The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[iluvclowns]

Hey Grim, I am in the process of doing a 60 cube build mixed reef 60% LPS and zoas 40% SPS. I was looking at the ATI 6x24w and 8x24w which one is going to be my best option. Will they both give me enough par to grow and maintain my Rainbow acans and rainbow wellso on the sand bed considering the tank is 24 inches Deep? Also, will they be powerful enough to adequately grow sps and allow them to keep the vivid rich coloration vs looking washed out. Im a lover of color I just want to be sure my coral maintain or gain color.
thank you so much.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by iluvclowns

Hey Grim, I am in the process of doing a 60 cube build mixed reef 60% LPS and zoas 40% SPS. I was looking at the ATI 6x24w and 8x24w which one is going to be my best option. Will they both give me enough par to grow and maintain my Rainbow acans and rainbow wellso on the sand bed considering the tank is 24 inches Deep? Also, will they be powerful enough to adequately grow sps and allow them to keep the vivid rich coloration vs looking washed out. Im a lover of color I just want to be sure my coral maintain or gain color.
thank you so much.

PM and a post.........

If you have a lot of Acans I'd do 6 lamps so they don't get as much light, If that cube is more than 24 inches front to back go with 8

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by gibbus123

Hi mr Reefer, how would it be best to arrange the replacement bulbs of 6 t5 14k(marine white) and 2 420nm(marine blue) bulbs to get a bluish look? Or should I make it a 4 white 4 blue combination?

I have a 42" x24" x 24"tall SPS dominated tank.

Is there any chance you can get some 250 nm atinic bulbs like ATI's Blue Plus bulbs? These would be a much better mix with your (marine white bulbs which are probably 10,000K bulbs. The prefered combo would then be two of each. The 10,000K bulbs produce a lot of light in the red and yellow end of the spectrum and going with 3 or 4 of them would be just too much.

Corals like a lot of light in the range from 420nm to about 470nm which is in the BLUE range and a little light in the yellow and red range. Execessive light in the red range can actualy cause more problems than actualy no light in that range.

The 420 nm atinic Blues are going back to old school where it was thaught that those were the only blue frequencies corals utalized. However modern research found corals use virtualy many different band widths of light in the blue range. Also limiting the blue light to just the 420 nm range is not the most pleasing to the eye as it on the outer edge of the eyes sensetivity range and will always look much dimmer to the naked eye that it actualy is.

[The Grim Reefer]

420 aren't the same as Blue Plus, they are true actinics, not a bunch of PAR there.

[beachbreak]

I'm going to be running 3 ai sol blues on a 6' tank and a 2 bulb T5 retro fit on either side of the sols (4 bulbs total). What would you recommend in the T5s? I'm looking for color and a little extra punch with the T5s.

Thanks!

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by lisajulia

Disclaimer: I am not at all techie or the DIY type. I have a 72gl bowfront that's 21" deep and 17" from the back of the tank across to the bowfront. It has a 48" JBJ fixture that has been running 65w cf for about 7-8yrs. The plexiglass that covers the bulbs has cracked. I have mostly fish and some softies. I want to upgrade my lights and am not at all up to date on the new technology. I am drowning in lighting threads and my brain hurts.
Do i need to get an entirely new fixture to upgrade to better lights? I was looking at this: http://www.marinedepot.com/Coralife_...FIT54U-vi.html I want to be able to put more corals into the tank. I really want to add some ricordia and other very colorful coral to the tank but don't want to kill them with the lousy lights i have now. My mushrooms are doing 'okay' as are my polyps but i really want to expand. All thoughts appreciated..but as i said, i am 'older' and not very techie and the not well-versed in the terminology. THANKS!

The JBJ lights you are using I'm very aware of as when I had my store and these lights first came out they suposedly were the end all of aquarium lighting. People were astonished on how these compact florescent lights prodiced more light than the standard florescent lights. Then the truth came out that even though they were brighter you were lucky to get 60% of there light into your tank because of the difficulty in designing an effecient reflector system with the shape of those light bulbs.

I do not think that the coral life fixtures are the best of the HO T-5 fixtures out there today. Again it is in the reflector design however they are a leap in the right direction compared to the best of the old Compact design. With a well designed HO T-5 fixture you will be able to keep virtualy any type of coral using 6 54 Watt bulbs and be getting much more light than if your running 8 65 watt Compacts.

