T5 Lighting & skimmer concerns

seesquared · 01/08/2008, 07:29 PM

posted in new to hobby but nobody helped..

I have recently converted my 125 gallon FO tank to a reef tank and i have just retrofitted my hood with four 54watt T5 bulbs with end caps and a ballast. 2 are actinic and 2 are white. everything works well so far and looks much better than my old lights but i am concerned that i don't have enough watts for such a big tank. i would eventually like to get a few MH lights and ballasts but right now that is just out of my budget and experience range. the guy that sold me the retrofit set up said these lights should be enough to grow most everything except for some hard corals?!? i don't know if this is true. my other concern is over-heating because the hood is fully enclosed and i currently don't have any fans or any type of ventilation attached. is this going to be a problem and ruin my bulbs??? another unrelated issue with my tank is my protien skimmer. i have a ASM G1-X in sump protein skimmer with 3500 Serdra pump in my sump right now and i dunno if that is big enough for my tank. some people i have talked said i should go bigger but i don't want to send the $ if i don't have to. also i don't know what level i should keep the water in my sump at to maximize the effectivness of my skimmer. anyone imput or answers to my concerns would be greatly appreciated. thanks for your help!

moondoggy4 · 01/08/2008, 08:43 PM

If your corals seem to be reaching up you may need more watts. Maybe go with ice cap ballast because you can buy one at a time. Try hqi because they take up less room. For cooling try ice cap fans. This would be a good time to make your hood try a false top kind, this way you can hang your lights.

lvpd186 · 01/08/2008, 09:26 PM

IMO I think 4 T-5 bulbs on a tank that size is probably lacking (BTW that old ratio that people used in the past "watts per gallon" isn't really an effective way to measure if you have enough light). For some soft corals and lps corals you might be alright. As for heat it is best to try and keep the bulbs cool or the heat can shorten the life of the bulbs. I found a nice quiet fan at radio shack that worked well (I think it was a fan for DJ type equipment). If you can modify your hood to add a vent(s) and a fan to blow across the bulbs it would be worth it. If you do upgrade to MH lights you will have to modify your hood otherwise you will probably have a heat issue. As for the skimmer, IMO it's probably on the small size for your tank depending on bio-load. It would probably be worth it to upgrade to a better skimmer. Hope that helps.

01/08/2008, 07:29 PM	#1
seesquared Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 92	T5 Lighting & skimmer concerns posted in new to hobby but nobody helped.. I have recently converted my 125 gallon FO tank to a reef tank and i have just retrofitted my hood with four 54watt T5 bulbs with end caps and a ballast. 2 are actinic and 2 are white. everything works well so far and looks much better than my old lights but i am concerned that i don't have enough watts for such a big tank. i would eventually like to get a few MH lights and ballasts but right now that is just out of my budget and experience range. the guy that sold me the retrofit set up said these lights should be enough to grow most everything except for some hard corals?!? i don't know if this is true. my other concern is over-heating because the hood is fully enclosed and i currently don't have any fans or any type of ventilation attached. is this going to be a problem and ruin my bulbs??? another unrelated issue with my tank is my protien skimmer. i have a ASM G1-X in sump protein skimmer with 3500 Serdra pump in my sump right now and i dunno if that is big enough for my tank. some people i have talked said i should go bigger but i don't want to send the $ if i don't have to. also i don't know what level i should keep the water in my sump at to maximize the effectivness of my skimmer. anyone imput or answers to my concerns would be greatly appreciated. thanks for your help!

01/08/2008, 09:26 PM	#3
lvpd186 Reefing in NE Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Papillion, NE Posts: 1,485	IMO I think 4 T-5 bulbs on a tank that size is probably lacking (BTW that old ratio that people used in the past "watts per gallon" isn't really an effective way to measure if you have enough light). For some soft corals and lps corals you might be alright. As for heat it is best to try and keep the bulbs cool or the heat can shorten the life of the bulbs. I found a nice quiet fan at radio shack that worked well (I think it was a fan for DJ type equipment). If you can modify your hood to add a vent(s) and a fan to blow across the bulbs it would be worth it. If you do upgrade to MH lights you will have to modify your hood otherwise you will probably have a heat issue. As for the skimmer, IMO it's probably on the small size for your tank depending on bio-load. It would probably be worth it to upgrade to a better skimmer. Hope that helps. __________________ "A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice." Bill Cosby

01/08/2008, 08:43 PM	#2
moondoggy4 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: menifee So cal Posts: 11,042	If your corals seem to be reaching up you may need more watts. Maybe go with ice cap ballast because you can buy one at a time. Try hqi because they take up less room. For cooling try ice cap fans. This would be a good time to make your hood try a false top kind, this way you can hang your lights.