90G 4 or 6 T5 bulbs

As a somewhat introduction to my tank, I have a 90g with nothing alive in it, that is 24" deep. The tank was up for about 6 years, with it being somewhat neglected over the past 2 years (I was not living in the house with the tank) and recently moved to my new house approximately 3 weeks ago and is currently cycling with new water. I have about 100lbs of live rock mixed with some base limestone rock. I used to run power compacts from coral life about 3 years ago when I was last able to maintain the tank but have learned that their popularity was short lived and there are much better options out there now.

Now that the tank is moved and can be properly maintained again, I would like to go for a full blown mixed reef. I built a wooden canopy for the top and have built in space for 6 t5 bulbs. Due to budget issues i have only bought a single ballast and hardware to run 4 bulbs for now.

The staff at the local fish store (Fish and Icthy things) in oldsmar fl is very knowledgable. He sold me some individual reflectors which he said alone would make a huge difference compared to a prebuild complete light. Here are the components that are used for my DIY retro fit fixture all bought from the lfs.

-4 icecap slr t5 reflectors, one per bulb
-philips centium ballast
-icecap ends and mounts
-4.5 inch fan inside the canopy

For bulbs, here is the setup he recommended, but ive only purchased the geissman aqua blue+ so far:

1xAquablue+
1xfiji purple
1xcoral light
1xpure actinic
-not necessarily in that order

I built the canopy with mounts to contain 6 bulbs eventually, but will only be running 4 for now. How limited will i be by only running 4 bulbs compared to 6.

 

simple answer - 4 is good 6 is better

 

As far as I read, it sounds like you are going about the correct way.

IMO, 4 t5's with individual reflectors will be sufficient to raise sps and chalices if they are high in your tank. The only bad thing about 4 lamps is that it's hard to get a nice color with only four bulbs.

 

4 will work as long as you place the corals by their lighting needs. 6 is better and will allow you more latitude in your placement.

 

Welcome to 3reef BTW

 

Thanks, im frustrated, I just got the ballast all wired, and it is exactly how it is supposed to be. When i put the bulb in, the light flickers on and shuts off. Im going to check all the connections and go through the whole thing again, but im not confident im going to find a problem. The ballast had the painting chipped away from the mounting holes as if it was possibly returned to the store, so maybe its a bad ballast. Grrrrr

 

You will need to have of the bulbs in to get it to light. Also make sure that you have not mixed the pairs up.

 

I would say absolutely go 6. For bulb combination, 2in10 had some great suggestions. You might ask him.

Mark

 

I think you should definitely do 6 over a 90, I think 4 will limit you.

 

I'm pretty sure you dont need all the bulbs to get the light. As its wired, there are four places for bulbs, but i currently only have one bulb as noted above. So, when i place the bulb into its place and plug in the light, it completely lights, then shuts off. If you unplug the light and plug it back in nothing happens unless you wait a few minutes, then it will flicker and shut off again. I've wired cars, radios etc and this seemed pretty simple, but i guess not. After it shuts off, I felt around all of the wiring and all over the ballast, but nothing is even remotely warm. All the connections are solid and is EXACTLY as the diagram shows.

I wouldn't think you need all of the bulbs because that would mean if one of the bulbs ever burns out, then none of the others would work, right?

I would also think if all the bulb spots had to be filled, i would not even get the momentarily ON that is happening when i plug in the ballast.

Ill call the store in the morning and try to work it out.
Any advice would be appreciated.