I know if I were purchasing a new fixture today I'd strongly consider ATI's fixtures. You can find some lesser expensive fixtures out there but you may have to go to an 8 bulb fixture to get the same light which you be getting with any of the Quality 6 Bulb fixtures.

For bulb selection you realy want at least half of your bulbs to be simular to the Blue Plus bulbs with a major peak at around 450 nm. Most people will use 4 bulbs like this in a 6 bulb fixture with only 1 full spectrum bulb, and one purple bulb.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by beachbreak

I'm going to be running 3 ai sol blues on a 6' tank and a 2 bulb T5 retro fit on either side of the sols (4 bulbs total). What would you recommend in the T5s? I'm looking for color and a little extra punch with the T5s.

Thanks!

I'd do a 50/50 mix of Blue Plus and Purple Plus

[iluvclowns]

yea sorry about the double post I didnt realize there was a thread. the tank is exactly 24in from to back. so you would stick with the 6 bulb?

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

PM and a post.........

If you have a lot of Acans I'd do 6 lamps so they don't get as much light, If that cube is more than 24 inches front to back go with 8

[Froggy]

Ok, I ordered a 8 X 54 watt Tek T5 for my 120. I ordered the leg brackets and acrylic splash shield. Since the Tek is not actively cooled I am becoming concerned about heat hurting performace of the bulbs.

Grim, I read on your T5 QA site http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/home/ that the shield can hurt the performace of non cooled T5 units like the Tek and help with the cooled units. I am pretty concerned about salt spray and have had a heck of a time with this on my 2 bulb retro supplement to halides that I am now replacing with the new Tek. The reflectors on the uncovered retro are pretty sad from salt spray and have not been able to be cleaned well.

How much will the splash shield hurt me ( Tek )? Is there a way I could cool the label end of the bulbs with a clip on fan and use the splash shield too?

The bulbs I ordered to go along with the Tek are ( 5 ) Blue Plus, ( 2 ) Purple Plus, and a GE 6500.

Thanks,
Joe

[lisajulia]

Oh well...guess i messed up...i really wanted to get something this weekend and i did go and order the coralife 4 bulb fixture. I wanted something that i could just set up right out of the box. Am i still going to be able to change the bulbs to put something in besides the stock lights or am i stuck? I have no idea what alternate/better bulbs would fit inside this fixture. Where can i get that information? THANKS!

[commodore]

Grim-Would appreciate suggestions for 2 t-5 bulbs for fish only tank. Want to enhance fish colors and create pleasant overall look for tank-not too blue or purple. Thanks

[m1nh0h]

My tanks is a 29 gallon tank (30Lx12Wx18H). I will have a mixed reef tank mainly sps.
From what I've seen so far here is the light combo I have in mind.
Front
Ati blue plus
Ati purpLe plus
Ati blue plus
Ati purple plus

What light fixture would you recommend? The problem is that I can't hang the fixture so it would have to either rest on the glass or have mounting legs. Any suggestions on the fixture or lamp combo?

[ahud]

Hey Grim,

First up thanks for being such a great resource, I tried finding my answer on my own, but I either missed it or the question has not been asked.

I have a 72"x18"x16" tank. I originally wanted to go FOWLR, but considering how much corals add to the look I want to add in a few fast spreading softies.

What kind of lighting would you do for zoas, GSP and mushrooms? I'm just looking for decent growth and color while saving as much coin as possible. The coral is secondary to the fish.

Thanks a lot!
Aaron

[gibbus123]

Thanks for replying, the marine whites are marketed as 14k but look like pinkish to me.
This wagon the websiteof Arcadia for marine whites



I'll be getting some Marine blues


The mixed white and blue is not available but the LFS here has some china aqua blue knock offs. I'm just not sure if it's any good. My fixture originally contained ATI bulbs but it's no longer available here
http://reefcentral.com/forums/images.../headwally.gif

Do you think these bulbs would work? Or should I go Change to MH entirely?

Originally Posted by TropTrea

Is there any chance you can get some 250 nm atinic bulbs like ATI's Blue Plus bulbs? These would be a much better mix with your (marine white bulbs which are probably 10,000K bulbs. The prefered combo would then be two of each. The 10,000K bulbs produce a lot of light in the red and yellow end of the spectrum and going with 3 or 4 of them would be just too much.

Corals like a lot of light in the range from 420nm to about 470nm which is in the BLUE range and a little light in the yellow and red range. Execessive light in the red range can actualy cause more problems than actualy no light in that range.

