[Sikkob]

I was thinking about CF lighting for my compact 30" wide tank vs T5 lighting since the options are more limited. I was going to do MH 400W but because the advice was the temperture would be to great and the light too strong I am second guessing myself. Also the CF lighting is approx 170 dollars for 4x55W (220W) for a 25" deep tank and 30" long. This is the first purchase that I want to make for my tank as it is one of the most important. I would like to make my tank a LR with some limited corals but have no idea what kind of corals I can keep...I am thinking of doing two lights with 10k and the other 2 with blue acintic lights. Thank you for your comments ahead of time

[Six-line Wrasse]

Compact fluorescents are a weaker version of T5 lighting if you want to look at it from the most simple possible perspective. T5 tubes produce more intensity per wattage than do CF tubes as well as slightly less heat. If you do decide to do T5 bulbs, which are better in general for almost any coral, I would consider retrofitting some into a hood since, like you said, a good 30" lighting setup for T5s isn't entirely easy to find. If you do decide to retrofit, I can help you will purchasing the best reflectors and end cap, etc.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I was looking for 30 inch t 5's for my sweeties tank and Im not sure they ewven exist.I am going to use a 4 bulb 24 inch retro unit with two bulbs to the left and two to the right.If you used the t 5 vho (40 watts for a 24 inch bulb) it would rival mh without the heat.- DIYReef Look here for ice cap and tek retro kits.

[pogodzib]

FYI - The order of weakest reef lighting to strongest, in general, is PC, VHO, T5 HO w/ individual reflectors, MH

PCs over a 25" high tank should be able keep virtually any LPS and soft coral and BTAs, but coral growth will be slow. VHOs would be a little better. With T5 HO or MH, your growth would be much better and you'd be able to keep SPS corals. As you already know, the price you pay with MH is the increased heat.

[Sikkob]

Thank you all for your comments as they are greatly appreciated. I am still really considering going with CF only because the tank is pretty small and knowing that soft corals or LPS corals will survive is also why. I think the lighting is the only thing that I will be skimping on.

[Sikkob]

Ok I e-mailed customer support at AHsupply.com about the 4x55w retrofit and they said that the diameter is 5/8" (T5) with box type end caps.

I also went to reeflections.com from another post and e-mailed them as well. They said that with two Nova Xtreme X2Saltwater lights I would get 156w which are 30" long and 48w each bulb...I did normal math and the wattage is 192w which doesnt add up. They also said that I couldnt keep SPS or stony type corals unless I got a MH. I have enough room to put 4 of their light kits which would be 8 bulbs and the watts would be approx 382w? 30" T5 Current USA light Thank you again for your posts I hope this helps some others that have deep tanks with small width.

[msbdiving]

I have only ever looked into either MH or PC. When I looked up T5's before, it seemed like they were weaker in the wattage production compared to PC. Then I see pogodzib response stating T5 is stronger. I'm a little confused. Does it get better penetration, dift spectrum, what? Please feel free to send me a pm with response.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

T 5's have lower wattage but.....they are very slender bulbs with extremely efficient reflectors. Ice and tek lite claim the productive lite increase from these 9 bend reflectors increase there output 300 %.They redirect the light straight down into the tank.Also there is t 5 vho where you can get 60 watts from a 36 inch bulb instead of 39.UVlighting makes a bulb (420nm) that will penatrate to 29 inches with enough light to grow clams.I understand as well as anyone what budgetery constraints are,but lights and skimmers are the places you will be sorry to skimp on. Here is what I would recomend. Buy a 24 inch t5 retro kit from Ice cap (331$'s from diy reef supply) and build it yourself. stagger the bulbs 2 left and two right to cover the 30 inch's

[Sikkob]

I found a 4x T5 IceCap VHO for 275 here IceCap

[NATIVEVAMAN]

The 331 price includes bulbs.If the 275 does you got a heck of a deal.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

OK that site you have linked is vho not t 5. Those bulbs are actually 1 1/4 or 1 3/8 inch diameter. The give away is the internal reflector. VHO is t 12 a much bigger bulb.

[Sikkob]

Doh your right the price you listed at 331 is still pretty good even though I wont be able to keep SPS or clams which from what you have said and from what I read MH is a definite for that. I just wanted to be able to keep live rock from this place Tampa Bay and not have alot of die off from the lack of light. From what it their descriptions are mostly it will be LPS and soft corals but the price seems pretty nice. I was looking at the 50 gal setup since the 55 gal is 100 dollars more as well. My final tank will be 150+ which will be in about 10 years or so and I wanted to get a baseline knowledge now. I had a 29 gal fish only tank and wanted to take the next smaller plunge.

