LF: 36" T5 Light Fixture

[andresont]

Ok people please welcome me to Tek T5 club !
Just ordered 36" long fixture with 6 lamps. What a struggle to choose the bulbs ... so i went with 4x Aquablue Plus and 2x Powerchrome Midday. I also have two actinics at home already so will see what i will finally go with.

Melina did you get the acrilic lens cover for you bulbs? Might be a good idea easy to clean one sheet of acrilic instead of all the bulbs and reflectors imo.

[Melina]

Originally Posted by andresont

Ok people please welcome me to Tek T5 club !
Just ordered 36" long fixture with 6 lamps. What a struggle to choose the bulbs ... so i went with 4x Aquablue Plus and 2x Powerchrome Midday. I also have two actinics at home already so will see what i will finally go with.

Melina did you get the acrilic lens cover for you bulbs? Might be a good idea easy to clean one sheet of acrilic instead of all the bulbs and reflectors imo.

Welcome to the Tek T5 club!!!! Where did you order from?
Man I didn't even know about that lens cover. This is my first reef tank; do the bulbs & reflectors really get dirty? How often will I have to clean them?

[cooper]

Originally Posted by andresont

Ok people please welcome me to Tek T5 club !
Just ordered 36" long fixture with 6 lamps. What a struggle to choose the bulbs ... so i went with 4x Aquablue Plus and 2x Powerchrome Midday. I also have two actinics at home already so will see what i will finally go with.

Melina did you get the acrilic lens cover for you bulbs? Might be a good idea easy to clean one sheet of acrilic instead of all the bulbs and reflectors imo.

Where did you order the Tek T5 from? How much did you pay?

[andresont]

Melina ,
Thanks to you i ordered from Hidden Reef because J&L would not beat nor match the price.
yes your bulbs will get covered in ocasional salt creep from splashes, and micro bubbles bursting, unless you will have them very high up, but you kinda need all the light you can get. Once a month on the safe side. you will need cleaning if you have new skimmer returning micro bubbles to your tank then more often.
So bulbs are OK for 2 years "officialy" thats good lets see how SPS will like it.

Cooper,

I paid $550+$10 lens cover +tax=$632.80 Including shipping, legs, lens cover and bulbs

[Melina]

I am going to ask them for that lens cover when I call them next week. Did you tell them I referred you? he he
I am going to order a few more things from them, I really liked the service. I'm hoping to have my tank set up in a couple weeks. Let me know how your stoneys like them. I'm going to start with softies for now, but eventually will want to move on to some LPS and SPS. I wonder what species of stoney corals would be good to start with and which ones would thrive under these lights? Any advice?

[andresont]

I told him "someone" from CanReef got it so he gave me the same price.
I have small SPS frag now under Coralife 2x96W PC and it is Not brown but light green. I got a little frag from Famous Chin Lee some time ago and now fragged it from my nano to my 60gal. It is (was) pink milliporah.

I think T5 will be better then PC so will see. I decided to go ahead and try new staff. Any body can grow SPS under MH lets see if we can do it under T5's LOL !
If you just starting your tank be carefull even though your Water is "Fine" dont put any fish in there at least for a 3 month. Start with staff that you dont have to feed. Even SPS frag in 30 day old tank is safer then a little Demsel fish.
Put any fish in a new tank and you will be reading hair algae threads in no time, because its fun to feed the fish.
jm2cw

Originally Posted by Melina

I am going to ask them for that lens cover when I call them next week. Did you tell them I referred you? he he
I am going to order a few more things from them, I really liked the service. I'm hoping to have my tank set up in a couple weeks. Let me know how your stoneys like them. I'm going to start with softies for now, but eventually will want to move on to some LPS and SPS. I wonder what species of stoney corals would be good to start with and which ones would thrive under these lights? Any advice?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Melina,

SPS should go into a stable tank, not a new one. The easiest sps in general are the Montipora digitatas & M. caps. I think the rule of thumb is that when your tank is growing coraline algae well, then it is ready for corals. SPS are much more sensitive to nutrient loads than softies or LPS.

Anthony

[cooper]

Originally Posted by andresont

Melina ,
Thanks to you i ordered from Hidden Reef because J&L would not beat nor match the price.
yes your bulbs will get covered in ocasional salt creep from splashes, and micro bubbles bursting, unless you will have them very high up, but you kinda need all the light you can get. Once a month on the safe side. you will need cleaning if you have new skimmer returning micro bubbles to your tank then more often.
So bulbs are OK for 2 years "officialy" thats good lets see how SPS will like it.

Cooper,

I paid $550+$10 lens cover +tax=$632.80 Including shipping, legs, lens cover and bulbs

Is this right?..........You piad $632.80 inclduing taxes for the 36" Tek light fixture,6 bulbs legs and lens cover? That's a prett decent price considering that the bulbs are good for 24 months............I should give them a call and ask if I can get the same price.

[Melina]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Melina,

SPS should go into a stable tank, not a new one. The easiest sps in general are the Montipora digitatas & M. caps. I think the rule of thumb is that when your tank is growing coraline algae well, then it is ready for corals. SPS are much more sensitive to nutrient loads than softies or LPS.

Anthony

Do you have to wait for the coraline aglae before putting in soft corals? My plan was to keep corals & inverts, not fish. Well maybe a couple clowns but that's it. So should I put in the "clean-up crew" and wait for the coraline before putting in any soft corals?

[andresont]

Originally Posted by Melina

Do you have to wait for the coraline aglae before putting in soft corals? My plan was to keep corals & inverts, not fish. Well maybe a couple clowns but that's it. So should I put in the "clean-up crew" and wait for the coraline before putting in any soft corals?

Yes, Anthony is absolutely right the rule of the thumb is when you have coraline growth at size about a dime or more on you glass you can start adding SPS.
Just hold with the fish as long as you can. Start with the staff that you do not have to feed, I know epmty tank is boring but patiense id the key.
LPS is pretty much the same thing and they load your system too.
Better wait and use carbon as soon as you get first LPS the are very chemicaly active.
For soft corals you should be ok after 30 days as long as you buy ones that feed on light.