I'm having the worst time with these T5's

[Guest vatbrew]

So the previous owner was running 4 VHO's over this 125, and he mounted the Icecaps under the hood, where they rest on the back of the tank. WELL, this will not allow me to fit 4 T5's and 2 VHO's. So now I have to take them out and add wiring to the ICECAP harness' and mount the ballasts underneath the tank. This completely blows. OH yeah, and I broke one of my new Actinic VHO's.

[Black Mammoth]

So the previous owner was running 4 VHO's over this 125, and he mounted the Icecaps under the hood, where they rest on the back of the tank. WELL, this will not allow me to fit 4 T5's and 2 VHO's. So now I have to take them out and add wiring to the ICECAP harness' and mount the ballasts underneath the tank. This completely blows. OH yeah, and I broke one of my new Actinic VHO's.

 

If you have T5s, why do you want to run VHOs anyway? IMHO it's just a waste of power to you. Maybe you like the supplement light the VHOs give you. But T5s come in a variety of bulbs, I can't imagine you can't find something you like.

 

BTW, I would never mount the ballasts inside the hood or on the back of the tank. That's asking for trouble. I mounted mine underneath the tank initially. After I moved, I had the luxury of putting them in the room behind the tank. Anyway, I bought another set where the person put the ballast inside the hood. He said it was a bad idea. The ballast works, but it was corroded and it wasn't in there very long.

 

In your setup I would probably do either 6 T5s or 8 T5s. But then again I don't know what you are keeping

[Guest vatbrew]

I heard T5 actinics don't compare to vho actinics. 8 T5's are out of the question, don't want to buy another ballast.

[Black Mammoth]

I heard T5 actinics don't compare to vho actinics. 8 T5's are out of the question, don't want to buy another ballast.

 

I dunno. On my prop tank I have a 175 MH with VHO actinics. In my display tank (90g) I have a 6x54 T5s. I don't know if I really like the VHO actinics any better or worse than the T5s. T5s have actinics made by...who was it now?...the really popular one for the VHOs....they make one now for the T5s. There is also the AquaBlue++.

 

I have 3 whites (I forget the names right now), 2 AquaBlue++, and 1 Actinic bulb. I'm very happy with the look. With my 6x54T5s, I'm keeping everything (clam, SPS, LPS, softies). If you have 6x84(is it 84?), you'll probably be good. One of the guys I know in Ashburng has 8 T5s on his 125 as well. I know you don't want to add another ballast, but you'll probably be OK with 6.