75 Gallon T5 Lighting

nlandgraf · 11/04/2009, 10:39 AM

I am only looking for posts from people who run a 75 gallon tank with t5 lighting and have coral.

I am looking to get a t5 light for my 75 gallon aquarium. How many bulbs do you have over your fixture? What types of corals are you keeping with the light that you have? I am debating between a 4 or 6 bulb fixture.

patsfan1130 · 11/04/2009, 10:48 AM

I run a 6 bulb NEP on my standard 75. It's a decent fixture (there are much better such as the TEK or constellation) but it does a fine job. I can keep anything under them.

ajones51 · 11/04/2009, 12:58 PM

I have a 4 bulb sundial fixture on my 90 with 6" sand bed. I keep LPS and SPS with great colors.

schneijt · 11/04/2009, 01:47 PM

I have a TEK 6-bulb on my 75gal sps tank. I had it originally without a splash guard or anything, so it was totally stock before I broke my tank down for a year. I kept lots of sps that did great. After moving, I installed a splash guard since my reflectors had gotten covered in salt spray and looked nasty. At the same time, I removed the original reflectors and replaced them with Aquactinics clip-on reflectors, and installed four computer fans with a controller on top of the fixture that blow cool air down into the fixture to keep the fixture running cool. There is noticeably more output now after the mods than there was before when I ran it totally stock.

If you want to keep sps, I'd recommend a six-bulb fixture. Otherwise, you should be ok with a 4-bulb fixture. Just make sure you buy a unit with individual reflectors, since they put out a lot more light than having a single large parabolic reflector. For a 75gal tank that's only 18" deep, you don't need overdriven bulbs or active cooling of the bulbs, in my opinion. However, buying a more expensive fixture with active cooling, splash guard, overdriven bulbs, etc. will give you much better performance as far as output from the bulbs.

-Joe

11/04/2009, 10:39 AM	#1
nlandgraf Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 65	75 Gallon T5 Lighting I am only looking for posts from people who run a 75 gallon tank with t5 lighting and have coral. I am looking to get a t5 light for my 75 gallon aquarium. How many bulbs do you have over your fixture? What types of corals are you keeping with the light that you have? I am debating between a 4 or 6 bulb fixture.

11/04/2009, 10:48 AM	#2
patsfan1130 Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Woburn, Ma Posts: 2,010	I run a 6 bulb NEP on my standard 75. It's a decent fixture (there are much better such as the TEK or constellation) but it does a fine job. I can keep anything under them. __________________ My cat's breath smells like cat food Member of the Boston Reefers Society Current Tank Info: 75g lps, 90g sps, 120g mixed, 180 nem tank, 300g reef, 600g up & coming reef

11/04/2009, 12:58 PM	#3
ajones51 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: livonia, mi Posts: 68	I have a 4 bulb sundial fixture on my 90 with 6" sand bed. I keep LPS and SPS with great colors.

11/04/2009, 01:47 PM	#4
schneijt Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: West Des Moines, IA Posts: 497	I have a TEK 6-bulb on my 75gal sps tank. I had it originally without a splash guard or anything, so it was totally stock before I broke my tank down for a year. I kept lots of sps that did great. After moving, I installed a splash guard since my reflectors had gotten covered in salt spray and looked nasty. At the same time, I removed the original reflectors and replaced them with Aquactinics clip-on reflectors, and installed four computer fans with a controller on top of the fixture that blow cool air down into the fixture to keep the fixture running cool. There is noticeably more output now after the mods than there was before when I ran it totally stock. If you want to keep sps, I'd recommend a six-bulb fixture. Otherwise, you should be ok with a 4-bulb fixture. Just make sure you buy a unit with individual reflectors, since they put out a lot more light than having a single large parabolic reflector. For a 75gal tank that's only 18" deep, you don't need overdriven bulbs or active cooling of the bulbs, in my opinion. However, buying a more expensive fixture with active cooling, splash guard, overdriven bulbs, etc. will give you much better performance as far as output from the bulbs. -Joe