[Jer77]

PC lighting IMO is horribly ineffiecient. You can keep some moderate-high light softies, LPS and anemones with them, but they will not thrive like they would under better light. My corals look much better under MH's than they do under my PC's. T-5's will also make your corals look much better than PC's. You have to make sure you get the T-5's with the individual reflectors or else your just getting something similar to PC's but with a little more efficiency. The NOVA extreme doesn't come with the individual reflectors so I wouldn't get this. They cost a little more, but its well worth it. Probably your best bet would to just go with a 175W or 250W SE MH or get the DIY T-5's with the individual reflectors. About the rock most of the stuff from TBS will die-off anyways eventually and you won't get many corals as you think. It is good rock, nice and fresh, but it has little coralline algae and has many hitchickers like mantis shrimp.

[Sikkob]

I think that in a couple months I will get the DIY T5 kit...thank you Native for the suggestion. Also thank you Jer for the heads up about the LR I will probably just go to a LFS to get it since that is what most suggest and do.

Thank you again to all that posted it helped out alot.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

with the t 5 vho lights on that sight you should be able to keep anythinh you want. Read carefully the uvlighting bulbs that you can get with the retro fixture.

[Sikkob]

The UVlighting are very nice 40w with the icecap. Another question then...I was thinking 1UV 12k light, 1 UV 420nm light, 1 Actinic Plus Giesemann, and lastly 1 GE 6.5k sunlight. The actinic plus states light at the 450 nm spectrum which sounds like a very nice replacement for a MH bulb.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I dont think the giesman or the ge will run at 40 watts and if thety do there not designed for it and my burn out quickly.Since the 12k bulbs are already slipping deeply into the blue spectrum I would use three of them amd a 420nm. My plan is to use 4 12k's and two 420nm's. One 12 k and one 420 nm on a switch buy themselves for dawn and dusk.

[Six-line Wrasse]

Purely blue spectrum bulbs typically are meant for coloration and to fluoresce colors.

Also, from recent studies, color temperatures closer to 6,700°K show far better coral growth and coloration than do 10,000°K. Also, there is talk that coloration is better under 6,700°K bulbs because of the fact that the more "rare" and "exquisitely colorful" corals tend to be found in the first 5m of the ocean where a 6,700°K color temperature still is dominate. Aesthetically, 10,000°K looks better to our eyes, but a few actinic supplements can easily "color up" our tank enough to give us a not-so-yellowed tank.

If you'd like references I'd be happy to post them, although some are bland.

So, my point is: your best configuration of bulbs in a 4 bulb line up is: Actinic, 6,700°K, 6,700°K, Actinic. The actinic, as long as it is closest to you, will catch your eye more and reduce the yellowed-out effect of the fuller spectrum 6,700°K bulbs. So, by using this setup you should maximize coral growth and health, while minimizing any lose of coloration (although I have a theory on actinics) and will nicely fluoresce your corals.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I agree and have read the same thing. As soon as someone makes a vho t 5 in 6.5 k ill put two in the fixture. I suppose I could do 10k till something better comes along. I have to agree,there isnt any 12 14 or 20 k in nature.

[Six-line Wrasse]

There is 12,000°K, 14,000°K and 20,000°K in nature, however they're not specifically that temperature from their source. The sun primarily is 6,700°K but as the light wave penetrates further and further into the ocean's water it shifts to a different spectrum based on color drop off.

[Sikkob]

All of the bulbs will work with the Icecap however they will burn out twice as fast...hence the recommendation to replace the geisman in 12 months instead of 24. Also water defracts lightwaves the deeper the water is the more light it defracts hence the reason light blue light penetrates deep within the ocean. A red shimp deep in the ocean will appear black and blend within its environment but when it is placed in a 2 foot deep tank it appears red and can get eaten. One of the marine books had that in there

[Six-line Wrasse]

Sikkob - Are you referring to running HOT5 bulbs on a IceCap 440 or 660? If so I'm not 100% certain why you'd need to replace these bulbs sooner.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

The kelvin is often used in the measure of the colour temperature of light sources. Colour temperature is based upon the principle that a black body radiator emits light whose colour depends on the temperature of the radiator. Black bodies with temperatures below about 4000 K appear reddish whereas those above about 7500 K appear bluish. Colour temperature is important in the fields of image projection and photography where a colour temperature of approximately 5500 K is required to match “daylight” film emulsions. In astronomy, the stellar classification of stars and their place on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram are based, in part, upon their surface temperature. The Sun for instance, has an effective photosphere temperature of 5778 K.

[Sikkob]

It is an Icecap 660 ballast...here is a description from the DIY site...

Originally Posted by DIY Site

If you overdrive the bulbs (push more wattage through them than normal) with an IceCap ballast, experts recommend changing the blue and actinic bulbs every 12 months.

[Six-line Wrasse]

Are we talking due to bulb burn out or spectrum shift?