So its begun

[nukieuk]

OK,

Tank is up working well things seem to be doing good.

At the moment the tank has the following lighting setup:

6x super compact lights

setup using odyssea super compact fluorescent bulbs
4x 65 watt white 12000 k
2x 65 watt true actinic

I am looking at replacing this setup between Christmas and New year.

So MH or not thats what i am struggling with.

My plan is to continue with the tank, slowly adding to it over time. I want to eventually look into clams and maybe sps coral.

I have read a lot about MH and the newer T-5's.

My first thought was to go with an MH-T5 combo, now i am thinking something along the lines of 8x54 watt Tek setup.

Thoughts comments ?

 

[nukieuk]

I guess maybe i should ping around our sponsors and look at tank setups with the various combo's. Photo's are good but I think looking at the various setups will help?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Nukieuk;250595 wrote: I guess maybe i should ping around our sponsors and look at tank setups with the various combo's. Photo's are good but I think looking at the various setups will help?

Sponsors are not the best place to look for ideas... They normally do not have tanks set up with Halide and/or t-5 lighting, except for maybe their display tank.

Best place to get ideas is other member tanks. There you can get a good idea of what different light combos look like and what the different colors are like.

Post a thread in the members section about you wanting to take a look at people light setups. I am sure MANY people will open their door to you!

 

[jeep9783]

More than welcome to come check my setup out overdriven 4X48inch t5 on ice cap 660 with 3 10ks and 1 12k, 2X36inch actinic sunpaq t5hos

 

[nukieuk]

Cool

All good input I will start that thread so I can figure out what setup looks best. I will be updating with more pics of the 90's progress I finished half of the aquascaping last night so it should be done tonight.

 

[johnr2604]

Another idea to look at lighting is attend a tour of tanks. I believe one is going to be held next month on the east side of town.

 

[nickskains]

I am running the 8x54 Tek light. It is a great light and puts off a ton of light. My corals love it. I am running:

Front to back:
Aquascience 22k Blue Special
Geismann Pure Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
Uvl Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus

Your more then welcome to come take a look at it. Not exactly close to Stone Mtn but if your ever up this way let me know. I live about a mile from Fish Scales. I had a MH/PC combo light and while it was nice I was not a fan of the MH. The shimmer effect was very cool but they ran way to hot for my liking. I used to evap about 5 gallons a day and when I swapped over to the T-5's it dropped to around 2.5 or so. The other think I like about my T-5 is, as other stated, the ability to customize your bulb combo for your own taste/look. Its really a matter of preference. Some say MH are the way to go others say T-5. Although if I had a deeper tank I would probably run MH due to the penetration.