question for those who know about t5 lighting

[SuRFeR BoY]

i was reading here: http://www.specialty-lights.com/aquarium-lights-faq3.html

under all the charts it says that 4 x 54w bulbs (216 watts) are equal to 1 400watt metal halide bulb. is this true? i am thinking about upgrading my lighting and was thinking about how many bulb fixture should i buy?! opinions considering are 4 bulbs, 6 bulbs or 8 bulbs (54w bulbs). i have a standard 55 gallon tank.. i want to hold some sps.. not sure about acros yet (maybe one or two) but deff a few montis (i currently have one orange branching) that is doing fine and growing under a 440 watt mix of 2 vhos, one 10k and one blue artinic and 2 power compacts, one 12k and one blue artinic)

 

[jrodjordan]

I have T-5 bulbs on my 75g tank, 4 x 54, and everything is growing fine. Plenty of light I think for your 55g.

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

do you have any sps?

 

[jrodjordan]

yes birds nest, monti cap, acro, etc- they all grow well. My brother has almost all sps and uses T5

 

[Wes]

4 is enough

 

[masterswimmer]

First off, 8 bulbs wouldn't even fit on a standard 13" wide 55g tank. You'd have bulbs hanging over the front and back of the tank. Waste of light.

Depending on the fixture you choose the same can be said for a 6 bulb fixture. If you buy a quality fixture that has individual reflectors for each bulb, the likelihood is that only a 4 bulb fixture will fit properly.

I run T5's on my tank and you can keep any animal under there....providing you choose the correct bulbs. If you choose all actinics, you'll be fighting a losing battle.

swimmer

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

wes was telling me thathe runs 2 of the AquaScience Special T5 Tube - 15,000K 39W and 2 of the AquaScience Blue T5 Tube - 22,000K 39W

i was thinking of running 2 true artnics and one 6500 mid day and one 15k

or

2 true artnics and one 10k or one 15k

or

2 true artinics and one 11k and one 15k

or 1 true artinic, 1 22k, 1 15k and 1 daylight 6,500k

any of these combos good.. the thing is i want the tank to have a blueishand crisp white tint

what do you think?