t8 32w ge 2600 lumens light problem

Invertical · 07-19-2008, 10:22 PM

I'm trying to figure out what type of t8 bulbs would be the best to get for my 55 gal 4' beginner reef tank...I know I want one of them to be an acnitic bulb but I'm having trouble finding a good daylight bulb that is less than 2600 lumens since I'm pretty sure that is way too strong. At the LFS i've seen some sun-glo, power-glo ect.... for t8k setups, i'm just wondering what t8 lights would work the best as right now I can't afford t5's or MH... also when I added just one of the t8 bulbs and had my 2 18" actitic bulbs I got a serious hair algae outbreat...all my tests came out perfect, I understand that it is a cycle the tank goes through only being about 8 months old, but before I added the t8 light I never had an outbreak...I am also using ri/do water when I do my water changes as well...Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance

pharmrjohn · 07-19-2008, 10:55 PM

Dude, lighting is not my strong point, but I don't think t8's are going to work. I think the t8's are more for freshwater. The algae breakout is probably because of the lighting. I have PC's and am just starting to put in some hardy and very forgiving corals high in the tank. If you want to be successful, you will need t5's or MH. I am still trying to decide myself which one to get....and I am leaning toward MH while keeping one of my PC's for actinics. Your t8's just don't have the intensity needed to maintain a proper and healthy reef tank.

Wait for further posts. Again, lighting is not my strong point. I know only a little.

Invertical · 07-19-2008, 11:02 PM

I still thank you for the update.

phoenixhieghts · 07-20-2008, 09:54 AM

I agree - T8's will sustain nothing but a FOWLR

GuitarMan89 · 07-20-2008, 06:03 PM

Quote:

I want one of them to be an acnitic bulb but I'm having trouble finding a good daylight bulb that is less than 2600 lumens since I'm pretty sure that is way too strong.

Do you mean kelvin value? My T5 bulbs are about 35,000 lumens and that is not considered overkill. Besides the actinic, I have two 12,000K bulbs. A 2600K bulb would be a daylight bulb

homegrowncorals · 07-20-2008, 06:18 PM

This is one of those loaded topic's when you talk about lights, and i am in no means an expert on on lights. but in my tanks i have kept and grew simple soft corals with both the old t12's and t8's over the past years and have had no problems, but with that said they will grow faster and have better color under a more intense lighting such as t5's or mh.