HO flourescent suggestions

[vio]

Im looking into adding two HO lights across the back of the canopy of my 55 gallon tank. I have never done anything with HO lighting before but lately i have been looking at all the kits available and how inexpensive it is to simply build in some HO bulbs. Any suggestions on sizes of bulbs ( t5, t8 t10..??) and for what reason would you recommend this size? Im looking for something that will stretch the entire 48" of the canopy and give me the most wattage. Also are reflectors necessary or do the bulbs that are whited out on one side work just fine? Also anyone ever do this will supplies from a lighting company instead of a kit from a fish store? they are much more inexpensive for what appears to be the same supplies. also do HO flourescents use the same end caps as regular flouros? any help or opinions are greatly appreciated. If anyone has pictures of a similar build pictures would be even more appreciated.

[Steve McKay]

This is your old friend,I'm going to T-5 HO I suggest the same.Use German individual reflectors and either ATI or Giesemann bulbs.

[vio]

Thanks for the advice steve, but for what reasons to you recommend t5 over a t8 or t10? also do you know anything about end caps and if they are the same for HO as they are for normal output?

[Steve McKay]

Well Vio,you have a 48"tank.A 48"T8=32watt 1"Dia.,T12=40watt 1.5"Dia.,T5=54watt 5/8"Dia.T5 has more watts than the other lamps,and the light is more intense.T5 is 5/8"in dia.which allows you to place more lamps in the same space also the thinner a lamp is the more efficient it is.There are people that have MH lighting that are moving to T5 lighting.MH lighting supplemented with T5 might be the best for deep tanks and possibly all tanks discounting the price,heat and energy cost.I don't know if you went with a DSB or not but if you did that means your tank is not very deep like mine.T5 will grow almost everything or everything at this depth,Of course you will still have to place the most light demanding corals higher in the aquarium.The two most important pieces of equipment are a skimmer and lightig,don't skimp on these two items.My pc lighting would have worked for me considering my water depth,but I felt T5 would be better.Don't make the same mistake I did,get T5.To be honest I don't
know a thing about end caps or such equipment except that I did make my own VHO lighting for my 125 years ago with 3-6'lamps.

[vio]

thanks for the info steve i appreciate it. t5 will definitely be my goal. also i did go with a dsb. i got about 3-4 inches of live aragonite sand now. i hope this is enough. it doesnt really change my depth too much though because i like the bottom of my base rocks buried in the sand for a more natural look.

[Steve McKay]

First lets see some photos.3"to4"is better,with that in mind,I would say that the rocks are just slightly buried.That will compact the sand,if you don't have a lot of rock that way it's ok.If you do or your going to add more rock(corals come attached to rock)you should probably move them gently back and fourth until there on or near the bottom. Then you can add more if you want,possibly stacking some to make a interesting configuration.You don't have to stack to have a nice looking tank,what looks good to you is what counts.If you go to my build thread you will see how I put together my new 50,you will see that I put a thin layer of sand down on egg crate to even out the load of all the rock I was going to use 100lb.The thin layer of sand was to help fill in under the rocks.I put the foundation rocks were I knew I wanted my top layer or display rocks to be.Then I put 5"of sand in,and the rest of the rock.The build thread shows all of this.Just make sure not to put in to much rock,leave room for rocks with corals some corals come on big rocks.I almost have to much but I will be using mostly small frags.