The T5 Q&a Thread

[mjstover]

yes the fixture does have individual reflectors and they were both directly over top with not legs or anything

[jamesdawson]

Originally posted by iamjoefox
ok so i read throught nearly the whole thread. lots of info.

but i understand you think the ebay fixtures are junk. but what makes them junk? crappy bulbs? bad ballasts?

im trying to stay under $400 for new lights for my 75g.

Best bang for the buck is going to be a Reefgeek HO retro with IceCap reflectors like this 4 bulb one for $299:
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_...Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

If you want even more light then go with the 6 bulb retro for $449:
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_...Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

Blow a fan across the ends and it will be perfect. Good luck,

James

[EvilE]

Originally posted by jamesdawson
Best bang for the buck is going to be a Reefgeek HO retro with IceCap reflectors like this one for $359:
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_...Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

If you want even more light then go with the 6 bulb retro for $449:
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_...Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

Blow a fan across the ends and it will be perfect. Good luck,

James

Also, I recently got a 4 bulb retrofit kit with 2 ballasts from HELLOLIGHTS.com , and I am very happy with them!! Very good quality, and affordable.

[EvilE]

Grim, one more quick question-- how long do my new bulbs generally last, before needing replaced?

ATI Blue+
Super actinic 03
Aquasun

[mjstover]

So T-5 are just a little better the powercompact and no where near MH??

[spleen93]

Originally posted by mjstover
Ok. I just got a 24" 96 watt current SunDial. I already had a 150 watt SunPod MH. I was thinking that I might get better results with the T-5s. I just ordered 2 Blue Plus ATI and, a UVI AquaSun. and a UVI 75/25. I was still not totaly convinced that this would put out more light then my MH but everyone is talkin these T-5s up so much I thought I would give em a try. So today I took a Lux meter and tested it out. I put my T-5 on a 16 gal and put the meter at the bottom. on the 10x Lux setting I got about 600 Lum. Then I put the MH on and it blew the T-5s away with 1600 lum. Now If PAR is the most important thing for quality of light how can T-5s come anywhere close the MH?

Couple of issues here. The MH has an extra 54 watts on your 4x24 watt T5 fixture. The Sundial does NOT have individual reflectors - it has a single reflector that is individually contoured around the bulbs. These are not considered to be state of art in terms of T5 reflectors. You're also looking at a single location in the aquarium where the advantage of MH being a point source is going to shine. To do a proper test, you would need to do a grid of readings looking at PAR readings over an area to see how the PAR readings drop off within the aquarium. On a practical note, you would never be able to run an aquarium with the 150 watt MH directly on top since it'd heat up the water like an oven. If you raised the 150 watt MH light to a height for everyday usage, it might be interesting to see how the PAR drops off. The T5 fixture is designed to work on top of the aquarium like you had it placed.

Just some food for thought.

[13threefmaniac]

Originally posted by jamesdawson
Actually, ATI reccomends the 4.5V setting for the fans to provide the optimum cooling and the fans need to be on when any bulbs are lit.

James

Thanks James.

[steveoutlaw]

.

[PCIALF]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Ease into it. That is goint to be a pretty substatial increase in light. Grab yourself an AZOO fan array from dr fosters and smith. Clamp it on the back of the tank so it blows across the fixture.

Thanks

So blowing from the back of the tank to the front the 2' span? rather than 1 side for the 4' span?

is the 4 fan enough placed in the middle or a couple 2 fans separated

sorry to be a pain

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by qfrisco
Phew! I just caught on to this thread this morning, and have just finished reading all the posts in all the splits. :-) Awesome info on here!

I was about ready to place an order for a Tek 6x54w fixture for my 90g (48x18x24h), but I wanted to confirm something - it sounds like the preference now is the Aquactinics TX5 since it is not as deep and allows the flexibility of sliding it back a little bit to reduce the light reaching the front sandbed. Is this right?

I'm wanting to upgrade my 4x65w PC fixture, and would like to keep a true mix of corals, as well as a clam or two.

Thank you!!!