The 420 nm atinic Blues are going back to old school where it was thaught that those were the only blue frequencies corals utalized. However modern research found corals use virtualy many different band widths of light in the blue range. Also limiting the blue light to just the 420 nm range is not the most pleasing to the eye as it on the outer edge of the eyes sensetivity range and will always look much dimmer to the naked eye that it actualy is.

[ken6217]

I finally received my 6 bulb Powermodule that took the place of my 4 bulb one in my predominantly SPS tank.

I am running back to front (with #2 and #4 being dawn/dusk):

Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
GE 6500
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

Looks very nice when running 6 bulbs. When running only four bulbs it takes on a different color with Blue Plus, Purple Plus, GE 6500, Blue Plus.

I run it for a few hours a day with 4 bulbs and a few with 6 bulbs for now until everything is acclimated.

A couple of questions.

1. Is the PAR and spectrum good enough when running those 4 bulbs?
2. Should I keep it that way or move the Purple Plus to the #2 position and make that part of the dawn/dusk 2 bulb combo. This will then give the 4 bulb combo of 3 Blue Plus and one GE 6500?

Thanks,
Ken

[FranktheTankTx]

Grim & Ryan -

Short & sweet -

(8) 54w T5 Retro fit

Front
Blue Plus
True Actinic
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
GE 6500k
Blue Plus
KZ New Gen
Blue Plus

Nice color, PAR & bulb placement? Of course I can wire it to have the bulbs paired correctly for timer function. Assuming I will get between 14-20k with this set up depending on when the 6500k bulb comes on. Might even play with the combination with a few extra bulbs... Maybe swap out the 6500k for a 2nd New Gen. I'll grab a few extras...

Mainly questioning the bulb placement for consistent color. Sound good?

[dmpeyton]

Grim,

I'm sorry to pile on another question! I am considering my options for lighting my standard 55 gallon (48L x 12W x 21H). I would like to be able to keep pretty much anything in it. A power module is out of my reach so here are the candidates:

Nova Extreme Pro 48 in, 6x54 (I would change out the stock bulbs one at a time)
Tek 48 in, 4x54 with ati bulbs
Ice Cap 48 in, 4x54 retro kit with a 660 ballast (I already have a canopy)

I was leaning towards the Nova because it will fit perfectly and has six bulbs. Will the crappy reflectors offset the benefit of two extra bulbs? I can't hang a fixture, so I'd have to get the mounting legs for the Tek. I'm a little worried about salt spray damage to the reflectors if I go with the Ice Cap, and I would have to change out the bulbs more often. So much to consider! I think the cost of each would come out about the same (around $400) so it's really a matter of what would work best. I have learned so much from your website, but I was hoping to get your expert opinion. Thanks for all your help!

[TropTrea]

Lisa your in luck as to the fact that virtualy all High Output T-5 bulbs are interchangable based on there lenght.

My suggestion for you would changing out one of the Atinic Bulbs and one of the 10,000K Bulbs and replaceing them both with ATI's Blue Plus bulbs. Then roughly 6 months from now replace the other two original bulbs with an ATI Purle Plus on your dawn to dusk circuit, and an ATO Aqua Blue Special on the mid day cycle.

With oly 4 tubes you may not have enough light for some of the SPS corals unless you position them very close to the lights themselves.

Originally Posted by lisajulia

Oh well...guess i messed up...i really wanted to get something this weekend and i did go and order the coralife 4 bulb fixture. I wanted something that i could just set up right out of the box. Am i still going to be able to change the bulbs to put something in besides the stock lights or am i stuck? I have no idea what alternate/better bulbs would fit inside this fixture. Where can i get that information? THANKS!

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by iluvclowns

yea sorry about the double post I didnt realize there was a thread. the tank is exactly 24in from to back. so you would stick with the 6 bulb?

yes

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by Froggy

Ok, I ordered a 8 X 54 watt Tek T5 for my 120. I ordered the leg brackets and acrylic splash shield. Since the Tek is not actively cooled I am becoming concerned about heat hurting performace of the bulbs.

Grim, I read on your T5 QA site http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/home/ that the shield can hurt the performace of non cooled T5 units like the Tek and help with the cooled units. I am pretty concerned about salt spray and have had a heck of a time with this on my 2 bulb retro supplement to halides that I am now replacing with the new Tek. The reflectors on the uncovered retro are pretty sad from salt spray and have not been able to be cleaned well.

