djcerna April 12, 2007 Share April 12, 2007 Hello all, I should be getting my T5 retrofit kit soon. I want to start making plans on how low to mount them above the water. So, to the T5 users out there, how low do you have your mounted? Thanks for your help. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal April 12, 2007 Share April 12, 2007 well i dont have my t5's yet but others i have talked to have generally said pretty low like 2-4" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak April 12, 2007 Share April 12, 2007 How deep is your tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcerna April 12, 2007 Author Share April 12, 2007 (edited) It's a 65 gal, so 24 inches. Going to be a mixed coral tank with 4 x39 T5 and 1 VHO . David How deep is your tank? Edited April 12, 2007 by djcerna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA April 12, 2007 Share April 12, 2007 Take a look at my recent post with my tanks. Same setups. Mine are about 9-10" up because of Seaswirl! But have heard from more than one to cut that distance in half. I won't be able to but plan on dropping at least 3" if I can? Either way very happy with my growth for 2' depth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rioreef April 12, 2007 Share April 12, 2007 I have my retro kit at about 4" and glass panes in between. Lots of sps, lps, softies, and clams with great growth and health. Some say no to glass tops, but with the lights close and 6 reflectors...it is much easier to clean the glass panes than removing six reflectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Mammoth April 12, 2007 Share April 12, 2007 According to the guys at reefgeek.com, they told me 2" - 3" above the water. Mine is sitting around there. I have SPS growth on my sand bed in my 90g. With that said, I try to keep my SPS up higher. You have to be careful because some SPS don't like being up that high and they'll start to bleach or not grow very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC April 12, 2007 Share April 12, 2007 The seaswirl is a major blocker. I now have mine 7" above the water and can finally move my light rack out of the way when I need to get my hands in the tank. I don't really notice any difference from when I had them 4" up, but if I redesign my canopy it will be a flip top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezza April 13, 2007 Share April 13, 2007 Mine is about 6" above water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal April 13, 2007 Share April 13, 2007 4" to 6" is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcerna April 13, 2007 Author Share April 13, 2007 Thanks for the information on the height. I will try to get them at least 3-6 inches. david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandy7200 April 13, 2007 Share April 13, 2007 Mine are 6" up on my 7" deep frag tank. Frags growing fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeperofthefish April 13, 2007 Share April 13, 2007 This is kind of a mysterious one to answer... On my 75 I had my Aquactinics T5s about 2" off the water for a while and actually got better growth with them about 5" off the water. I switched to an IceCap-driven retrofit and have them about 4" off the water. I find this is about perfect. The really amazing T5 tanks I've seen online all have them about 3-5" off the surface of the water. Any closer and you probably run a risk of getting them real salty real quick. Another suggestion: remember to keep them fan-cooled, either pushing or pulling cooler air across them. This has been shown to significantly increase the PAR of T5s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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