Lighting help.

53sBusa · 11/01/2016, 06:38 PM

I am new to the saltwater hobby and and trying to do this on as much of a budget as I can (if there is such a thing). Anyway right now I have a 65 up and running just fish and live rock and a 29 biocube fish live rock and coral. Soon I will be adding corals to the 65. I wanted to start with the 29 so that I could see if I could make corals survive and so far the LPS and ephulia seem to be doing great.

My question is with the big tank and the lights. Right now I have a 36" solar max T 5 with the actinic and 10k light. I also have another 36" solar max T 5 that I was thinking of running a coral plus and blue plus bulb in it. Do you think that I would get good color variations with the corals using that set up? If not I will probably end up getting the black boxes from Amazon for lighting. Any ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated

Ron Reefman · 11/02/2016, 08:29 AM

By "black boxes from Amazon" do you mean led fixtures?

53sBusa · 11/02/2016, 05:14 PM

Yes. I was thinking the wifi ones

Drewl117 · 11/02/2016, 06:49 PM

I had a 65 and used to run a 4 bulb t5ho fixture on it with the same bulbs and got awesome color and growth with that setup... I'll look for some pics

Drewl117 · 11/02/2016, 07:25 PM

Drewl117 · 11/02/2016, 07:26 PM

Sorry for the duplicate pic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ron Reefman · 11/03/2016, 05:49 AM

You already own the t5 fixtures and they will light your tank and grow your coral just fine. I wouldn't consider switching to leds unless they offer something you really want, like color control or sunrise/sunset ability, or if you don't want to be buying t5 bulbs every 9 to 12 months.

I'd suggest you use the t5's for now and switch once you need to or because the new fixture will fill a need the t5's can't. And that comes from a guy who is all leds... because I want the color control and sunrise/sunset ability because I'm around the tank all day.

53sBusa · 11/04/2016, 03:24 PM

Thank you for the replies.

53sBusa · 11/04/2016, 03:27 PM

Would it be better to hang the fixture above the tank or just set on top?

11/01/2016, 06:38 PM	#1
53sBusa Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 11	Lighting help. I am new to the saltwater hobby and and trying to do this on as much of a budget as I can (if there is such a thing). Anyway right now I have a 65 up and running just fish and live rock and a 29 biocube fish live rock and coral. Soon I will be adding corals to the 65. I wanted to start with the 29 so that I could see if I could make corals survive and so far the LPS and ephulia seem to be doing great. My question is with the big tank and the lights. Right now I have a 36" solar max T 5 with the actinic and 10k light. I also have another 36" solar max T 5 that I was thinking of running a coral plus and blue plus bulb in it. Do you think that I would get good color variations with the corals using that set up? If not I will probably end up getting the black boxes from Amazon for lighting. Any ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated

11/02/2016, 08:29 AM	#2
Ron Reefman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Coral, FL Posts: 10,431	By "black boxes from Amazon" do you mean led fixtures? __________________ The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. (Neil deGrasse Tyson) Visit my build thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593017

11/03/2016, 05:49 AM	#7
Ron Reefman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Coral, FL Posts: 10,431	You already own the t5 fixtures and they will light your tank and grow your coral just fine. I wouldn't consider switching to leds unless they offer something you really want, like color control or sunrise/sunset ability, or if you don't want to be buying t5 bulbs every 9 to 12 months. I'd suggest you use the t5's for now and switch once you need to or because the new fixture will fill a need the t5's can't. And that comes from a guy who is all leds... because I want the color control and sunrise/sunset ability because I'm around the tank all day. __________________ The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. (Neil deGrasse Tyson) Visit my build thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593017

11/02/2016, 05:14 PM	#3
53sBusa Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 11	Yes. I was thinking the wifi ones

11/02/2016, 06:49 PM	#4
Drewl117 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: NH Posts: 507	I had a 65 and used to run a 4 bulb t5ho fixture on it with the same bulbs and got awesome color and growth with that setup... I'll look for some pics

11/02/2016, 07:25 PM	#5
Drewl117 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: NH Posts: 507

11/02/2016, 07:26 PM	#6
Drewl117 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: NH Posts: 507	Sorry for the duplicate pic Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

11/04/2016, 03:24 PM	#8
53sBusa Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 11	Thank you for the replies.

11/04/2016, 03:27 PM	#9
53sBusa Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Posts: 11	Would it be better to hang the fixture above the tank or just set on top?