T5 Lighting for a 120

[Spine]

I have decided to do DYI T5 bulbs on my 48x2x2 in. 120gal. tank. Anyone have suggestions on reflectors and how many bulbs to run.


Thanks,
Kevin

[Jeff120]

If it were my tank

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Flu ... y_ReefGeek

[Spine]

Thanks Jeff,
That lighting does look sweet. I already have a couple of Icecap 430 ballast so I think it might be cheaper to just buy bulbs and reflectors. Do I need more than 6 bulbs would 8 be overkill?

Kevin

[Jeff120]

They have the just the Tek reflectors as well. The 6 will give you almost 3WPG, 8 maybe a little to much. But may be nice to have if you need a little boost. Just wire them separate so that you can turn those 2 off it you want to. Ghaz needs to just in, hes the one with the massive tank, I have no personal experience with large tanks. But light is one thing that you dont want to regret or scrimp on.

[Aaron]

I would go with just 6 bulbs. Those Icecap ballasts overdrive the T5s from what I understand.

[SCMurphy]

6 is too many, you won't need more than 4.

[Spine]

Thanks everyone for all the info. If I go with 4 bulbs instead of 6 should I spend the money I'm saving on better reflectors or are the Tek the best available.

[Aaron]

The Tek reflectors are some of the best. They came out with the Tek II models recently that are supposed to be really nice. Also, IceCap makes some nice ones. They're called SLRs, which is short for single lamp reflector. If you go with the Tek IIs be aware that you'll need to order lamp clips separately. The original Teks and the IceCaps both come with clips.

[Spine]

Aaron,
Who carries the SLRs is there a supplier that you like to deal with.

[Aaron]

I like reefgeek.com usually. I ordered from them a week ago, but they are on back order. They did at least call me within an hour of placing the order to let me know they were on back order.

marinedepot.com is also good.