T5s for a 215 gallon

I've decided on a tank. It is a 215 gallon. 72 1/2" x 24 1/2" x 29"

I am not 100% on the lighting yet, but I think I am going to have T5s as the workhorse for the tank. I can get a great deal on a 72inch fixture from Aquatic Life.

These are the ones I am looking at.
AquaticLife T5 HO 6-Lamp Light Fixture w/ Lunar LEDs

With these as my main lights I figure i can do LPS and softies no problem, but I would love to do SPS and clams down the road. Would it be a decent idea to get the T5s and then add some LED spotlights as supplemental?

Main reason for T5s and possible LED supplemental is heat. This is an in-wall build and I want to reduce heat.

thanks!

 

That will be more than enough. You may need to run only 4 bulbs per side IME. You can light inhibit/bleach your corals with T5HO just the same as MH.

 

What do you mean 4 per side? I guess it is actually 12 bulbs total since it is 6 across x2, but this will stretch the entire length of the tank. Are you saying that this one T5 fixture alone should enable SPS growth without any supplemental lighting from LEDs?

 

Bump

 

looking for some clarification if anyone knows?

 

I think he means an 8 bulb T-5 may be enough. I would go with 12 though, that's a big tank. I'd rather err on the side of too much than end up with some brown corals. Plus 24" is pretty deep, I'm not sure 4 wide (i.e. 8 bulb fixture would really cover front to back well. Worst case though, you have to spend some more time light acclimating. You should definitely be able to keep anything with a 12 bulb fixture though.

 

Yeah, I am thinking 12 bulb would be enough for most everything, it was just the depth that would be a concern. I think I'll start with that and maybe just add LED if needed.

thanks!

 

Yes it will be more than sufficient. 8 bulbs total.

 

Yeah use the 12 bulbs due to width of the tank. Place the fixture on the tank if you need/want more light in the tank instead of the legs. I would change out the OEM bulbs after 3 to 6 months as they are not known to be high quality. Replace them with ATI, Geisemann, UVL, KZ or Aqua Science bulbs. ATI and UVL will be cheaper per bulb than the others. ATI has the highest PAR of the same color bulbs except for the UVL Super Actinic.

 

Thanks for the info. The lights will be hanging inside a very large canopy so I will be able to adjust distance to the water. I think I might come up with a way to raise/lower the lights as needed to. That would be cool when I needed to clean the tank to get them out of the way. I think I saw someone else on here do that before.