T5 HO Lights -how high are yours ?

DiverDude · #1 10-30-2010, 08:27 PM

ok, so for those of you who have T5 HO lights, I'd like to do an impromptu poll. tell me:

1) 4 bulb or 8 bulb
2) How high are the bulbs from the water (not the top of the tank)
3) How deep is your water ?

toxic111 · #2 10-30-2010, 09:26 PM

4-36" T-5's about 4" from the water, 16"dp tank

chris88 · #3 10-30-2010, 10:49 PM

6 x 36 Inch T5HO 4.5 inches from the water on an 18inch deep tank

bignose · #4 10-30-2010, 10:59 PM

8x54w T5HO 6.5" from water, tank is 18" deep

DiverDude · #5 10-31-2010, 12:01 AM

Good stuff, keep it coming.

A little background: The reason I ask is that I presently have a 30 gal tank (2 ft wide) with a 4-bulb system. The bulbs are 5-1/2" from the water and the water is about 16" deep 91" from the top of the tank and there's about 2" of sand).

I'm laying the groundwork to upgrade to a 4' wide tank in the next few months. I just bought a 48", 8-bulb version of the same Tek light and the the previous owner didn't have an acrylic lens on the fixture and the reflectors were coated with salt (it's permanently etched the reflectors). This leads me to believe that he had the light pretty close to the water. I have mine at 5-1/2" mostly because it gives me room to get into the tank but I'm wondering if this is perhaps a little high.

toxic111 · #6 10-31-2010, 01:16 AM

Mine does have an acrylic cover & I have to clean it every couple weeks or so, with any water movement on the surface you will have salt build up.