T5 8 bulb or 6 bulb fixture

[randallino]

Quality of the bulbs will show in how long they last for and the how they are able to hold their colour. 8 bulb maybe a little overkill but, I would like to hear other opinions.

[Nebthet]

A Sunlight Supply Tek 6x54w fixture will do you perfectly for your size of tank. I would say an 8 bulb fixture is better suited for tank 24 inches wide.

I have a 36x18x22 high and use the 6x39w fixture and I have to keep chalices, acans and xenia on the sandbed because it is too bright for them higher in my tank, so the two inches extra on your tank will hardly be any difference, especially if you use ATI bulbs.
Aquablue special and Blue plus seem to have the most par in them.

Giessman bulbs are also really decent and I use Blue plus and Actinic plus on my tank.

The difference in the bulbs between the cheap and expensive can be drastic.
The cheaper bulbs have less usable par and they have a tendency to loose than earlier than the better branded bulbs.
ATI is one of the top brands for bulbs with Geissman being right behind them in terms of the par values.
The new KZ bulbs are getting great reviews and have par values to match either of the previous two.

Search for pricing on your bulbs. If you cannot get them locally, order them in. I have seen ATI's sell for between $23 to $33 for the 36 and 48 inch bulbs. Keep an eye on sales also, and buy your years worth of changes then.

I know Oceanic Corals sells ATI bulbs and JL Aquatics sells KZ and Geissman.

[htfn]

Thanks for your infor.
I picked these bulb and do you think dose this bring colour up my coral. I like blue-ish colour, too. I cant imagine what this will looks like when all the lights up.
Actinic Plus
Aqua Pink
Coral Light II 14000K or Coral Light 10000K
Fiji Purple
Pure Actinic
Actinic Plus

Please give me what you think about this combination.
Thanks

[gobytron]

[quote=Nebthet;574709]A Sunlight Supply Tek 6x54w fixture will do you perfectly for your size of tank. I would say an 8 bulb fixture is better suited for tank 24 inches wide.QUOTE]

I experimented with a tek 6 bulb fixture but sold it after a couple of weeks and went back to MH/VHO's.

I would have kept the t5 unit if it had been an 8 bulb fixture.
my tank is only 18" front to back and it was more about getting a decent spectrum while still having some good par that killed the 6 bulber for me.

You just have so many more options with an 8 bulb for a very small price difference.