The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

Anyone have any input? Need to order today, so any last second thoughts would be appreciated. Just two bulbs for softie growth. thanks

You're going to have a tough time with only two bulbs.

1 ati blue plus and 1 ati aquablue

[jbird0420]

I purchased the 60" 80wx8 ATI Sunpower for my 180g mixed reef.
I have 2x 250w mh's & 2x VHO actinic's I'm replacing. I currently have the MH's and VHO's mounted to the top of my canopy. Which is aprox 18" above the water line.

I was planning on mounting the fixture so it sits about 14" above the water line and move it down a few inches each week from there. I don't want to stress out the corals to bad nor fry them. Does this sound like a good plan of action???

I so excited! I cannot wait for this thing to finally arrive..!

Originally Posted by rtparty

Acclimate your corals properly so you don't fry them.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Just want to clarify this for people. Almost EVERY UVL bulb has red in it. The AquaSun, 75/25, Actinic White and Indigo Sun all have spikes of red in them. The Actinic White bulb is actually a pepto bismol pink to it. We were using that bulb for reds before KZ came out with the Fiji Purple. I even used the 75/25 to increase the red a little bit when needed.

I have used a majority of UVL bulbs and wouldn't use them again. They have low PAR and very poor quality control.

If you look at UL's advertised spectrum plots they do not show and red on any of there bulbs other than the Red and the Indigo. About 5 years ago I was able to run several of the UL bulbs on a spectrometer. The so called 10,000 K did not show any light in wavelenghts longer than 650 nm (orange), however the 14,000K showed a strong spike 760 nm (deep red).

I did get a second batch of 14,000K bulbs a year later and just visualy looking at them they did not seem like the same bulb. The later ones were more blue when put into a fixture next to the other ones that looked yellow.

Yes questionable quality control on these bulbs as well. I would have expected more red from a 10,000 K than from a 14,000 K. If not for the price I was able to get them, back then, I would not have bought them again. I did purchase them from a wholsaler that was discontinuing handling of these bulbs.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by rtparty

It is high output. All major T5 fixtures are high output.

No
T-5 refers to the diameter of the bulb being 5/8" as opposed to other sizes like T-8 = 1", and T-12 = 1 1/2"

The HO is a designation for the power the bulbls can handle for a 48" bulb this is ECO = 32 Watts, STD = 40 Watts, HO = 54 Watts, VHO = 110 Watts.

For Aquarium application STD and VHO were available untill the Compact Floresent bulbs came out. Then most suppliers and manufacturers dropped the special VHO bulbs in lew of the Compacts. Later they started making the specialty bulbs HO as well as STD.

On a comparison of the same bulb designs the VHO do produce more light than any of the others, however from an effeciency point the HO far exceeds the other three power styles.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

No
T-5 refers to the diameter of the bulb being 5/8" as opposed to other sizes like T-8 = 1", and T-12 = 1 1/2"

The HO is a designation for the power the bulbls can handle for a 48" bulb this is ECO = 32 Watts, STD = 40 Watts, HO = 54 Watts, VHO = 110 Watts.

For Aquarium application STD and VHO were available untill the Compact Floresent bulbs came out. Then most suppliers and manufacturers dropped the special VHO bulbs in lew of the Compacts. Later they started making the specialty bulbs HO as well as STD.

On a comparison of the same bulb designs the VHO do produce more light than any of the others, however from an effeciency point the HO far exceeds the other three power styles.

Uh, yes. Read the whole thing. I don't need a lesson on what T5, T8 or T12 stands for. I already know all of that.

The poster wanted to convert their ATI Powermodule to HO. I responded by saying that it is already HO like ALL the major T5 fixtures are in OUR hobby.

Also, how do you make the color orange? That is a sincere question too. I would like to know how you make "orange" light. I would assume you have to mix red and yellow light to make orange. Therefore if there is orange light there must be some red as well.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by jbird0420

I purchased the 60" 80wx8 ATI Sunpower for my 180g mixed reef.
I have 2x 250w mh's & 2x VHO actinic's I'm replacing. I currently have the MH's and VHO's mounted to the top of my canopy. Which is aprox 18" above the water line.

I was planning on mounting the fixture so it sits about 14" above the water line and move it down a few inches each week from there. I don't want to stress out the corals to bad nor fry them. Does this sound like a good plan of action???

I so excited! I cannot wait for this thing to finally arrive..!

Your idea looks good.

