I have a 55 and looking for an appropriate light. I have been looking at the tek t5 set up. wich has the individual reflectors which i have heard that is the only way to go if you are going to buy t5's. I am looking at the 48" fixture (4) 54 watt bulb? will this be sufficent to grow some of the higher light corals such as sps? if placed at top of tank? should i pay more $$ and get a 6 bulb? or go mh with t5?
Are t5's the way to go?
- Thread starter losthere
- Start date
With the 4 bulb fixture you should be able to keep many of the SPS's with some being lower in the tank, with the 6 bulb fixture you should be able to keep anything you want and at just about any place in the tank that you want. I have 3 clams under T-5's in my 65 gallon tank down in the sandbed 1 crocea and 2 maximas I also have a couple of acros that are doing good along with LPS's, leathers and zoas and 2 BTA's. My T-5's are on the IC 660 and only 4 bulbs
Well, either option would work fine for you. If it is normally driven (i.e. not on an icecap ballast), then I'd spring for the 6 bulb fixture (though I am not sure if it will fit over your tank). If you can only do 4 bulbs, spring for the icecap fixture. Personally, I am using 6 overdriven T5s on my 75. If you can afford the MH + T5 fixture, that is the best of both worlds and probably the most intense option. Any of those would work, though.
I would recommend checking the dimensions of the 6 bulb fixture before ordering one for your 55g, as it may be too wide front to back. Even with a 4 bulb fixture featuring individual reflectors, you should have little problems (related to light) keeping SPS in a 55g. You may need to watch where certain corals are positioned with a 4 bulb fixture, but the upper 1/3 to 1/2 of the tank should be fair game for most SPS.