The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[jasony816]

Im running 5 blue+ and 1 aquablue and it looks good. I use to run the same setup as Joe Cool and I find it to have too much red

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by jasony816

Im running 5 blue+ and 1 aquablue and it looks good. I use to run the same setup as Joe Cool and I find it to have too much red

This has a lot to do with personal color taste. On 6 bulbs in my opinion 1 or even 2 coral plus would look look too blue. As far as the Purple plus unless you have a yellow bulb even one can look to purple to some people, but to others they like it shift the spectrum away from red to more of a sunrise purple (even pink) look.

The Aqua blue however has the near complete absence of red light and would be better balanced with either a Coral plus to add red and little more white or the purple plus to add more red if you do not want to go too bright.

[TropTrea]

mhucasey I will agree with your assessment with the exception that in none of your combinations do I see the GE 6,500K or GE Chroma 5,000K. Either of these bulbs work as a nice boast to the full spectrum colors especially when supplemented with a purple bulb.

[mhucasey]

The GE 6500K is indeed the one bulb I never got. I intended to order it in one of my first bulb purchases, but it wasn't available at the time. It seemed to be missing from a lot of the newer combos I saw online so I never gave it a try. I may try it as I hear it may be possible to get at a local HD or Lowes store. Otherwise I have enough bulbs to not need to place an order for some time.

[TropTrea]

If your trying different combinations the GE 6,500K is a must in my mind for creating an initial baseline. It is the closed you will find to to the color rendition throughout the spectrum during mid day in the shade. However since most of us are used to looking at a blue light tank it does appear more amber to the naked eye.

Another great bulb for reflective light comparison is the GE Chroma 50 or 5,000K. However they are extremly hard to find and may even be taken out of production. This was the highest CRI bulb with a very wide and flat light spectrum. When placed in a light fixture next to the 6,500K it would look whiter than the 6,500K but make the eye see the blueish tint in the 6,500K which is slightly stronger. The GE Chroma 50 is very comparable to LED's sold as Neutral Whites with the exception that the LED's lack a little in the 500nm range in comparison.

[jkhudson]

I'm setting up a standard 55 and I have a retrofit canopy holding 4 T5's. What bulbs will give me the best light for monti's and LPS? TIA

[[]V[]addog]

I have two kessils a360s for a 6 foot 125 gallon that I want to supliment with a dual bulb 48 inch t5 unit.

What bulbs should i be considering?
I'm thinking a full sectrum and a purple or pink bulb?

[Joe Cool]

Originally Posted by Joe Cool

I'm sure it's been discussed countless times but I'm wondering which is the best combo for growth and colors of SPS on a 6 bulb fixture. I was thinking about switching out the coral+ for an aquablue.
I'm currently running:
Front
blue+
blue+
coral+
purple+
blue+
blue+

I switched it up to:
Front
Blue+
Blue+
Aquablue special
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+

Opinions?

[Washout]

Hi,

I have a 48" x 26" x 26.5", 145 gallon tank that is almost done it's cycle. I have a tek light 8 bulb t5 fixture which has 2 ballasts. I was planning on using 6 of it's bulbs. I am unfamiliar with t5 lighting and I was wondering what combination of bulbs I should be using for low light and daylight situations.

Currently I have 9 bulbs I can chose from.

5 actinic plus (blue)
3 aquablue plus
1 fiji purple pure actinic

I was also thinking of purchasing a fiji pink bulb as well. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by jkhudson

I'm setting up a standard 55 and I have a retrofit canopy holding 4 T5's. What bulbs will give me the best light for monti's and LPS? TIA

With only 4 bulbs to work wiith I'd go with
Front
Blue Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Rear

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Washout

Hi,

I have a 48" x 26" x 26.5", 145 gallon tank that is almost done it's cycle. I have a tek light 8 bulb t5 fixture which has 2 ballasts. I was planning on using 6 of it's bulbs. I am unfamiliar with t5 lighting and I was wondering what combination of bulbs I should be using for low light and daylight situations.

Currently I have 9 bulbs I can chose from.

5 actinic plus (blue)
3 aquablue plus
1 fiji purple pure actinic

I was also thinking of purchasing a fiji pink bulb as well. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

The Tak fixtures are not as bright as some of the other wider fixtures that use individual reflectors for each bulb. therefore 6 bulbs would be insufficient for most corals except the extreme low light corals.

Next the atinic bulbs are extrem low light and low PAR bulbs so I would use those either. They peak at 410nm and you need the blues to peak in the 450 to 460 range like the Blue Plus ATI Bulbs.

Next the Fiji Purple is a combination of Blue and Red not atinic. But this is a good bulb for adding the needed red and I would use one of these in your combination.

The aqua blue special is a full spectrum bulb that has a little extra blue to it and a little less red. One of these would work good with the Fiji Purple.