[jgraz]

Ok well my wife has put the kabosh on my 75 gal new years build. So that is out the window so I am going to convert my 20 gal high frag/ grow out tank to a SPS heavy nano. Right now I have a 120 watt LED fixture pretty much the Chinese fixture rebranded by Apollo LED. It has 30 3 watt blue and 25 3 watt white led. All run at 2 watts. We all know the fixture by now. I also have a current nova 4x24 watt fixture. Which should I go with. I'm also considering a Tek 4x24 and that would be the best way to go right. Sorry bout the led question here but figured I would post here because of the decision between T5 and led. Thanks in advance

[jstlsn]

I have been running the following setup over my 75 for about 4 years. I have gotten excellect growth and color from a lot of SPS. However, I have had some trouble keeping the color in some of the LPS (Acan, chalice, etc.). So, I am looking for a new bulb combination to get some of the great color back into my LPS and maintain the color in anything new I might purchase. I still plan on having plenty of SPS. Any suggestions?


Current Setup:
Tek Light 48" Retrofit: 6-54W T5 HO Fluorescents
Ice Cap reflectors
Icecap 430 Ballest overdriving 2 bulbs (see below)

Front
Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun (OD)
Blue Plus
GE 6500K (OD)
Blue Plus

Thanks
Brad

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Also, how do you make the color orange? That is a sincere question too. I would like to know how you make "orange" light. I would assume you have to mix red and yellow light to make orange. Therefore if there is orange light there must be some red as well.

This is getting down to scemantics and definitions which can vary. No Orange Light is not a mixture of red and yellow light. Light at specific frequnecies is a particular color so orange light could be considered any light at a wave lenght shorter tan 680 nm and still longer than 600 nm. Light at 600 nm is precevied as yellow and visable light at 480 nm or longer is preceived as red.

In reality the human eye is only sees red, green, and blue. Yellow is seen by the eye as equal amounts of red and green light then psyciologicialy considered yellow. But sice everyones rods in there eye are not identical what they preceive as yellow can vary.

Actualy I'll try to attach an old spectrum chart I got years ago to this message that shows the the light spectrum as we see it veses the photosyntetic chemicals in corals. It was part of someones Doctorate papers from the University of Florida about 10 years ago. Hopefully it will show up as I had to reduce its size.

I also founf years ago an interesting chart like this on coral florescense that I'l try to locate.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by jgraz

Ok well my wife has put the kabosh on my 75 gal new years build. So that is out the window so I am going to convert my 20 gal high frag/ grow out tank to a SPS heavy nano. Right now I have a 120 watt LED fixture pretty much the Chinese fixture rebranded by Apollo LED. It has 30 3 watt blue and 25 3 watt white led. All run at 2 watts. We all know the fixture by now. I also have a current nova 4x24 watt fixture. Which should I go with. I'm also considering a Tek 4x24 and that would be the best way to go right. Sorry bout the led question here but figured I would post here because of the decision between T5 and led. Thanks in advance

You will get mixed resposes probably on the LED set up. Historicaly LED's where very narrow spectrumed however some of the newer ones do have a wider spectrum. On a comparison of light emmitted per watt of power used they are the most effecient. So to me the issue ifs finding that perfect balance with LED's. Ususaly it a combination of Blues, Royal Blues and Whites in the correct ratio.

For the T-5's you I do not think the you will get enough light with the 2 bulb system unless the corals are realy near the top of the tank and you have your light fixture realy close to the water level. The 4 bulb fixture about the least I'd consider for a 20 gallon high tank. With the tank dimensions I doubt it that you could use a 6 bulb fixture.

For bulbs my recomendation would be ATI bulbs 2 Blue Plus, one Purple Plus, and the final bulbs would be either an Aquablue Special or one of the fuller spectrum bulbs dependent upon your personal taste in color.

[jgraz]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

For the T-5's you I do not think the you will get enough light with the 2 bulb system unless the corals are realy near the top of the tank and you have your light fixture realy close to the water level. The 4 bulb fixture about the least I'd consider for a 20 gallon high tank. With the tank dimensions I doubt it that you could use a 6 bulb fixture.

