The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TimeConsumer]

Originally Posted by cr2jones

I am changing my leds DIY to T5s, just for simplicity. I need more time to work on the LEDs and get them stable (having fuse and wiring issues). My question is are there any references to read on wiring a DIY hood? I will have 6 bulbs over my 75 gallon specific to SPS with a few LPS. I have the hood made, it is 25 years old, LOL, and was fitted with the huge VHOs at one time. I have the Fulhum workhorse 7 and 5 for ballast. How are you guys wiring both pins on each side of the bulb?

Thanks for any help.

Workhorse 7 diagram:




Workhorse 5:

[cr2jones]

Thanks Steve, I see that you can use a jumper on the end cap. Is that how everone is wiring their hood? How are you taking the 4 yellow wire down to the one coming out of the ballast? That is one big wire nut! Also what size wire should I use? the wire on the ballast looks like it is 16 or 19 ga.

[wcharon]

Good Morning Guys...

I need some advise... My Hammers are having pale colors mostly on the top and i will like recommendations on bulb combination and height.

I have a 125 gallon (72*18*21) with a Sunpower 6*80 watt. Thay are at 8" above water surface. Actual bulb combination is 4 B+, 1 Coral + and 1 Purple + running for 8 hours. Dawn and dusk are the Purple and Blue combination which i like.

Water paremeters is CA 400, MG 1500, ALK 7.5 -8.5 Salinity 102.5. By the way i have Mushrooms, Bubble, Leathers, Carnation, Brains Montipora and all looks OK except the Hammers.

Should i upper the lights or change bulb combination????

Thanks in advance...

[TimeConsumer]

Originally Posted by cr2jones

Thanks Steve, I see that you can use a jumper on the end cap. Is that how everone is wiring their hood? How are you taking the 4 yellow wire down to the one coming out of the ballast? That is one big wire nut! Also what size wire should I use? the wire on the ballast looks like it is 16 or 19 ga.

For the yellow wire you could do one big wire nut, or you could use 4 of them to join two wires along the route. If that makes sense. For the wire I think 18 gauge is sufficient, there aren't many amps involved. With the Workhorse ballast you should be using the jumper.

[TimeConsumer]

Originally Posted by wcharon

Good Morning Guys...

I need some advise... My Hammers are having pale colors mostly on the top and i will like recommendations on bulb combination and height.

I have a 125 gallon (72*18*21) with a Sunpower 6*80 watt. Thay are at 8" above water surface. Actual bulb combination is 4 B+, 1 Coral + and 1 Purple + running for 8 hours. Dawn and dusk are the Purple and Blue combination which i like.

Water paremeters is CA 400, MG 1500, ALK 7.5 -8.5 Salinity 102.5. By the way i have Mushrooms, Bubble, Leathers, Carnation, Brains Montipora and all looks OK except the Hammers.

Should i upper the lights or change bulb combination????

Thanks in advance...

Are the hammers higher up or in an area of more light intensity than the other corals mentioned? What about the polyp extension, are they staying slightly retracted?

[wcharon]

They are in the lower to middle height. The polyp extension is great and they are stray up. Thats why i am leaning toward bleaching by intensity of the lights but 8" height i think is OK....

By the way thanks...

Originally Posted by TimeConsumer

Are the hammers higher up or in an area of more light intensity than the other corals mentioned? What about the polyp extension, are they staying slightly retracted?

[TimeConsumer]

Originally Posted by wcharon

They are in the lower to middle height. The polyp extension is great and they are stray up. Thats why i am leaning toward bleaching by intensity of the lights but 8" height i think is OK....

By the way thanks...

It's tough to tell without a PAR meter. But I know that unit puts out a lot of strong light. But if the coral was bleaching from too much light it would try to retract it's polyps into the skeleton instead of fully extend. I would reach out to your local reef club to try and borrow a PAR meter, that will really let us know if the light is the problem. Everything seems normal. your bulb combination, fixture height, parameters, etc. I really have a feeling the coral is doing just fine, sometimes they just change colors.

How long have you had the hammer and the light fixture?

[wcharon]

I have the fixture for almost 7 months and the hammers around 2 years... What looks a little funny to me is that if i look to the Hammers in the lower part they have brillant colors. I also have Hammers with green tips and they look great.

Here is a crappy pic so you can see what i say in difference...

Originally Posted by TimeConsumer

It's tough to tell without a PAR meter. But I know that unit puts out a lot of strong light. But if the coral was bleaching from too much light it would try to retract it's polyps into the skeleton instead of fully extend. I would reach out to your local reef club to try and borrow a PAR meter, that will really let us know if the light is the problem. Everything seems normal. your bulb combination, fixture height, parameters, etc. I really have a feeling the coral is doing just fine, sometimes they just change colors.

How long have you had the hammer and the light fixture?

[TropTrea]

I have several Hammer corals in my 120 Gallon. Lighting is 1 GE 6,500, 2 Purple Plus, and 5 Blue Plus bulbs plus Royal Blue LED's. I have t watch what height I have the hammer corals at. If I put them too high in the tank they change color to more drab grayish hue but moving them down they pick up the bright color again in a few days. Growth seems a ittle better near the top but it is a mater with these corals of which is more important faster growth or more color.

[wcharon]

Great.. I prefer more color but how you can see in the pic the green tips looks great and they are all in the bottom. And how you described thats exactly the way the others are drab grayich hue.

