T5 light for frag tank

[Willbiker]

I've always wanted a frag tank and have just shut down my 4 foot cichlid tank. I'm thinking of plumbing it into my system and building a diy egg crate multilevel racking system in it. The only thing putting me off is the power bill for the lights. I think I'd like to try T5 as people seem to have lots of good growth with t5 however I dont want to power a full 3 or 4 foot fixture for 10 hours a day with just a few frags in it !

Are there small t5 fittings available? Something which would light half of this tank until its time to expand when it fills up with frags?

 

[Willbiker]

I have 4 black box leds on my 6 foot main display and I must say the growth I get from my corals seems to be ok but I have nothing to compare it with as im a new reefer (under 1 year. )

Can I expect better growth with a t5 fitting? Maybe I should just stick with black box leds on the frag tank too....

 

[nereefpat]

The only thing putting me off is the power bill for the lights. I think I'd like to try T5 as people seem to have lots of good growth with t5 however I dont want to power a full 3 or 4 foot fixture for 10 hours a day with just a few frags in it !

Are there small t5 fittings available? Something which would light half of this tank until its time to expand when it fills up with frags?

I see your concern there. Most corals seem to only need about 6 hours of light, so you could cut the run time down from 10, especially since it's not a display that you want to look at.

They do have shorter T5 fixtures, down to 2 foot long. I would go with at least a 3 foot fixture with 2-4 bulbs in it. A 36" 4 bulb fixture would only run about 150 watts.

 

[CanuckReefer]

SPS, LPS or both?
I have a two lamp 4ft T5 over my 90 g supplemented with a Fluval programmable LED to do dusk and dawn. I was successful with just the 2 T5's (10K, and a true actinic) for years but only for softies. SPS would never make it. I do like how with T5 I get less shading in the tank but not sure it will matter in terms of frag racking. You might be better to go with a couple LED AI Primes....

 

[ZoWhat]

Curious what advantage you'd have sharing the water column with your other system?

Curious why paying an extra $200-$300/yr in electric, breaks your bank?

.

 

[Willbiker]

Curious what advantage you'd have sharing the water column with your other system?

Curious why paying an extra $200-$300/yr in electric, breaks your bank?

.

It extends my tanks water capacity meaning more stability, I don't have to set up another filtration system and I only have 1 set of parameters to monitor

I dont want to light a large tank which is only 1/3 full. Any opportunity to save on electric

I wasn't aware a 6 hour period is suitable so this is good to hear

I see your concern there. Most corals seem to only need about 6 hours of light, so you could cut the run time down from 10, especially since it's not a display that you want to look at.

They do have shorter T5 fixtures, down to 2 foot long. I would go with at least a 3 foot fixture with 2-4 bulbs in it. A 36" 4 bulb fixture would only run about 150 watts.

I wasn't aware a 6 hour period is suitable so this is good to hear. I will check out the 3 foot t5s. Thanks!

 

[nereefpat]

I wasn't aware a 6 hour period is suitable so this is good to hear. I will check out the 3 foot t5s. Thanks!

Full bright for 6 hours is fine. Keep in mind that it will be different if you're ramping up and down with LEDs.

We have pretty cheap electric here in Nebraska. If my calculations are close, a 4 bulb 3' T5 fixture running for 8 hours would only cost me about 15 cents a day.

 

[awais98]

You could get a plant grow T5 fixture from Amazon cheap.
muse ATI bulbs on them.
Works great.

 

[Willbiker]

Full bright for 6 hours is fine. Keep in mind that it will be different if you're ramping up and down with LEDs.

We have pretty cheap electric here in Nebraska. If my calculations are close, a 4 bulb 3' T5 fixture running for 8 hours would only cost me about 15 cents a day.

Thanks. I'm in the UK and electric is 14 pence per kw hour. I already have abhuge electric bill from my heated koi pond and inefficient reef tank full of pumps. I'm planning to rebuild it with a manifold to save electric and want to save as much electric as possible in any area I can!

You could get a plant grow T5 fixture from Amazon cheap.
muse ATI bulbs on them.
Works great.

Great suggestion! I don't need any programmable features...just simple on and off using a smart switch. Thanks!

 

[Willbiker]

You could get a plant grow T5 fixture from Amazon cheap.
muse ATI bulbs on them.
Works great.

Is this quite common? I know it would be prone to rust unlike an aluminium ati unit but it would be in open air with no splash so maybe it would be fine! Would a 4 tube 4 foot unit be enought? Depth to lowest rack would probably only be around 12 inches below light

 

[nereefpat]

It doesn't seem terribly common that people use them, but it should work as long as the fixture is T5 High Output and the wattage matches.

