upgrading light

[jsteele]

I am upgrading my lights on the 125g. I would like to stay with t5's just need to know how many bulbs. The fixture I have now is a 8 bulb (4 bulbs each half) and it seems 2 bulbs on each side have gone out on me. I have changed the bulbs and tried changing bulb holder with no luck.

I was looking on aquatraders and found a 72" 4 bulb fixture
http://www.aquatraders.com/72-inch-4x80W-T5-Aquarium-Light-Digi-Timer-Fixture-p/52327.htm
Will I need more or is that good?

 

[jaybfresh]

What are you keeping in the tank? Odyssea has notoriously poor quality in their halide fixtures but the t5's would probably be fine for a softie/LPS tank. Just don't be surprised if some of the electronics go out in a year.

 

[jsteele]

I dont want to be limited on what I can keep so I was thinking of two of those but if some one has a 72" fixture they want to sell let me know it can be mh . Was also thinking of getting two 36" fixtures.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Besides poor quality electronics that will likely be failure-prone, that fixture also has the worst style of reflector possible - you're negating a large part of the potential benefit of using T5s in the first place, which is that it's easy to put good reflectors around them. I'd definitely hold out for something else - if you're on a budget just wait for something used to come along. A used brand-name fixture with good reflectors probably won't cost much more than that.

 

[jsteele]

Then my search continues. What brands are recommended?

 

[Jstn]

I just upgraded from a current to a tek future w using the same bulbs, after two weeks my sps is showing growth and better coloration.

Tek or ati seem to be the best in t5, tek being alot more affordable that ati.

 

[Gravesj1s]

From what Ive seen ATI pm or sunpower ,tecII for its active cooling.I would probably stay away from most others if you want to unlimited in what you can keep in that size tank.Or consider a diy.

Just my opinion but I dont think overdriven bulbs are worth the very small gain in intensity compared to how fast they seem to destroy the bulbs,like in a few months.

You may also want to stay away from dual short fixtures for a long and deep tank.Even though (2) 36" fixtures will light a 6 foot tank the wattage is less and so is the intensity according to the par readings Ive seen so they dont appear to penetrate as deep.Bulb replacement will also cost more.

 

[jsteele]

Is there a difference for twist bulb mh and de mh hallways?

 

[Gravesj1s]

Ha! hallways and halides ,lol.No idea on that.

If you mean Se and de yep theres a difference but I haven't used halides in many years or kept up on current technologies of more up to date stuff so I really dont know how they compare.

 

[pascal32]

if you decide to go with Radiums google around and read here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2091075

 

[pascal32]

DE bulbs do not have a UV shield so they require a glass shield UV filter.

SE bulbs have a UV shield as part of the bulb

There are two types of ways bulbs can start - pulse start and probe start. Depending on the bulb you need the correct ballast.

I have both SE and DE. The SE is a heck of a lot easier to change and there appear to be more bulbs available.

It is important to get a good ballast and that the ballast matches what the bulb was made for.

Lots of folks have the wrong ballast with bulbs and it works, however the color is not going to be what it was meant to be.

(1) make sure you get the right wattage bulb and ballast combination
(2) make sure you match the probe/pulse start from bulb to ballast
(3) get a decent ballast (I can't remember which of the electronic was prone to dying after a year or two)

 

[jsteele]

Well instead of messing around with lighting the 125 I figured I would just use my 90 for a reef tank so if any one has a 48" light that will grow sps let me know? Thanks

 

[gary greguire]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2068569

 

[jsteele]

Was woundering if anyone had any icecaps kicking around they don't use anymore? I have a whole box of bulb holders from trying to fix my fixture. So why not try a diy fixture.

 

[jsteele]

Sorry for all the questions and thank you for the help. I am really into d.I.y stuff so that's why I was going in all different directions. I love to learn all new thing so I was looking online and got way too many ideas at once. Lol I ended up picking up some m58 ballast and fired up my old mh fixture. The new tank came with a top so I am going to run 2 se 250w mh's in it with 2 or 4 48" t5's not sure on how many t5's yet.

You guys have been a big help over the year I have been on here so thank you all!!!!!!!

 

[Haffs09]

I have an icecap 430 ballast. Shoot me a pm if you're interested.