The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by gsxunv04

Hello all, I am getting motivated to refresh my tank and am starting with lighting first.
I need help on a new 6 bulb setup. Looking to run the following(all bulbs ATI):

Blue+
Blue+
Aquablue Special
True Actinic
Blue+
Blue+

I would like to go with one of the new Coral+ bulbs, but not sure if I should switch it for the AB Special or what. Would you consider adding a Purple+ over any of these? Going for a blue look with high PAR values.

Also, I need new IDR's. I currently have Tek2's, but they have pitted over the years. Was wanting to replace them with the ReefGeek brand, I hear good things about them, but cant find them for sale. Any leads on them or the ATI reflectors?

Sorry if any of this info has been recently posted ITT. Thanks in advance.

Hey can you post pics of your reflectors?
The TEK fixtures use very wide reflectors compared to ATI and perhaps even let but you should be checking these dimensions yourself to make sure they will fit or easily be modified to fit.
One thing about cleaning reflectors- use warm water and a lens cleaning cloth or something like that. Do not use paper towel or a wash cloth or abrasive chemicals, warm water with a 5% vinegar solution goes a long way. The silver coating on ATI reflectors will get stripped from improper cleaning.
Post pics and show us how bad they are and I want also want to know if your cooling the bulbs properly.

The LET clip style reflectors are only 1% more reflective than TEK reflectors so I doubt it is worth the expense and hassle, cooling your bulbs is where its at. 98% silver coated reflectors will help a little but not as much as you might think, even if the have some pitting.
I would keep them clean and cool the bulbs' cold spots (where the manufacturer's label is printed on the bulbs.)
Place all the bulbs in the same way and have a small fan blowing slowly down on the end where the bulb labels are.just enough cool air to blow into the vents of the fixture where the label ends of the bulbs are.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

Hey can you post pics of your reflectors?
The TEK fixtures use very wide reflectors compared to ATI and perhaps even let but you should be checking these dimensions yourself to make sure they will fit or easily be modified to fit.
One thing about cleaning reflectors- use warm water and a lens cleaning cloth or something like that. Do not use paper towel or a wash cloth or abrasive chemicals, warm water with a 5% vinegar solution goes a long way. The silver coating on ATI reflectors will get stripped from improper cleaning.
Post pics and show us how bad they are and I want also want to know if your cooling the bulbs properly.

The LET clip style reflectors are only 1% more reflective than TEK reflectors so I doubt it is worth the expense and hassle, cooling your bulbs is where its at. 98% silver coated reflectors will help a little but not as much as you might think, even if the have some pitting.
I would keep them clean and cool the bulbs' cold spots (where the manufacturer's label is printed on the bulbs.)
Place all the bulbs in the same way and have a small fan blowing slowly down on the end where the bulb labels are.just enough cool air to blow into the vents of the fixture where the label ends of the bulbs are.

Unless I'm reading things wrong, the LET reflectors are almost 50% better than Tek. I wish I had Grims numbers handy to show it.

[gsxunv04]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

Yrs reefgeek carries them.

Are up cooling your TEK with a small fan? That is you'll get the most out of your T5's.

Yes I have two fans built into my hood. I guess the pitting isn't as bad as I thought. I will clean them with the vinegar solution as mentioned and go from there. Thanks for the help guys...
For the Bulbs I will go with 4 Blue+, a Coral + and a Purple +. Think that will look good?

These pics are when I first put the retrofit kit on the tank.
Original Bulbs setup, now running the setup listed earlier in thread.


Pics of fans


Top of the reflectors(Tek2) to show spacing


Obligatory FTS pre-crash(I will rebuild! :'()

[SPotter]

I put up my new fixtures yesterday.... 6x80w and 4x80w sun power's. These things push out a lot of light. Here's my bulb combination in order of placement

C+
B+
B+
C+
B+
P+
C+
B+
C+
B+

I would like some help with tweaking it a little bit. I have noticed that some of the colors on my fish are washed out during the dusk/dawn periods with just all B+ running and during peak hours the tank is very very white so I would like to add a little more blue during those hours.

Here are some things I am thinking about doing but please make suggestions or tell me where I might be wrong....

1) get a 60" reefbrite blue strip and place it between the two fixtures

or

2) replace one of the C+ with an actinic bulb and swap positions 1 and 2. This would would put a C+ on the dawn/dusk cycle.

or

3) your suggestions???????

TIA!

[Michigan Mike]

Swap a coral plus & blue plus around so you have a coral plus in the dawn/dusk channel & a blue plus in your midday channel.
You could add a purple plus to your dawn/dusk as well and see if you like that.

[cyberfox2200]

I did front to back
blue+
Purple+
blue+
blue+
aquablue special
blue+ it looks awesome corals like it as well

[cyberfox2200]

Originally Posted by cyberfox2200

I did front to back
blue+
Purple+
blue+
blue+
aquablue special
blue+ it looks awesome corals like it as well

[cyberfox2200]

just to let everyone no Home depot has 4ft t5ho 2 lamp strips for 40 bucks I built a 6 tube fixture with them works good. the best part was the lady only rang up 2 of them even after I insisted that she forgot one she said no I didn't so I got 3 for 80 bucks. lol.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Unless I'm reading things wrong, the LET reflectors are almost 50% better than Tek. I wish I had Grims numbers handy to show it.