It may not have as good of a ballast or reflectors or any kind of acrylic shield.

4' w/ 4 bulbs will be plenty of light for SPS in a 55.

 

[awais98]

Is this quite common? I know it would be prone to rust unlike an aluminium ati unit but it would be in open air with no splash so maybe it would be fine! Would a 4 tube 4 foot unit be enought? Depth to lowest rack would probably only be around 12 inches below light

Not very common.
But I have 2 feet 4 bulb setup like this and it works great for my need.
Simple on off, you could put on a timer or apex if you use one.
Doesn’t have acrylic shield but as far as your careful it shouldn’t matter. Or if you want you can cut a cheap acrylic sheet from big box store to size and put it under.

Ballast MAY not be the same at ATI but it works great and is growing acros for me nicely.

 

[awais98]

It doesn't seem terribly common that people use them, but it should work as long as the fixture is T5 High Output and the wattage matches.

It may not have as good of a ballast or reflectors or any kind of acrylic shield.

4' w/ 4 bulbs will be plenty of light for SPS in a 55.

At one point BRS used to sell one too.

 

[X-37B]

Get a quality 6 bulb T5 unit.
You can run 2 then when you have more light needs run 4.
Once the tanks full turn on all 6.
8 hrs is all thats needed.
Plenty of good used one out their too.

 

[Willbiker]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm tempted to try a black box and t5 hybrid. 2 black boxes and 2 t5 bulbs. Do you think this would do a better job than just t5 alone?

 

[SaltISlife]

Is this quite common? I know it would be prone to rust unlike an aluminium ati unit but it would be in open air with no splash so maybe it would be fine! Would a 4 tube 4 foot unit be enought? Depth to lowest rack would probably only be around 12 inches below light

They arent steel. And if they are they are powder coated. I have three of these plant grow fixtures.. two 24 inch ones and 1 48 inch one. One 24 inch goes on my 60g hexagon, the other 24 inch and 48 inch go on my 6ft 135g to cover all 72 inchs.

Reason i dont have 2x36 inch fixtures is i already had the 24 inch ones so i just got a 48.

Ive used these white chinese plant grow fixtires for 3 years. Never had a issue. No rust at all and one fell in the tank once.


As for a 4 bulb fixture being enough.. all 3 of mine are 4 bulbs. The 4 bulb fixtures are 8 inchs above my tanks

here is my 135g

The ati fixture is an overpriced fixture with a name on it.. Dont mind the two bulb t5 fixture in the back. Those are just old normal output fixtures with actinic bulbs. I use thrm for nighttime viewing in combo with blue leds when i turn off my main fixtures. I just had this pic on hand to show you my setup

 

[Willbiker]

They arent steel. And if they arent they are powder coated. I have three of these plant grow fixtures.. two 24 inch ones and 1 48 inch one. One 24 inch goes on my 60g hexagon, the other 24 inch and 48 inch go on my 6ft 135g to cover all 72 inchs.

Reason i dont have 2x36 inch fixtures is i already had the 24 inch ones so i just got a 48.

Ive used these white chinese plant grow fixtires for 3 years. Never had a issue. No rust at all and one fell in the tank once.

The ati fixture is an overpriced fixture with a name on it.

Do you get good growth?

 

[SaltISlife]

Check my post i edited it with pics.

Yea i grow any coral including acros and all color up properly nothing browns out. I see more browned out corals from leds in local stores.. buy em cheap.. put em in my tank and boom my 4 bulbs color them up over a period of a few weeks

 

[SaltISlife]

It doesn't seem terribly common that people use them, but it should work as long as the fixture is T5 High Output and the wattage matches.

It may not have as good of a ballast or reflectors or any kind of acrylic shield.

4' w/ 4 bulbs will be plenty of light for SPS in a 55.

They all come with individual polished reflectors identical to the ati units.

Ill never understand why someone would pay 300-400$ for an ati fixture for a fan and a acrylic sheild. The white ones on amazon are fine. I use 3, you can get a leice of acrylic from lowes for 10$ if you must have one. But fans arent needed for an open fixture. plus they just add more noise.

Also Tidal Gardens used nothing bur these fixtures for years and they worked great

 

[Willbiker]

Awesome! What bulbs do you have? I'm in the UK and ATI bulbs are hard to get. I need to find an alternative