T5 depth success rate?

[SeanySean]

Just reading another thread and lighting and was wondering at what depth people have had good results with sps and t5?

Sean

[bertoni]

Up to 24" is fine, if my memory is correct. There are a bunch of T5 threads in the equipment forum.

[loyalrogue]

Yep, 24" max with individual reflectors is what I've read also.

[magic028]

24" with good reflectors.

[jpitts101]

wow 24 is the max?? I have 12 T-5's over my 180 which is 30'' deep and they are about 6 inches above the water. I have had the same clam on the sandbed for about 2 years. I also have frags on the sandbed which do great.

[SeanySean]

Cheers Guys...

may look into individual reflectors in that case.. was thinking of a geissmann unit but not sur eif they would be any good for 27" ???

Cheers,

Sean

[bertoni]

I don't know what the max is, personally, but I know of tanks that are 24" and doing well. I'll add 30" to the list. What species of clam?

With a 27" tank, the bottom few inches might be a bit marginal, or not. Personally, I don't think that's a big deal, but I'm not addicted to high light animals.

[jpitts101]

The clam is a dersa. I have several sps on the bottom as well......rainbow monti i just fragged, several acans, and a monti cap frag. I know its a big debate but im my opinion T-5's can do all that halides do and better with an exception of shimmer.

[loyalrogue]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11993416#post11993416 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by loyalrogue
Yep, 24" max with individual reflectors is what I've read also.
Correction, so now 30" max is what I've read... ;)

[Jeff]

Interesting thread. I have a 14 bulb fixture over a 30" tank and have not tried clams of sps on the bottom. Maybe there is hope :)

[jpitts101]

frag a coral in your tank and put in on the bottom, you'll be supprised.

[jpitts101]

ohh by the way check out this link. its Paul Whitby's 600 gallon tank which is 30 inches deep and all T-5's, it was the tank of the month in oct. He has lots of sps close to the bottom and clams. these are some older pic's, i'd love for you all to see some current ones.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1022934

[Jeff]

That is good news, thanks :)

[o.c.d.]

Just measured and SB to lights is 32" I have fragments of fallen orange.monti that grow great the rest are zoa's and shrooms not all zoa's do fine on the sand but mushroom luv it down there.

[o.c.d.]

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii261/mudslingercor/IMG_2947.jpg
check out the monti whey down there and the 3 clusters of zoa's all doing quite well, if anyone needed proof

[SeanySean]

are the people that are having success with sps all using individual reflectors, or are there cases of complete lighting units, such as Arcadia, Geissmann etc being great as well?

[papagimp]

t5's without individual reflectors just don't do squat. The individual reflectors is what makes them such an effective source of lighting. The fixtures such as Geissmann utilizing the HO T5's may not have actual individual reflectors but the way their designed, each bulb gets it's own individual place on the reflector. guess you'd just have to see one to know what I mean, but the same principle is their. Some fixtures however like the Nova Extreme i believe, utilizes a single reflector for all the bulbs and it's not nearly as effective.

[SeanySean]

Ahh think I know what you mean, I have an arcvadia at the moment and it is one sheet that is sort of corigated into sections for the individual bulbs?, so could be sort of classed as individual...?, humm maybe the geissmann 8 bulb setup will work well for me then, with maybe a single 75W or low halide for the shimmer effect?

[o.c.d.]

I using 14 bulbs 39w ,and each has it's own reflector. "Aquactinics"

[pondy]

I dont have a depth of 30" but I am running a 6 bulb fixture over my standard 75 gallon and I have sps, softies, Lps all on the bottom portion of the tank and all are growing quite well, and have there polyp extended all the time. It is awsome. On the other hand my mushrooms and rics have to be under the rocks to shade them so that they open up and dont melt. Not sure why but thats the only place I can get them to open up and do good. I think the T-5's are highly underrated. I even noticed that I underestimated mine when I first got themand bleached $60 worth of sps frags that were under 250 watts of halides.