T5 retrofit kits

And the debate continues...LOL8) Karma all around...

 

Yea, but isn't that what this is all about, we talk, we express our views, we debate, we learn from each other.... All is well!;D

 

Gazog, i agree with you 100 %, but on a 90 gal T5's may be less expensive to run, but may not provide what is required for most sps corals and many lps corals. With that idea in mind, choosing the 75gal and going t5 would be great and the only difference would be tank height. But if the 15 gallons really make a difference, than MH will most likely be needed on the 90 if you plan certain lps and sps, but not with softies and a couple lps. but another alternative would be to have rockwork that extends to the top of the tank (~ around 16" from top of tank) and place your coral on those , but that may not be preferable, as many like their corals viewable fromthe front.

 

It took me awhile but I found the thread I was speaking about on RC....

please show me your t5 only sps tanks There is alot of information in this thread check it out.

As far as SPS under T5's here are just a couple of links from that thread which kind of show that it can be done.

Iwans 211 Gallon this is the same tank only the site is in Swiss I think
2x54 Watt ATI Aquablue special
2x54 Watt ATI Blue plus
4x80 Watt ATI Aquablue special
4x80 Watt ATI Blue plus

Danano's tank 110 Gallon

there were more but I let you find them if your interested. Granted most of the tanks using T5's are smaller tanks but there are some out there that are larger than 90 using them.

This one has nothing to do with all this but all I have to say is HOLLY %^$&

 

reef centrol guys will tell you anything to make a buck.thats why they fight all the time there.anyway you may notice that most of those tanks were shallow.i love my t5's but theres a depth limit.

 

Ok...Let me preface that I mostly use MH's because I like the simplicity. And I have Village electric so its dirt cheap.

However. You can light that tank with T5's. I have seen a couple of 180s that look awesome with those. That being said with the depth, I think that you need to overdrive the bulbs with an Icecap 660. I think you need to also choose a retrokit that has individual SLR reflectors for the bulbs. That way you get maximum intensity from each. Also theres something to be said about using quality bulbs. IMO I would stick to either Giesmann or ATI. Even at that you will need to plan replacing the bulbs more often with the overdrive setup.

BTW. There is no reason to change out your halides after only 1 year. The PAR intensity doesn't decrease that much. What happens is a color shift. I keep my bulbs for usually 2 years. Been doing that for awhile. Many test have been done that will prove this. I know DR. Sanjay Joshi has checked this out in lab settings with big $$$ equipment.

Good Luck
Scott

 

Okay, I'm getting a lot of great feedback, but I still don't know if 4 T5s is going to be good enough for my 90gallon tank. I am most likely going to get an Icecap 660 ballast to overdrive them, which I'm not exactly sure what that entails. If I go with 6 bulbs, I'm pretty sure I will be okay, but then I need another ballast, right? Now I'm dealing with where do I place the two ballasts. Do most people put them on the back of the canopy? If so, how much room will I need from the wall my tank is up against?

 

I mount my Ballasts in the stand. Just make sure to do a drip loop.

More important than the overdriving is to make sure you have individual SLR reflectors. That will make the biggest difference.

Ofcourse 6 would be better than 4.

 

As far as the 660's go, simply hooking T5HO bulbs to those ballasts overdrives them, there's no other work that needs to be done. 4x54watt with "good" individual reflectors will provide great light, but if you went 6x54watt (maybe adding an IC 430 for the remaining 2 bulbs) you'd be even happier with the possibilities of playing with either PAR or changing the color temp around with all the bulb combinations available.

Also by doing 2 ballasts you have the ability to do a dusk/dawn effect by having the smaller start our first and increase the intensity as the next ballast turns on the remaining 4 bulbs.....then tapering off at night.

 

I'm going with a 4X54 T5 set up on my 55gal. 48x13x20. Some say it is overkill, some say it isn't enough. You may want to go with a good quality 4x54 set-up, then add another retro later on if you find you need more light. Like Tony said.