I would not even consider a 2 bulb fixture. I might get the 4x24 TEK fixture. Not sure yet. I already have a Current Nova 4x24 but I realize that it does not compare to the TEK. Also The ATI fixture would both fit with 6 bulbs but I think that would be overkill IMO, plus the cost would kill me.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by jgraz

Ok well my wife has put the kabosh on my 75 gal new years build. So that is out the window so I am going to convert my 20 gal high frag/ grow out tank to a SPS heavy nano. Right now I have a 120 watt LED fixture pretty much the Chinese fixture rebranded by Apollo LED. It has 30 3 watt blue and 25 3 watt white led. All run at 2 watts. We all know the fixture by now. I also have a current nova 4x24 watt fixture. Which should I go with. I'm also considering a Tek 4x24 and that would be the best way to go right. Sorry bout the led question here but figured I would post here because of the decision between T5 and led. Thanks in advance

Run the LED's bu8t pick up An exotic stunner strip to run with it,. They have a magenta/blue mix that should make the chinese unit give great color

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by jstlsn

I have been running the following setup over my 75 for about 4 years. I have gotten excellect growth and color from a lot of SPS. However, I have had some trouble keeping the color in some of the LPS (Acan, chalice, etc.). So, I am looking for a new bulb combination to get some of the great color back into my LPS and maintain the color in anything new I might purchase. I still plan on having plenty of SPS. Any suggestions?


Current Setup:
Tek Light 48" Retrofit: 6-54W T5 HO Fluorescents
Ice Cap reflectors
Icecap 430 Ballest overdriving 2 bulbs (see below)

Front
Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun (OD)
Blue Plus
GE 6500K (OD)
Blue Plus

Thanks
Brad

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
KZ New Gen
Blue Plus

Use the two overdriven lamps as your daylight pair.

[jgraz]

Thanks Grim. Would you get 2 12" strips and attach to the fixture or one 24" fixture and affix to front or back of tank. If I go with 2 12" would they both be magenta/blue

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by jgraz

Thanks Grim. Would you get 2 12" strips and attach to the fixture or one 24" fixture and affix to front or back of tank. If I go with 2 12" would they both be magenta/blue

Whatever makes the most sense as far as mounting it.

[jgraz]

Thx again. Hijack over.

[jgraz]

Back to the t5's. I have a 24" current nova 4 bulb on my 44 gal corner pentagon. My current array is Blue+
KZ purple
Aquablue
Blue+
Should I stick with this or is there an advantage to the new generation. The tank houses some LPS and Zoos mainly though I do have a orange cap and green slimmer acro way up top.

[barney1215]

Hey Grim. Just picked up a 10 bulb 80 watt ati powermodule for sps dominant tank. What bulb conf. would you go with. I like a bluer look also.

[garygb]

Dumb question: I just received my ATI Sunpower fixture. I'm embarrassed to ask this, but admittedly, I'm not very handy so here goes, how do I get the "cable gripper" to release so I can lower the fixture. The gripper does a great job at preventing the fixture from dropping, but I have it too high and need to lower it. I've tried angling the cable in the hole of the gripper, I've even tried turning the cable in an attempt to "screw" it up through the gripper--nothing.

Thanks in advance,
Gary

[AugustWest]

Press the little button in on top of the hanger

[garygb]

Duh. I figured it out. I should have fiddled with it a few minutes longer to realized if I press down on the top part of the grabber it causes it to release. Maybe for us "unmechanically" inclined, the User's Manual should mention how to get the grabber to release. C'est la vie.

[garygb]

: ) Thank you August, I appreciate the quick reply.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by jgraz

Back to the t5's. I have a 24" current nova 4 bulb on my 44 gal corner pentagon. My current array is Blue+
KZ purple
Aquablue
Blue+
Should I stick with this or is there an advantage to the new generation. The tank houses some LPS and Zoos mainly though I do have a orange cap and green slimmer acro way up top.

It realy depends a lot of how you like the color. I think your combo now work good for your corals however there is that personal taste. You definatly want to keep you 2 blue plus bulbs. The Aqua Blue is a matter of color preference. You could try a New Gen in its place to see if you like that better clor wise. Simularly you could try an ATI purple instead of the KZ purple but it realy a lot of what you like. Do you want to reduce the blue or increase the blue?

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by barney1215

Hey Grim. Just picked up a 10 bulb 80 watt ati powermodule for sps dominant tank. What bulb conf. would you go with. I like a bluer look also.

I love the idea of 10 bulbs it realy gives you the option to tune the light to your eye without giving any thing up.

On your dawn to dusk two bulbs I'd say you have two options that is both ATI Blue Plus or an ATI Blue Plus with a Purple.

Now for the Mid Day 8 bulbs you can be much more creative. If you went with the 2 blue plus bulbs in the dawn to dusk than you want to add a purple here. Then add two full spectrum bulbs basicly of your choice from the aqua blue, New Generation, or even a 6,500K. Mix and/or match these two bulbs for your personal color taste. Then the remaining 5 or 6 slots would get additional ATI Blue Plus bulbs.

[mginn]

When a coral or clam is rated as requiring intense lighting how is this determined ? Is that strictly a total par rating. Very confused as to how wavelength, kelvin temperature and par values are related. Thanks for any help.