Correct.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by suppressivefire
Grim:
Im looking into what actinic vho would be good over a 40 breeder with 2 175 15k iwasakis which are more like 10k's i will have 4 36" vhos on a 660 ballast. which bulbs should i run i want a pretty good blue tank but not to blue and i want the sps to really show there colors. anyhelp? and also wheres a good place to buy vhos.
thanks-
Chris

You mean VHO as in the onld VHO T12 lamps? If thats the case marine depot. If your talking the T5 VHO then I would do a hybrid system. Do 2 of the old T12 VHO Actinics and 2 ATI Blue Plus T5's. The 660 ballast can run them all. The VHO Actinics are still the best but they cant match the T5 blue plus

[T8T]

Grim-

Will be setting up mixed 120g 48x24x24. Going with IceCap VHO T5 retro from reef geek. I would like a bluer look but still allow for decent growth on my sps corals. What Color combo to go with:

[chris023]

Grim,
I have recently got a new 150 gallon up and running, a couple on months now. I am using T5 lighting and wondering if I made the right decision on my bulb selection.

The tank is 60x24x24. I went with a staggered 48" bulb configuration where I have 2 10K staggered in the back portion; 1 420nm actinic centered in the back/middle; 1 10k centered in the front/middle; and 2 18k staggered in the front portion. This is about the maximum number of bulbs I could fit in the canopy.

I am growing LPS (Torch, Bubble), Zoanthids, Ricordia, and varius Mushrooms in the front portion of the tank. I plan on putting SPS in the middle/back of the tank, where they would be closer to the light source.

I definately need more blue. I see that there are many many bulbs that have more blue in their spectrum (e.g. 11K AquaBlue Plus, 75/25 14K AquaBlue, ActinicPlus, Super Actinic, Super Actinic Blue, Pure Actinic, etc).

What would give me the best of both worlds of growth and pleasing to the eye? Should I just try switching out a couple of bulbs and see how things in the tank react? Should I not bother going with staggered config and have everything centered (even though I am using 48"bulbs in a 60"tank)? entire new configuration. Attached is a couple of photos of the light setup. Thanks for your help.

[roadrace21]

Grim thanks for a ton of info here, got a quick question.

110gal tall 48" wide 30" deep right now have a MH DE 250 on one side with the other having 2 24" URI actinic whites VHO's with a pair of 46.5" super actinic VHO's run off a ice 660. the ice will run the t5's and was thinking about switching over to T5's what bulbs would you recomend? was thinking about sticking with the uri's. Also the MH is between the VHO's so front to back its VHO Super, (left 2X24 whites) (right MH) back row is a VHO super.

Thanks

[mjstover]

Originally posted by spleen93
Couple of issues here. The MH has an extra 54 watts on your 4x24 watt T5 fixture. The Sundial does NOT have individual reflectors - it has a single reflector that is individually contoured around the bulbs. These are not considered to be state of art in terms of T5 reflectors. You're also looking at a single location in the aquarium where the advantage of MH being a point source is going to shine. To do a proper test, you would need to do a grid of readings looking at PAR readings over an area to see how the PAR readings drop off within the aquarium. On a practical note, you would never be able to run an aquarium with the 150 watt MH directly on top since it'd heat up the water like an oven. If you raised the 150 watt MH light to a height for everyday usage, it might be interesting to see how the PAR drops off. The T5 fixture is designed to work on top of the aquarium like you had it placed.

Just some food for thought.

You are right about the Sundial. I wonder even if this individualy contoured refelctor is that much better then the ones they have in the Nova Extreems. Now supposing that I would do the test with individual reflectors I would not think they could make any more then a 30 - 40% difference. I think this is even high. so say that was the test and it improved the t - 5 to say 900. That is still a 600 point difference. also I put the SunPod up on its legs that it comes with and I would say it pushed the light 3 more inches off the top. I still got a 1480 reading. I think I will do afew more test form different spots in the tank and different levels. However I just don't see how the T-5s can come anywhere close. The thing is though I know I have see many pic's on here with T-5 lighting and they look very good. So I dont know..

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by mayham72
hey guys im running 2 current nova extreme 8x54s on a standard 120 and im wandering if anyone is making 1400k bulbs yet. will post photo when i can figure out how to shrink in on my mac.

2 8x54's on a 120? How the hell you getting all those lamps over a 24" space?

Anyway the Aquascience Duo is about the closest thing to a 14K T5. Just slightly bluer than the Aquablues.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by mr.maroonsalty
few ?'s
1. Can I use a terminal block and split a 110w lead getting two 54w bulbs on one circuit?
2. In general how much better is a six bulb vs. a pushed four bulb unit.
3. How would an ati four bulb fixture compare to a tek 6 bulb fixture, and are there any other choices in this $400-500?
many thanks!

