What lighting do you use?

daftboy

daftboy

Member
I was just wondering how you guys have your lighting setup in your tank...I'm trying to figure out the best combo/order to have them in.. I have a t5 system with 24 inches bulbsX4..this is on 28g long..
From the front of the tank to back
10k Aquaticlife
420/460 Aquaticlife
75.25 "20k" UVL
420/460 Aquaticlife
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
wouldnt use any of those personally. are you using an aquatic life fixture as well?
your actinic lights put out less than 150 par. the aquatic life bulbs will more than likely put out much lower par
as for your uvl 75.25, its putting out very low par for a "white" light and same goes for your 10k aquatic life bulb
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
i can only imagine your par readings with your bulbs and fixture. as for mine im getting over 200 on the sand bed which is enough for alot of sps.
ati blue+ (311)
ati aquablue special (336)
aquascience 22000k (304)
ati blue+ (311)
with the fixture and the light combo, i get close to 500 par at the top part of my tank
looking back at the pm's between us and your thread about your sps bleaching, youre giving your sps a really hard time in your tank. your tap water is putting in stuff you dont want in your tank and youre not giving your sps enough light at all
 
daftboy

daftboy

Member
What brand do you think is personally the best... you where saying ati, giesmmen...etc.. which is the best?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
When I had T5's I used ATI (forgot which ones), Coralife 10K and WavePoint 420 actinics. I've since upgraded to MH and IMO, there's just no comparison.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3254691
When I had T5's I used ATI (forgot which ones), Coralife 10K and WavePoint 420 actinics. I've since upgraded to MH and IMO, there's just no comparison.
really depends on what you're going for. my setup right now is stronger than a 150w mh.


heres a closeup of the coral on the bottom. this is with the white balance set correctly, so this coloration is true to the eye
as for bulbs, the best out there is a combo of high powered bulbs to get the coloration you want. not one bulb has dominance over another unless you're just looking at certain spectrums.
theres no
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
ive got all kinds of corals. my acans are all thriving even thought theyre actually one of the lower light lps. the ricordeas have been there since i first turned this into a reef tank and ive got tons of zoas, so id say eveything is doing well. of course i acclimated everything before blasting them w/ light
as you can see from the pics, none of the corals are "reaching" out for light
 
daftboy

daftboy

Member
i think the best way for me would be to buy these bulbs and maybe change one a week ,,what do you think about that ?
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
yeh they are pretty pricey. we have a local club that has one and members just borrow it when they want to use it
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I've heard good things about the IceCap ballast, however, I've also heard that they overdrive the bulbs and they don't last nearly as long.
 
daftboy

daftboy

Member
well lets just say.. i can get them at retail cost and have a warrenty... I actually met the owner today.. turns out there whole plant is about 10 min. from my house... I picked up 4 24w T5's at a very good price... and they are gonna work with me for my 72 inch in a few weeks. I picked up 2 10k"reef crest", 1 14k "deep water" and one of there "twilight" bulbs
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Daftboy
http:///forum/post/3255421
well lets just say.. i can get them at retail cost and have a warrenty... I actually met the owner today.. turns out there whole plant is about 10 min. from my house... I picked up 4 24w T5's at a very good price... and they are gonna work with me for my 72 inch in a few weeks.
Getting good deals on things is always a plus, LOL
There are some people that swear by IceCap and they're ballasts. When I had T5's, my husband did a lot of research on them and if we hadn't found a really good MH unit for a great price, we were going to buy IceCap ballasts for the T5 fixture we already had and just "upgrade" it. The only downside, as I mentioned earlier is that they tend to overpower bulbs and they wear out quicker (usually 7-8 months as opposed to the usual 12months). The overpowering of the bulbs do have a benefit though, it usually produces more lighting for the corals.
If you're getting a decent deal, I'd say go for it. I don't know if I'd keep the stock bulbs though.
 
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