T5 Lighting May Be For You

I am not sure on the Coralvue, do they have individual reflectors for each bulb which is what makes T5's really penatrate and do well for a reef tank. Do you have a link to what your looking at getting.

This is kinda the aquascaping design I am looking to do for the new 90g.

showphoto.php
 
skarmas, i have a 35g 36" long tank. i light it with a 3x39w t5 ho retrofit. its more than adequate for even sps.

i think if you want lps and softies, a 2 bulb unit like the coralvue may work.
but i can say rom my experience with 3x39 that it wil work better, esp if you want sps.
rj, the coralvue does have individual parabolic reflectors, but the components dont seem to be that high of quality on them. theres at least one thread on RC about the electrical components on the corlavue units that failed in a very short time.
 
Thank you for the advice chem-e.

RJ, here is a link with atleast a picture of the lights:

http://www.reefperfection.com/item814.htm

So it does look like they are individual reflectors.

Horkn, thank you for the heads-up on the quality issues of the Coralvue lights. I think I may need to do a bit more research then. What system are you currently running?

Thanks again!
Scott
 
Yep, you do tend to get what you pay for when it comes to our aquariums. The inexpensive stuff does not seem to last as long or work as well as the pricier stuff. I think my fish and house deserves the best I can get, you only want to pay for this stuff once. I have heard of many RC reefer's trying the different inexpensive things and end up spending twice as much in the long run rather than buying it right the first time. There have also been incidents of melt down and fires with some of the T5 setups which is very scary in my book.

I have the Tek-Light hood from Sunlight Supply that I purchased through www.ReefGeek.com and have no complaints in the 24"/or 36" I have purchased over the past two years.
 
hi i have the acadia 4 tube one with TWO MARINE WHITE 14000K and TWO MARINE BLUE ACTINIC tubes

just wondering if you would leave the lights on the whole time

just know im running the white during the day and the blue at nights
 
I don't think we ever pay for anything "just once" in this hobby. My recent upgrade just proved this. :) I know what you mean though.

I have the 6 bulb tek light on my 90 - is there an sps that someone would recommend for this? It would be my first dive into sps -kinda nervous.
 
Montipora digitata are a great choice for intro to sps. How old is your tank? If the tank is less than a year old, stick to the montis, as acros can sometimes be difficult in newer tanks (not always).
 
skarnas said:


Horkn, thank you for the heads-up on the quality issues of the Coralvue lights. I think I may need to do a bit more research then. What system are you currently running?

Thanks again!
Scott
Click to expand...

i am running a 3x39 t5ho retro from aqualuxlighting.com.

usually you get what you pay for, but for the price, you cant beat the DIY retros from aqualux. i got my entire setup with 2 ati blues and one ge 6500k day bulb, individual parabolic reflectors and ballast with waterproof endcaps and standoffs for ~170 dollars delivered. i have been running thi setup since dec, and i have had no issues...
 
I have montis and they are coloring up nicely. my acros, its hit and miss with these guys. It is hard to say if it is my lights or if water quality is playing a factor in them not being as richly colored as I would like.. I haven't been doing WC's as often as I should since the baby came along. Otherwise, the sps's I have are doing great under my 24" 96W tek light.
 
Well, the tank is up for almost 3 months now. I have a few sps frags in my tank. Here is a pic.

Tank.jpg


I've got blue torts, tiny superman monti, big purple monti danae with brown polyps, tyree ponape birdsnest, some digi's, some caps, a couple of different birdsnests, some milli's, and a green slimer. Hope the picture works.

Sorry for the bad pic quality. It's not a good camera.
 
Very nice, I hope they continue to do well, especially since your tank is only 3 months old. You tend to get unexpected algae blooms the first 6 months which is devistating to sps type corals.
 
Here is the latest picture of my 55g, you can see that I have done some serious fragging and removed a few things. I am preparing for the move to my new 90g, and the LFS's will only take a few things at a time, so I started the fragging early. Nothing better than trading in corals for additives, frozen food and salt mix, it definately keeps your cost down.

20050910aquarium.jpg
 
The GE 6500 Daylight is about as close as you get to off the shelf. They work well but must be supplimented with blue lamps or they look like crap. They would be great for a grow out tank cause they put out a ton of PAR,
 
Do I EVER feel like the sole survivor of this thread, and now that RJ is gone over to the darker, or should I say lighter side, of halides i'm the only 58. Well, heres some bad shots i took today...

Full Tank Shout
IMG_0104.jpg


A bubble and candy cane shot
IMG_0117.jpg


and the big group of fish
IMG_0113.jpg


and as a side note, my clownfish started hosting in one of the anenomes today... which by the way do great in the TEK fixture!
IMG_0095.jpg

IMG_0097.jpg


Please, show me your pics!
 
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