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View Full Version : small frag tank lighting.. T-5's?


george1098
06/16/2008, 08:28 AM
Hi all

I'm thinking I would like to buld a small frag tank that sits in my stand. approximate dimentions would be 24" wide x 8 to 10" hight by 8" deep. I don't need it to be huge as it would be plumbed in to my sump. I was thinking I would light it with one 24" T-5, possibly 2. I will be propagating mostly SPS, but a few lps and some zoo's. any suggestions on what kind of t-5 bulbs I should use? or should I go with a different lighting scheme all together? thanks all!

Reefer07
06/16/2008, 10:27 AM
If your going with mainly SPS how about a small clip on halide light? 70 watts maybe would do the trick?

george1098
06/16/2008, 10:37 AM
I was thinking about that, but given the shape of the tank, really long and skinny, a halide wouldn't be too great i don't think. If it was a square tank A halide would be perfect. A T-5 with single bulb reflector should be perfect, I just can't decide if i should go with a 10,000k bulb, which should give me good growth but not great color, or a 14,000k or higher (not sure how high they make t-5 bulbs now days) for great color.

Reefun
06/16/2008, 11:00 AM
I’d go with two t5s. A 12k and a 20k

george1098
06/16/2008, 11:22 AM
Yea most retrofit kits I'm finding are two bulbs, that sounds like a good spectrum to me. I want to stay away from actinics.

harryk
06/16/2008, 11:38 AM
2 T5's would be fine, i would keep the corals pretty close to the light though

george1098
06/16/2008, 12:21 PM
Yea the tank will only be 8" or so deep. I've just never grown sps unde t-5's but I know it can be done. Click my little red house if you'd like to check out my tank so far. the frag tank will be located on the extream right of the bottom part of the stand, underneath the main display.

Reefer07
06/16/2008, 12:22 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12757246#post12757246 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by george1098
Yea most retrofit kits I'm finding are two bulbs, that sounds like a good spectrum to me. I want to stay away from actinics.
Why stay away from actinics?

george1098
06/16/2008, 12:33 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12757670#post12757670 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefer07
Why stay away from actinics?


I've always considered actinics more for show and making corals fluoress. I’ve never considered them very good for actually growing coral. For a frag tank, I think a low/mid spectrum combination would work best. I don’t need pretty blue colors in my frag tank. That’s my opinion.

Reefer07
06/16/2008, 12:38 PM
Well I wasn't aware of that. I always thought that actinics promoted the color in corals.
Well we all learn something new everyday.
So does that mean it would be ok to run one daylight in my PC fixture and one 50/50. That way I have even more daylight but still some actinic for cool color. Right now I run one daylight bulb and one actinic.

silverwolf72
06/16/2008, 12:42 PM
Look at the ATI Blue Plus Special and the Blue plus, very good Par and still good color.

george1098
06/16/2008, 01:02 PM
yes ATI makes great bulbs. too bad they're pricey. oh well. I don't mean to say that actinics won't grow corals, because they will, but they shouldn't be used as the primary lighting system. they are ment to compliment daylight spectrums. If you replaced your actinics with 50/50s, I would guess that you would get a bit more growth, but a bit less color. In my display tank, I want color color color, so I use a 14,000k 400W MH HQI (hamilton i think is the brand name) and 4 24 watt actinic t-5's. For a frag tank I am less concerned with color, but it is still important, but I want a lighting system that will give me growth. If there was such thing as a 16,000k t-5 bulb, that's what I would get. but there's not. I'm thinking a daylight bulb and a 50/50 for my frag tank.