t5 lighting question

[clevebill]

i have a 40 breeder 36x18x16.i run 4 t5 useing icecap 660 with icecap reflectors.i had the bulbs 4 inches from water and noticed my rasberry mill started to loose its color and my acan frag started to shrink.so i rasied the lights to 6 inches above water to see what happens. now my acan frag is big again and have to wait to see if my milli colors up.when ya overdrive these bulbs does it throw that much more light at the corals.i run 3 uvl 454 and 1 ati purple plus.i used to have 2 150hqi sunpod over the tank and wanted to do away with metal halides being its a shallow tank.i wish i had a par meter to see where iam at with par readings.how high can ya raise the lights above the water till the lights become to week.i know ati fixture users have to raise them up pretty high not to bleach corals.

 

[rtparty]

An overdriven system can be placed 8" off the surface.

 

[dixiedog]

i have a 40 breeder 36x18x16.i run 4 t5 useing icecap 660 with icecap reflectors.i had the bulbs 4 inches from water and noticed my rasberry mill started to loose its color and my acan frag started to shrink.so i rasied the lights to 6 inches above water to see what happens. now my acan frag is big again and have to wait to see if my milli colors up.when ya overdrive these bulbs does it throw that much more light at the corals.i run 3 uvl 454 and 1 ati purple plus.i used to have 2 150hqi sunpod over the tank and wanted to do away with metal halides being its a shallow tank.i wish i had a par meter to see where iam at with par readings.how high can ya raise the lights above the water till the lights become to week.i know ati fixture users have to raise them up pretty high not to bleach corals.

I agree with 8", I'd say "easily" 8", if it these were Blue + bulbs instead of 454's. I can't find my bookmarked PAR comparisons (probably outdated anyway) but IIRC these aren't very high output.

Rtparty am I wrong?

 

[rtparty]

I agree with 8", I'd say "easily" 8", if it these were Blue + bulbs instead of 454's. I can't find my bookmarked PAR comparisons (probably outdated anyway) but IIRC these aren't very high output.

Rtparty am I wrong?

UVL 454 bulbs barely beat out Current USA stuff. Grim was not impressed with the 454s when he tested them.

I mean on a shallow tank, the 454s might be the best though because of the lower PAR. I just know that I have read a few people who can't get UVL bulbs to last more than 4-5 months when being overdriven. They lose over 50% of their PAR in those first four months.

I think cleve has the right idea of raising the lights. I had to keep my 4 bulb Sunpower 8" off the water surface to keep everything happy. I would assume 4" was too close for an overdriven setup.

 

[dixiedog]

:thumbsup: