The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Dapg8gt

I have a question for you guys. I just bought a used 8x54w powermodule for a steal of a deal.. The unit is in great shape except the reflectors are hurting.

I quickly polished the front one and it really didn't do much to it other than make the discoloration shiny lol. My question is on the discoloration of the metal. It seems like almost all of them have a green hue to them and others have splotches of red. Will they change the spectrum of the light by adding a green or red hue to it?

He mentioned someone tried to help him by cleaning them and ruined the finish. My other question is it seems to be a Chrome coating vs what I thought was just polished aluminum. Does anybody know if that's the case? If they are just polished I know I can with a little elbow grease and power tools get them back as they are in perfect shape other than the coating.

I'm just exploring all the options before I drop $200 on new ones from Reefgeek. I'm not in a rush to get it on as my sunpower is still on the tank..

Here's a pic for reference. And on a side note this thing is soooooo much heavier than my 6x39w sunpower it's probably double hoping my brackets will hold it lol.

They are polished reflector. I'd buy all new reflectors if I were you.

[Dapg8gt]

Originally Posted by rtparty

They are polished reflector. I'd buy all new reflectors if I were you.

Thanks Yeah I already ordered after doing some more research.

The reflectors are aluminum but actually coated in silver and that's why they can get scratched so easy and tarnish. Well at least I'm in the same state as Reefgeek I should have bulbs and reflectors Tuesday.

[rps3]

Quick question, I know as bulbs get older they tend to color shift. Most change out bulbs after 9 months or so from what I gather. But it's just hit me now on my 6x39w Powermodule, 4 of the bulbs are on for 4 hrs compared to the other two which are on for 12 hrs.

So I did some math and figured in the 9 months the 2 channel/bulbs will have been ran for 3,276 hrs compared to the 4 channel/bulbs at 1,092 hrs. Does this mean I can run it for another 2,184 hrs before having to replace them? Logically it makes sense to me...

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by rps3

Quick question, I know as bulbs get older they tend to color shift. Most change out bulbs after 9 months or so from what I gather. But it's just hit me now on my 6x39w Powermodule, 4 of the bulbs are on for 4 hrs compared to the other two which are on for 12 hrs.

So I did some math and figured in the 9 months the 2 channel/bulbs will have been ran for 3,276 hrs compared to the 4 channel/bulbs at 1,092 hrs. Does this mean I can run it for another 2,184 hrs before having to replace them? Logically it makes sense to me...

Being turned on and off kills life as well. How much? I don't think that can be answered.

You should be able to pull 14 months out of them if you really want. However, if they are blue or actinic bulbs they will shift quicker than daylight bulbs.

[sahin]

Originally Posted by Dapg8gt

I have a question for you guys. I just bought a used 8x54w powermodule for a steal of a deal.. The unit is in great shape except the reflectors are hurting.

I quickly polished the front one and it really didn't do much to it other than make the discoloration shiny lol. My question is on the discoloration of the metal. It seems like almost all of them have a green hue to them and others have splotches of red. Will they change the spectrum of the light by adding a green or red hue to it?

He mentioned someone tried to help him by cleaning them and ruined the finish. My other question is it seems to be a Chrome coating vs what I thought was just polished aluminum. Does anybody know if that's the case? If they are just polished I know I can with a little elbow grease and power tools get them back as they are in perfect shape other than the coating.

I'm just exploring all the options before I drop $200 on new ones from Reefgeek. I'm not in a rush to get it on as my sunpower is still on the tank..

Here's a pic for reference. And on a side note this thing is soooooo much heavier than my 6x39w sunpower it's probably double hoping my brackets will hold it lol.

I am not 100% sure, but I think they may be coated. Take the worst one out of the bunch and try to clean it. If it starts to turn shiny, then all is good and you just need to put in a few hours of effort...but I doubt it...I think they are coated...and once the coating is damaged, you need to buy new ones.

PS if that was my ATI PM, I would be whipping out two of those T5 tubes and add a couple of rows of Royal Blue and 420nm LED's in there. Then replace 6 of the reflectors and my god, you will have an awesome light unit on your hand.

[reefndude]

Hi, I'm about to upgrade my tank from a 75 to a 125. Currently using a 6 bulb aquatic life fixture. Ive decides to stick with t5's. My question is what fixture to go with over a 6' tank.
Plans are to have mostly zoas and lps, with some sps.

[rtparty]

6x80w ATI sunpower

[reefndude]

What bulb combo? I am also thinking of adding led strips as well

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by reefndude

What bulb combo? I am also thinking of adding led strips as well

4 blue plus, 1 purple plus and 1 coral plus.

[sahin]

Originally Posted by rtparty

4 blue plus, 1 purple plus and 1 coral plus.

On any 6tube unit, the above combo is my overall favorite. Good combo

[reefndude]

Thanks for the suggestion

[wcharon]

Originally Posted by sahin

On any 6tube unit, the above combo is my overall favorite. Good combo

What is the recommended height above the water for the Sunpower 6x80 with the recommended combo for a standard 125 (72x18x22) mixed reef tank???

I have mine a 8" and moved it to 9.5" becuase my Hammers seems pale. Teh lights are on from 1PM to 10PM. Dawn dusk are the Blue and Purple Plus starting at 1PM and the other 3 Blue Plus and the Coral Plus starts at 4PM and go off at 9:00PM.

Thanks in advance for any suggestion....

[Dapg8gt]

Originally Posted by sahin

I am not 100% sure, but I think they may be coated. Take the worst one out of the bunch and try to clean it. If it starts to turn shiny, then all is good and you just need to put in a few hours of effort...but I doubt it...I think they are coated...and once the coating is damaged, you need to buy new ones.

PS if that was my ATI PM, I would be whipping out two of those T5 tubes and add a couple of rows of Royal Blue and 420nm LED's in there. Then replace 6 of the reflectors and my god, you will have an awesome light unit on your hand.

I was actually researching it thinking about doing it(you did it right?) I think I was reading your thread on your process and bresult and I'm on the fence. I know this light as is with the new reflectors going in will be more than enough for my tank but I'm still considering it but I think all I'd really get is some shimmer and more control with the reef angel. Idk if I want to spend the $ on it honestly. Thinking about it though =)

[sahin]

Originally Posted by Dapg8gt

I was actually researching it thinking about doing it(you did it right?) I think I was reading your thread on your process and bresult and I'm on the fence. I know this light as is with the new reflectors going in will be more than enough for my tank but I'm still considering it but I think all I'd really get is some shimmer and more control with the reef angel. Idk if I want to spend the $ on it honestly. Thinking about it though =)

The light is PLENTY enough and will colour SPS brilliantly given the right water quality.

Its just me... I love the T5/LED combo.

[sahin]

Originally Posted by wcharon

What is the recommended height above the water for the Sunpower 6x80 with the recommended combo for a standard 125 (72x18x22) mixed reef tank???

I have mine a 8" and moved it to 9.5" becuase my Hammers seems pale. Teh lights are on from 1PM to 10PM. Dawn dusk are the Blue and Purple Plus starting at 1PM and the other 3 Blue Plus and the Coral Plus starts at 4PM and go off at 9:00PM.

Thanks in advance for any suggestion....

Your light hours seem fine. But you can probably reduce light hours a little and move the light unit a little higher.

You might also want to lower the Hammer if that was possible.

Those 80w T5 tubes put out serious PAR.

[wcharon]

Originally Posted by sahin

Your light hours seem fine. But you can probably reduce light hours a little and move the light unit a little higher.

You might also want to lower the Hammer if that was possible.

Those 80w T5 tubes put out serious PAR.

Thanks Sahin...

I already moved the lights 1.5" higher which means that now they are at 9.5" above the water. Do you think that is enough because i have a open canopy and will not like the look.

When you say reduce hours are you referring to the day lighting only from the actual 5 hours or the entire lighting hours of 9 hours?? Which one you will reduce or both??? I thought 9 hours were in the bording line due to i also have some SPS.

Regarding the placement they cannot go lower....

