Smaller than 18" T-5's

juice_1080

juice_1080

Member
I am looking at taking a standard 5.5g tank 16"x8"x10" and turning it so its displayed the opposite way and building the back 4" to a filtration/skimmer/fuge area. Anyways that is later in the planning process.
Right now I am trying to figure out what I can do for lighting over it. The display area of the tank will be around 12"x8" and it will come out kind of like an Island style tank.
I don't want to go with PC lighting and would much rather do T-5's. I see 8w bulbs that appear to be 12" T-5 bulbs at my LFS but I can't seem to find any fixtures. I would like to find a 3-4 bulb setup as long as it is less than 8" wide.
I am going to be building a small canopy for this setup so if there was such a thing as a 12" retrofit kit that would be perfect but I doubt it.
Someone help me
 
juice_1080

juice_1080

Member
Found one on the

[hr]
site for $15 but they want $40 to ship it. The has to be more than one manufacturer of the 12" fixtures.
The one I found was 3x8w T-5's (2x10,000K & 1xActinic)
Does anybody even think this would be sufficient to keep corals in a 10" deep tank?
 
juice_1080

juice_1080

Member
BTW....I would be looking to keep:
Rics
Zoas
GSP
Cloves
Leathers
and Maybe a Candy Cane
Mostly just softies though and a Small goby
 
saltwaternewb

saltwaternewb

Member
Just wondering why no PC lights? Wouldn't they be plenty sufficient for a tank that deep? I am asking because I am still trying to learn about all this lighting stuff. Last time I was in to this hobby PC's where all the rage....lol
 
travis89

travis89

Active Member
If thats what you want to keep, then I think PCs would be enough. Current has a 12" PC fixture, I've never seen a 12" T5 fixture.
 
juice_1080

juice_1080

Member
I know they make them they just seem hard to find. I have a Coralife PC setup and it is not very bright at all and it gets extremely hot to where it burns to touch the outer casing of the fixture and its just a 2x9w 9" fixture. Plus that thing was $35-40 whereas the T-5 on the

[hr]
site was like $10 + 30-40 for shipping. Yes it is more expensive but I don't think it will produce as much heat and it would be 3x8w of T-5's or 24W of T-5 compared to 18w of PC.
I just don't like the heat and inefficiency of PC lighting. In a 4 Gallon DT without a heater I could see this thing being around 85-90 degrees before the lights go out and 70-75 before the lights come on.
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by juice_1080
http:///forum/post/2449954
I know they make them they just seem hard to find. I have a Coralife PC setup and it is not very bright at all and it gets extremely hot to where it burns to touch the outer casing of the fixture and its just a 2x9w 9" fixture. Plus that thing was $35-40 whereas the T-5 on the

[hr]
site was like $10 + 30-40 for shipping. Yes it is more expensive but I don't think it will produce as much heat and it would be 3x8w of T-5's or 24W of T-5 compared to 18w of PC.
I just don't like the heat and inefficiency of PC lighting. In a 4 Gallon DT without a heater I could see this thing being around 85-90 degrees before the lights go out and 70-75 before the lights come on.

Just as an FYI, T5 lighting is no more efficient that std CF or PC. Its the HO bulbs and reflectors that make the difference.
On that not Nova has a 2 bulb HO T5 fixture 18" lamps on their website you can see them. Yea the fixture would hang off the edge of the tank 1" either side but you wont have to worry about lighting anymore. 40watts of HO t5 you would be all set, but for what you are looking at I dont think you will find. The Coralife Mini Aqualight is prob the best your gonna find. If you want to retrofit Nova has the SmartPaq available its a 15" bulb but again PC lighting 1 32watt bulb with on reflector.
 
juice_1080

juice_1080

Member
I suppose if you think 1 32w PC would work I will have to look into that. It will also be just long enough to throw a little light into the fuge that will occupy the back 4" of the tank. I am just worried about the heat that comes off of them. My little Coralife Mini Aqualight gets hot enough where you can't really pick it up so I would be worried about that heat going into the tank.
 
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