Hi,

I just ordered a 24"x24"x12" tank from Glasscages.com

If I get a 4x24 T5, will I be ok with LPS? Do I need to go to 4 bulbs or will I be ok with 2? I have no intention of raising sps. I don't think they look as good. =)

Also, are there any decent T5/LED combos out there?

Thanks for taking the time, I know these types of threads must come up a lot.

-John

2 bulbs would be stretching it because the tank is not narrow, unless the corals were close to the bulbs. A 4 bulb fixture would be better and also give more bulb combinations (important for LPS color).

Good to know. Any particular bulb combination I should be looking for?

Thanks again,

-John

Alternating actinic and daylight is a fine standard combo. There are plenty of people with really specific setups for the best coloration on their corals, etc, but a could 7-10k bulbs and a pair of actinics will do the job and look good. Some bulbs are rated for higher PAR output, generally going higher in the spectrum (higher kelvin rating, smaller nm wavelength rating) will get you a 'better' blue look with more UV reactive style colors, but it can give you slower growth the farther you go.

If you're going to have a 2'x2' tank a 4 bulb would be a much better choice, and it may be worth while to suspend it above the tank to get a wider lit area. Of course the higher you go above the tank, the lower the light levels in the water, so if you were to go that way I'd definitely get a fixture with reflectors.

Most of the T5/LED combos use LEDs for moonlighting only, and they're typically not strong enough to be an actinic replacement if run in tandem with the T5s. There's also quite a price premium for the 'new' LED tech, but there are some options beyond the nanocustoms modded hoods and such.

The T5HO information thread (in this forum) has a lengthy discussion on bulb combinations. You don't need to get "actinic" or "daylight" bulbs because T5s are very diverse, with many combinations not requiring either actinics (because of blue bulbs) or "daylights" (because of bulbs that aren't always whitish with high PAR). In general, kelvin ratings (color temperature) are not as useful for T5s because bulbs can have the same color temperature with very different spectrums. Basically, you have to go by the spectrums and PAR numbers of different brands and their bulbs.

I would think you would need at least 4 bulbs to get decent coverage because of the front to back depth of the tank.
Here's a cool T5/LED combo I ran across recently (first light at top of pg) : http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/shop/ind...at=New+Products
I'd be tempted if I didn't already have a light for my tank.

Are those dimensions LxWxH? If so, then you'll need more than 4 lamps for any kind of reasonable coverage. If that's the case, I would look at at least 6 lamps, preferably 8-10.

at only 12" deep, a 6 bulb setup will be enough given you mount the fixture correctly. Being only 12" deep, you can get away with less bulbs and make up for it with positioning.