T5's and Clams?

[Chris_A]

Has anyone tried this? I've been toying with the idea of switching my 90 back to a reef for a few months now but the cost of HQI lighting (buying AND running) has been prohibitive. I was telling a guy at a LFS I go to about this and his suggestion was to use T5's. The only part I'm concerned with is I have a Tridacna crocea that I don't want to risk loosing. It's doing rather well under my 150 watt HQI but it's also 4" under the water, 10" total away from the HQI and directly under it.

The tanks I've seen with T5's look good (bright, good light penetration, healthy corals) but I've only talked to one person (different guy at the same LFS) that has tried clams. Hopeing for more input.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[sweeTang21]

T-5s will work fine as long as you follow a few guidelines.

The 90 is about 24" deep right?? if so then MH's be the best bet, but very exspensive to pruchase, run, and maintain. Not to mention you might have a heat problem.

T-5 VHOS would be the best route to go. they run very cool, and can emit more PAR then certain MH setups. 6 bulbs each with individual reflectors would look sweet on that tank.

https://diyreef.authsecure.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=55_89&products_id=460 would be the minimum light setup

https://diyreef.authsecure.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=55_89&products_id=461 this would be better. Keep in mind, you can add ballasts as needed, and as long as you purchase VHO bulbs you can run these units as VHO with a configure wiring setup.

for example: if you get the 8 bulb setup, run 3 VHO bulbs per 660 ballast and purhcase an additional 430 ballast and run 2 VHO bulbs on that. This will give you a tremendous amount of wattage. Clams and most all SPS can be housed under these conditions.

 

[Chris_A]

Thanks! my thoughts exactly.

The corallife HQI/PC unit (cant remember the name) was my first choice but at $1400 to buy and approx. $30/ month to run... not gonna happen anytime soon.

By comparison the T5 unit I'm looking at is $420 and costs approx. $14/per month. It's a 6 x 54 watt unit, the LFS guys are telling me I could use the 4 lamp version no problem, that's what the one guy is running. Still, I'd rather err on the side of caution and go with the 6 unit.

The other option is build my own. I work sheet metal and those reflectors are very simple. The sticking point is finding the loose ballasts locally.

Either way, have you kept clams like this?

Thanks again.
Chris

 

[amehel0]

my boss ran a 4ft tank with heaps of clams etc. with 4 t8's!

 

[Chris_A]

Thats what I like to hear!