Ultimate 120g (48x24x24) lighting

[foshizzle]

My goal with this setup is to provide a ton of PAR at both 420nm and 450nm while using very energy efficient bulbs and reflectors. I like the 12k-14k look.

The original plan was:
2x250w XM10k single-end in lumenarc minis
4 x 54w blue+ T5.

However, I failed to realize I would only have 19" of space above the eurobracing. Sooo...what is my next best option?

Should I go to DE pendants?

[shelburn61]

The lumenmax 2 is a good SE reflector and is 11" vs. 14.5" for the LA mini

[JCTewks]

I'm planning on the same lighting over my 120. The way to get the T5's in there is to do 2-4' T5's...one along the front of the tank, one along the back; and 4-2' T5's...one on each side of the reflector running perpendicular to the 4' bulbs. Doing that you can get the same amount of light into the tank, and have more even coverage with the blue+ bulbs.

[McCrary]

Yea, I don't think you will need to do more than 2, 54 watt T5's, so that should be good and will save you some space. You may also want to think about going to a more blue bulb if you want the blue look. The Giesemann 420nm actinic and a couple bluer bulbs should do you just fine. The 420nm T5's will be purple on their own, but will give a nice blue light when combined with metal halides in 10K or 14K.

[JCTewks]

If you are wanting Really high PAR, stick with the XM10K's. IMO the XM 10K has a HUGE actinic spike in it's output, so no actinic supplementation will be needed, only "blue" is needed to balance the 10K to a nice bluish white look.

[shelburn61]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11767427#post11767427 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by McCrary
Yea, I don't think you will need to do more than 2, 54 watt T5's, so that should be good and will save you some space. You may also want to think about going to a more blue bulb if you want the blue look. The Giesemann 420nm actinic and a couple bluer bulbs should do you just fine. The 420nm T5's will be purple on their own, but will give a nice blue light when combined with metal halides in 10K or 14K.

blue plus are 450nm blue. actinics are 420nm violet like the XM 10k

[humptrax]

i believe the ATI actinic has the highest PAR rating? could be wrong...

[JCTewks]

the thing with the XM10k's is that there is a HUGE amount of 420nm actinic produced by the bulb. They don't need any actinic supplementation, just some additional blue to balance the light out to what WE like to see. IMO the spectrum is just fine on the XM 10k for growing corals...we as the reefkeeper just like a "bluer"look so we add bulbs in the 440-470nm range to make it more appealing to OUR eyes.

[burton14e7]

If you have enough room the lumenbright mini's blast par like laser beams.

[foshizzle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11772010#post11772010 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by burton14e7
If you have enough room the lumenbright mini's blast par like laser beams.

I don't really see the point of the the lumenbrights unless you need to mount your reflectors way above the tank. For my purposes I want a nice even spread rather than laser beams.

I think I will just have to overlap the T5s under the LA by 1" or so. I think I can cram 3 T5s in there this way...

[woz9683]

I'd just let the T5s overlap the eurobrace a little. You'll still get the added blue color without blocking any light from lumenarc.