upgrading 55 to 90gallon, lighting questions

V

volume7654

New member
Hey everyone, newbie here, and now for my first question, haha, :beer: I currently have my 55 up and running with a 4bulb tek fixture. I have a 90 that i will be upgrading to very soon, just getting everything together first. I have been stuck on pulling the trigger on something with the lighting since the current fixture i have is relatively new. I was thinking of either adding 2 more 48inch t5 bulbs, with tek reflectors and using my current light as well, and making them fit in the hood. Or making one led light strip running the whole 48inches, with a led every 3inches (16leds), with either 40 or 60 degree lenses. And run the strip along with my current tech fixture. Just checkin for some opinions.
 
I would add led's for sure!

How high from the water will they be? This will help with the appropriate optics.
 
About 8 inches, i have room i could move up or down a bit it need be. You think the leds would deliver better light then two more t5s?? i have been pretty successful in keeping the few sps pieces i have in my 55, and i would really like to get more into sps. and with the 90 being 24 inches deep, i am up the light to be more acceptable.
 
Or you could just get a 2 bulb retro fit kit and put the fixture in the middle and hook it up that way I have a tek 6x54w and I like my 6 t5 bulbs so far working great for me.
 
ok, that was one of the things a was thinking, have you kept much sps under the 6 bulb? are you able to keep any in the middle are of the tank, or everything up to the top?
 
Completely a random thought here and completely off topic...... If you have a 55 now a 90 isn't going to get it done. It's not a big enough leap. I went from a 39 to a 90 and was happy all week! 10 years later I'm dying and hinting daily to my GF about all the nice fishes we could get if we only had a 180 then I realized a 210 would make me happy. Just saying.... 55 to a 90 will get played in a week go BIGGER! I mean your already at that juncture. IMHO
 
possibly... however i really have no room for anything much longer then 48in, and i cant really afford to drop that much cash on a whole new system. Most of my current equipment will transfer nicely onto the 90. So my only big purchase is the tank itself, and whatever addition i plan on making to the lighting i already have.
 
Right now theirs no corals my tanks only been setup for 2 months know the main reason why I went with the tek 6x54w was my friend has one on his 90 and he can pretty much grow sps from the middle on up. Guess I should have explained what I ment by doing good for me so far lol I have my friend growing some of my sps frags i bought for me in his tank while mine matures a little more what a good friend lol.
<a href="http://s1138.photobucket.com/albums/n527/ethanmusic1/fish%20tank/?action=view&current=009-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n527/ethanmusic1/fish%20tank/009-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
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i know i posted this thread a long ways ago, however i still have not made the decision on what i am going to use to supplement my 4 bulb tek fixture on my 90 to make the lighting more expectable for sps. I ended up almost replacing all my equipment that i had on my 55 so hence the reason the lighting got pushed back. now since it seems as that LEDs are going to be a big part of the future with it comes to lighting so with that in mind i am going to add LEDs instead. i am going to make two rows of leds about 12 in each row was what i was planning. as for optics i am not quite sure i was thinking 80degree, the light will be about 8-10 inches off the water surface. Would 24 leds plus the 4bulb tek fixtures create enough lighting to support sps in the 90? or would more LEds be recommended?

thanks in advanve,
Mark
 
i would go with LED or wait on the lights and just go soft corals for the mean time when building up your $$$ for a nice set of LEDs. thats what im doing. i have pc lights from my old 55 tank and slapped it on my 90 tank. it looks fine and my RBTA is thriving. next week im getting a hammer coral so ill have a splash of green in the tank as well. if money is tight just start saving up and go all LEDs when your ready. and to tie you over buy some soft corals :)
 
well eventually i am going to go all leds. however i still would be doing a diy if i was to do the whole tank, so i figure i could do it in a two part plan. I was thinking of trying to do mh but i live in a really old house with plaster walls and it would just be a mess and not very practical cause i would have to run an additional circuit into the room. So i am deff heading the way of leds i was just wondering if supplementing my 4 t5s with 25 leds or so for the time being would be enough. Then in the future i will build a second fixture when i am ready to do so. Everything is going into a hood so looks do not matter all to much, they will be nice and neat but having two in the future would not bother me a bit.
 
I just moved up to a 90 gallon. I got a great deal for 6 bulbs T5 and going to add ati bulbs and now going to add a led strip. I'm happy on T5. I hope my SPS like them too. I have them middle of tank and a little higher than that. I decided to wait a little longer on LED fixtures. The prices of T5 was to good to pass up. The color of of T5 are awesome. To replace the T5 bulbs about $21 bulb. Thats over $120 a year. So next year I can make that up if prices come down. If SPS do good I'll wait even more. If its was me just add 2 more T5 or 4 and strip led.. or other wise you got to spend around $900.00 to really do it right on LEDS for a 90 gallon.
 
well i read that about 45- 50 leds would be good to light a 90 gallon. So i was planning on breaking the final led fixture down into two phases. Phase one being run my t5 fixture, and add a 48" 25 to 30 led fixture to that. Then later down the line when some more expendable cash comes my way, build a second 25-30 led fixture, and run the two led fixtures together and lose the t5 set up. I was just looking for some personal opinions on number of leds and optics. (lights will be like 8-12" off the tank). I pretty much have my plan set, just looking for some suggestions or options before i move forward. thanks again:spin2:
 
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