jabrbox Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I have 6, 48" T5 - attached to my wood canopy withi no reflective material on the wood. I have seen some material I can buy for about 50- , but my 1st questions is there were 3 whites and 3 blues, they are staggered on the lid with the 2 in the middle being directly in the middle. The LFS recomended an Indigo White and Actenic Blue, and said to use 4 blues and 2 whites, well I put the 2 new bulbs directly in the middle, dont see alot of difference, but now with only 1 white left one end of the tank is white while the other end is blue. I really want that deep blue look without spending a bunch on new MH or LED, does anyone have suggestions or possibly better bulbs that are not too expensive? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 To get the most out of your bulbs you will want to spend the $ and get reflectors!!! Yes reflectors, just a flat piece of shinny material will not sufice with T5's! Right now you are wasting allot of the light they put out, I'd say that with reflectors your tank would just about double the light going into the water. as for the bulbs, I would go from front to back, blue, white, blue, blue, white, blue. What brand of bulb are you using? and what specific bulb color do you have for each? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabrbox Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Thanks for your input, when I got the tank the light's and everything came with it, it had GLO 3 whites and 3 blues, ran from 3 GLO ballast's, I replaced 2 of the whites with (both UV brand) 1 Indigo white, and 1 Super Acteninc Blue. The configuration that I have now from front to back is GLO White, GLO Blue, UV Super Actenic Blur, UV Indigo White, GLO Blue, GLO blue. The only part of the tank that looks very balanced is the center. I have been having a hard time finding the clip on reflectors, and not sure if I would have to go to 4 bulbs depending on wide they are so they would all fit in the hood. LFS has a hammered piece of aluminum that bends and forms and I was considering that, but I really dont want to eep spending money on very little improvement. I cannot imagine doubling the light, that would be awesome! Thanks again Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Yes, don't throw $ away on cheeper fix, even if you buy reflectors as you can, one or two at a time, you will be way better off than if you half a$$ it and then end up buying the reflectors anyway. I'm assuming by your first post you have or they were retrofit into the hood, how far apart are the bulbs? to put good reflectors on they need to be about 3 1/4 inches from center of bulb, to center of bulb I think, but it may be 3 inch. I know I have 2 used reflectors with the clips, at the store I can sell to you pritty cheep to get you started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabrbox Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Cool thanks, I will measure them when I get home tonight, and am definitely interested in those reflecectors that you have. Right now I know that they are pretty close together when trying to install my moonlight in between 2 of them it wasn't easy. Do you think 4 good 48" T5's are sufficient for a 125g tank? Thanks again Ed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 No, you will def want to keep all 6 on there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabrbox Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 There is about 2 1/4 " between the bulbs, i will post a pic later for any ideas, there may be enough room to spread them apart a little. Thanks again for the advice on the bulb order, I installed them that way and the tank looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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