T5 lighting

O

orchidsnfish

This is the route I want to go with the prop tank. How many 60" 80W T5's should I get for the 70 gallon prop tank? It's only a ft deep, 20 inches wide, and 72 long. It will be mainly for SPS and clams.

Thanks
Angela
 
As many as you can cram under a canopy :lol:

I have 4 48in 10,000k t5's over my tank and I've gotten pretty good growth considering the depth of the tank. Oh - I'm also running them on an icecap 660 which overdrives them to ~80 watts each...
 
I have (8) 54 watt t5 on my 135...I recommend that you get individual reflectors for each bulb.. For being for a prop tank I wouldnt think filling the whole canopy is necessary.
 
I though 48" ones were 54W? I definately need 60" bulbs and will have to stagger them. Just looking for how many I need for great growth and color.

Thanks
Angela
 
@orchidsnfish wrote:
I though 48" ones were 54W? I definately need 60" bulbs and will have to stagger them. Just looking for how many I need for great growth and color. Thanks Angela said:
48" are 54w natively. Somehow the icecap ballasts over drives them slightly. I'm not sure what the 60" rate at when overdriven.. There is a thread here in the reef discussion section - probably about 6 pages back that discusses.. I'd also say check out RC but you'll be there forever and a week looking..
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yeah the 54 watts are staggered like steps i guess is the closest analogy. Most people w/ 72" tanks will use the 60" bulbs. The two choices I've heard of doing it is to stagger them, as in front one is all the way left...next is all the way right....then all the way left
 
here is something i copied from reefcentral hope this helps

Just finished buffing and polish my roughly 72g acrylic aquarium(36Lx24Wx20H). I am mostly a Softy, LPS, Clam type of guy, but might be trying some SPS in the new system. Here are the questions.

1.) 4, 5, or 6 Bulb? I was leaning towards 6

2.) Bulb combination?

Thanks in advance!

Mike
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Go 6 or 8 lamps depending on the clams you keep. If you are throwing maximas on the sand I would go 8. Get a tek retro from reefgeek upgraded to Ice Cap reflectors. For 8 lamps I would do this:

Actinic Plus
UVL Super Actinic
GE Daylight
Aquablue
GE Daylight
Blue Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus

For six lamps

Actinic Plus
UVL Super Actinic
Aquablue
GE Daylight
Aquablue
Blue Plus
 
I read somewhere that the 60" are 100W so maybe that's if they are overdriven by an ice cap 660. Thanks for the info! I bet 4 60" would be fine on a 12" tall tank though. Overkill is good but Im poor.

Angela
 
Would 6 60" 80W T5's be good for this tank or overkill? The tank is only 12" deep. I will more than likely be overdriving at least 3 of them because I already have an extra 660. The others...well I can't justify buying another 660 for an extra 20 watts per bulb. These would be retro fit.

The other option is 2 X 36" Tek-Lights with 6 X 39W each. This would be more expensive due to having to buy more bulbs but might be a lot cleaner looking than the retro's since this tank doesnt have a canopy and is open top. The retro's would have to be mounted onto some sort of lighting rack.

Suggestions appreciated! I want to keep SPS and clams in this tank and of course want the best growth possible along with nice coloration.

Thanks
Angela
 
Has anyone seen or heard of these lights http://www.catalinaaquarium.com//
these are what I hope to put over my new 150 tank...George Orndorff
 
Angela,
You could also run - 1 of the 24" bulbs + 1 of the 36" bulbs and use the full 5 ft length, then run 2 sets of those on 1 of the icecap 660's. Then you don't have to stagger and/or have unused space on it. With the 5ft - 80w bulbs, you will only use 3 per 660 ballast. But you could put 3 on 1 ballast and 2 or 3 on another,etc. We have a 6ft and use 1 -24" and 1 - 48" end-to-end to get the full 6ft.... just a thought. The downside to the mixed bulb length is having to buy different bulbs to keep onhand though too... :sad:

Doug
 
I cant remember what slallen had over his prop tank he was using t5's might want to send him a pm. He was running t5's on his I think 3 prop tanks before he took them down. (6) 80 watt bulbs on a prop tank seems like too much heat for your tank being such a short height. i had couple crocea clams on my 150 when I ran t5's on them 8x 54 watt I kept them about 12" from the surface they did fine. So lesser light will work I dont think overdriving them is necessary but I dont know what the least you can go?

But I would ask slallen or post on reefcentral...I think overkill in my opinion, and would be concerned about heat. But that is my opinion not having any past experience on having a prop tank.
 
The good thing about the retro kits is I can always do 4 60" and then add more later if it's not enough. Since the tank has an open top and the lights will be hanging I plan to use some kind of fans blowing across the water surface and directly underneath the lights. This tank had 3 X 250W MH's previously.

You could also run - 1 of the 24" bulbs + 1 of the 36" bulbs and use the full 5 ft length said:
The tank is 72" long. That's not a bad idea but the short bulbs are almost as much as the 60" ones.

Thanks for the replies
Angela
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