Seriously doubt you'll have much success splitting the output of a ballst.

If by Pushed you mean overdriven the overdriven unit will penetrate deeper into the tank. The 6 will have a wider dispertion area of light in the tank but the intensity wont be a high.

4 lamp ATI will have about double the output of a 4 lamp Tek, a 6 lamp fixture will have a little higher intensity than a 4 lamp unit but not much, mostly the light is just spread over a larger area.

Aquactinic TX5 is another option and if the tank is less than 20" tall the Nova Extreme Pro is a budget option.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by geris
Hi Grim, Im asking for a friend, he has a 55g mostly LPS and also a few clams. He has a T5 Current USA system, with 4 bulbs (54w). He's about to change his stock bulbs for the first time, so what bulb combination do you suggest? Thanks.

Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
UVL Aquasun
Blue Plus

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by zachofalltrades
Bringing back my other question about 2 x 39w T5's on a 30 gallon, if I went with 4 x 39w would that be enough to keep something like a bubble tip anemone?

Sure

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by iamjoefox
ok so i read throught nearly the whole thread. lots of info.

but i understand you think the ebay fixtures are junk. but what makes them junk? crappy bulbs? bad ballasts?

im trying to stay under $400 for new lights for my 75g.

All of the above plus lack of customer support and service.

If your on a budget the Nova Extreme Pro will let you keep a pretty good selection of corals in that tank. Just replace the lamps within 6 months.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by mjstover
Ok. I just got a 24" 96 watt current SunDial. I already had a 150 watt SunPod MH. I was thinking that I might get better results with the T-5s. I just ordered 2 Blue Plus ATI and, a UVI AquaSun. and a UVI 75/25. I was still not totaly convinced that this would put out more light then my MH but everyone is talkin these T-5s up so much I thought I would give em a try. So today I took a Lux meter and tested it out. I put my T-5 on a 16 gal and put the meter at the bottom. on the 10x Lux setting I got about 600 Lum. Then I put the MH on and it blew the T-5s away with 1600 lum. Now If PAR is the most important thing for quality of light how can T-5s come anywhere close the MH?

You have a bottom of the line T5 fixture. The better reflectors and ballasts make a big difference. I had a 125 that had 3 150 watt 10K BLV lamps in a fixture with 168 watts of PC Actinics. That setup did in the mid 90's and BLV at the time were the best 150 watt lamp for PAR I could find. My Ice Cap retro T5 unit did in the 140's. My current tank is about the same height as the 125. Using 48 watt T5 fixtures (125 used 80 watt lamps) with active cooling I get anywhere from 220 to over 300 depending on the lamps. That is why I try to steer people away from the low end fixtures. The Nova Pro is acceptable but unless you have a short tank anything less ain't gonna cut it.

Also measuring Lux can cause issues as well. Lux is geared towards the wavelength the human eye sees best which is a slightly green Yellow around 555nm. If you have a mix of Bluish T5's and a 10K halide the reading of the halide will be greatly exagerated. If you can lay your hands on a PAR meter try measuring them again and see what the difference is.

[markjglover]

Grim I just ordered a Tx5 and the vendor included bulbs but they dont carry ATI so I order Giesemann bulbs. They will be installed in this order.

Aquablue plus
UVL 75/25
UVL Aquasun
Actinic Pure
Aquable Plus


Should I have ordered the Actinic Blue instead? Thanks alot!

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by markjglover
Grim I just ordered a Tx5 and the vendor included bulbs but they dont carry ATI so I order Giesemann bulbs. They will be installed in this order.

Aquablue plus
UVL 75/25
UVL Aquasun
Actinic Pure
Aquable Plus


Should I have ordered the Actinic Blue instead? Thanks alot!

If you can change the order change one of the Aquablues for an Actinic Plus. That is the Blue Lamp. The Aquablue is white

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by mjstover
yes the fixture does have individual reflectors and they were both directly over top with not legs or anything

Any chance you can post up a pic of the reflector? I assume its the same as the pro version, just like to make sure.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by EvilE
Grim, one more quick question-- how long do my new bulbs generally last, before needing replaced?

ATI Blue+
Super actinic 03
Aquasun

Should be able to pull a year if the lamps are cooled with fans. People have gone over 18 months but you definatly aren't getting top performance doing that.