60 TEK T5 OR 2 36 TEK T5s. ANY DIFFERENCE??

[scott martin]

<span style="color: black;">Hello reef people, I bought a 60" Current Orbit MH fixture for my 6' reef tank and the darn lights were split in half by my bracing bars creating 2 annoying shadows in my tank so I am returning that fixture and going with a Tek T5 fixture that is not quite so hot in my canopy. I am debating on a 60" fixture leaving me short on both ends of the tank by 6" or pairing 2 36" fixtures. Any input out there as to whether it is work the extra $$$ to go the route of the 2 36" fixtures to insure even light dispersion?</span>

Thanks,

Scott

 

[gixxer600]

My buddy has a 4 foot tank with a center brace and is running full 48" lights across the top and he has no annoying dark line in the middle.

 

[scott martin]

Thanks, good to know. I think it was just the intensity coming from the MHs located directly above the braces that caused the problem.
Thanks again,

Scott

 

[gnashty]

I have a 72" T-5 fixture on a 84" tank with a very large, thick center brace - I have slight shadowing on the ends and a little in the middle but I leave that space open for swimming room and place my lower light corals in those areas.

 

[bobz]

I'm using a TEK 60" 8 bulb on my 210 (72") and I get very good coverage. I have the light suspended in my canopy 6" above the water. i went from (3) 250W MH to the TEK and I am happy.
BZ

 

[scott martin]

Thanks for the tips. I think that I am going to go with the 2 36" fixtures each with 6 bulbs and hope that I get full coverage of the tank and no shadowing. Any idea if I will still need to run a fan with the T5 fixtures? There is already a large 9x7 cutout on one end of the canopy where the previous owner had something mounted, but for the life of me I can not figure out what kind of fan has those measurements as the IceCap 120mm only measures 4 inches. Anyway, off to work.

Thanks again,

Scott Martin