The remainer of your bulbs should be ATI Blue Plus bulbs or the equivalent.

[h0bite]

Can someone give me the best combiation for a 10x24w light please.
Was thinking about 6 Kz Superblue 2 Kz New Generation and 2 Kz Fiji Purple.
Thanks.

[Mark426]

Love ATI lamps but the Blue+ is just a little to much of a turquoise color for my eye. Is there a similar lamp that has more of a deeper blue without losing the wonderful PAR from the ATI? KZ or Geisemann ?

Thanks Reefers,
Mark

[DiscusHeckel]

Originally Posted by Mark426

Love ATI lamps but the Blue+ is just a little to much of a turquoise color for my eye. Is there a similar lamp that has more of a deeper blue without losing the wonderful PAR from the ATI? KZ or Geisemann ?

Thanks Reefers,
Mark

I have recently started to use Pacific Sun tubes. Their Crystal Blue tube is ATI blue + equivalent, but it provides deeper blue. Have a look at this link for more information.

[clugo]

I have an 8bulb tek elite fixture over my 115 rimless. I have it about 6-8 inches over the water and I'm running all Ati bulbs.

Is that ok? Is this fixture good? Am I hanging it too low?

Thanks for your help.

[Kurkis493]

I have an ATI dimmable 8 bulb over my standard (48x24x24) 120 gallon.

The bulb combination front to back:

Blue +
Blue +
Coral +
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Purple+
Blue +

I have a par meter and right now I am running the 2 Coral + at 55% for 4 hours a day and the rest of the bulbs at 70% for 6 hours a day. This is giving me 400s par at the top and 200s par at the bottom.

If I run this fixture 100% I'm pushing a huge amount of PAR at the top and I am a little scared to go that high...

I actually run the fixture from 9am until 11:30pm but outside of the primary 6 hours a day of lighting the intensity is usually between 5-20% Blue + and Purple + and the Coral + go down to 20% after the initial 55% for a few more hours. The par though is pretty low and I'd imagine is more for my viewing pleasure than anything else.

Do you guys ramp your bulbs up and down like this or do you just run everything at 100% for x amount of hours a day? I'd like to get my T5 fixture running everything at 100% during peak lightning hours but I'm not sure with T5s how much I should ramp up a week...

5%? More?

Everyone in my area just runs their T5s at 100%... When I inititally was burning my bulbs back at the end of June I was bleaching corals at the 100% to both channels so I throttled way, way back....

[Mark426]

Originally Posted by DiscusHeckel

I have recently started to use Pacific Sun tubes. Their Crystal Blue tube is ATI blue + equivalent, but it provides deeper blue. Have a look at this link for more information.

Thank you. I know PS makes some quality stuff. I think I will give it a try.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by DiscusHeckel

I have recently started to use Pacific Sun tubes. Their Crystal Blue tube is ATI blue + equivalent, but it provides deeper blue. Have a look at this link for more information.

Having worked in the industry and looking at the spectrum it would not surprise me if both the Pacific Sun and and ATI bulbs actually came off the same assembly line on different dates. I personally doubt that either one of these companies own a plant that makes their bulbs exclusively. I know my prior employer made bulbs sold by at least a dozen different brand names for other corporations as well as there brand name.

To economically make florescent tubes your talking about a sizable production facility. The aquarium industry alone could not come close to the sales required to make such a facility profitable.

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

Having worked in the industry and looking at the spectrum it would not surprise me if both the Pacific Sun and and ATI bulbs actually came off the same assembly line on different dates. I personally doubt that either one of these companies own a plant that makes their bulbs exclusively. I know my prior employer made bulbs sold by at least a dozen different brand names for other corporations as well as there brand name.

To economically make florescent tubes your talking about a sizable production facility. The aquarium industry alone could not come close to the sales required to make such a facility profitable.

I believe KZ and ATI bulbs(and Aquascience too?) are produced in the Sylvania Facility.

[ZON]

You are right but Aquascience , giesemann and d&d are made by NARVA..

[lushuk]

Hey guys I've got a ati (dim) 8 tube on my 24" mixed reef cube, can anyone share a lighting schedule for the 2 channels which has proven growth success, I'm currently

B+
B+
B+
P+
C+
B+
P+
B+
Front to back
I'm just fading my lps at the bottom so need to knock it down a bit, thanks for any help

[ZON]

Keep 1 channel almost 12 hours and other 10 will be ok

[mhucasey]

I have the blues on for 11.5 hours and all lights on for 6.5 hours

[lushuk]

Big difference there guys, what about brightness level on each channel?

[mhucasey]

I do not have dimming so 100%. Full light for more than 8 hours is overkill - many halide tanks for example get by with halides on for only 4-6 hours with great results. Longer use of full light seems to not benefit anything and may negatively affect color.