Sorry for the concerns....

[sahin]

Originally Posted by wcharon

Thanks Sahin...

I already moved the lights 1.5" higher which means that now they are at 9.5" above the water. Do you think that is enough because i have a open canopy and will not like the look.

When you say reduce hours are you referring to the day lighting only from the actual 5 hours or the entire lighting hours of 9 hours?? Which one you will reduce or both??? I thought 9 hours were in the bording line due to i also have some SPS.

Regarding the placement they cannot go lower....

Sorry for the concerns....

If you can't relocate the Hammer lower, then you have no option but to either reduce the light period further or increase the fixture height.

Once the Hammer darkens up again you can slowly bring up the lights hours or bring the fixture down again.

Try running the total hours at 8 hours and the 4 tubes at 5 hours to see if you get any improvement.

Also being an LPS coral, try to target feed it at least 2 x a week to help it darken up a little.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Being turned on and off kills life as well. How much? I don't think that can be answered.

You should be able to pull 14 months out of them if you really want. However, if they are blue or actinic bulbs they will shift quicker than daylight bulbs.

From some old data when I worked testing them for a living one start up was the equivelent of 4 to 6 hours of run time as far as the deterioting on the bulbs. Noting that different starters or ballasts had a big effect on this deteriation.

I wll confirm that the blue bulbs will probably shift sooner than fuller spectrumed bulbs, on a trending bases. Besting nulns that were tuned to 3,200K shifted less than bulbs tuned for 5,000K and the 5,000K bulbs shifted less than the 6,500K. If this comparison continued through the blue bulbs they would extremly shorter lived than the full spectrumed bulbs.

Noting that the normal shifting is the increase in light emitted from the upper end of the red spectrum while the other levels of light slowly lower with time.

[ericsch333]

I have a 36 bow And was give a 2 x 24 t5 Fluval for Xmas I have been out of the hobby for awhile use to vho and was wondering should I upgrade to a 4 bulb that's 30 inches or is the 48 watts enough for soft coral?

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Dapg8gt

I have a question for you guys. I just bought a used 8x54w powermodule for a steal of a deal.. The unit is in great shape except the reflectors are hurting.

I quickly polished the front one and it really didn't do much to it other than make the discoloration shiny lol. My question is on the discoloration of the metal. It seems like almost all of them have a green hue to them and others have splotches of red. Will they change the spectrum of the light by adding a green or red hue to it?

He mentioned someone tried to help him by cleaning them and ruined the finish. My other question is it seems to be a Chrome coating vs what I thought was just polished aluminum. Does anybody know if that's the case? If they are just polished I know I can with a little elbow grease and power tools get them back as they are in perfect shape other than the coating.

I'm just exploring all the options before I drop $200 on new ones from Reefgeek. I'm not in a rush to get it on as my sunpower is still on the tank..

Yes Allumnium reflectors can be polished and brought back to life again. Some can even look better than the original factry finish. However it takes more than just a little elbow grease. Alumnium os very soft and while 2,000grit steel wool can get off the stains and pitting it will leave a dull finsh. Polishing it requires jewlers rouge and a very skillful individual using a slow speed buffer.

A few years ago I built my own reflectors using German Polished Alumnium. In the bending and cutting process I got some scratches and tried getting them out. I was able to remove the scratches on one of them but could not get the original shine back so I decided to live with the scratches on the others.

I will also agree that rebuilding the 8 bulb fixture converting it to 6 bulbs plus a pair of LED's rows would give you the best of both worlds. I ould actualy go to 4 T-5's bulbs and 4 Rows of LED's.

[Dapg8gt]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

Yes Allumnium reflectors can be polished and brought back to life again. Some can even look better than the original factry finish. However it takes more than just a little elbow grease. Alumnium os very soft and while 2,000grit steel wool can get off the stains and pitting it will leave a dull finsh. Polishing it requires jewlers rouge and a very skillful individual using a slow speed buffer.

A few years ago I built my own reflectors using German Polished Alumnium. In the bending and cutting process I got some scratches and tried getting them out. I was able to remove the scratches on one of them but could not get the original shine back so I decided to live with the scratches on the others.

