Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I am buying epic1's 150gal tank for my new clown condo and I want to use T5's for light. The tank will be softies, lps and hopefully nems. The tanks dims are 48x24x30. Will an 8 bulb fixture be enough for what I want to do? I am mainly worried about enough light for the annenomes. I also want to try to pair up my maroon clown. I have had her about three years, so she is probably around 4+ years old. She was about 2 inches when I got her. Is it too late to pair her up? Thanks, Eugene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Thats a pretty deep tank but if your going to do softies and lps you should be fine. If you do rbtas they will head to the top of the tank but ltas and carpets are sand dwellers Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Thats a pretty deep tank but if your going to do softies and lps you should be fine. If you do rbtas they will head to the top of the tank but ltas and carpets are sand dwellers Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk I do want a carpet nem. Will it be enough for it sitting on the sand? Trying to do t5'5 to stay away from the heat and lower electric usage plus one chiller in the house is enough. I thought about a pair of 400w mh pendants but was worried about heat and overloading the outlet. I won't have access to a 20amp outlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I do want a carpet nem. Will it be enough for it sitting on the sand? Trying to do t5'5 to stay away from the heat and lower electric usage plus one chiller in the house is enough. I thought about a pair of 400w mh pendants but was worried about heat and overloading the outlet. I won't have access to a 20amp outlet. Carpets need a decent amount of light. I'm not sure if there are any T5's that could get a good enough par rating at the bottom of the sandbed for a carpet. I would do MH even dual 250w. I happen to know someone that's selling them at the moment as well...(whistle) Unless you have a 7" sandbed I would do MH if you do a carpet. If you don't then T5's should be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Don't be scared. In my opinion it really depends on the lighting. if you do 6 or even 8 bulbs that are 6500 or 10k, you should have decent lighting, really. But also keep in mind that the difference between changing 8 bulbs every six months (that's 20x8=160$ in bulbs, or 54x8=432 watts) gets comparable to 2x 250 watt metal halides(about 120$ to change every 6 months). Which would be more than enough for you. 400's would be overkill. as far as heat, and price the metal halides are more, but at this point they are pretty close to the fixture you have. Just don't get an old ballast like pfo or something. try to get non magnetics, efficiency declines a lot over a few year in metal halide ballasts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Don't be scared. In my opinion it really depends on the lighting. if you do 6 or even 8 bulbs that are 6500 or 10k, you should have decent lighting, really. But also keep in mind that the difference between changing 8 bulbs every six months (that's 20x8=160$ in bulbs, or 54x8=432 watts) gets comparable to 2x 250 watt metal halides(about 120$ to change every 6 months). Which would be more than enough for you. 400's would be overkill. as far as heat, and price the metal halides are more, but at this point they are pretty close to the fixture you have. Just don't get an old ballast like pfo or something. try to get non magnetics, efficiency declines a lot over a few year in metal halide ballasts I thought good t5's lasted about 1.5-2years? Wouldn't the t5-'s use less juice? I was also thinking about adding 2-4 more t5 lamps for a total of 10-12 bulbs. I know that would up the watts per gallon but is it because the t5's don't penetrate as deep as mh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 I am worried about heat because on my 100g (which only has a depth of 15" off the sand bed) with 3x250 mh I have to run a chiller, bit I also have 3 pumps in my sump(one of which is a mag 18 and my rps2000 skimmer which has it's own pump. I plan on drilling this tank and have a closed loop with external pumps. The only pump in the water would possibly be the skimmer. Could this keep me from having the heat issues like I have on the 100gal tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyInside Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I've seen some crazy sps tanks with t5 lighting. I use to run 2x 400w mh and now I have a 6 bulb tek elite that pretty much blinds me. There was some thread about ati fixtures over 30" deep tanks that showed big par numbers st the bottom also. I would think it would be fine. Personally I don't think I'll ever go back to mh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 I think I might give the t5's a try and if they don't get the job done for a carpet nem then I will set up the mh's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 which is better mogul or hqi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 which is better mogul or hqi? HQI gives more intense light. I would not suggest T-5 for a carpet in that deep of tank. dsoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 HQI gives more intense light. I would not suggest T-5 for a carpet in that deep of tank. dsoz Thanks, I think I am steering towards HQI's on this tank also. The carpets are just too cool to not do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Hopefully having external pumps for the return and closed loop will help keep the added heat of the HQI lights down without a chiller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 SLS has come out with VHO T5's and from what Joel said the 4 bulb fixture will performe as well as an 8 bulb ho T5 fixture, the bulbs are 95 watt instead of 54, fixture is slightly more than a 4 bulb tek fixture, and bulbs are about $3 or $4 more, plus they look pritty cool!! I can get you a quote if you would like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 SLS has come out with VHO T5's and from what Joel said the 4 bulb fixture will performe as well as an 8 bulb ho T5 fixture' date=' the bulbs are 95 watt instead of 54, fixture is slightly more than a 4 bulb tek fixture, and bulbs are about $3 or $4 more, plus they look pretty cool!! I can get you a quote if you would like.[/quote'] I would be interested in a price. The SLS site shows $399. Would the life expectancy of the VHO T5's be the same as the regular T5's? Two fixtures would total 760 watts, would they have the same problem with the 30" deep tank? Thanks, Eugene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I suggest Mogul. But thats the only type i have used. I think they are better because they are cheaper, and they are easier to retrofit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 And 10 t-5 's would be more heat than 2x250 watt metal halides... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefStar Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 How about LED? This will solve your heat problem and no bulb change cost. The Reef Star is getting about 310 par at 24" or a custom one can be done to meet your need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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