Question about lighting

[reefienick]

I am planning on getting a 4 bulb T5 for my 75 gallon. I plan on keeping zoos, mushrooms, not sure what else but most seem to say they need moderate lighting. I would like to have med. wattage???? Not sure how much that is per gallon????

Also what type of bulbs. half acintic and half 10K????

Thanks for all the help in advance.

[lordofthereef]

T5 bulb wattage is based on bulb length. I assume your tank is 48", so you will have 4x 54w bulbs. You can also overdrive them for more light, but that will reduce the life of the bulb. 50/50 10k actinic is the generic starter bulb combo. There is a lot of personal preference (how you want corals to look) that comes into play with this. I would take a look at some pictures in the T5 forum and try to emulate the your favorite look with the bulbs they are driving.

[reefienick]

so would this be considered moderate lighting?

Also how often do the bulbs need to be replaced?

[lougotzz]

I would just get the 6 bulb lights if this is the case. This way you can keep some less demanding sps in the future if you ever want.

[jhoff]

Go with a 6 bulb fixture and save yourself from an upgrade later..

[reefienick]

I have found an 8 bulb t5 that I like. Would that be too much light?

[IslandCrow]

What model T5s are you looking at. There's a huge difference in quality from different manufacturers. If all you want to keep is zoanthids and mushrooms, even a medium quality 4-bulb T5 would be perfectly sufficient. I kept Acropora in my 46g with a 4-bulb Tek hood, so I have no doubt you could keep soft corals with a similar setup in a 75g.

[J.P.Reef]

I would go with "the bigger the better" you may start to see corals that you want to keep that need more light and it woul save the upgrade.

[elmafioso52988]

For bulbs I would go with atleast 3 Ati blue +. The have high par and are blue in color which makes you corals color really pop.

[Chiefsurfer]

I agree, if you want lower-light stuff, like mushrooms and zoas, the 4-bulb would be fine. However, I have found that little to noone leaves it at that. While Mushrooms and zoas do not NEED much light, they can strive in pretty strong lighting too.

Going 8 bulb would be ok, but that would likely be overkill for what you are targeting. A decent 6-bulb should be fine for MOST things in a 75. The MOST demanding SPS and Clams might be tough, but everything else should be fine. I agree that quality plays a part, so going with 6 bulbs, in a slightly better fixture would be just as good as 8 in a less than perfect fixture.

[twerlinich]

Sorry all, but the more I read about lighting for a reef tank, the more confused I get. There are so many unfamiliar terms (eg: What is "PAR" and why is it important?) and so many lighting options! Yep, I'm a newbie at least with regard to lights. Can anyone point me to a single source of information that will help me to better understand this science and enable me to make some enlightened (pun intended) decisions regarding what I need for my 120 gal mixed reef tank? Many thanks.

[IslandCrow]

I can never remember exactly what it stands for (I believe it's something like Photosynthetic Active Radiation), but the important part of PAR is the 'P' for photosynthetic. It's the portion of light that's actually usable for photosynthesis. In other words, you may have two bulbs of equal luminescence, but one may be in a better frequency range for photosynthesis, giving it greater PAR, and thus it's generally going to be considered a better choice for corals.

As far as a single source, I'm not sure I know of one. It's been broken down in a few books, and I believe Waterkeeper did a nice post on lighting awhile back, but I don't have any one source on hand. You may want to try a search on Advanced Aquarist Magazine: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/3/. I believe I've read an article or two on lighting in there, but it may take some hunting to find them.

[SwampyBill]

Use the search button & check out the lighting forum on here. There's a ton of info on any kind of lights you're interested in.

[Readybreakletgo]

also make sure whatever you get has individual reflectors for each bulb...they are very important with t5 lighting.

a friend of mine has 4 bulb retro over his 75g and keeps everything from zoos mushrooms anemones and acro...positioning of your corals is also important.

[reefienick]

Thanks for all the info!!!! This is what I was looking at getting

48 Inch 4x54 Watt T5 Light Fixture from catalina aquarium

Does anyone know about this one?

http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/product_info.php?products_id=1676&osCsid=0ef8039c614959fb68e9537d1658e0c3

They also have a 8 bulb one that I could get!!

[Chiefsurfer]

I have heard them mentioned a FEW times recently. That light DOES have individual reflectors, so there should be little to nothing wrong with them. That said, it is a very basic system, you most-likely can't use ANY of the bulbs they offer in that set-up, and there is NO venting, or fans or anything to remove heat from the bulbs, so you might be looking at replacement bulbs every 4-6 months.

May I ask how cheap people are getting these that they don't go with some of the more commonly reccomended set-ups that are geared towards reef tanks?

I mean figure $25 per bulb, RIGHT AWAY, add $100 to that fixture to get it right for your tank. Then if you wanted to, probably $75 to add fans, when you consider the 12v supplies, and the fans themselves. So you are almost at $200, for which price, you can get an equivalent Nova Extreme, for another $200, so that fixture better be under $150, or it's no comparison cost-wise.