Yesterday i raised the lights to 9" above the surface water to see what happens but i cannot go higher, don't like the look if the Sunpower to high over my open canopy.

Actually you have a point becuase the green is in the side where the lights are not 100% covered and the others are light directed.

[DragonWarriorPo]

I have a Powermodule 8x54 watts fixture. The fan speed/voltage goes all the way up to 12 volts, but that and even the 9 volt setting is too loud. What is the lowest setting that is effective for my fixture?

[TimeConsumer]

Originally Posted by DragonWarriorPo

I have a Powermodule 8x54 watts fixture. The fan speed/voltage goes all the way up to 12 volts, but that and even the 9 volt setting is too loud. What is the lowest setting that is effective for my fixture?

9v is recommended by ATI. Depending on your ambient temperature in your house you may be able to get away with 6, but 9v would be best.

[DragonWarriorPo]

Originally Posted by TimeConsumer

9v is recommended by ATI. Depending on your ambient temperature in your house you may be able to get away with 6, but 9v would be best.

Thanks for your response. How about the splash shield on the ATI fixtures, is it necessary for the fans to work properly (pulling in air and pushing out air) or will the bulbs stay cooler without the shield?

[TimeConsumer]

It is designed to use the shield.

[kjardine519]

Hey I'm running a marine land 36 double bright strip led fixture, and a hagen 36 dual bulb fixture. I was wondering what would be the best bulb combo for lps and softys, I have a torch coral, frog spawn, Kenya tree and zoas. I'm currently running stock hagen powerglo 18000 k and the marine glow actinic, I wanted to go with 2 coral plus ati bulbs, or should I throw in a blue +?

[kjardine519]

I know the marine land fixture is garbage but I got it for free and it gives a bit of a shimmer and some moon lighting, I'm trying to get away from the slight yellowish tint it gives, tanks 17 inches deep 12 wide and 36 long, 31 gal or somthing

[DragonWarriorPo]

Does anyone know how much an ATI Powermodule 8x54 48" fixture weight?

[kissman]

question! I know that the lettering on a bulb is supposed to be on a certain side to cool the bulbs properly. The fans on my fixture don't blow through or across the bulbs, they seem to pull the air through and blow outwards. Should my lettering be on the side with the fans or the other side? Its a Nova Extreme Pro 48" 6x54w

[TimeConsumer]

Originally Posted by kissman

question! I know that the lettering on a bulb is supposed to be on a certain side to cool the bulbs properly. The fans on my fixture don't blow through or across the bulbs, they seem to pull the air through and blow outwards. Should my lettering be on the side with the fans or the other side? Its a Nova Extreme Pro 48" 6x54w

Do you have a thermometer? You want the label end of the bulb to be on the cooler side, if possible. I would measure both sides to see which gets better cooling and put the label end of the bulb on that side.

[Reef Reactor]

What do you think can be the best combination for a 48" x 40" tank?
I have just 8-t5 bulbs now, but I think It is necessary to add more, maybe another 8.

What do you think?

[kissman]

Originally Posted by TimeConsumer

Do you have a thermometer? You want the label end of the bulb to be on the cooler side, if possible. I would measure both sides to see which gets better cooling and put the label end of the bulb on that side.

Thanks! I would imagine that the side that pulls in the cool air is going to be cooler, the shield sure feels cooler on that side.

[TimeConsumer]

Originally Posted by Reef Reactor

What do you think can be the best combination for a 48" x 40" tank?
I have just 8-t5 bulbs now, but I think It is necessary to add more, maybe another 8.

What do you think?

Another 6 to 8 bulbs is a good idea.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by kjardine519

Hey I'm running a marine land 36 double bright strip led fixture, and a hagen 36 dual bulb fixture. I was wondering what would be the best bulb combo for lps and softys, I have a torch coral, frog spawn, Kenya tree and zoas. I'm currently running stock hagen powerglo 18000 k and the marine glow actinic, I wanted to go with 2 coral plus ati bulbs, or should I throw in a blue +?

Considering you were running 18,000K prior I think you will be getting more than enough "white" light from your LED's. Therefore I wuld simply go with both bulbs as Blue Plus bulbs.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Reef Reactor

What do you think can be the best combination for a 48" x 40" tank?
I have just 8-t5 bulbs now, but I think It is necessary to add more, maybe another 8.

What do you think?

There ae some varianles here like what you keep as far as Corals are concerned and how high you want to go with your fixture.

Light for your corals if your tank is 24" tall would be in the range of 12 54 watt bulbs . But you also want eve light distribution which means eithermore bulbs or raising them higher. I personaly would recommend two 6 bulb fixtures about 4" over the water surface. But since you already have an 8 bulb fixture I would get another 6 or 8 bulb fixture. When you planning your bulbs thnk of it as a bamnk of 14 or 16 bulbs rather than two simular fixtrures. Height above water will depend on the fixture your using and the reflectors focusing ability.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by kissman

question! I know that the lettering on a bulb is supposed to be on a certain side to cool the bulbs properly. The fans on my fixture don't blow through or across the bulbs, they seem to pull the air through and blow outwards. Should my lettering be on the side with the fans or the other side? Its a Nova Extreme Pro 48" 6x54w

I had one of those fixtures. A majority of air is sucked in at the top so the other side gets very little cooling on the bulbs. Therfore put the label end near the fans. As a thought you can boast the blb cooling on these at the expense of less ballast cooling by reversing the dirsetion of the fans.