I thought we where talking about the TEK fixture @ first, with 95% reflective reflectors.
The TEK 2 reflectors are 96% and so are LET reflectors so there isn't much difference between them.

[GSMguy]

The percentage of reflection given refer to the material not the design (shape) of the reflector. The reason why the ATI reflectors are so much better when tested is the shape.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

I thought we where talking about the TEK fixture @ first, with 95% reflective reflectors.
The TEK 2 reflectors are 96% and so are LET reflectors so there isn't much difference between them.

As gsm said, reflectivity isn't all that important. The Tek reflectors don't have the greatest design and they are too big.

ATI and LET reflectors will put down about 50% more light than the Tek stuff.

[tegee]

Originally Posted by rtparty

As gsm said, reflectivity isn't all that important. The Tek reflectors don't have the greatest design and they are too big.

ATI and LET reflectors will put down about 50% more light than the Tek stuff.

To those that have experience MODing a Tek fixture......I have an 8-bulb Tek Elite. How can I MOD fixture to get better output? Can you switch out the reflectors? If so, which ones do you buy? Or am I stuck with what I got?

It is lighting my 45-gl frag tank, so it is not that big of a deal, but if I can upgrade it I would like to know how.

Many thanks in advance..........

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by tegee

To those that have experience MODing a Tek fixture......I have an 8-bulb Tek Elite. How can I MOD fixture to get better output? Can you switch out the reflectors? If so, which ones do you buy? Or am I stuck with what I got?

It is lighting my 45-gl frag tank, so it is not that big of a deal, but if I can upgrade it I would like to know how.

Many thanks in advance..........

The best way to improve the output is to change out the ballasts. Tek uses workhorse ballasts which fall 15-20% behind spec T5 ballasts. Other than that it isn't really worth all the trouble in my opinion.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by rtparty

As gsm said, reflectivity isn't all that important. The Tek reflectors don't have the greatest design and they are too big.

ATI and LET reflectors will put down about 50% more light than the Tek stuff.

Reflectivity is very important!

You guys are over exaggerating to make a point.

The TEK II & elite reflectors are a little wider and spread the light a little farther than ATI but when you properly cool a TEK fixture it competes very competitively with a ATI Sunpower, if you used equal ballasts they become nearly equal.

Properly cooled bulbs in TEK reflectors are some of the best out there, especially the TEK II.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by rtparty

The best way to improve the output is to change out the ballasts. Tek uses workhorse ballasts which fall 15-20% behind spec T5 ballasts. Other than that it isn't really worth all the trouble in my opinion.

The best thing to do is cool the fixture, this will get you the biggest increase in PAR, bulb life, and help cool the ballasts.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

Reflectivity is very important!

You guys are over exaggerating to make a point.

The TEK II & elite reflectors are a little wider and spread the light a little farther than ATI but when you properly cool a TEK fixture it competes very competitively with a ATI Sunpower, if you used equal ballasts they become nearly equal.

Properly cooled bulbs in TEK reflectors are some of the best out there, especially the TEK II.

Actually I'm not exaggerating at all. If reflectivity is so important, than why do you see almost no gain when going from old, pitted reflectors to brand new reflectors? It is because shape and design is more important.

I will message grim and get the exact numbers from him. It was something to this effect:

ATI 37
LET 36
Ice cap 30ish
Tek 22

Tek reflectors aren't the greatest.

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

The best thing to do is cool the fixture, this will get you the biggest increase in PAR, bulb life, and help cool the ballasts.

Seeming that the Tek elite is already cooled, replacing the ballasts is your next best option.

[tegee]

Originally Posted by rtparty

The best way to improve the output is to change out the ballasts. Tek uses workhorse ballasts which fall 15-20% behind spec T5 ballasts. Other than that it isn't really worth all the trouble in my opinion.

Ryan....great info and thx for your reply.

Do you recommend a ballast that is compatible with Tek Elite?

Many thx again in advance.....likely, this Tek Elite fixture is only driving my frag tank.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Actually I'm not exaggerating at all. If reflectivity is so important, than why do you see almost no gain when going from old, pitted reflectors to brand new reflectors? It is because shape and design is more important.

I will message grim and get the exact numbers from him. It was something to this effect:

ATI 37
LET 36
Ice cap 30ish
Tek 22

Tek reflectors aren't the greatest.

.
So why when you see TEK fixtures with cooling mods they compete very closely to ATI fixtures, with a cheap fan... Obviously they work well enough.
Isn't this information from a long time ago, no? TEK reflectors have gotten better since the original reflectors.
What doe those number mean exactly Ryan? How much PAR you gained from a reflector?


Seeming that the Tek elite is already cooled, replacing the ballasts is your next best option.

obviously I missed you where talking about the elite fixture, I doubt it is cooled as well as it should be though.

