Use of hydroponics fixture

[1fishkeeper]

I was wanting to know if anyone has used a hydroponics T5 fixture over their tank. I know most that I have looked at only have one cord to them for the 8 bulb setup so I was was thinking about maybe using two 4 bulb or even a 6 and a 2 bulb so I can kind of ramp up the lights over the tank without blasting at 100% full power once it turns on. I would love to get a ATI fixture but funds are on the low side right this second and later down the road I will upgrade. For the tank that it will be going over is a 90 gallon cube that is 30 inch wide 30 deep and 24 tall so I was thinking 8 to keep SPS but also to have good coverage front to back. Please share your thoughts or experiences if you have use them before.

 

[fishguy242]

growhouse.com, I added Reefbrite led strips to mine...

 

[DCR]

I would use one. I do use a 2 ft by 4-bulb Sun Blaze over my refugium with 6500 K bulbs. I am sure you lose some PAR but I think it is relatively minor from what I have read. They will come with cheaper ballasts that will probably need to be replaced more frequently but they can be upgraded. You are limited to 2 ft and 4 ft lengths.

You also do not have to deal with the frequent replacement of those ATI fans.

 

[1fishkeeper]

I would use one. I do use a 2 ft by 4-bulb Sun Blaze over my refugium with 6500 K bulbs. I am sure you lose some PAR but I think it is relatively minor from what I have read. They will come with cheaper ballasts that will probably need to be replaced more frequently but they can be upgraded. You are limited to 2 ft and 4 ft lengths.

You also do not have to deal with the frequent replacement of those ATI fans.

Yeah I was thinking about only going with a 2 ft fixture because I think lights look funny when they over hang the tank. But thanks on the tip about the ballasts. If I go this way I will have to keep this in mind and maybe even order up one or two as spares.

 

[1fishkeeper]

growhouse.com, I added Reefbrite led strips to mine...

Thanks for the tip about adding some Reefbrite strips to them.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I was wanting to know if anyone has used a hydroponics T5 fixture over their tank. I know most that I have looked at only have one cord to them for the 8 bulb setup so I was was thinking about maybe using two 4 bulb or even a 6 and a 2 bulb so I can kind of ramp up the lights over the tank without blasting at 100% full power once it turns on. I would love to get a ATI fixture but funds are on the low side right this second and later down the road I will upgrade. For the tank that it will be going over is a 90 gallon cube that is 30 inch wide 30 deep and 24 tall so I was thinking 8 to keep SPS but also to have good coverage front to back. Please share your thoughts or experiences if you have use them before.

I use a hydroponics fixture over my tank, 8-bulb 4ft. It only has one cord, but it has two switches for separate channels so I'm planning to wire a timer to the second channel (whites & UV). I have been pretty good about turning channel 2 on & off at sunrise/set, but I definitely need a machine for it.
in total I spent about $50 on the whole thing since it came with eight 6.5K bulbs. I bought four of these on clearance for $9 each, all seem to work great.

 

[DCR]

I would go with a 2ft 8 bulb on a 30"x30". It should give you good coverage. You will probably be limited to lower light corals around the edges. You can add LED strips to it as well on the edges to make-up for some of that.