FIXED....
POSTING WHEN i SHOULD BE SLEEPING :O

For the TEKs, are the reflectors separate for each bulb (could I run the bulbs parallel to each other 12" apart)?

Yes the reflector actually attaches to the bulb

there's nothing wrong with my particular fixture. They're just poorly reflected. My NO T8 fixture has a real nice big reflector for the single bulb, while these T5's in the coralife fixture are crammed as close together as the attached tubes in a PC light. The lamps are almost touching the reflector, it's so crammed in there. If you want to gut it for the lamps and ballast, and maybe DIY your own reflectors, then I could see it being worth while, but as is, I'd recommend the fixture only for FW setups.

So not really comparing apples to apples then are we? I've had a couple of these since the very day they were available and I'm not going to claim they are perfect but they are a lot better than you are giving them credit for here and certainly a value for the cost. They're just not suited to the OP's purpose.

This may annoy the mods but it's been bugging me for a while. If I'm not mistaken you've only been doing this for a few months right? Your post history says you started your first reef in July. Give it some time and you'll learn that you can't rely on your eyes to make really good judgements about light intensity. Our eyes are too easily confused by the difference between point and diffuse light sources, especially when they are reflected. Maybe you should state ahead of time that your "recommendations" are based on 4 months experience, your enthusiasm is great but it needs to be tempered a little.

I'll ask you one thing, if these are so awful then how did I bleach my BTA with it 6 months ago? Can't do that with a NO fluorescent.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/DSCF0525.JPG


mark, this is the result of keeping two coralife T5 strips. My setup is extremely simple. This is a pretty old picture, but as you can see, the spectrum actually looks pretty good.

These units aren't as bad as people may say, so you should definitely give them a try. Plus, they are great lights for their price. A dual bulb lamp runs around 75 bucks.

Looks nice. Now I'm wondering again if 2 of these units would make my open brain and other glow? How deep and about how high above the water are the lights?

Give or take 6 inches. I have them placed on top of the canopy.