ultimatemj
Active member
The tank is a 55g with center internal overflow and return.
Because of the shallow hood keeping the fixtures close to the water, I need more fixtures to get a somewhat even distribution of PAR. The T5 bulbs front and rear were added a while back to "fill" the tank with light, but that forces the middle led fixture to be partially blocked by the overflow and the 2 line-loc returns...making it have to run higher power and still getting lower PAR in the middle of the tank.
View attachment 17396View attachment 17395
The total wattage running is very high from a napkin math perspective (2 T5s @ 54w = 108w, 2 90W AI26s @ 57% = 103w, 1 90w AI hydra @ 75% = 68w, total 279w...which is ~ 5w/gal). The PAR numbers showing "hot" under the AI26s make me think the T5s need to be replaced...they are 4month old ATI blue+ bulbs....which may lead to turning down the AI26s intensity.
Thoughts? Would you be happy with this or are there changes you would make?
Because of the shallow hood keeping the fixtures close to the water, I need more fixtures to get a somewhat even distribution of PAR. The T5 bulbs front and rear were added a while back to "fill" the tank with light, but that forces the middle led fixture to be partially blocked by the overflow and the 2 line-loc returns...making it have to run higher power and still getting lower PAR in the middle of the tank.
View attachment 17396View attachment 17395
The total wattage running is very high from a napkin math perspective (2 T5s @ 54w = 108w, 2 90W AI26s @ 57% = 103w, 1 90w AI hydra @ 75% = 68w, total 279w...which is ~ 5w/gal). The PAR numbers showing "hot" under the AI26s make me think the T5s need to be replaced...they are 4month old ATI blue+ bulbs....which may lead to turning down the AI26s intensity.
Thoughts? Would you be happy with this or are there changes you would make?