T5 enquiries

[yongshun]

hi all, i haf been thinkin of this for quite sometime thus nid some enlightening frm fellow bros n sis here...

curently im using mh n 4x54w t5 for my 4.5ft, however, wats the difference if i were to change n place my t5 across the width of my tank (2.5 feet) instead of across the length of my tank (4.5ft)?

meaning, instead of 4x54w across the length, i will use 8x24w across the width...4 tubes at each half of the tank...theoretically this saves more electricity...n i haf no wish to use LED yet...ne comments?

[straydum]

just my 0.02

a 2' tube will not effectively illuminate a length of 2 feet.

as you can see of a 24" fixture, towards the end the par drops rapidly and the length measured was only at 18". there's still the 3" on both sides unaccounted for. when you use a 2' fixture across 2.5' this would mean at the front and back of your tank there will be a quite wide an area that will not get proper lighting. there may still be light but it may not be enough to hold corals especially on the sand bed. for a 4' tube at least the par drops at both ends on the sides but the front (middle) of your tank would still be illuminated.

when t5 are placed across the width i also find the different light colours from the different tubes to be quite obvious and visible even with reflectors. when i look at my tank side ways i can make out the blue, purple, and so on. its like the colours draw lines dividing the tank however when seen from the front all the colours are lined up against each other so we see a more or less uniform colour in the tank. i'm not sure whether this would happen in a larger tank with more tubes but just a heads up

[FuEl]

Longer tubes also seem brighter than shorter tubes.

[yongshun]

thks for the info bros, hmm guess i will need to re-think on my lighting concept

[sunny03]

thks for the info bros, hmm guess i will need to re-think on my lighting concept

get a railing track for ur MH

[yongshun]

get a railing track for ur MH

im tinkin of stopping using mH after the lifespan of the bulb has finished ard 6-7mths later...though the effects is really fantastic (2x250)...thus nid to start to plan oreadi...maybe i should consider using 4 more T5s (54w)...2 at the front, 2 at the back...so total will be 8x54...

[straydum]

or you could go all t5 with an 8 or 10 bulb powermodule

[yongshun]

haha i ever tot of tis b4 bt powermodule damn ex leh, gt ne lobang? hehe