How much light is too much?

[parkinsn]

I am looking at building a new canopy for my tank. I have 2 x 250w MH 10K and 2 x 96w PC attinics now. My plan is to remove the PC's and replace them with 2-4 54w attinic T5's and add an additional 4-6 T5's (fiji purples, some 20K's will have to take a look at lamps) as well as keeping the 250w MH's. Essentially making it a 8 lamp teck light with MH's, is this too much light? I am looking for more even lighting through out my tank. Im also open to opinions on lamps and layouts for the best color. Oh and my tank is 48"L x 24"W x 24"H, SPS dominated.

This brings me to my next question.... Does anybody know where you can get inexpensive T5 and MH reflectors made, LFS, or other options? I have been to a few metal fab shops, got some quotes for mirrored stainless steel and it seems really expensive, as in buy a new fixture lol.

Thanks for any help.

Scott

[xtreme]

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/categ...nts/page4.html

[fencer]

go either MH/Act or T5's but not both...too much light

[sphelps]

What size tank? I can't see all that fitting over a standard 4 foot tank. T5 reflectors are about 2.5" wide so you'll need 25" alone to fit 10 T5s side by side, then you still need to fit the halides which usually need at least 6".

As for too much light, I don't think it's too much. I run 2 250W 14K halides in lumenmax3 reflectors and 6 T5s half fiji and half 10K all with individual reflectors. All over my 120gal 3' cube. The T5 actinics won't add much light to the system so you're really talking about 4-6 T5s and 2 250W halides.

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by fencer

go either MH/Act or T5's but not both...too much light

Wat'choo talkin 'bout Willis?

I find a combo of MHs towards the 10K spectrum and T5s towards the 20K spectrum to be the perfect combination. I keep everything under my Frankenstein lighting which has that mix along with VHO super actinics.

[parkinsn]

Originally Posted by sphelps

What size tank? I can't see all that fitting over a standard 4 foot tank. T5 reflectors are about 2.5" wide so you'll need 25" alone to fit 10 T5s side by side, then you still need to fit the halides which usually need at least 6".

As for too much light, I don't think it's too much. I run 2 250W 14K halides in lumenmax3 reflectors and 6 T5s half fiji and half 10K all with individual reflectors. All over my 120gal 3' cube. The T5 actinics won't add much light to the system so you're really talking about 4-6 T5s and 2 250W halides.

I am looking at 8 lamps not 10 and i think i have found some reflectors off of a 4L T5 High bay that measure 9.5" which will give me a pretty tight fit with the MH's.

[xtreme]

Wouldn't you want to have individual reflectors for each lamp?

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by parkinsn

I am looking at 8 lamps not 10 and i think i have found some reflectors off of a 4L T5 High bay that measure 9.5" which will give me a pretty tight fit with the MH's.

So.. what size tank?

[parkinsn]

Originally Posted by sphelps

So.. what size tank?

Its 48x24x24 listed in original post. I think i might have to go with fewer lamps as you might be right i dont think i will have enough room for 8 and MH's

[sphelps]

Yeah I would aim for no wider than 22" (20" would be better) since you probably have at least 1" of trim on each side. 6 T5s with the 2 halides should be plenty, if you want more light stay away from the pure actinics as they will not add much effect with that much other light.

For MH bulbs I would suggest 14K phoenix for DE halides or XM 20K for SE. And for T5 bulbs 2 KZ Fiji purples, 2 KZ coral light, 2 KZ coral light new generation.

You could also overdrive the T5s with an icecap ballast for additional light without using more bulbs.

Buy quality individual reflectors for everything, they aren't that expensive and cheaper than any metal shop will charge, after all they are mass produced. They will also reflect more light giving you more light for your $.