thinking about getting T5s

A

andiruleu

New member
right now i have a 48'' jbj power compact.. and im thinking of getting a canopy filled with T5's. my tank is 48L x 15W x 18H. what kind of T5's and how many should i get? i want to be able to have enough light for sps. and how tall should i get my canopy?
 
most people running T5HO have at least 4-6bulbs. If you want the best light output on t5s go with the icecap ballast and the slr reflectors. As far as bubl combos it deppends how you want the tank to look(more white or more blue) for hight the most hights ive seen on t5 has been 8" or so.
 
ive read mix results with the workhorse. some say that they work others say they dont. I would suggest using either the Triad or Icecap ballast for t5 to get the most of them.
 
I am running 4 t5's running on icecaps, with individual reflectors, plus 2 VHO actinics. My tank is so damn bright. I have acros on the bottom of my 90 that have amazing polyup extention. I have great colors. I have a carpet that is in heaven, I can not keep chalice unless under shelves. My tank is primarily sps frags and they are all doing pretty good. I lose one every now ant then, but I think it was my acclimation process, which has been refined.

I love my t5s
 
On your tank all you need is 4 bulbs. I have had mine for a month now and my corals are growing great and I can still keep softies on the bottom. I run 2 aquablue+, 1 ge6500 and one actinic. It is brighter than my buddies tank with a 400 halide. Make sure the canopy will clear anything mounted at the back of the tank. Mine is 6 inches high and just clears my closed loop.
 
Oh, I forgot. I use 2 workhorse ballast and run them on 2 circuits. I don't think you need to overdrive them with a 18 inch deep tank.
 
Wardaddy how tall is your 90gal? I'm planning setting up a 120gal. for my bro-in-law and was considering going with t5's instead of halides since I only plan on having it as a softy/lps mix with maybe few montiporas and a squamosa clam/gigas clam.
 
90 is 24" deep.

65154249-M.jpg

That is the light set up.

I need to shoot more pics, I will shoot more tonight.
 
I test out the Tek t-5 24" pendant with 4 bulbs yesterday at work and it is brighter than 250w DE with power compact supplement. Ice Cap ballast will make it a lot brighter but you will have to change the bulbs in 4-6 months due to the overdrive the bulbs. I am using the workhorse ballast for VHO and it works very good. On my next tank, i will go with 4 T-5 super atinic and 1x1000w hamilton 10k.
 
Hey steve I thingk you have the info wrong on how long the bubls run with the Icecap. The T5 can get any where from 9-15month on them deppending on how long you leave them on for.
 
I just got Tek retrofit kit . WarDaddy Can you please post more pic of wiring and where you mount the Ballast . I don't have anough wire to put the ballast under my stand. thanks.

PS: It is bright when I tested it .
 
I mounted my ballast on the back edge of the hood, outside of the hood. The ballast get pretty warm. If you have a tall hood, you can mount them on top. I would not put them under the stand because of the heat and moisture. I ran PCs for a year on the ballast I am using.
 
I have the ballasts sitting behind the tank...

I made my stand pretty different from the norm... I have 14" behind my tank, I have a 18 gallon refuge and 10gallon top off tank back there.

All my elect sits onto of the top off
 
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