Don't know what to do, some input on lighting please.....
 

Well I have had the 8 footer running for awhile now but don't know if my lighting is working.

A little back ground on the tank:

tank dimensions: 96"L x 22"W x 18"D

lighting: 4 - 4 bulb T5HO fixtures, all KZ bulbs (Fuji Purple, Coral Light, Super Blue and New Gen) Lighting on timers to come on starting at 9am. Full lighting by noon and start to go off at 6pm. All lights off at 9pm when night LEDS come on until 5am

Coral stock: LPS, leathers, Mushroom, Zoa's, Clams

Most of the coral are happy and growing great but the clams don't seem to be opening as much as others I have seen in other tanks. So my question is should I change 2 of my fixture's out for MH/T5 combo's are is there a better T5 bulb combination.

What are your thoughts??

I'm not personally a fan of the fixtures you are running, they have REALLLLLYYY bad reflectors. Tek 5 fixtures are cheep, why not upgrade to 2 4' 6-8 bulbers?

That could be a possibility Levi, I had to do with what I could afford at the time but I could upgrade now.

I'm with levi on this one. For sure will make a huge difference in your tank

Hey Greg,

yeah I am with the guys on this one too.

you have an awesome tank, but imagine with a killer fixture like the tek E or an ATI

+4........but you could also try swapping out those fiji purps for a bulb that will actually benefit your coral, not just make them appear pretty:wink:

Stay away from the tek elite. Nothing but problems they are burning peoples hoses down. Guy in the city bought it and for the price and all the upgrades he had to do it was not worth it. I would go with 2 6 or 8 bulb Ati powermodules. Depending it you plan to keep sps or not.

I'd say you've got more than enough light, whether the reflectors are crappy or not considering that the tank is 22” wide and 18” deep 16 bulbs is tones for what you have. And you run them for a pretty decent amount of time. In fact clams open up more when light levels are low and tend to not open as much when light levels are high. If you want your clams to open more try decreasing your light. Slowly cut back your lighting duty cycle first to see if that makes a difference or eliminate some bulbs all together. Either way, make sure you try cutting your lighting back before spending money on a new fixture which will do the opposite and possibly make things worse.

Irrespective of the brand. Look at what the kind of wattage the people who replied to this post are using.

8x80 t5 ati powermodule
2x tek 6x39w HOT5s
I think John is using the same setup as Doug
I am using 8x 54watt T5HO's

IMHO you need more light. MH are a good choice too. 2 x 400 watt MH ights on that tank should just about do it.

I have a MH fixture that I borrowed from a buddy and I will try it out for a short spell when I get a chance. Have to go to work now but will reply to some of your posts when I get home, I have questions?? about your input.

How far off the sandbed are your lights? If they are t5's you should probably just rest them on the rim of the tank - from what i read (could be wrong) t5's max out at a depth of 20-24".

The Powermodules have much higher PAR than all other t5ho fixtures so they still work well at those depths.

Reefgeek has 10% of this weekend on the sunpower models.

My tank is only 18" deep and 2 of 3 clams are about mid-tank.

Every tank and LFS I have seen the clams are wide open and impressive with high light levels. When my lights are ramping up and shutting down my clams don't open more so I don't think this is the case.

Levi, Lorenzo, John and Doug:

Hey fellow's what brand of fixture's and bulbs are you all using. I would search all your tank builds but I don't have much down time ATM, big job on the go working 7 days a week up to 18 hrs a day. Thanks in advance guys for your time.

I am using the same as Wes, 8x80wt ATI PM :mrgreen:

A great investment IMO

Fencer ok are you saying that just 2 400's are enough for his tank. the reason im asking is my new tank is 96x24x24 and its going to have about 2-3 " bed and what i have now os 2x400w 20k xm's i thought about going to a higher kelvin like xm's 10-15k or should 3 be enough on a 8 footer ....

I agree with Doug, why not use bulbs that give more par value, Figi's and blue bulbs enough blue/purples in coral, but IMO do not give the light par value that would enhance growth, and what clams would use.

Before spending money on changing the fixtures, I would suggest just trying a different bulb combo, replacing maybe one or two bulbs only for now. See how that goes.

I am a fan of the MH, but I must say many of you have gorgeous setups and happy coral with only T5HO, so getting the right config and right number of bulbs is the key here. I wouldn't just change to MH, just yet, if you don't need to.

I agree with Doug and Sphelps. I think you have enough light now on an 18" tank. Before you go and buy a new fixture try some other bulbs. More bulbs in the 10000K range and you should have plenty of the right light.

Ok I have some spare bulbs that have not been used much that are 10,000k and 12,000k so I will give them a go.

Holly crap I almost died when I read this and the other post. I really think people need to do some research before they start blasting off facts. Look at the par values for the T5 bubs that are out there. The highest par bulbs on the market are KZ, ATI, AQUA SCIENCE, and some UVL. There isn’t any bulbs on the market then the Kz or ati bulbs.

KZ NEW GEN 315
KZ CORAL LIGHT 340
KZ FIJI PURPLE 330
KZ SUPER BLUE 310
ATI BLUE PLUS 320
ATI AQUA BLUE 330

Also have most of you even looked at a chart showing the spectral intensity the corals photosynthesize at? Well I will have to show you then. Corals only use blue and red spectrum for photosynthesis. The problem isn't your bulbs it’s your fixture. You should have better reflectors and more bulbs across the tank. I suggest a 6 bulb or 8 bulb tek or a 6 bulb ati fixture. 4 t5’s will not truly cut it for sps and clams unless they are mid way up or higher.


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Hey Chris, I have all KZ bulbs as stated in the first post and I have 16 - 54w bulbs TOTAL but I have to agree that I think I am lacking in the reflector department. I have been looking for the best price on the TEK 8 bulb fixture's and might just have to order 2 of them for my tank.

Do you have your bulbs laid our 8x8 or 4x4x4x4?


Your fixtures are not horrible but a tex or ati would push out a lot more juice. It may not be lighting at all though. It could be a food issue with the clams or a parameter issue. How old are the bulbs?

[quote=chris88;568578]Do you have your bulbs laid our 8x8 or 4x4x4x4?/QUOTE]

Not sure what you are asking here Chris but I have 8 bulbs on each half of the tank, 4 timers that turn on 2 at a time per side. The bulbs are only a couple month old.

As for food/feeding ATM I am feeding phyto when the lights go off. Was using KZ Amino Acids and Coral Snow until I ran out a month ago and could not afford to get more. But that has all changed and will be getting the tank back on track and looking better then ever real soon.

Parameters have been all good for some time now but do have to get more bio-pellets and also looking into getting a better chamber for them, converting one or both of my TLF 150's to run carbon.

everything sounds great maybe try spot feeding the clams and the sps a bit more. Feeding goes a long way in a low nutrient tank.

What have you stocked as far as fish and inverts.
Kevin

check out this thread, people run 4 t5 bulbs and grow sps and clams.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1935318

Hey Kevin, as of right now stock list is this:

Yellow Tang
Regal Tang
Sailfin Tang
2 Blue Reef Chromis
2 Blue Green Chromis
Sixline Wrasse
Pink Face Wrasse
2 Lawnmower Blennies
Orange Spot Goby
3 False Percs
Valintini Puffer
Spotted Hawkfish
Azure Damsel (tiny)
Bangii Cardinal
Coral Beauty
2 Tuxedo Urchins
about half dozen turbo snails
should have 2 Peppermint shrimp but have not seen them
and 2 or 3 blue legged hermit crabs

I think that is all