T-5 Lighting. How many bulbs?

Hello everybody,

I have been wanting to buy a 48 inch T-5 lighting system for my 120 gallon tank. I want to stick with just T-5 bulbs. I plan to keep mostly soft corals in the tank. I might eventually try to put some hard corals in there but as of now I am thinking just soft. Would a six bulb set up work with the soft corals or would it be better to go with the eight? I look for to hearing what you guys have to say. Thank you ahead of time.

 

i'm a big advocate of t5 lights but your tank may be a bit deep for them.just something to check into.also when buying,individual reflectors make a big difference.i would put as many as will fit.

 

I would go with a 8x54w set up. Splurge and get the tek light 8x54w with the individual reflectors cause you will need it for the bottom.

 

I wanted to buy the tek lights because I have heard great things on here. They sound like a great alternative to MH. I just wanted to make sure that the 8 bulb set-up was what I should get before I paid the extra money.
I saw a thread on here about which lights to put in the system.

I do know the tank is 24 inchs deep but I figured I could keep corals that need less light toward the bottom of the tank. If you have any other thoughts let me know.
Finally, has anybody used the optional stand or hanging system with these tek lights? I would like to get the stand but do not think that would work since I have a canopy on the tank. Thanks again!!!

 

Just mount them onto the canopy thats what i did with several sets just get the distance correct between the endcaps when mounting them or the bulbs will arch and burn the caps very unforgiving systems Tec is about as good as any of them.. I'm just not a fan personally I have a 4x54 w and using the reflectors and still the 22 inch tall tank looks dark on the very bottom to me ...But its just used to pre quarantine and hold zoo's and mushrooms and other softies until they are safe to go into our quarantine systems .

 

Once you factor in your substrate, the tank is no longer 24"s deep.

 

Go with MH's for a 120g. I have an 8 bulb T-5 light on my 75g and its adequate but I don't think it would be good on a 120g.