T5 Retrofit question

Well I decided to do a retrofit on my 35 gallon tank since I have a hood on it. I was doing some measurements on my hood, and noticed that I would have to build a new lid on the hood in order to fit 4x39 lights on it.

So my question is how sufficient would just having 2x39 T5 lights on my tank that is 16 inches deep, in regards to keeping corals and such. Or are 4 of the T5s needed for hard corals? Thanks

 

Pretty simple question it seems for an experienced person! Anyone??

 

we need to know a few things how many watts are the bulbs?

 

Bulbs are 39 watts, 36" long. The bulbs are only as effective as the reflectors they're housed in. Did you go with individual reflectors such as the IceCap or TEK? If you plan to keep stony corals (SPS and LPS) stick with the four bulb combo. I would recommend using ATI bulbs.

ATI bulbs:
2x ATI Blue Plus
1x ATI 12,000K Aquablue Special
1x ATI Pro Color

 

Appreciate it YellowBelly, just wasn't sure if I could get away with just 2 of the Tek 39 watt retrofit lights instead of the 4. Thanks.

 

No problem, I'm guessing you are using the TEK retrofit?

 

Yah I think so, the Icecaps are about twice the price, so I think I'll go with Tek. I might have to modify my hood though. I already have to make a new lid since mine is only 7 inches deep, with a 3 inch gap for some reason, which won't be a big deal.

The other possible problem I see is that the inside of my hood where I would be mounting the lights is only 34.75 inches wide. I know some of the retrofits say they are 35 inches wide, but all the tek ones I see say 36.

Both of the above fixes aren't really a huge deal, I just am curious on the exact dimensions of the kit. Just want to know if I am gonna have to modify my hood or not.

 

the icecaps are so m uch because they overdrive your bulbs.wait for the kit before doing anything to your hood.you don't know yet how long you need it cause theres sockets that take up roomon each side of the bulbs.theres days i wish i only had 2 bulbs over my tank cause my mushrooms get too much light.theres days i'm glad i have 4 bulbs over my tank cause i'm not as limited as to which corals i can have.

 

The TEK II reflectors are better than the IceCap's, they have more bends and therefor direct more light into the aquarium. Also if you overdrive the bulbs with the IceCap 660 you'll have to replace the bulbs more often. This is just like running a 250w PFO HQI magnetic ballast over a 250w IceCap electronic ballast. If you want to overdrive the bulbs I would buy the TEK II reflectors with the IceCap 660 ballast.