Unseen problems or great t5HO setup for 160

jason laborde · Mar 5, 2018

Hey everyone.

Decided to Shift some tension from breeding captive fish to growing frags. Pump a small 24x16x8 frag tank to my display. Would an $80 Hydro Plant 4 bulb t5ho Amazon fixture and 4 ATI bulb work or am I overlooking something obviously?

Besides cooling fans and better reflective shields aiding in reducing light spillage.

jakeh22 · Mar 5, 2018

Ya just get some good bulbs, pink, purple,blue, 10k set..

Greybeard · Mar 5, 2018

In a shallow (8") tank, I'd imagine 4x T5 bulbs would be sufficient light to grow just about any coral you might want.

jason laborde · Mar 5, 2018

Awesome!!!

Any reason why I should consider a high t5 fixture or 2 high end led systems.

@Greybread you think 8" Off the water should be alright.

At what depth do you think this set up would not be sufficient anymore ?

jakeh22 · Mar 5, 2018

Go on amazon and get the odyssey T5 quad timer it has moonlight leds for night and with the perfect settings on the timers it’s all in one super cheap. I got one for my old man for Xmas and his tank is thriving here’s a pic of it after moving the tank to his new house. Mind the cloudiness and closed corrals from the transport

this is on his 150gal

Greybeard · Mar 5, 2018

The 'right' answer would be to get a PAR meter and test it.

4x T5's, 8" over the water, is a path that many have taken over the decades. Active cooling and well designed reflectors come with that higher end T5 unit. Yes, it does make a difference. Enough to justify the cost? That's up to you. The main reason I went with a used TEK wasn't price of the fixture, though it was a consideration... the main reason is that ATI is shipping SILVER colored fixtures. It was either choose a different brand, or take a can of black krylon to my brand new light.

LED's? On a small frag system like you're talking about, I might be tempted to buy a higher end LED. Why? Why not? You only need one, they look great... It's not the same over a large tank where you need 4, or 6 of these units... 3 or 4 hundred bucks? Ok... 6 times 3 or 4 hundred bucks? No, thanks.