ok i am confused

[jmbr082885]

alright, i have been reading on all of the lighting sections for a little while and it is all a little confusing. basically i have a 55 gal with the 130 w pc from coralife and i am wondering if i could add a 36'' t5 to my tank. i have room for it in my canopy and i am wondering if this wiil work. i also need to know what kind of bulb/ballast i should use if this plan is acceptable. basically i would like to start stocking my tank as it has been up for 4 mo now and it is looking boring with only 4 chromis in there. and i already spent 250 on the lighting that i have right now, and i don't really feel like spending another 300 on lighting. i work at a local home depot and can get a 36 in t5 for pretty cheap and upgrade the bulb. will it work?

 

[thangbom]

i would save some $$ and get a 4 bulb retrofit on regular ballast with either tek 1 or SLR reflectors probaly do a blue+,super acetenic.aquasun,aquasun... or a 3000k...
send me a e-mail and ill give you the 2 best place i know of to get stuff.... thangbom321@yahoo
YzGyz

 

[scsinet]

If you are completely DIYing the unit, Fulham Workhorse ballasts work well and are inexpensive. I use a Workhorse 5 to drive a couple of 48" T5 Actinics on my reef system.
Unless your home depot is different than mine, beware of the lamps that home depot sells. Their selection of T5 that I know of is pretty much limited to Cool White (4100K) and Daylight (6500K), both of which won't do *much* good for your corals and inverts. They do have different stuff in different markets though so this may not apply to your store.
Additionally, since you have a 55g tank (I'm assuming a "standard" 55) you have 4' of width, so I'd use 54W, 48" HO T5 lamps. THey fit perfectly over the tank. A couple of 10-20K lamps will really brighten things up.... so much so that it will surprise you.

 

[jmbr082885]

see, i am trying to add this new single t5 bulb system to my existing system, and i need to know which bulb ballast combo to my 130 w coralife pc twin u-tube style lighing system