How much will the splash shield hurt me ( Tek )? Is there a way I could cool the label end of the bulbs with a clip on fan and use the splash shield too?

The bulbs I ordered to go along with the Tek are ( 5 ) Blue Plus, ( 2 ) Purple Plus, and a GE 6500.

Thanks,
Joe

If you just gotta have a splash shield get a clip on fan and blow it against the back center edge of the fixture, from above a little if you can. It should force air through the cooling vents on the fixture and help a little.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by lisajulia

Oh well...guess i messed up...i really wanted to get something this weekend and i did go and order the coralife 4 bulb fixture. I wanted something that i could just set up right out of the box. Am i still going to be able to change the bulbs to put something in besides the stock lights or am i stuck? I have no idea what alternate/better bulbs would fit inside this fixture. Where can i get that information? THANKS!

As long as it's the HO T5 fixture you should be fine with any of the other lamps.

I'd do 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 Purple Plus and 1 KZ New Generation.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by ahud

Hey Grim,

First up thanks for being such a great resource, I tried finding my answer on my own, but I either missed it or the question has not been asked.

I have a 72"x18"x16" tank. I originally wanted to go FOWLR, but considering how much corals add to the look I want to add in a few fast spreading softies.

What kind of lighting would you do for zoas, GSP and mushrooms? I'm just looking for decent growth and color while saving as much coin as possible. The coral is secondary to the fish.

Thanks a lot!
Aaron

There are 4x80 watt fixtures that are 60" long that would work. Tek and U think Aquatic life build them for sure. One of those would be fine.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by gibbus123

Thanks for replying, the marine whites are marketed as 14k but look like pinkish to me.
This wagon the websiteof Arcadia for marine whites



I'll be getting some Marine blues


The mixed white and blue is not available but the LFS here has some china aqua blue knock offs. I'm just not sure if it's any good. My fixture originally contained ATI bulbs but it's no longer available here
http://reefcentral.com/forums/images.../headwally.gif

Do you think these bulbs would work? Or should I go Change to MH entirely?

The marine Blues with a couple of the whites should look pretty good

[TropTrea]

I'm assuming budget is why are not considering an ATI, Tex, or IceCap 6 bulb fixture. Yes the Nova fixture with 6 bulbs will give you more light than any of the 4 bulb fixtures. You would have to have a loss of 33% more light with the 6 bulb fixture to fall behind with the extra bulbs. Now if your comparing 8 bult to 6 bulb fixtures it is only a 25% loss to equalize out and between the cheapest and the best with individual reflectors for each bulb come very close to that difference.

Originally Posted by dmpeyton

Grim,

I'm sorry to pile on another question! I am considering my options for lighting my standard 55 gallon (48L x 12W x 21H). I would like to be able to keep pretty much anything in it. A power module is out of my reach so here are the candidates:

Nova Extreme Pro 48 in, 6x54 (I would change out the stock bulbs one at a time)
Tek 48 in, 4x54 with ati bulbs
Ice Cap 48 in, 4x54 retro kit with a 660 ballast (I already have a canopy)

I was leaning towards the Nova because it will fit perfectly and has six bulbs. Will the crappy reflectors offset the benefit of two extra bulbs? I can't hang a fixture, so I'd have to get the mounting legs for the Tek. I'm a little worried about salt spray damage to the reflectors if I go with the Ice Cap, and I would have to change out the bulbs more often. So much to consider! I think the cost of each would come out about the same (around $400) so it's really a matter of what would work best. I have learned so much from your website, but I was hoping to get your expert opinion. Thanks for all your help!

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by ken6217

I finally received my 6 bulb Powermodule that took the place of my 4 bulb one in my predominantly SPS tank.

I am running back to front (with #2 and #4 being dawn/dusk):

Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
GE 6500
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

Looks very nice when running 6 bulbs. When running only four bulbs it takes on a different color with Blue Plus, Purple Plus, GE 6500, Blue Plus.

I run it for a few hours a day with 4 bulbs and a few with 6 bulbs for now until everything is acclimated.

A couple of questions.

1. Is the PAR and spectrum good enough when running those 4 bulbs?
2. Should I keep it that way or move the Purple Plus to the #2 position and make that part of the dawn/dusk 2 bulb combo. This will then give the 4 bulb combo of 3 Blue Plus and one GE 6500?

Thanks,
Ken

Spectrum is fine. Try the PP in the dusl/dawn and see what YOU think. I personally like the look but it isn't for everyone.