I will also agree that rebuilding the 8 bulb fixture converting it to 6 bulbs plus a pair of LED's rows would give you the best of both worlds. I ould actualy go to 4 T-5's bulbs and 4 Rows of LED's.

Thanks for the help guys appreciate it.


I would literally have to remove all the silver these are coated with to get down to the bare aluminum. There is Def a lot of the Silver missing in the deep pits and stains in almost all the reflectors so I feel it's not worth it. Directly from ATI ' s website is they are "coated in silver" for optimum reflection. I ordered new ones from Reefgeek.

I am debating on doing the led conversion. I may Pm you guys if I get any questions if that's alright. I know I'll be staying away from white diodes if I do and I have a great resource close by. (rapid led) I feel I can make a badarse fixture and clean looking if I take my time.


I'm a big diy guy in a lot of areas where it benefits me to save some coin. My big thing is nothing can look like garbage. I strive to make things look like it's factory and I feel this is definitely a project that can be done along those lines.

Thanks again guys, my wallet doesn't thank you though lol. I'll report back if I go through with it. Or bombard troptrea and sahin with questions lol.

[Sohal Tang Tim]

Hope Grim responds.....

I have 2 x 8bulb Tek Elite fixtures over 8ft x 28 x 24 280 gal reef.
What 8 bulbs T5 do you recommend and pls show placement front to back?

Thanks Grim!

Tim

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Sohal Tang Tim

Hope Grim responds.....

I have 2 x 8bulb Tek Elite fixtures over 8ft x 28 x 24 280 gal reef.
What 8 bulbs T5 do you recommend and pls show placement front to back?

Thanks Grim!

Tim

Grim is long gone. Hasn't been in here for years now.

5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and 1 ATI Coral Plus is a very popular combo right now.

Blue
Purple
Blue
Coral
Blue
Purple
Blue
Blue

That's a good starting point.

[Froggy]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Grim is long gone. Hasn't been in here for years now.

5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and 1 ATI Coral Plus is a very popular combo right now.

Blue
Purple
Blue
Coral
Blue
Purple
Blue
Blue

That's a good starting point.

Very good suggestion by Ryan as a starting point. I would grab a couple of extra bulbs to make adjustments with. As with most lighting, T5's especially, you need to see them in person. Pictures do not represent the actual look very well due to a number of factors.
You will need to decide what you want to see. Several bulb combos will give your corals proper growth and color and it is up to you what you like. I am personally using a new combo and really like this:
4 blue plus, 2 purple plus, 1 aqua blue special, and 1 ATI actinic. I have found I did not need as much PAR as I thought on my 120 and added the actinic bulb. You can easily replace that with another blue plus. Based on Ryan's starting point a bluer look would be as he posted. A blueish but but brighter and a tad whiter would be to replace the coral plus with a aqua blue special. An even brighter and less blue look would be to replace the coral plus with a GE 6500. I would start with Ryan's suggestion and get an extra couple of bulbs to play with. Just give yourself a couple of days to decide if you like it before trying a different look so your eyes adjust and do not immediately trick you into thinking you do not like it.
Joe

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Grim is long gone. Hasn't been in here for years now.

5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and 1 ATI Coral Plus is a very popular combo right now.

Blue
Purple
Blue
Coral
Blue
Purple
Blue
Blue

That's a good starting point.

That sounds awful purple to me with three bulbs hitting on the red part of the spectrum, and only one touching the green part of the spectrum. With the Coral Plus bulbs I would not add purples but increase it to two or three coral plus bulbs. The big variable is how bright someone wants there tank. more coral plus bulbs = a brighter tank. But it would take at least 4 coral plus bulbs to equal the brightness of a single GE 6,500K.

If you pick up a couple extra bulbs as RT advised get them as Coral Plus bulbs. Then you can try different combo's Between the 3 coral plus and the 2 purple plus bulbs in those three slots. Personal color taste will be the big distinguishing difference between likining my idea and RT's.