AquaticLife T5 HO lighting

[ryanm19]

Hey guys, I just have a few questions on some lighting. I have a 65 gallon tank with just a few fish. It has been up and running for about 8 months and now I'm looking at some higher intensity lighting.

I want to be able to put LPS and soft corals in it. I'm not looking at trying to go for any SPS corals.

Now to tell you what I first bought to get some more lighting,
I bought a fixture that had 1x 150watt metal halide and two 65 watt actinics and 2 lunar lights. The fixture was looking great, and it had enough lighting for the tank. The only problem was the center brace on the top of my tank. The metal halide lighting was directly over it, which created a huge shadow in the tank. It was not appealing and was annoying to look at. So i returned it and now am asking about another possibility.

I have been reading about an AquaticLife T5 fixture, and have been leaning towards it.
Here is a link: AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture

I am not really wanting to get two separate halide lights because of the price.

The question is, will this t5 setup work for what I would like to do?

Thanks for any help

 

[Lotus]

Would it be the 48" fixture for the 65g? The site has several different sizes, and I'm not sure what length tank you have.

 

[ryanm19]

it is the 36" fixture

 

[KahluaZzZ]

Had the same problem over my 55g, single mh 150..can't put too high, or it's light a night light, can'T put too close, the brace covers the angles. Bought another tank .
Seriously go with the T5 ramps, they really need less wattage. I would go with the http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~category~Current_USA_Nova_Extreme_Pro_T5_HO_Fixture_<_20_Inch_T5_Fluorescent_Light_Fixtures~vendor~Current_USA~idProduct~CU01083~idCategory~FILTFIT5T5.html. Eventually when you wanna change the bulbs, you can choose different actinics from other brands, mix them etc..seen some guys having so much color.

 

[ryanm19]

Thanks for the help
I am leaning towards the light that I posted because my LFS is having a sale on them.
what corals would not be suitable under this lighting? just so I know

 

[KahluaZzZ]

65G, 36" long..often means 24" deep. Would go with softies and LPS. Let say you try it and you find that it's not enough, you can ditch some actinics and get 10000k T5 bulbs for 12$ each. T5 have an excellent watt/lumen ratio. The ramp i showed you has 234w total, with 50% actinics..seems a bit low..but considering the ramp is closer to the tank, and it's spread equally all around the tank, unlike the mh (more like a projector), your future corals can be placed almost anywhere. I do not own this ramp, but i've seen it in action a lot of times, often used in breeder tanks for soft corals and LPS; some growers prefer T5 in smaller tanks to avoid burning the corals/ place them everywhere. It's also cooler than metal halide

 

[ryanm19]

that sounds great. i was planning on only doing softies and LPS. and like you said, i can just switch bulbs if i want to do anything else.
Thanks for the help KahluaZzZ