How many T5HO for a 135g 6 foot tank

[Candymancan]

Question. My previous reef tank was a 55 gallon hexagon 25 wide 30 long and 24 1.2 high.  I used one of those cheap white fixtures that go by various names like vivisun on amazon.  It has individual polished alum reflectors for each bulb and i chose a 4 bulb fixture.   The light was about 8 inches above the tank and to be honest it lit that tank up perfectly.  I was able to hsve sps lps leathers..   even a clam on the bottom.

 

Now i moved from that 55g to my 135g 6 foot tank.  Its been in hypo for nearly 2 months and my corals were in a seperate 20L.  I want to move my corals over but i need lighting for the tank. Currently im jist using two 36w DA Fspec LEDs i used for my discus that were in it prior.  It looks good and is super brigjt for fish only but thats it.

 

Since a 4 bulb 2 foot fixture worked fine on my 25 wide 24 high, 30 long hexagon i figured i could stick with 4 bulbs on the 135 which is only 18 wide and 24 1.2 high.  Its 6 inchs narrower so if 4 worked with 25 4 should be fine for 18.

 

But of course they dont make 6 foot bulbs.  So i was thinking of getting a 4 bulb 4 foot fixture and hang it next to the 4 bulb 2 foot fixture.. So itll cover all 72 inches.  Im not a fan of dark edges but thats just me. 

 

Anyway do you guys think 4 bulbs are enough ? I will be using 2 blue plus and 2 coral plus.   I tested 4 54w bulbs in my old 48 inch T5 normal output fixtures with crappy thin plastic reflectors... and it seems kinda dark. Of course the 2 foot one was much bright but i dunno...  6 bulbs i worry might be too much 

[mcarroll]

If you're willing to jack up the wattage and deal with some light spill in the front and back, you can use 60" T5HO.  Keep the fixture high off the tank to acheive proper coverage....essentially make a spotlight out of a T5 fixture.  LOL  I think these solutions rely on the 60"ATI Sunpower 8-bulb unit....about $800.  (There are example tanks out there if you wanna google some.)

 

The more conventional approach is to get side-by-side 36" fixtures...some folks do three 24" fixtures, depending on their tank bracing.  For this, either four or six tubes should be fine.  Just a loose rule of thumb:  Go for six tubes if you want clams, four if just corals.  A pair of 36" Coralife 4-tube fixtures is around $560.

 

Why not consider some 72" LED strips though? 

 

The 72" dual-strip Orbit Marine IC Bluetooth kit is only $600+ and performance would be comparable to a four-tube T5HO setup.

 

For 36" T5, you're in it for another $88 every 6-12 months and a 312-watt power bill. 

For 60" T5, you're in it for another $200 every 6-12 months plus a 480-watt power bill. 

With LED, that $600 was it, and the power bill is only 144-watts. 

 

Even if you bumped up to three or four Orbit IC strips because you want even more intensity (more like a 6-bulb T5), you'd be on-top money-wise before long thanks to the lack of bulb replacements.

 

In addition to Current, GHL, Orphek and others make quality strips you could consider.