T5 lights: How high above water?

[djcerna]

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

[jamal]

well i dont have my t5's yet but others i have talked to have generally said pretty low like 2-4"

[jason the filter freak]

How deep is your tank?

[djcerna]

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

[HowardofNOVA]

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.

[rioreef]

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.

[Black Mammoth]

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.

[bigJPDC]

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.

[altezza]

Mine is about 6" above water

[YBeNormal]

4" to 6" is great.

[djcerna]

Thanks for the information on the height. I will try to get them at least 3-6 inches.

david

[dandy7200]

Mine are 6" up on my 7" deep frag tank. Frags growing fast

[keeperofthefish]

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.