T5 Lighting

[Critter]

What are peoples thoughs of T5 Lighting? My sons tank is a 20 high, which he has a couple of clowns in. I'm trying to see if corals will grow in it, but it seems they are just about surviving. (green zoo's and kenya trees) I bought a GLO canopy which is 2x24watt 1 50/50 and 1 super antic. They seem very bright, but it doesn't have the same glow as my VHO do. I paid just over 100 for the fixture, and the owner at the pet zone said the corals would look good under it.. (zoo's where the topic at the time)... I'm not seeing it. Thoughts?

 

[rigleautomotive]

it is enough light to keep zoos and kenya trees happy.they might need time to ajust to the lighting or other factors ,such as water quality may be the cause.the bulbs that come with those fixtures are not the best IMO either.a couple of geisman or ati bulbs would look better for sure.

 

[Critter]

10-4 on the bulbs, was just starting to look into that... I've been using URI for my VHO, but I have heard of those two you mention as I started to read about the T5 lights. Now that you mention it I havn't done a water param check in a few weeks. Guess Its time to break out the vials.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12509533#post12509533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rigleautomotive
it is enough light to keep zoos and kenya trees happy.they might need time to ajust to the lighting or other factors ,such as water quality may be the cause.the bulbs that come with those fixtures are not the best IMO either.a couple of geisman or ati bulbs would look better for sure.

 

[P-Mantis]

how often do u do H20 changes I recommend 1 gallon every week for that size tank with a good quaility salt such as Reef Crystals or Instant ocean a tank that size I wouldn't wait every two week this is what I did on my 29 and 37 and things did very well

 

[Critter]

Alk = 3meg/l so thats ok (though I added some alk to bring to 4)
Ph = 8.2 so thats ok
No3 = 0
Po4 = 0
Cal = 500
SG = 1.024
I'm using RO/DI.

Time to look into some bulbs I guess. Now that I think about it, things were doing better initially... maybe the bulbs had some life on them already (they didn't come with the canopy but where added by the store). Thanks

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12509533#post12509533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rigleautomotive
it is enough light to keep zoos and kenya trees happy.they might need time to ajust to the lighting or other factors ,such as water quality may be the cause.the bulbs that come with those fixtures are not the best IMO either.a couple of geisman or ati bulbs would look better for sure.

 

[Critter]

I don't do them religiously on either of my tanks unless something is really out of wack. I does ALk/Calc/Mag (Mr. Farley's recepie) bi-weekly to keep things in line. I've done lots of water changes for lots of different reasones over the years and its never been a fix to anything. Though once in a while it does server to give the system a shot in the arm. Maybe I'll do a 25% tomorrow just for good measure. Thanks for the heads up.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12511989#post12511989 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by P-Mantis
how often do u do H20 changes I recommend 1 gallon every week for that size tank with a good quaility salt such as Reef Crystals or Instant ocean a tank that size I wouldn't wait every two week this is what I did on my 29 and 37 and things did very well

 

[GL]

Here is a pic of what I kept under nothing but T5's. Everything really did great except the softies and zoa's (that is until I trusted my stepson to keep an eye on the tank, hence the crash last year).

Seems like it is too much light for some of the softies, you have to keep them at the bottom until the get accustomed to the lights.

There are more pics in my gallery.

 

[x2uranium]

Agree with GL, I can keep clams happy on the bottom of my tank, although i have overdriven T5's and individual reflectors are a must for SPS, if you need a good bulb combination goto the lighting forum and talk to grimreefer about T5 bulb suggestions, hes the man to talk to about that.

 

[Critter]

Hey Greg, good to see ya around.. Thanks for the info guys, I raised the fixture up to its full height above the tank (About 6 to 8 inches above the water) and moved the zoo to the bottom of the tank (About 4 inches down from where it was) and have it half under an over hang. I'll give it about a week at this spot to see what difference it makes.. Man, to think that 48 watts of T5 is THAT bright.