and purchased a standard AGA 90g with MegaFlow for the overflow. This should be the tank to last me over the next few years, I am going for a completely different look on this one. I will post a new thread for the setup of this new tank which should be pretty sweet I am thinking.

 

[Codeman00]

Congrats on the new arrival! Are you still going T5 with this one?

 

[rjwilson37]

Congrats on the new arrival! Are you still going T5 with this one?

Thanks and Yep, I will be using my current T5's for a while.

 

[horkn]

nice upgrade. hopefully i will be able to upgrade soon....

i hope you will add a couple more tubes of t5ho than what you have on a 90

 

[rjwilson37]

I will be using the current for a little while, and then probably move to a 6 bulb setup when I do finally upgrade them.

 

[skarnas]

I have been trying to keep up with this entire thread, but I think I may have missed sections. Hopefully what I am about to ask has not been covered already and that this is an appropriate thread.

I am currently using a single 96W 50/50 PC bulb over my 35gal tank (36" long) and keeping softies, 'shrooms, and a candycane. The age of the bulb is approaching 10months, so it is time to replace. I am wondering if I should just scrap the PC (not happy with the colour) for a T5 unit.

In particular, I was looking at 1 or 2 Coralvue retro kits which have an 'actinic' and a daylight bulb each. Would this be an upgrade? Better colour? Would 2 Coralvue units (4 bulbs) easily keep most LPS happy (assuming other needs are met)?

Thank you!
Scott

 

[chem-e]

skarnas - Welcome to RC. I would go with a 4 bulb unit as it'll give more flexibility in the choice of corals.