The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[kellerexpress]

Originally Posted by rtparty

What fixture are you running? What size tank? Without that info it is hard to recommend if it is the bulbs or not.

For a 4 bulb combo I would use 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus or KZ Fiji Purple and 1 KZ New Generation.

The KZ bulbs have really good PAR. ATI and KZ are both made by Sylvania so they are very comparable. I think that KZ bulbs are extremely overpriced as well.

ATI has a new bulb called the Coral Plus out but I have no idea when it will be in the states. If ATI follows suit, we won't see it for a few months. Hopefully I am wrong though.

I would also move your Purple bulb out of the back. It isn't doing anything productive in the very back of the tank. You want it in the second or third slot.

FWIW I recently contacted reekgeek, they should have the new coral plus bulb in by the end of the week.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by 3fish

I also have a 29 gallon (30x12x18) mainly lps and a clam was looking at switching from 2 fixtures of 2 bulb t5 coralife to an aquatic life 4 bulb t5. Thought it would give me more options for bulbs and dimming. Now I'm wondering if I should stick with what I have and just buy bulbs. Just a pain having 2 fixtures sometimes.

Aquatic life fixtures aren't dimmable. I would go with a Tek over an Aquatic Life if you look to upgrade but you will have to hang it because they don't make a 30" fixture.

[Jstn]

Originally Posted by rtparty

What fixture are you running? What size tank? Without that info it is hard to recommend if it is the bulbs or not.

For a 4 bulb combo I would use 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus or KZ Fiji Purple and 1 KZ New Generation.

The KZ bulbs have really good PAR. ATI and KZ are both made by Sylvania so they are very comparable. I think that KZ bulbs are extremely overpriced as well.

ATI has a new bulb called the Coral Plus out but I have no idea when it will be in the states. If ATI follows suit, we won't see it for a few months. Hopefully I am wrong though.

I would also move your Purple bulb out of the back. It isn't doing anything productive in the very back of the tank. You want it in the second or third slot.

Im running a current 4x39w. Why do you think i should move that bulb forward? I had front to back;(blue, new gen, blue, figi) Which didn't really do anything for my coral so i swapped out the new gen (5 months old) for a ab special and it improved, then I got a new figi and no real change.

Now im front to back;(blue, ab special, blue, blue )

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Jstn

Im running a current 4x39w. Why do you think i should move that bulb forward? I had front to back;(blue, new gen, blue, figi) Which didn't really do anything for my coral so i swapped out the new gen (5 months old) for a ab special and it improved, then I got a new figi and no real change.

Now im front to back;(blue, ab special, blue, blue )

Because the red from the Purple bulb isn't striking the viewing side of the corals and the increased spectrum is limited to the very back half of your tank.

When you have 4-6 bulbs, it is best to keep the purple bulbs front of center. You see the effect much better that way.

[Jstn]

Just changed it, def see a difference. I never understood order but now it makes sense.

[3fish]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Aquatic life fixtures aren't dimmable. I would go with a Tek over an Aquatic Life if you look to upgrade but you will have to hang it because they don't make a 30" fixture.

Yes, I guess dimmable wrong word - just trying to have blues come on for an hour or so before and after whites. Was thinking the aquatic life could help me there. My options are limited because I cant hang.

Pls tell me if I'm wrong, I am still sort of a newbie...

[Jstn]

The tek has two cords so Yiu can run two timers. My roommate runs a 24" tek over a 30" tank with a wooden stand we built in ten minutes. The tek has two holes in the top so u can bolt it to wood.

[pura vida mi]

Grim, need your mind once again. 90 gal bowfront with a 6x54w fixture and a 2x24w fixture. Softies mostly, rose bubble, chalice. Has been well over a year since last bulb replacement. Of course all is washed out big time now. Can you pls advise suggestion again sir and placement (front to back). Corals are upset at me as well as poor rose. Thanks in advance Grim.

This is the last bulbs I placed.

24" lamps where:
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25

48" lamps were:
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by pura vida mi

Grim, need your mind once again. 90 gal bowfront with a 6x54w fixture and a 2x24w fixture. Softies mostly, rose bubble, chalice. Has been well over a year since last bulb replacement. Of course all is washed out big time now. Can you pls advise suggestion again sir and placement (front to back). Corals are upset at me as well as poor rose. Thanks in advance Grim.

This is the last bulbs I placed.

24" lamps where:
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25

48" lamps were:
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

Try this on your upgrade of the 48" bulbs
Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aqua Blue Special or GE 6,500 05 ZK New Generation
ATI Blue Plus
ATI or Fuji Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

For the 24" Fixture
Front ATI Blue Plus
Rear ATI True Atinic.

With this set up you can run the 24" fixture an hour before and after any of the other bulbs come on. Will give you an interesting florescence effect.
Then have your dawn to dusk lights with a Blue and a Purple come on for an hour before and after your mid day bulbs that are basically everything else.

You might have to move the order around to get them to come in the right sequence for your timers, but you should like the overall effect.

[pura vida mi]

TropTrea, thanks.

So 24" fixture at front of tank/bow come on 1 hour prior and after my dusk dawns? Including mid-day's, what run time for each set do you recommend. Dusk dawns come on 1 hr B4 and after mid days now as it is. I plan on starting out a bit tamer anyway so do not bleach and freak everything out.

Gracias - Pura Vida Mi.

[TropTrea]

What I'm running is now is

LED's on at 10:00AM
Dawn to dusk on at 10:30 PM
Mid Day Lights on at 11:00 PM
Mid Day Lights off at 7:00 PM
Dawn to Dusk Lights off at 9:00 PM
LED's Off at 11:00 PM

But you will have to adjust these to your schedule and your particular lighting needs. If you see excessive algae build up reduce your times. If corals are not growing increase your times. But you preferably will have about 10 hours of darkness and should not be under 8 hours of darkness.

[chuckreef]

Hello lighting gurus,

I have a 10 X 39 power module at 10 inches AWL on a 48 x 30x 24 150g.
I just re-lamped to the following (current) lighting is:
front

Blue+
KZ new Gen
UVL 454
Blue +
Blue+
GE 6500
UVL 454
Purple Plus
New Gen
Blue+

back

It is very bright, but it appears to be a bit washed out. I have a brand new spare blue+, and I don't mind buying a few more bulbs. Can you suggest how to improve the look?

Thanks in advance.

[jgraz]

Alright so I am going with a Deep Blue Solar Extreme 4x24 t5 for my 20h nano reef. Right now most corals that will be added to tank are under a 120w LED from Apollo LED's(40blues/15white)2 watts each. Do I need to reacclimate them under the new T5?
And the combo im thinking of front to back is:
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+
Aquablue Special

Also if that Coral+ bulb appears soon near me where should that be placed.
Thanks in advance
John

[cdivine]

I need some advice on which 60"ATI Sunpower to get for my 220 gallon in wall tank.Should I go for the 6 or 8 bulb light? it's 30hx24 deep, but it's more like 22" available for the light to get in. I want a mixed reef, but probably more SPS dominated.
Will the width of the 8 bulb at 17.5" cause y spillage of light off the back? Is that overkill or just right?
There are advantages off the 6 bulb like smaller size and wattage, but I don't want to be short on light.
This tank is an upgrade from a 90 gallon sps dominated tank with a nova extreme pro.
thanks,
Chris

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by chuckreef

Hello lighting gurus,

I have a 10 X 39 power module at 10 inches AWL on a 48 x 30x 24 150g.
I just re-lamped to the following (current) lighting is:
front

Blue+
KZ new Gen
UVL 454
Blue +
Blue+
GE 6500
UVL 454
Purple Plus
New Gen
Blue+

back

It is very bright, but it appears to be a bit washed out. I have a brand new spare blue+, and I don't mind buying a few more bulbs. Can you suggest how to improve the look?

Thanks in advance.

