t5 4 bulb or 6 bulb question..

[reeferguy]

So im in the market for a decent price light fixture. Im looking for something that is around 200-300.. This will be for a 70 gallon. 36 x 18 x 24H.. Will a 4 bulb fixture be enough? is basically my question, and yes i do want to keep SPS.. Any advice is great. Thanks

 

[gveng]

you have a deep wide tank. if you plan to keep SPS the 4x bulb is not enough.

 

[CJBROWN]

X2
Especially at 24" deep. The problem is the bulbs are so spread out. A 6 lamp fixture will span the whole width (frt to back) of your tank.

I run 4@54w at 19" deep, works fine. Have set the fixture about 3" from the rim. Now wished I had gone MH. Seems fine for LPS's tho so I'm fine.

 

[dfladermaus]

I run a 4X24w ATI sunpower on my 60g cube (24x24x24) and keep a ton of SPS in it. Here is a shot from my store profile done a few months back. I have 10 different types of montipora, 3 birdsnests, 2 acros, 1 stylophora, plus lower down, favias, chalices, softcorals, micros...dont believe for a second that you need 10 bulbs to run SPS...

 

[blairdawg]

What pual forgot to mention is his water is perfect as well lol

 

[Solus]

Its not about the number of bulbs its the quality of bulbs plus sps love the light and high flow with clean water

 

[teriyakithunder]

4 bulbs is enough, 6 gives you more flexibility imo. Not trying to argue with anyone else but sps can grow just fine with 4 bulbs in a tank your size. I personally would go with 6-8 bulbs so you would have more options when it comes to adding what color t5 lamps you want or for expansion later on should you upgrade, not because certain corals can't survive. Another thing is that you don't have to use all the bulbs that the fixture can hold too. For example, I have a 55 gallon (48x13x20h) that I run 3x39W T5s in a 4 bulb fixture using 1x12k and 2 actinic. I use to run 1x12k and 1 actinic but added another to make the color come out a little more. For my 120g (48x24x24), I have an 8 bulb fixture that has 36" bulbs. I run 6 bulbs, 2x10k and 4 actinic. Sometimes I only run 4 bulbs too and sps grow pretty fast. That fixture also only has one big reflector, not individual reflectors too. If you are worried about sps not getting enough light, you can always move them higher up in the tank closer to the light. Just my opinion though.

 

[reeferguy]

Thanks for everyones input. I do believe that the bulb number and bulb quality counts so i half agree with you solus, considering my tank is 18" D i want something that will cover everything front and back side to side.. And yeah since the next tank is deep like my cube reason why i went with a 250 instead of a 150. SOOOOO with that said I just picked up a ATI 6 bulb sunpower fixture from Mike. Im excited to get the new set up running!

 

[gveng]

Thanks for everyones input. I do believe that the bulb number and bulb quality counts so i half agree with you solus, considering my tank is 18" D i want something that will cover everything front and back side to side.. And yeah since the next tank is deep like my cube reason why i went with a 250 instead of a 150. SOOOOO with that said I just picked up a ATI 6 bulb sunpower fixture from Mike. Im excited to get the new set up running!

finally!! good choice

 

[reeferguy]

took 2 days.. my new set up is going to be sick im so exited! building stand today..

 

[SchnitzelReef]

good choice on 6 bulbs...IMO u would have been dissapointed with 4