Thanks. I might wait and see what happens... the threads accomplished their purpose and I'll probably just let sleeping dogs lie...

I wish I woulda had this a couple days ago though!

- Chad

t5's
 

Sorry to jump in the middle of things guys, although i have enjoyed the humerous ride re: fish's pics and the guys on RC :biggrin: . Fish you mentioned T5 lighting with your tank earlier. You seem to put in the much needed research that I am somtimes lazy with <hehe>. Any thoughts on your t5 set up, ie: number of bulbs, brand of retro kit, type of reflector? HO vs VHO, ballast brand? Would love to hear your thoughts.

I do believe there is only NO and HO T5 lighting, if im not mistaken?

Yeah, T5 doesn't come in VHO, maybe someday!

Could one overdrive a HO by running it on VHO, like an Icecap ballast or a Workhorse or some such? Or would the increase in intensity be outweighed by shortened lamp life?

The shortened lifespan is minimal if you can keep the bulbs at a proper temperature (so says IceCap).

Yes, can be done, need fan(s). HO with indivdual parabolic reflectors is pretty intense as it is. I've got great growth from my Crocea Clams and SPS, under 4x54 Watt T5 HO, with the reflectors mentioned above, not sure if overdriving would be worth it.

Sorry guys, I wasn't getting notifications for some reason.
nanopodreefer,
I have a 24" Tek (Sunlight Supply) 4-bulb T5HO fixture on order at Gold's. I had done a TON of reading in the T5 thread on RC and decided that Tek was the way to go. There are a lot of less expensive setups on Ebay but the problem is that they don't come with individual reflectors for each bulb. It is those reflectors that give T5ho the real advantange. People say that without good quality reflectors, T5ho is only as good as PC.
The hoods made by Aquatinics are also highly remommended and have good value because they come with an acrylic spash guard and fans. They have 5 bulbs instead of Tek's 4 (edit- but you can also buy 6-8 bulb Teks in certain sizes as well) for the same price which people seem to like because it gives you more colour options from mixing bulbs. The reason I didn't go with aquatinics is because they only make 36" hoods at the moment and that is too long for my tank...
Supposedly there is just a place on the icecap ballast to jump a wire to inorder to overdrive the bulbs... the impression that I get though is that its only recommended if you have a real deep tank and you want a lot of light on the bottom.

- Chad

Wow almost 8 days without an update, i have nothing to do now :( lol

Looking very good Chad, cant wait to see it complete

Well bro, since you needed an update - I headed out to Gold's and got this:


http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...19/lights1.jpg



The bulbs I am running are:

UVL Super Actinic and Geissman Actinic + on the outsides which will function as my dawn/dusk

After a few hours the daylight bulbs will turn on - Geissman Midday 6000k and Geissman Aquablue +


http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...19/lights2.jpg




- Chad