Lighting feedback Please

[Cliff]

I was wondering if any could offer some recommendations for lighting.

I have a 90 gallon tank (24” tall). I’m not too sure what type of corals I will be adding but I don’t want to be limited by my lighting. I’ll hopefully start cycling my tank just after X-mass so I do have some time.

I was thinking about a 6 bulb T5 fixture that was on display at a local store here were I live. It had 3 blue LED moon lights, three T5 Actinic blue light bulbs at 54 watts each and 3 regular T5 bulbs @ 18,000K and 54 watts each .

Would this be a good fixture to go with, or should I be looking into a 8 bulb T5 fixture

Or, would I need a metal halide fixture ?

Would anyone have a recommendations ?

[rjengen]

Depends on a few things...Will you have a canopy above the tank? If you are, you might want to look at some t5 retro kits. I know I went this route, and ended up with 6 t5's under my hood. The one downside to T5's, you wont get the shimmering effect in your tank...I personally love that, and that's why I'm waiting for my new LED fixture to get out of customs, and find it's way to my house. I think you would be fine growing most things under a 6 light fixture, but I guess it all depends on how you stock your tank. Keep in mind also, bulb replacement will happen every 9-12 months, I think it costs me around $150-200. Also, the combination of bulbs that you use is endless...or something like that...and what one reefer uses and likes, isn't always the same around the board. If you ask "What bulbs should I use" you will open a can of worms around here. Best thing I can say, find a LFS that you like, and do buisness with (Helps if they like you too ), and see if they can set up different bulbs for you so you can see it with your own eyes. Hope that helps a bit...Oh, welcome to Canreef...this place grows on you!!!

[Myka]

If you don't want to be limited at all go with an 8-bulb T5 fixture (or halides), otherwise a 6-bulb fixture of a mid-quality brand (like Tek) would not limit you much at all depending on your experience. If you are able to keep stable, pristine water and provide optimal flow you will get the most out of a fixture. Either T5 fixture would limit you to keeping high light corals (like SPS) in the upper third of the tank or so because T5s don't penetrate the water like halides do.

If you decide to use T5s, be careful with bulb choice. Buying a fixture with bulbs is usually not the best idea. Actinic bulbs are often very low output, and you would be better off with blue (20-22,000K) or blueplus (20-22,000K plus actinic) instead as they have higher output. T5 bulbs need to be replaced every 6-8 months for optimal output where halides will last 12 months. A good mid-range T5 fixture is Tek. I wouldn't want anything less with a 24" deep tank. VERY important with T5s is reflector quality and heat. Cheaper fixtures will use a single reflector and no built in fan. Without individual reflectors and a good fan to keep the bulbs cooler T5s lose a huge amount of efficiency and no longer function to any impressive standard.

Imo, nothing touches halides with T5 supplemental. If you want more info on halides ask away, but it sounds like you are leaning toward T5s right now.

Take a read through some of the recent T5 questions that have come up. I have offered up quite a bit of T5 advice lately.

[Cliff]

Thank-you very much guys for taking the time to help me !!!!!

This has been very helpful for me.

I'm thinking I will be building a canopy so I'm leaning towards a 8 bulb T5. I never realized there was sssssoooooo many different bulbs out there.

I have to watch for a good deal out there.

Thanks again guys

[Myka]

Check out the Tek retrofit kits then if you're building a canopy. More lights for cheaper, plus you still get the good Tek reflectors. Make sure to incorporate some good-sized fans in the canopy and you will have a great setup for a modest price. The retrofit kits mount right into our canopy without using a fixture. They are easier to keep cool, and perform better because of it imo.

Keeping budget in mind, you could always buy half your bulbs used, and half your bulbs new. Then every 4 months replace the old half. That way you're only replacing 3-4 bulbs at a time, and the corals won't get shocked by new (brighter) bulbs when you swap out. Also, buying some used bulbs will give you an idea of which bulbs you like, and which ones you don't without costing you $25-35 each like new ones.

[Cliff]

Myka, how easy are they to wire ?

Looking at them on-line, they don't look to hard.

I'm no electrician by any stretch of the imagination, but I like to think I'm pretty handy. I think I'm going to look into this a little more. I'll start cycling the tank soon so I'll have a lot of time to work on lighting.

Thanks Myka