upgrading lighting for 70g tall/ tek t5's?

drea

Active Member
i have nova extreme 39 x 4 now, they are great, but i'd like more light for stony corals (i have some stony corals and they are growing, but not as bright as they should be...
do the make a tek or nova system with 54 x 4 or better?
the tank is 36 inches and i can't seem to find much
thanx!
 

drea

Active Member
Originally Posted by Integral9
54W is a 48" T5 bulb. 39W is a 36" T5 bulb. You won't find a 36" T5 54W.

lol, that explains everything!!!!! i'm an idiot!!!!
i will take a look at the ati thing as well,
thanx a lot guys!
 

integral9

Member
I'm pretty sure you can get legs for them. I think that site I linked you to has them if they don't come with the light, which they usually do.
 

nycbob

Active Member
teks has legs if u want, they cost about $55 for a pair. or if u want more light, try the nova extreme pro 6x39w w individual reflectors.
 

wangotango

Active Member
Yeah, ATI fixtures cost a pretty penny, and I'm still not sure if the supply has cought up to the demand. Six or eight bulb TEK, or the new Nova Pro would make good alternatives.
-Justin
 

drea

Active Member
hmmmmmmm
so i guess its the
extreme pro vs. the tek the tek is 100 more, but i wonder if its really better..
time to research a bit!
 

drea

Active Member
the new nove is like 200 cheaper than the tek t5 6 x 39
i wonder if the nova is good enough.. anyone have one?
 

rs1831

Active Member
I have a 70 with 5*39 Aquactinics and its just not enough light for a 25 inch deep tank. I would go with ATI or 2*250 halides.
 

reefraff

Active Member
if that is a 30" tall tank you would need to stick with the ATI Powermodule and nothing less. Even then its going to limit where you can place stonies.
 

wangotango

Active Member
I've seen 30" deep tanks lit with normally-driven T5 with SPS at all levels. There was one that was a previous TOTOM on --.
If you want to go the retrofit route, and Icecap with over-driven bulbs would work well.
-Justin
 

drea

Active Member
i would keep the stonies up higher of course...
i'm not sure which to go w/ and can't find the ati's anywhere....
(not to mention no bulbs and around 900$! i don't think i need that right now.. lol i know people and stores running teks w/ all corals
do you all think that the tek is way better than the nova pro? i wish their was some reviews on it!

i will be doing a 6 x 39 inch fixture in either the tek or nova
 

fanker

Active Member
sorry pm wasnt working but with tha tek i made my own legs out of wood, i recomend tek cause the amazing reflecrors.
heres a pic ot the legs
 

nycbob

Active Member
nova pro 6x54w t5. brain coral and trumpet at bottom of tank. i'd say they r a good 25 inches away from the light.
 

reefraff

Active Member
Originally Posted by WangoTango
I've seen 30" deep tanks lit with normally-driven T5 with SPS at all levels. There was one that was a previous TOTOM on --.
-Justin
And there are 4 fixtures running 54 watt lamps over that tank plus if you look closely the only SPS in the lower part of the tank are the lower light stuff.
A 4x39 watt Tek fixture only hits the 150's for PAR at the bottom of a 22" tall tank. Over a 30" tall tank it will drop below 100. even if an 8 lamp fixture will fit over the tank it isn't going make a huge difference.
The best looking SPS tank under T5 I have ever seen is Iwan Laesser's (there is an -- thread on his tank). It is 24" tall and he has to replace lamps at 8 months or his corals lose color and stop growing. He is using ATI equipment that pre dates the Powermodule but is still better than the Tek.
You want to try to raise SPS in a 30" tall tank using anything but a premium fixture or Ice Cap retrofit all I can say is good luck.
 
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