TEK LIGHT T-5, 48" opinion

[fredflinstone]

Hi,
I currently have 5 T5s and I feel the lights are a little underpowered because the corals are slowly becoming brown. So I want to get 8 lights form TEK. Can anyone tell me if this light fixture is good? They dont have any fan to cool down the bulbs. Wont the bulbs die out soon if the bulbs are not cooled down? I cannt get metal halide because I have a bowfront and no canopy . I am poor reefer and dont have the money to test or get expensive ones.

Thanks for your help

 

[aquariumclown]

Others can correct me if I'm wrong. I'm told that the only T5s that need to be cooled are if you overdrive them with a electronic ballast. E.g. 54w T5s, overdriven to run at 80w. Otherwise if it's normally driven, it would be ok without cooling.

 

[fredflinstone]

Is TEK a good brand?

 

[aquariumclown]

Yes they have good reputation. Very popular brand.

 

[fredflinstone]

And by the way this is for a 80G 4ft tank with 24inch depth

 

[aquariumclown]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14898231#post14898231 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fredflinstone
And by the way this is for a 80G 4ft tank with 24inch depth

That's a separate question. And the answer is, it depends on what animals you are keeping or want to keep. You might try looking at the other thread dedicated to t5's to get a definite answer...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1623490

 

[fredflinstone]

I only have soft corals for now. But I want to move to hard corals slowly. But the soft corals itself are loosing colors slowly.

 

[reef_corgi]

8 bulbs tek would be wide for the 80G bowfront. I have 4x54w on my 72 bf. Even though tek does not have active cooler (fan), it does run cool plus excellent individual reflectors that allow tek light to produce better par then other cheap brand.

 

[fredflinstone]

Thats true. I was looking at aquacave and both 6 and 8 lights had 15 inches width. On the second hand, how many bulbs would I need if I choose to go T5s?

 

[divewsharks]

the tek is a good fixture, don't use the splash guard and grab some clip-on fans to give it a little cooling, it will increase the output. just keep the fixture at least 4" above the water, and wipe any salt spray off the reflectors regularly.
use high quality bulbs like ATI, UVL, G'Mann.
with this fixture, you'll be able to keep most SPS from the mid to upper portion of the tank, depending on the softies species, some may prefer shady spots.

As for how many bulbs, go with at least 6, whatever the depth (front/back) of the tank will bear, this will allow the most coverage and lots of options on the bulbs which allows you to mix the colors to find the one you like best.

hth

 

[divewsharks]

btw: what fixture do you have now, and what bulbs?

 

[reef_corgi]

Thats true. I was looking at aquacave and both 6 and 8 lights had 15 inches width. On the second hand, how many bulbs would I need if I choose to go T5s?

call Greg at reefgeef.com if you want to go with tek light. You can choose your own bulbs which is better than option 1-4 at aquacave.com.

6 bulbs would be enough.
I have an 6x54w ati sunpower (active cooling) on my 90g which is 30% more par than tek light.

front
ati blue plus
fiji purple
ati blue plus
ge 6500K
ati blue plus
ati aqueblue
back

It is so much light that it bleach my mushroom at the sand. 24" tank height & 8" light to water. total 32" where the mushroom was.

here is the price for ati sunpower at reefgeek:

ATI 24" 4x24W SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture --$349.00 w/ Bulbs -- $409.00
ATI 24" 6x24W SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture -- $419.00 w/ Bulbs -- $519.00
ATI 36" 4x39W SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture -- $389.00 w/ Bulbs -- $449.00
ATI 36" 6x39W SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture -- $479.00 w/ Bulbs -- $579.00
ATI 48" 4x54W SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture -- $419.00 w/ Bulbs -- $479.00
ATI 48" 6x54W SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture -- $519.00 w/ Bulbs -- $619.00
ATI 60" 4x80W SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture -- $469.00 w/ Bulbs -- $539.00
ATI 60" 6x80W SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture -- $619.00 w/ Bulbs -- $729.00


Maybe a ati 4x54w will enough which also depend on what you want in the tank.

 

[swhaley40]

Ati sunpower is just a little bit more cash and a way better fixture. Get the sunpower and be done with it.

 

[fredflinstone]

What I have:
4 light nova extreme. @ blue and 2 10k
I want to go SPS

Reefgeek is a little pricer than aquacave. They can provide 6 bulbs for less than 100 bucks. Like I said I dont want to be spending a lot of money on these lights.

 

[fredflinstone]

bulkreefsupply.com can give the same TEK lighting and bulbs for 490

 

[Rick55555]

I would definitely go with the Sunpower over the TEK (especially considering the fact that you're interested in keeping SPS in a tank with 24 inch height).


Rick

 

[fredflinstone]

Ok one final question. Worst case, if I want to stick with my old Nova Extreme and upgrade to ATI bulbs, would that help quite a bit? I dont have the cash to burn a NE and get a TEK now. So can someone tell me if that will help me have some SPS way up in the tank?

 

[nikon187]

it will help but the reflectors on the tek and sunpower are a better design thus getting more usable light into the tank.

 

[fredflinstone]

Ok are we talking about 30% more light or 20%? Just want to know how much i am wasting with Nova and how much I will be paying for more light.

Does this also affect the amount of PAR being thrown into the system?

 

[divewsharks]

yes the reflectors definitely affect the amount of PAR found at various levels/locations in your tank.