T5 question

[Charlie's Angel]

Setting up 96X30X30 and do not want halide. Want to go with T5, but not sure if they will penetrate deep enough. Mostly going with softies and SPS. Any thoughts on brands that might work...I am looking at Aquatinics?

 

[jdoenumber2]

Ummm..... I think the only chance you have is to use a Ice cap retro. Make sure you cool the bulbs for optimum efficiency and life.

 

[oct2274]

T5's no issues penetrating that deep. Just make sure to get good reflectors like the icecap SLR's. You might want to to use the icecap ballasts also since they will overdrive the bulbs. Softies on the bottom and sps up higher in the tank and you'll be fine. Make sure to include a few higher par bulbs if you want to do sps or clams. Somewhere in here there is a chart showing the par outputs of the various T5 bulbs out there. I think the person that started the thread is called grimreefer or something like that.

 

[luke33]

Wow, sounds like a nice setup, ask grim what he thinks. IMO, i would think that your going to have to go with alot of t5's. For a 96" tank i would suggest 16x48" icecap retro's powered by 660ballasts. You'll be fine with this, but could always go with 20x48" lights. In this case you may be better with mh's. Just my .002.

 

[pjf]

T5 PAR Measurements

T5 PAR Measurements

The Grim Reefer posted PAR measurements of popular T5 bulbs on this thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=918935.

Updated PAR figures are about two-thirds of the way down the first page in the message posted 08/31/2006 12:22 PM.

 

[dbtoys]

imo these are the best www.sunlightsupply.com

 

[luke33]

The sunlight supply's aren't quite as good as the icecap retro's for a few reasons. The reflectors aren't as reflective, there ballast's aren't as powerful and their customer service isn't comparable to icecap.