T5's: A cautionary note

[Warnberg]

Guys, yes my tank is 30" tall and there is about a 4 inch sand bed as well the lights are all of 3 inches from the top of the tank. I can tell you that my Zoo's have to be kept in the lower half of the tank, they just don't like being up too close and my anemone seems to like it in the shade under a overhang. As far as over driving the lights, my balasts are IceCap 660's which I think do over drive the lights (could be wrong).

Grim, you are correct I do have room for another row, I really wanted to do some "testing" with an Acro Frag before I went all out with corals.

Thanks

 

[ratherbediving]

...
As far as over driving the lights, my balasts are IceCap 660's which I think do over drive the lights (could be wrong).
...

You are correct, an IC 660 will overdrive your lamps, putting either 80 and 85 watts per lamp instead of the normal 54. (I am not sure if it is 80 or 85... I keep reading it is 80 watts, but I thought on the Icecap forum I read a post which said it was 85 watts.) At any rate, 80 watts should give you a lot more PAR than 54

 

[dhoch]

From Grim himself:

Here is Ice Cap's claims for T5 wattage on either a 430 or 660, only difference is the number of lamps your can run.

80 watt run at 100
54 watt run at 85
39 watt run at 60~65
24 watt run at 45~50

Those 24's gotta be bright on an Ice Cap

 

[Warnberg]

well lets see then.... 85 watts times 8 = 680 watts / 240 gallons = 2.8 watts per gallon....

Well that seems a bit better to me....

 

[LittleBlueGT]

I have two 54s and two 39s off of a 660 they use a total of 266 watts. I would say about 78 watts for a 54 and about 55 for a 39.

Here is a link to my tank's electrical usage.

 

[TEC1364]

oops,

meant to post to another forum and it won't let me delete it.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Uno, Here's your dream lighting fixture

http://www.giesemannlicht.com/detail.php?id=260Moon

 

[Ti]

Hey Uno, Here's your dream lighting fixture

http://www.giesemannlicht.com/detail.php?id=260Moon

That is indeed a nice fixture.

 

[FastUno]

Alrighty dudes. I went to my LFS store today & paid special attention to the tanks harboring LPS & Softies. They had 2x 175W MH bulbs w/PC supplements. The glass to the fixture was dirty & the tank looked very dim & moody. Yet, anything that is in that tank looks just amazing. I have seen corals come & go in this tank & not a single one looked as if it did not want to be there.

I did ask about lighting quite some time ago, but got the I don't know from an employee. This time I was fortune enough to grab someone who cared.

One other thing, I tested their water parameters for NO3 & NO2.
NO2 = .1ppm
NO3 = 100ppm+++++++ (the damn color was so pink, it was way off the chart)

BTW, using salifert.

 

[FastUno]

Is that a one before the three 9's?
$1999

They look darn pretty though!! Only thing missing are the fans.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Is that a one before the three 9's?
$1999

They look darn pretty though!! Only thing missing are the fans.

The non moonlight version is a lot cheaper. Like I told you before, if the fixture is designed right fans are not needed.

 

[A\/enger]

I have a question then after reading through this, Ive been thinking about stuffing 8 T5s over my 45 gallon tank. Dims: 24"wx18d"x24"t. Do you think then that i could run 6 and be more then sufficient? Can I use one Icecap 660 to run the 6 24" bulbs? or will I need 2 430's?

 

[Warnberg]

Avenger, just remember if you use one ballast to run all the lights all the lights will come on and go off at the same time, you will not be able to have the sunrise sunset effect. Now if it where me I'd look at a kit that would run a single 24" bulb, then one that would run 2 or 3 or even 4 24" bulbs, that way you could separate some of the lights. Over your tank with 4 24" bulbs and an IceCap ballast, your going to be at 4 watts per gallon and I would think that that would be more than enough. 8 T5's I think would be overkill.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Yeah, what Warnberg said. I'd go ahead and get the 660 ballast (it isn't much more $ and if you ever upgrade it will run 4 48" lamps) And a workhorse 5 and run a couple of blues on the workhorse and 3 Daylights or aquablues (or combination of the 2 ) on the IC.

I am assuming you are going to raise SPS and such which is why you are going to overdrive the lamps.

 

[A\/enger]

Yes, I want to focus on SPS and see if I could put some LPS and possibly a toadstool on the bottom of the tank but it sounds like itd still need to be shaded.
Anyway, then I can only run 4 24" bulbs regardless if I get a 430 or a 660? Then I can run 2 off a workhorse? that sounds like a plan but I dont want to have to buy a 660 if a 430 will work, theres not really a good possibility of me going to a bigger tank.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

the 430 will only handle 3 T5's which would be fine if you want to run a couple of blue lamps on another ballast for dusk/dawn.

 

[A\/enger]

so then to confirm this before I order stuff. I will use a 660 for 4 bulbs and a workhorse 5 is the one I need for 2 dawn/dusk bulbs? I just ask about the workhorse 5 cuz obliviously theres a 3,4,5,6 etc

 

[A\/enger]

ohh yeah and the SLS reflectors are good enough or are the Icecap reflectors substantially better, because again my tank is 24" deep, and Thanx soo much for the help guys.

 

[ratherbediving]

I think I'd go with a triad (sunlight supply) ballast before I would go with a workhorse ballast. They seem to have had a bad reputation on some threads...

 

[growyourown]

I will say I am on my third triad as well, a faulty ground internal to the ballasts has my GFI outlets trip without cause. Finally got three good ones. After three returns.