# Lighting questions



## violet (Jun 29, 2006)

So I got the set up. Like you can see in my other thread. 90 gallon
48 by 18 by 24 high. I have 8 t5 light on it. Right now there is 6 39 watts 10000k on it and 2 actnic blue. It looks like the bulbs need replacing though, and I would like to get some sugestions of which bulbs should I put in.
to tell you the true I don`t even know if the fixture is the regular one or the high output one. I tryied to google it but I can`t find anything, the man that I bought the system from said that this is the high output, but not sure. And if it is enough light for most of the corals?
The fixture is called 
HELL-1200
voltage 110v/60hz
power 8x39w(t5)
Thank you in advance for your help
violet


----------



## acer (May 18, 2010)

thats a lot of 10000ks....

but I think you do have a T5HO system... I can't remember the wattage for a 4' T5HO bulb though, but pretty sure it is 39w.

you have a lot of room to play with though... try adding some fiji purples and ATI true blues (not sure of the name, pretty sure it's true blue). I don't think you'd need actinic if you went with the fiji purples. 

maybe 4 fijis, 2 true blues and 2 10000k (maybe 14000k)

10000k gives faster coral growth but not very good colour... 14000k and 20000k give better colour but growth isn't as fast. 

but it's mostly personal preference on the fijis and the true blues. Fijis definitely improve colour of coral and fish, gives off light in the red and blue spectrum so it looks more balanced rather than just blue everywhere. 

I think I might run 2 fijis an actinic and a 14000k when if/when I upgrade my lights in a few weeks. 

I'll try and find pictures of the differences of each bulb.


----------



## BaRoK (Sep 10, 2009)

I have both 4' and 3' T5HO, they're 54W and 39W respectively.

Correct me if I'm wrong.


----------



## acer (May 18, 2010)

BaRoK said:


> I have both 4' and 3' T5HO, they're 54W and 39W respectively.
> 
> Correct me if I'm wrong.


oh, my bad... then Violet has a normal output system.
I don't know if they make fiji purple for normal output then...


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

The OP has T5-HO's...the 3' lengths are 39w.

6x39w is plenty enough light.


----------



## acer (May 18, 2010)

oh, the op didn't say the length of the fixture so I just went by the length of the tank, 4 feet...


----------



## violet (Jun 29, 2006)

It is 48' lenght fixture, so I quess it is the regular output?
So what is good combination and where can I get good lamps for fair price.?


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Odd, 48" T5NO's are 24w...

Just to be doubly sure, measure the bulbs itself rather than relying on the fixture.


----------



## violet (Jun 29, 2006)

Sorry you are right the fixture is 48 but the lamps are 34'
So what do you guys sugest I get? What combination?
thank you violet


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

FRONT
-AquaScience Special (15,000 k)
-AquaScience Blue (22,000 K)
-KZ Fiji Purple
-AquaScience Blue (22,000 K)
-AquaScience Special (15,000 k)
-AquaScience Blue (22,000 K)
-AquaScience Special (15,000 k)
-AquaScience Blue (22,000 K)
BACK

This will give you a white-blue look. If you prefer a more white look, change one of the 20, 000K for the 15000K. For a better idea, take the light fixture with you to the LFS.

Ken @SUM should have these bulbs in stock. 

Also, I'm not sure if the light fixture has different switches to create the dawn/dusk effect so bulb positions are roughly where "I" like them to be 

HTH


----------



## violet (Jun 29, 2006)

Thank you for the ideas.
Yes the light fixture has 4 switches, and I also have 2 light timers, 
O my God I'm so new at this.
So I should put 4 of them few hours earlier and then switch to the other 4?
And I thought I read most of the staff, and now I'm so lost at this.
I have more problems but I will post another thread about that. 
thx confused


----------



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

People typically run bulbs on seperate schedule to simulate dawn/dusk effect. So you can configure the blues/actinics (maybe 2 bulbs) to run for 12+ hours, while the whites and the rest would run for 6+ hours. You want to use timers for this.


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

One the first timer, choose the set of lights that would be best suited for the dawn/dusk effect. The other timer, plug a powerbar into it to control the rest of the 3 sets of lights.


----------



## violet (Jun 29, 2006)

Thank you for your help. I will call sum tomorrow and see if they have this bulbs.
The fixture has 4 switches, but only two wires so if I put it on the timer then I have to run 4 lamps at a time.


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Put the actinics on one set and the rest on the others. Back in the day, the lights would all come on at once...didn't do the dawn dusk thing


----------

