4 lamp t5 upgrade to 6 lamp t5 worth it?

I have aquaticlife 4lamp t5 fixture. do to the fact it will be hard for me to keep most SPS I want to know if upgrading to the 6 lamp fixture will be worth the money. Will I be able to keep acro's of most variety? Clams and other high light required species?

 

You should be able to keep acros with your current unit if placed high. The 6 bulb unit will give you more lighting options and allow you to spread you SPS around the tank lower.

 

If you have less than 20" depth, SLR's, quality bulbs and fans to keep them cool you will be able to keep pretty much anything you want with 6 bulb set up imo.

 

I kept sps with both of my aquatic life 4 bulb t5 fixtures.. 1st was a 36" and now is a 48". My sps are about 4 inches deep in the water for my Acropora, 6 inches deep for my Monti plate, and 10 inches for my crocea clam. All have been with me for months and still grow and have good coloration. The one thing I would do is upgrade the bulbs. Go to Reefgeek . com and check out the T5 bulbs they have there, your corals will thrive under them.

 

If you're not planning on upgrading anytime soon, I might look at upgrading the fixture, such as a Tek 4 bulb fixture or ATI 4 bulb fixture. I had a Current Nova Extreme over my 55, I have since upgraded to a Tek 6x54w bulb fixture and now have really needed to be cautious to placement of corals as the fixture will bleach them if not properly acclimated. My Acros responded pretty well, but some of my montis bleached al little, they lightened in color, so I have had to move them down further. Now, if the current fixture you have has good reflectors already, either true individual reflectors or individually contoured reflectors, then you may want to consider upgrading to a 6 bulb fixture. In my case, I went from a 4 bulb, "gull wing' reflector to a 6 bulb individually contoured reflector.

 

Aye, i agree with everyone here, save your money, theres nothing wrong with 4 bulbs.

 

Sounds like you did exactly what I Plan on doing, right now I have a current USA nova extreme 4x54 set up over my 55 and was looking at the tek 6x54 set up. If you had to do it again would you recommend something else? I know the watts per gallon thing is a bad rule to go by but going from 3.92 to 5.89 sounds like a good thing to do, especially considering I like SPS. I know the ATI fixtures are nice and so are the TEK but the 4 bulb set up is acctually MORE than the 6 bulb set up at reefgeek, go figure.

 

this is pretty bright. I am getting closer to filling with water though..

 

this is a great idea for a retro to save space.. what brand retro is this?

 

duck brand.

anodized aluminum angle/flat bar from Ace.. Ace rivets, icecap standoffs, icecap endcaps, aquactinic reflectors, geismann bulbs - 12" width.