Lighting Question

[AquaRick]

I'm sorry for the confusion. I was looking for 6500k based on MrX's suggestions on the first page of this thread. I was thinking of buying a 6 lamp T5 fixture and going with:

2 ATI Blue Plus
1 ATI Purple Plus

And for daylights:
2 ATI Aquablue specials
1 GE 6500k

I'm just wondering if i should go with a 3rd ATI aquablue or get that GE 6500k i mentioned in the link above.

 

[rdnelson99]

I'm sorry for the confusion. I was looking for 6500k based on MrX's suggestions on the first page of this thread. I was thinking of buying a 6 lamp T5 fixture and going with:

2 ATI Blue Plus
1 ATI Purple Plus

And for daylights:
2 ATI Aquablue specials
1 GE 6500k

I'm just wondering if i should go with a 3rd ATI aquablue or get that GE 6500k i mentioned in the link above.

10-4. But the fixture you are looking at is 5' long? I have a 36" tank but I am using a 4' long fixture for the DIY project. I will shield the ends of it so as to not spill light all around the aquarium. Then, when I upgrade the tank it will fit great for a 4' tank but even if I go 5' on the new tank, I think it will suffice. Since I will be suspending it from the ceiling I don't have to worry about how it sits on the tank.

 

[AquaRick]

My tank is 5' long, so i figured i needed a 5' long fixture and by the leg attachments to sit on top of the aquarium:

Sunlight Supply TEK Light T5 Fixture - English

Think that's too much? Should i go with a 48" fixture and hang it via a canopy or something? Ideally i'd love to do all corals and clams. Would it be better to go with an 48" fixture but go with 8 lamps?

Sorry for the questions, just not sure about how to handle my lighting.

 

[rdnelson99]

Wish I could give you an answer with confidence. I would say that having lamps for the full length of the tank would not be overkill by any means. Mr_X would be better suited but I know what I would do. LOL If you go with a 4' fixture it will be much easier to find the lamps you need now and in the future but, you would have to hang them or build a floor mount stand that hangs over the tank. You also would have darker areas at the ends of the tank. In my tank, I leave the ends open so the fish can circle the rock structure so I don't think it would be that big of deal.

My situation is a bit different. I bought a 36" two lamp fixture when I set the tank up because I thought that had to be plenty of light. Now I realize how dumb I was. So, since I can't go out and buy what I want, I am using a fixture that was damaged in shipment and we couldn't install. The manufacturer sent us a replacement and told us to "Field Scrap" the damaged one so I "Scrapped" it to my garage. LOL Even though it will overhang my tank, I am going to use it because I am cheap. LOL Plus, if I upgrade the tank I won't have to upgrade the fixture.

 

[mr_X]

rick- get the 5', eight lamp fixture!

just a FYI- giesemann, which is also the maker of very good lamps, makes a bulb in the 8800k color temp called "aquaflora", as well as a bulb called "aqua pink".

 

[AquaRick]

I'd love to get the 5' eight lamp fixture. It just comes down to $. If i were to go with the 5' eight lamp, what bulbs would you recommend?

 

[mr_X]

ATI Blue Plus
ATI 12000K Aquablue
ATI Blue plus
Fiji Purple (or purple plus)
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue plus
UV Lighting 10000K AquaSun
ATI Blue plus

 

[Unicorn]

ATI Blue Plus
ATI 12000K Aquablue
ATI Blue plus
Fiji Purple (or purple plus)
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue plus
UV Lighting 10000K AquaSun
ATI Blue plus

Hey Mr X
I saw you recommending this combo multiple times and I tried doing it with minor tweaking due to availability and dog breaking one of the blue plus >.<
I have a 120g tank, distance from fixture to sand is 24" and the light is SUPER bright. I mean I bet u can see our house from mars!!
My question: too much light?! How do I know if I got to much without adding coral? Im worried that the coral from my current tank will be negatively affected. It's a 8x80w 60" sunlight supply tek...
Thx for the help
And sorry for hijacking the thread

 

[rdnelson99]

No apologies needed. This is how I learn.

 

[AquaRick]

Yeah i should have apologized as well RD. At least we're all learning from the master

 

[rdnelson99]

Yeah i should have apologized as well RD. At least we're all learning from the master

Amen to that. He is pretty generous with his time and knowledge isn't he. .

 

[mr_X]

c'mon guys, i copy and paste a lot of this stuff. rick, your tank is gonna have a lot of PAR, and depending on where you get corals from, i would acclimate them slowly to the lighting. in other words, start sps on the sand bed and move them to desired positions on the rock work over a period of weeks. for LPS i would start them in an area of indirect light and move them into direct light in the same amount of time.

you can acclimate corals to stronger light than they are used to if you do it gradually. a perfect example is 2 florida ricordeas i had in my 195- they came in to my system together, but one ended up about 12" from a 400 watt halide and the other indirectly under a 250, but close to the sand bed. both looked the same.

 

[carey]

Since this is a lighting thread and Mr X is around I figure I'll ask here.

I will be replacing all 12 of my bulbs on monday. My fixture runs 4 bulbs on one switch and the other 8 on the other switch.

My "blues" are on the first switch for the record. I have 6 aquablue specials, 4 blue plus's and 2 purple plus'es. Should I have the 2 purple mixed with my first on switch, as in 2 purps and 2 blues or keep all blue plus's on that switch and have the purps turnon when the whites do?

If I have the purps on first switch will it make the coral look astounding cause its only pruple and blue or will it not really matter?

Thanks so much guys!

fyi- I only got the specials and the blue plus'es today. waiting on thepurpls for monday delivery

 

[mr_X]

well, my response to that would be...try it both ways and see which you like better!

 

[carey]

somehow I knew it was gonna come down to that. LOL

Just wanted to do it once what with the fixture being so darn big. But I guess I can make the boyfriend get up an extra two times to help me.

Thanks!

 

[AquaRick]

ATI Blue Plus
ATI 12000K Aquablue
ATI Blue plus
Fiji Purple (or purple plus)
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue plus
UV Lighting 10000K AquaSun
ATI Blue plus

Mr X, sorry to bug you again. But how long should i run each bulb? Are one set of bulbs run for a certain time and another set for a different time; or do they overlap somewhat? Thanks again!

 

[rdnelson99]

Loving all the hijacking. Carey, you can jump into my threads anytime. You have a long way to go before you catch up to how many times I have hijacked yours.

 

[mr_X]

Mr X, sorry to bug you again. But how long should i run each bulb? Are one set of bulbs run for a certain time and another set for a different time; or do they overlap somewhat? Thanks again!

if you care about sunrise/sunset transitions, then i would put most of the blues on one cord and the daylights on the other. the corals don't care either way.

 

[carey]

It wasn't off topic though so I thought it should be ok.

Saves me from Pm'ing someone. lol