Lighting Issues

• I have a 155 gal tank that is 30 deep. I dont have the money to buy halides all the time so I was wondering how much lighting I would need with t5. or if there are any other suggestions that would be greatly appreciated.

 

i would say at least 6 80 watt bulbs if not 8....i would not trust t5s on a 30 inch tank

 

It's gonna depend on what you plan on stocking the tank with.
A FOWLR is gonna require less than a Reef with softies.
A Reef with LPS and or SPS is gonna need a few more bulbs than the softies and the cost at that point is gonna be close to the cost of the halide bulbs.

If it were me i'd spend the money on some reliable halide ballasts and bulbs up front and keep an eye out for a good sale on replacement bulbs to put in the spare parts cabinet.

 

I wouldn't trust anything other than MH in your case. Just save up and do this one right. You will end up spending much on a T5 system that will flat out not do the job. They are great systems, but max out at about 24 inches. I have a tank that is 24 inches deep and still try to bring my corals up off the bottom a bit. So IMO, I would go FOWLR until you can do it right.

When you are looking around, please stay away from Odyssea. They make questionable products....I know.....I have run their lighting systems. They are.....well.....poopy.

 

for the price of the number of t5's you'd need to get you can get a slightly lower wattage MH with much better penetration and just a better light overall.

 

I would go with good quality T5's with some SLR's, just dont keep any SPS on the sand and you should be fine. In the long run T5's will use less power, last longer and throw less heat into your tank.

10001110101 - is that username in reference to clutch?

~Will.

 

temple of syrinx havin the bake sale of the year