Help T5 8 Bulb Config and Limitations

Ok I finally pulled the trigger and bought a AquaMedic 48" 8 bulb T5 fixture from a fellow reefer without bulbs. I have heard great reviews on the ATI bulbs, but what config should I do. Also looking into getting a nice sized clam and monti a friend of mine has.

Is it pretty safe to say I can host any type of coral with this fixture on my 90gal or do I still have limitations?

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You will have no limitations on animals in your tank with that fixture. You will most likely need to raise it higher that the legs it comes with if you have LPS and softies in the tank.

Get 4 Blue Plus, 2 Aquablue Special and 2 Purple Plus.
Place them from front to back
BP
AS
PP
BP
AS
BP
PP
BP

 

+1
That seems like overkill to me. I have a 4 bulb fixture on my 90 and spent all day yesterday moving corals lower in the tank. I have no sps just lps and softies.

 

I have 6 bulbs over my 75 and they are 10.5" above the water and I use 2 actinic bulbs.

When I finally moved the fixture to this position all of my corals colored up and started growing faster.

 

Wouldn't it be easier to use a smaller fixture rather then raising it higher? Not trying to be a jerk just curious.

 

I would still need to do it with 4 bulbs. It has more to do with the light intensity than the number of bulbs although that is also a factor.

 

Well I finally received my Aqua Medic 48" 8x54 fixture yesterday. Now I have to order my bulbs.

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Thanks for the reply. I have a couple of questions. How blue is this going to look and is the purple going to be as part of my antinic lighting?

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There's no doubt u get awesome selection of color combos with T5 but an 8 bulb fixture? That's around 200 bucks just to replace all of the bulbs, if you replace them twice a year that's 400 bucks a year, not to mention the electricity costs. This is going to be one expensive fixture to operate. The more I read the more I realize LED is the way to go.
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This will be a pretty good balance of blue and white since the aquablue's and the purple plus are both considered daylight bulbs. I use an almost identical combination on my 6x39W ATI sunpower just with one less aquablue special and one less purple plus.

The purple plus works well if you have red, purple or pink corals. Really makes the colors pop. If you like it a little more on the blue side like I do, replace one of the blue plus bulbs with a true actinic.

Dont underestimate the power of those ATI blue plus. They put out more par than than some daylight bulbs.
Even though I only have 2 "daylight" bulbs in my 6 bulb fixture, the damn thing is so powerful I had to raise the fixture up 10" off the water AND put a DIY screen top on the tank using window screening that blocks about 30% of the light. Before I did this my mushrooms were literally moving themselves to the shade even when on the bottom. And I was bleaching EVERY coral in my tank including some acropora. I wanted to get the best T5 light possible, and I did but now I realize it was WAY too much light. Took me awhile to realize it was my light that was the problem. After months of testing and ruling our every other possible problem and after seeing 2in10 was having similar problems with his ATI I raised the fixture up and within a few months my corals were showing outstanding growth and color.

IMO 8 bulbs is overkill and may actually cause harm if your not careful. Just be sure to light acclimate your corals VERY slowly.