[IslandCrow]

As Chiefsurfer alluded to, you'll definitely want to get different bulbs for that fixture. Those plant bulbs aren't going to be a very good choice for a reef tank. If nothing else, you'll more than likely hate the color. The fixture obviously isn't designed for an aquarium, but since the lights are just going over the aquarium and not in it, that's not necessarily a concern in and of itself. Otherwise, I don't know enough about it to speak to its suitability or value.

[Tuscaquatics]

I have a 4 x 54w T5 and I keep shrooms, zoos, a BTA (pretty high up) an open brain on the sand bed, etc. with success so far. A decent variety.

Granted, it's an Odyssea, and the reflectors suck. I'm gonna buy some SLRs real soon and I already have an Icecap 660. And even then, I'm gonna want to add a couple more T5s.

My point is, don't underestimate T5s. But definitely invest in some decent bulbs.

[bmiller1234]

No one has brought up what will actuallly fit over the tank. A 6 bulb is going to hang over the front and back. On a standard 75 4 bulbs with individual reflectors is the only thing that's going to fit. You can squeeze five with retro fixtures but that's maxed out width and will light the glass up.

I get great par out of mine with 5 t5s with good color. I run 2 22k on the outsides 2 11k inside and a 65k dead center. Haven't had any algae problems good blue to make corals pop and getting 90 to 120 par on sand bed in a 20" depth tank. That's with non polished reflectors. Polishing reflectors today and hoping for an additional 20 par at sand.

[Tuscaquatics]

No one has brought up what will actuallly fit over the tank. A 6 bulb is going to hang over the front and back. On a standard 75 4 bulbs with individual reflectors is the only thing that's going to fit. You can squeeze five with retro fixtures but that's maxed out width and will light the glass up.

I get great par out of mine with 5 t5s with good color. I run 2 22k on the outsides 2 11k inside and a 65k dead center. Haven't had any algae problems good blue to make corals pop and getting 90 to 120 par on sand bed in a 20" depth tank. That's with non polished reflectors. Polishing reflectors today and hoping for an additional 20 par at sand.

Baloney. A 6 bulb fixture will fit over a 75, which is 18 inches front to back. I could probably have two 4 bulb fixtures on mine.

[bmiller1234]

Baloney. A 6 bulb fixture will fit over a 75, which is 18 inches front to back. I could probably have two 4 bulb fixtures on mine.

Who says "baloney" anymore, seriuously? hahaha JK

Depends what fixture your using, yes a odyssey with small reflectors will fit and you could put 2 4 bulbs over a 18 inch wide tank. Now if you take icecap retrofits with "good" individual reflectors that are 3.5 inches wide your only going to fit 5 over that tank. I can also almost guarantee that 8 bulbs in a fixture will prob be less par than 5 bulbs with quality reflectors and a good ballast.

I have been playing with lighting on my tank for about 3 months and been measuring changes since I have a par meter on loan. Its amazing what you learn about lights when you have the tools. The par rating on my tank drops to half without reflectors. The one 6.5k bulb I have puts more par to the sand than the 2 22k's.

I also have a 400 halide in a lumenarc and a cheap 20k bulb and it gave very close readings to the t-5s at 15" off water. it gave way better spread but had more dead spots due to shadowing. it was neat. been tracking all the info and going to make a post about it.

[reefienick]

What would you suggest I use. I am very handy so a retro fit that would save cost I could put together myself?????

[Mr.Dibbs702]

I have a question, I have 120g with two 250w 20k mh lights and a t5 4 x54w lighting this all came with the tank.I'm going to buy new bulbs for the t5s but wanted to know if this is overkill or would be ok.Tank is 48' x 24' x 24'. thanks for the help.

[Chiefsurfer]

^probably about PERFECT for that tank. Each MH bulb is generally good for 2'x2' spread, so 2 bulbs if great. The t5's will be almost all daylight, and you should get pretty good par from them. I'd suggest maybe 2 12K ATI Aquablue special, and 2 KZ Fiji Purple. That should give you great color pop on reds, yellows and oranges, and great PAR, while the 20K MH bulbs will give you intense blue.

[Mr.Dibbs702]

awesome, thanks gonna order some t5's tonight.

[Tuscaquatics]

Who says "baloney" anymore, seriuously? hahaha JK

Depends what fixture your using, yes a odyssey with small reflectors will fit and you could put 2 4 bulbs over a 18 inch wide tank. Now if you take icecap retrofits with "good" individual reflectors that are 3.5 inches wide your only going to fit 5 over that tank. I can also almost guarantee that 8 bulbs in a fixture will prob be less par than 5 bulbs with quality reflectors and a good ballast.

I have been playing with lighting on my tank for about 3 months and been measuring changes since I have a par meter on loan. Its amazing what you learn about lights when you have the tools. The par rating on my tank drops to half without reflectors. The one 6.5k bulb I have puts more par to the sand than the 2 22k's.

I also have a 400 halide in a lumenarc and a cheap 20k bulb and it gave very close readings to the t-5s at 15" off water. it gave way better spread but had more dead spots due to shadowing. it was neat. been tracking all the info and going to make a post about it.

Fair enough. I didn't even know those SLRs would be that wide.

I love it when people actually back up their arguments with fact. You rule.

[reefienick]

So any suggestions on what type everyone has and what I shoud get??