Put a Blue Plus in front in place of the new gen. I would also put the purple plus front of center instead of in the back. If you still don't like that do another Blue Plus in place of the other new gen.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by jgraz

Alright so I am going with a Deep Blue Solar Extreme 4x24 t5 for my 20h nano reef. Right now most corals that will be added to tank are under a 120w LED from Apollo LED's(40blues/15white)2 watts each. Do I need to reacclimate them under the new T5?
And the combo im thinking of front to back is:
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+
Aquablue Special

Also if that Coral+ bulb appears soon near me where should that be placed.
Thanks in advance
John

I'd do 3 blue plus and the purple plus

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by cdivine

I need some advice on which 60"ATI Sunpower to get for my 220 gallon in wall tank.Should I go for the 6 or 8 bulb light? it's 30hx24 deep, but it's more like 22" available for the light to get in. I want a mixed reef, but probably more SPS dominated.
Will the width of the 8 bulb at 17.5" cause y spillage of light off the back? Is that overkill or just right?
There are advantages off the 6 bulb like smaller size and wattage, but I don't want to be short on light.
This tank is an upgrade from a 90 gallon sps dominated tank with a nova extreme pro.
thanks,
Chris

Do 8. Not only does it allow for a better combination of lamps it will light the tank a lot better.

[CandisGray]

Need help 2 fixtures 1 hood ( ok sorry 2 retro's ) a 4x54 and a 4x39 under a hood on a 110 gal reef tank (48x18x30) need help on bulbs, placement,and color of bulbs

[BfishLpond78]

8x54w nova extreme with one reflector over 55 gal...overkill i know. I have reduced it down to 6 bulbs. What would be a good combo for color pop and a real deep blue for dawn and dusk. Also with a blue hue during the daytime. New tank with Zoas and LPS frags. Maybe something to inhibit growth?

[cdivine]

What bulb combination would you suggest on an 8 bulb 60inch Sunpower over a 220 gallon tank? I prefer a more blue look.
I also have two 48" Ecoxotic Blue/Magenta stunner strip that I will run most of the day and will be on before and after the t5's go off.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by cdivine

What bulb combination would you suggest on an 8 bulb 60inch Sunpower over a 220 gallon tank? I prefer a more blue look.
I also have two 48" Ecoxotic Blue/Magenta stunner strip that I will run most of the day and will be on before and after the t5's go off.

Sounds similar to my 120 gallon only my stunner strip is DIY with all Royal Blues. Love the effect it creates when the rest of the bulbs are off and it is angled at 45 degrees so I see the ripple of the surface water throughout the tank.

What I'm running and fairly happy with is

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI GE 6,500
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aqua Blue Special
ATI Blue Plus

I used to hate the GE 6,500K but now that I dumped my Atinic Bulbs and went to 5 Blue Plus bulbs the GE bulb looks much better in the combination.

[cdivine]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

What I'm running is now is

LED's on at 10:00AM
Dawn to dusk on at 10:30 PM
Mid Day Lights on at 11:00 PM
Mid Day Lights off at 7:00 PM
Dawn to Dusk Lights off at 9:00 PM
LED's Off at 11:00 PM

But you will have to adjust these to your schedule and your particular lighting needs. If you see excessive algae build up reduce your times. If corals are not growing increase your times. But you preferably will have about 10 hours of darkness and should not be under 8 hours of darkness.

Do you run any moonlights with your LEDS? It would be nice to have some sort of moonlights, but my stunner strips seem way too bright to be on at night. At the same time you can't even tell they are on when my t5s are on.

[chuckreef]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Put a Blue Plus in front in place of the new gen. I would also put the purple plus front of center instead of in the back. If you still don't like that do another Blue Plus in place of the other new gen.

Thank you Grim

[jgraz]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

I'd do 3 blue plus and the purple plus

Thanks Grim. That will be able to handle anything I can throw in there?

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by cdivine

Do you run any moonlights with your LEDS? It would be nice to have some sort of moonlights, but my stunner strips seem way too bright to be on at night. At the same time you can't even tell they are on when my t5s are on.

If you noticed I'm not running any lighting from 11:00 PM till 10:00 AM. There is some minimal room lighting for a couple hours in the morning but that is it. And yes my LEDs are not really making a noticeable visual difference when the T-5's are on in the daylight mode. When the dawn to dusks are on there only slight amount of additional florescence from some corals as the LEDs are all 454 nm royal blues.

I also have my LED strip in the front of the tank angled at 45 degrees this creates an interesting reflective effect as it gives a lot of shimmer with any surface water movement.