The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by mhucasey

It's less harsh red than the Purple Plus. "Purple" bulbs are really more Pink/magenta than purple, and the Fiji Purple is the original Purple bulb(and the best IMO)

With this in mind then for my 6 bulb should I go 3 blue plus, 2 coral plus, and a fiji purple instead of purple plus?

I have a ton of orange and red acans in my tank and dont want them washed out with harsh reds from the purple plus if that is the case. I want a blueish tinge to my tank and my colors in the corals to really pop. I have spent a ton on the acans and such so want to enjoy their colors.

I do have 2 Kessils on the sides aiming in though that I can use to help balance color in the tank...

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by soulpatch

With this in mind then for my 6 bulb should I go 3 blue plus, 2 coral plus, and a fiji purple instead of purple plus?

I have a ton of orange and red acans in my tank and dont want them washed out with harsh reds from the purple plus if that is the case. I want a blueish tinge to my tank and my colors in the corals to really pop. I have spent a ton on the acans and such so want to enjoy their colors.

I do have 2 Kessils on the sides aiming in though that I can use to help balance color in the tank...

I will always choose the Fiji purple over the Purple Plus. The Purple Plus wouldnt destroy your look or anything though, so if you need to go that route you will be fine

[oseymour]

Hi, I'm building a new 4 foot tank and I'll have a kessil AP700 over it. I'm looking to supplement with t5 but I need a 2 or 4 bulb 48" fixture that looks just as sleek at the AP700.

Is this a good option? http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewit...aNoaArxd8P8HAQ

I have a rimless tank and I'm not using a hood. If anyone has suggestions that uses a tank mount that would be great.

Thanks

[05cummins]

Not sure what the photo adds other than I think it looks cool. Taken with iPhone no filters. This is what I am running in front of my three G3 Radions.

Blue plus

Coral plus

Blue plus

Coral plus

Ati actinic

Blue plus

[tomreefer]

I have a75 gallon tank with a t5 4 bulb Coralife fixture. Can you recommend me the bulbs I should get? I want mostly lps, softies and maybe a clam if possible. Eventually will liketo upgrade to LED

[CoralNerd]

Lighting help:
My tank is 46"
I have been running 2 ecotech radions but growth is slow. I added two 36" t5's and growth picked up.

I'm thinking about buying a 36" giesemann matrixx ii, 6 bulb setup and also running the two radions. Does this sound like a good plan? If I didn't run the radions would the 36" t5 setup give me good coverage on the sides? Any other suggestions? Thanks

[CoralNerd]

Bump my question above:
If you don't know about the radions maybe just answer as if I just had t5's. Thanks

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by CoralNerd

Lighting help:
My tank is 46"
I have been running 2 ecotech radions but growth is slow. I added two 36" t5's and growth picked up.

I'm thinking about buying a 36" giesemann matrixx ii, 6 bulb setup and also running the two radions. Does this sound like a good plan? If I didn't run the radions would the 36" t5 setup give me good coverage on the sides? Any other suggestions? Thanks

I have a 36" fixture over a 48" distance. It will project some light from the ends,but there is a severe drop off about 3" from the last lit up part of the bulb. So in short, it will give you reduced light to the ends of the 46" tank. Not much option though - a 48" fixture will be too big.

[CoralNerd]

I think what I will do is focus the radions more towards the ends.
I'm going to put the t5's and the radions on separate T Slot, 80/20 aluminum rails with a slider. This way I can slide the lights left and right from time to time.

[Flippers4pups]

Need help with my current lighting.

Fixture: Aquticlife 72", 8 bulb. 39w

Tank: marineland 6' 125gal.

Lights are in two banks, each half has 4, 3' bulbs.

Current lights:

All bulbs are ATI

Blue plus
Blue plus
Purple plus
Coral plus

Some SPS, LPS and some soft corals

Corals have been stressed and looking as if they are getting too much light.
Cut my light period down to eight hours for the blue plus and 4 hours for pink and coral. This done a month ago.

Raised my fixture up eight inches above water line. This done also a month ago.

Tank looks pretty bright and white during all lights on.

Thinking too much par, but don't have a par meter to test.

What do you think I should change?

[chercm]

what is the recommended orientation for the tubes :

3 blue+
2 coral+
1 aqua blue
1 purple
1 actinic

[DiscusHeckel]

Originally Posted by chercm

what is the recommended orientation for the tubes :

3 blue+
2 coral+
1 aqua blue
1 purple
1 actinic

This is how I use them:

front
blue+
coral+
actinic
aquablue special
purple+
blue+
coral+
blue+

Scotty uses exactly the same combination except that he uses coral+ and blue+ in reverse order in the front, i.e. coral+ blue+ actinic ....

