Please help me decide. My tank is too long for T5’s.

Miami Reef

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My tank is 94” long and the longest t5 fixture is 61”.

What am I supposed to do? I can get 2 48” T5 fixtures…but then I need to buy 12 bulbs if I’m going for 6 bulbs each side…or 16 bulbs if I do 8 bulbs on each side.

I currently have 4 ai hydra 52 but I don’t like them. I keep changing the settings but I’m never pleased with the way the lights look. The colors are so off and the spectrum isn’t nice to me. I really liked the color of radion LED. And I really like that T5 has proven spectrums. I would feel much more confident in my tank with something more proven with better coloration.

What’s the best way to get T5’s in my tank?
 

((FORDTECH))

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My tank is 94” long and the longest t5 fixture is 61”.

What am I supposed to do? I can get 2 48” T5 fixtures…but then I need to buy 12 bulbs if I’m going for 6 bulbs each side…or 16 bulbs if I do 8 bulbs on each side.

I currently have 4 ai hydra 52 but I don’t like them. I keep changing the settings but I’m never pleased with the way the lights look. The colors are so off and the spectrum isn’t nice to me. I really liked the color of radion LED. And I really like that T5 has proven spectrums. I would feel much more confident in my tank with something more proven with better coloration.

What’s the best way to get T5’s in my tank?
Yes you will need 2 fixtures that is what people do. That’s the price of having such a large tank
 

capt.dave

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+1 on the kessel T5 hybrid. I have a single 36” with 2 Kessels over a 48” tank and love it. You could do 2 48” Aquatic Life fixtures or you might even get away with 2 36” fixtures with a gap in between that you could fill in with a 5th Kessel but might not need to.

You might also check out the new Neptune Sky. They look great on the BRS studio tank. They advertise really good spread so you might not need as many of them as you’d think. BRS is prepping an investigates test on them in the next couple weeks, I’ve heard.
 

JCM

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An 8' tank is going to need alot of bulbs/light. Really no way around that. I'd do a 3' and 4' t5 fixture if you want t5's.
 
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Miami Reef

Miami Reef

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Quick question. If I do 2 of the 48” T5 can I use 6 bulbs or do I need 8?
 

srobertb

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Quick question. If I do 2 of the 48” T5 can I use 6 bulbs or do I need 8?
“If I buy a car, does it need to be able to sit 6 or 8 people?”

We don’t know:

Your tank’s width, depth, or what you have in it. If it’s a 30” deep tank, T5’s aren’t going to cut it. If it’s a shallow reef at 18”, that would be a different story. Soft corals, LPS, SPS, mixed?

T5’s have a steep upfront cost for bulbs because you can take your best guess on which 6-8 bulb mix will work but you’ll probably need to buy an extra 3 or 4 bulbs to mix and match the spectrum. Bulbs are not returnable.

You must also change the bulbs and let’s say you get 2 48” 6 bulb fixtures- that’s 12 bulbs at $20-30 a pop.

If you like Radions, just go with them. I have no idea what you have in your tank but based on your apparent budget, you need one per 24 inches minimum.

You should probably also look at Chinese black boxes.
 

Jekyl

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Quick question. If I do 2 of the 48” T5 can I use 6 bulbs or do I need 8?
If you're doing a hybrid combo then it's only 4 bulbs each plus the LED
 

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