t5 light spread

[o0jmadr0x0o]

how far does a t5 bulb in an individual reflector spread light from the front to back of a tank? most of my corals are along the back of my tank so does that mean i should have my daylight lamps in the back of my fixture and the actinics in the front, or will the lights spread out enough to reach the coral if i have the daylights mixed from the front to back?

 

[pecan2phat]

Not much because of the individual parabolic reflectors (if you are using them). The reflectors focus the light down vs a luminarc type of reflector for MH bulbs.

If you had a 2-bulb setup, actinics up front & daylights behind is the norm. If you have more then 2-bulbs across the entire length, then yes, I would mix them vs 2 actinics and 2 daylights.

You can do better combos depending on how many bulbs you are using.

 

[Keith P]

How many bulbs are in your fixture?

 

[o0jmadr0x0o]

its an 8x54 fixture. it has two switches, one switch operates the front two bulb and the last two bulbs, the second switch operates the middle four bulbs. i was trying to do a dusk dawn type deal with all my actinics on the front two and the last two sections and the daylights in the middle but i guess that wont rely work.

 

[Keith P]

If you feel handy, you could probably rewire the fixture pretty easily.