I tried it, but prefer blue+ in the front for a bluer look.

I hope this helps.

[chercm]

Originally Posted by DiscusHeckel

This is how I use them:

front
blue+
coral+
actinic
aquablue special
purple+
blue+
coral+
blue+

Scotty uses exactly the same combination except that he uses coral+ and blue+ in reverse order in the front, i.e. coral+ blue+ actinic ....

I tried it, but prefer blue+ in the front for a bluer look.

I hope this helps.

thanks will try it once my fixture arrives

[tomreefer]

Recommend bulb combo for a 75 gallon 4 light fixture?

[Mr.Tan]

I'm having a bit of trouble deciding on which bulbs to put in my new fixture i just bought. Its a 4 bulb aquaticlife. I previously had a 2 bulb fixture on running 1 actinic and 1 10k bulb (i put coralife bulbs in it because the old ones were dead). My new fixture is running 2 actinic (which dont even look actinic, they just say 420/ something else on them), 1 10k and 1 purple (which doesnt look purple or pink at all). It looks way too whitish/blue for me. It doesnt seem to make any colors POP like the old 2 bulb fixture did.


I've been reading through this thread but getting mixed opinions on colors to use. I want something that will really make colors pop and have a nice "warm" glow to them...not a washed out super bright white like i'm getting now. My rocks before had a nice glow to them and now just look too white (no coral in the tank yet, just a bunch of live rock, no dead rock was used). I'm planning on just lps and softies in the tank. Its a 29g standard.


TIA

[StrikerKratos]

I'm setting up a 48x24x7 frag tank to grow jaw-dropping SPS (mainly acro, some others) and am interested in either the 6 bulb or 8 bulb dimmable ATI Sunpower light.

I don't mind spending the extra and dimming or leaving two bulbs off if its too bright and then working up, but I don't want to spend extra if it's just plain unnecessary. Any opinions? Thanks!!

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by StrikerKratos

I'm setting up a 48x24x7 frag tank to grow jaw-dropping SPS (mainly acro, some others) and am interested in either the 6 bulb or 8 bulb dimmable ATI Sunpower light.

I don't mind spending the extra and dimming or leaving two bulbs off if its too bright and then working up, but I don't want to spend extra if it's just plain unnecessary. Any opinions? Thanks!!

For that size is suggest the 8 bulb standard(non-dimmable) sunpower. Save the money and headache you'll need for the dimmable

[Ludwigia73]

Seems like most of these questions are about 6 bulb setups... I have a 40 breeder with a 4 bulb fixture, independent reflectors... I want it blue, not crisp white, but I want color to pop and get decent growth. I'm growing mainly softies in this tank, shrooms, zoas, maybe a leather, and an anemone. I'm thinking 1 Fiji purple in the front, 2 blue plus dead center, and a coral plus in the back. How does this sound?

[Mark426]

put the Coral+ between the Blues.

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by Ludwigia73

Seems like most of these questions are about 6 bulb setups... I have a 40 breeder with a 4 bulb fixture, independent reflectors... I want it blue, not crisp white, but I want color to pop and get decent growth. I'm growing mainly softies in this tank, shrooms, zoas, maybe a leather, and an anemone. I'm thinking 1 Fiji purple in the front, 2 blue plus dead center, and a coral plus in the back. How does this sound?

Because of the small amount of bulbs I'd be concerned about the purple overpowering the others - maybe instead, two coral plus and two blue plus evenly staggered would be better.

[03glide]

Originally Posted by nemofish2217

I am going to run a 4 bulb retro setup, and I was thinking of going with either of the two combinations:

#1 - ATI
Blue +
Coral +
Purple +
Blue +

#2 - ATI
Blue +
Coral +
Blue +
Coral +

The look I am really going for is somewhere in the 12k-14k range...I like the idea of the purple + to help the reds pop, but I don't want it to look too pink. I've been seeing some folks say they wouldn't run a pink bulb on a set up with less than 6 total bulbs.

Any thoughts on the combinations or order I have them set up?

3 blue +
1 coral +

[StrikerKratos]

Don't forget your true actinic! one of the biggest spectrums absorbed by zooxanthellae is violet, like 400-450nm.

[drillsar]

Ok for a 4 bulb you suggest:

1 true actnic
1 blue +
2 coral +

?

[silvernblackr35]

Aquablue special vs coral plus.. anyone have growth comparisons?

[StrikerKratos]

Originally Posted by drillsar

Ok for a 4 bulb you suggest:



1 true actnic

1 blue +

2 coral +



?

That sounds like a good combo to me, could even do 1 coral + and an aquablue special, gives you slightly more spectrum. Would be nice to see growth comparison between the two like mentioned above.