ic 660 t5 660 retro for 55g

[floridareefs]

How well will the Ice cap 660 retro I see at reefgeeks and other places light my 55g project I have started? If it works well I think I will look at t5s on my 125. But for now just interested in results for the 4x45 retro over the 55g.. Thank you ain advance for your comments and suggestions.

[slinger]

I just purchased a 4x54w IC660 T5 retro for my 90G, and it's awesome over my tank. That much light over a smaller 55G tank should truly be impressive, and it should be more than enough light for any coral you'd like to keep at any level.

[floridareefs]

Thanks Slinger, COuld you tell me where you got it and how hard it was to install by chance?

[brentp]

I have 2 IC660 3x80w retros on my tank. I've had them for nearly 2 years over a mostly SPS tank that is 24" deep. I keep SPS from the bottom to about 18" high and I have 3 species of Clams on the bottom. Overdriven T5's are pretty comparable to 250 watt halides as long as you are not comparing them to say an XM10K. My T5's definitely put out more light than my Hamilton 14K over my quarantine tank.

[slinger]

I purchased it from reefgeek.com, which I highly recommend. They wrap the bulbs and SLR's together with the SLR's protecting the bulbs, and then place this bundle in a high-strength cardboard tube, which is then suspended inside a much larger long rectangular box. The ballast and other materials are shipped in a seperate box. As far as shipping fragile materials is concerned, it just doesn't get much better than that.

Installation is not difficult, just time consuming. Getting the appropriate distance between endcaps is probably the most tedious part, but there is some wiggle room thanks to the endcaps they sell which have a floating inner contact. There is also a lot of wires to route, but the color coding makes it very easy.

One thing I'd recomend based on my own experience is that you have IceCap send you metal T5 bulb clips to replace the plastic ones that are shipped with the reflectors. You can see my post here for more information on that issue:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=828416

[brentp]

I guess I should add that my retros and recently the replacement bulbs were purchased at reefgeek. Great job with the packaging and they actually test each bulb before they send it out.

[floridareefs]

thanks gy=uys. Man I am excited about getting these things ordered. I want to get the metal clips as I hear what you are saying about the plastic ones.

This is what this forum is about. Thaks for all the imput and more if you have it:)

[Geogod]

Ditto on the plastic clips! I just melted my first this week. The T5's look great on a tank and they'll save money on your utility bill compared to VHO.