SRC Member speakerphone Posted December 30, 2008 SRC Member Share Posted December 30, 2008 How many T5 tube is advisable for a sps tank? The height of the tank is 30" I am using the famous ATI tube, does ballast also play a part? Must I change to a german ballast to bring out the total effectiveness of the good tube? I am changing skimmer soon, backside very itchy into SPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member speakerphone Posted December 30, 2008 Author SRC Member Share Posted December 30, 2008 How often do you guy change the T5 tube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherman Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 6 months Quote 6.5 * 2 * 2 + 3.75 * 1.5 *1.5,(Decomn on 14/9/08) 4*2*2 + 2.5*1.25*1.25 (Decomn on 1/8/09) 5*2*2 (Fully LED light system, 140 3 watt SSC leds with 60 degree lens)(Decomm) 2.5*2*2(Fully LED Light System,96 3 watt SSC leds with 60 degree lens)(Decomm) 5*2.5*2(LED only) Eheim return 1 * pump 1 HP Daikin compressor with cooling coil 2 Jebao OW40, 1 ecotech MP40, 1X6085 Tunze wm, 1 CURVE 7 Skimmer 1 DIY 80 led control by Bluefish mini 1 radion XR30W G2, 2 Radion XR15G3 Sump area lite by 5 ft T5 , 6 * SSC 3 watt red LED for refugium 1 Full spectrum E27 led light 1 CR control by bubble count Start No Water Change since 1st Dec 2016 Add new 2.5x2x 1.5 ft [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member vt_snowman87 Posted December 31, 2008 SRC Member Share Posted December 31, 2008 6 tubes will be alright, i uses 8 tubes.. no problems with sps so far.. it is more advisable to use good ballast for good tubes, so as to fully utilise the expensive tubes.. the china ones just don't make the cut.. in my opinion.. hope that helps.. Quote (Decommissioned) http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/topic/92504-full-sps-shallow/?page=9 (Decommissioned) http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/topic/69803-vincs-2ft-cube-tank/?page=19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member Morpheous Posted January 1, 2009 SRC Member Share Posted January 1, 2009 As long its an electronic ballast, not the conventional coil ballast, it should not matter that much when talking about heat generation and the flickering of tubes during start-up. Just an equipment converting electricity to a suitable amount to drive the light tube. The main factors are the tube used which generate the quality and spectrum of light and the quality/maintenance of reflectors which channels the amount of wasted light back into your aquarium. Just my 2 cents worth of knowledge. Hope it helps... Quote Best Regards, Morpheous ========================================================================================== My Ocean Pets: Emperor Angel, PowderBlue Tang, Regal Angel, Teardrop Butterfly, Singapore Angel and Nemos ========================================================================================== (Only when you guard your lips, you guard your soul....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxerz Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Take note that the reflectors must be of individual reflectors otherwise there is no point getting a T5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member minsmarine Posted August 14, 2009 SRC Member Share Posted August 14, 2009 30" is quite deep for T5 without considering tubes' distance from the water surface. And I hope you will not be placing SPSs at the bottom of the tank. For the sake of comparing; I used 8 tubes for 18" depth and 18" wide. Tubes were just 3" from water surface, on for 16 hours a day, housed in individual reflectors. Most of my SPSs were near to the top. Hope it's help you. Quote Life is like a peice of Uncured Live Rock [ from LFS ], you never know what you gonna get......... Ocean Gump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member moron_clown Posted August 15, 2009 SRC Member Share Posted August 15, 2009 30" is quite deep for T5 without considering tubes' distance from the water surface. And I hope you will not be placing SPSs at the bottom of the tank. For the sake of comparing; I used 8 tubes for 18" depth and 18" wide. Tubes were just 3" from water surface, on for 16 hours a day, housed in individual reflectors. Most of my SPSs were near to the top. Hope it's help you. Yo bro! welcome back to reefing, havent sen u for a while. Actually i also heard that i cant keep sps more than 18 inches from the light, but i've got maricultured sps now on the sandbed (26inches from light) and they're doing great! it depends on species and the light set itself too. i'm using ATI sunpower 6X39 + ATI retrofit 4X39. The reflector and cooling system of the Sunpower helped inreased par substantially IMO. Quote Reef Journal Gf's 6ft FOWLR My previous 4X2X2.5 (Retired) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member cowgum Posted September 3, 2009 SRC Member Share Posted September 3, 2009 How many T5 tube is advisable for a sps tank? The height of the tank is 30"I am using the famous ATI tube, does ballast also play a part? Must I change to a german ballast to bring out the total effectiveness of the good tube? I am changing skimmer soon, backside very itchy into SPS. 8 tubes would be similiar to MH 250W. Your tank is slightly deep so placing at the top will be safer. The color of tube is another important consideration. go for tubes that has higher par not just for the asthetics of the tank Considering the cost the the tubes, a good ballast is a small price to pay for a long term investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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