Since icecap hasn't been around in awhile, and now sunlight supply's bail out on the aquarium industry the remaining TEK fixtures are still some of the best out there, until something better comes out.
Time for another company to step up or leave the market to ATI...although with LEDs on the rise I'm doubtful this will happen soon.

[Michigan Mike]

I found this.

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Lamp 24" from sensor in air measurement. Measurements are from center of lamp

ATI (Center 37) (3" 36) (6" 31) peak 38 @1/2" offset
Reefgeek (Center 37) (3" 35) (6" 26) Peak 38 @ 1"
Aquactinics (Center 33) (3" 32) (6" 30) Peak 34 @ 1 1/2"
Ice Cap (Center 32) (3" 28) (6" 28) Peak 34 @ 1"
Tek II (Center 26) (3" 25) (6" 23) Peak 23 center
Fauna Marin (Center 23) (3" 22) (6" 22) Peak 23 Center

9" 0ff center

ATI 20
Reef Geek 22
Aquactinics 24
Ice Cap 24
Tek II 20
Fauna Marin 20

[Michigan Mike]

You have this same quote in the thread Ryan. Why not copy & paste it?

So I'm not seeing why your TEK numbers are so low, you said 22 when grim said they are 26.

Also not getting why they are 50% better.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by tegee

Ryan....great info and thx for your reply.

Do you recommend a ballast that is compatible with Tek Elite?

Many thx again in advance.....likely, this Tek Elite fixture is only driving my frag tank.

Use the ATI ballast, but be warned it will not fit in the TEK elite, it must be mounted outside the fixture somewhere.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

I found this.

There you go. I didn't have the exact numbers so I went off memory and I think I did pretty darn good.

[tegee]

Originally Posted by rtparty

There you go. I didn't have the exact numbers so I went off memory and I think I did pretty darn good.

Ryan....you've DONE GREAT for me and many others in this thread for many many posts, replies to the same questions and advice in setup & running of T5's.....imho!

[Michigan Mike]

Agreed. Not saying otherwise.
Ryan knows I respect him.
I don't want to come across like I don't because I do.
Ya you are/where close.

But, even a uncooled TEK compared to a ATI with it's superior ballasts, reflectors & cooling isn't 50% better for PAR. I dont want someone to have unrealistic expectations from swapping reflectors.

IMO TEK "fixtures" are great fixtures, among the best...too bad they bailed on the aquarium side of lighting. Obviously you can buy an ATI or retro reflector thats better, but the TEK 'fixtures' are very good, I try not to be biased, but I respect them a lot.

Retro lighting has great reflectors options out there but you need to find out first-hand if your cooling your bulbs properly to get the most out of them. Some trial & error & PAR meter will help. I 100% believe this trumps all.

We need to give the people the facts and between you, me, and everyone else who tried/tries to help (even if we point out other things) will hopefully add up enough info for someone to take & make a informed decision.

If someone wants to spend hard earned money (to some of us) for something by all means. I'll stop with my opinion because its irrelevant. Unless someone PM's me.

This hobby as lots of consumer R&D and we really don't have much to go on @ times. Hopefully LED lighting wont be the only thing people are testing & improving nowadays, although I know most of us are waiting for it to get better & cheaper. Information is hard to get sometimes.

Props for everyone testing, comparing, crunching numbers & changing bulbs etc. to bring us info that we otherwise would not have!

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

Agreed. Not saying otherwise.
Ryan knows I respect him.
I don't want to come across like I don't because I do.
Ya you are/where close.

But, even a uncooled TEK compared to a ATI with it's superior ballasts, reflectors & cooling isn't 50% better for PAR. I dont want someone to have unrealistic expectations from swapping reflectors.

IMO TEK "fixtures" are great fixtures, among the best...too bad they bailed on the aquarium side of lighting. Obviously you can buy an ATI or retro reflector thats better, but the TEK 'fixtures' are very good, I try not to be biased, but I respect them a lot.

Retro lighting has great reflectors options out there but you need to find out first-hand if your cooling your bulbs properly to get the most out of them. Some trial & error & PAR meter will help. I 100% believe this trumps all.

We need to give the people the facts and between you, me, and everyone else who tried/tries to help (even if we point out other things) will hopefully add up enough info for someone to take & make a informed decision.

If someone wants to spend hard earned money (to some of us) for something by all means. I'll stop with my opinion because its irrelevant. Unless someone PM's me.

This hobby as lots of consumer R&D and we really don't have much to go on @ times. Hopefully LED lighting wont be the only thing people are testing & improving nowadays, although I know most of us are waiting for it to get better & cheaper. Information is hard to get sometimes.

Props for everyone testing, comparing, crunching numbers & changing bulbs etc. to bring us info that we otherwise would not have!

I haven't said the fixtures aren't good. I think they are good setups. My biggest complaint was the lack of cooling and garbage ballasts. Tek had a huge opportunity to knock ATI off and totally blew it.

The Tek elite could've been great but ended up as just good. I've never understood why no one has competed with ATI. It isn't all that tough to design a good setup.