The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by JerseyWendy
Hi Grim,

You've helped me out tremendously in the past - THANK YOU SO MUCH for that. A little over a year ago I set up my first reef tank, a 75 AGA, and I've been using the TekLight, 6 X 54Watts on my SPS dominated tank. Well, the corals are nearly growing out of the water at this point, so I've decided to upgrade to a 180 in the fall/winter.

Now I've begun researching and reading - again.

As for lighting, I want to stick with the T5s. Which of the following options do you think is the best (SPS dominated)?

2 X 36" 8x39W ATI Powermodule T5 High-Output

60" 8x80W Icecap T5 Very High-Output Retrofit Kit

Aquactinics T5 Constellation 72" Series, 14 X 39W T5 lamps

Here's a FTS, taken 5-20-08


Thanks in advance, Grim.

---
Wendy

I would lean towards the Constellation simply because its a little cleaner installation than using two Powermodules but either would work.

The thing with the retro is the output would be a bit better (especially if you used 2 3 foot Ice Cap or Aquactinic reflectors per lamp which is the only way you could fit 8 lamps over than tank anyway) But because the lack of a splash shield you cant have them as close to the water so the output is kind of a wash.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by 74oldsguy
Whats the recommended t5 setup for a 6' 125g that has sps and lps. I would like it to be vibrant for all colors and able to have clams sometime.

Aquactinics Constellation or 2 6 or 8x54 ATI powermodules

[layer3switchguy]

Grim/Folks:

Folks,

Going to purchase a Solarflare T5 fixture and this is the combination I came up with for lamps. I'd appreciate some feedback on if this would be a good setup for keeping SPS and clams... Tank is 48x24x24 and I'm somewhat on the fence between the 6 bulb SolarFlare, or the 7 bulb Constellation.

Front -to- Back

1) ATI Aquablue Special
2) ATI Blue Plus
3) ATI Aquablue Special
4) UVL 75/25
5) ATI Blue Plus
6) ATI Aquablue Special

Please let me know your thoughts!

Thanks,
L3

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by 74oldsguy
Being a retro and what bulbs to use?

If you want toi use a retro you are going to need to get either Ice Cap or Aquactinic reflectors to fit 6 lamps, To do that you will have to use two 36" reflectors per lamp. You just overlap them in the middle and drill a hole through so you can add a 3rd lamp clip to hold the reflectors together.

For lamps

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Actinic
Giesemann Midday or GE Daylight
Blue Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus

[spleen93]

For a 24 inch wide tank, I'd go with the Constellation or an 8 bulb Powermodule.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by snaza
Grim,

thinking about setting up another tank. very shallow. 24x18x12. going to be a mixed reef. would 4 bulb tek be ok?

thanks

Be Fine

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by layer3switchguy
Grim/Folks:

Folks,

Going to purchase a Solarflare T5 fixture and this is the combination I came up with for lamps. I'd appreciate some feedback on if this would be a good setup for keeping SPS and clams... Tank is 48x24x24 and I'm somewhat on the fence between the 6 bulb SolarFlare, or the 7 bulb Constellation.

Front -to- Back

1) ATI Aquablue Special
2) ATI Blue Plus
3) ATI Aquablue Special
4) UVL 75/25
5) ATI Blue Plus
6) ATI Aquablue Special

Please let me know your thoughts!

Thanks,
L3

Should be an interesting combo. I would try it. PICTURES!

If you plan on clams on the sand the Flare is probably a little better choice.

[layer3switchguy]

Thanks! Think it will be enough light to get good growth and color? I'm worried it may be too blue...

[JerseyWendy]

Originally posted by jennmac415
Great tank, JerseyWendy! What bulb combo are you using?

Thank you. My light combo is (front to back)
ATI Blue Plus
Aquablue Plus 11,000k
6,500k
75/25
Aquablue Plus 11,000k
ATI Blue Plus

Here's another picture of the tank. I think the first picture turned out a bit too dark. (I'm still learning on how to use my camera properly )




And Grim, THANK YOU again for helping me with my question. You ROCK!!!
---
Wendy

[Camocustom98]

JerseyWendy,

Thank tank is absolutely gorgeous! I only have a bc29 but I just picked up 4 bulb T5 N.Extreme and I LOVE IT.

Beautiful Reef. I think the color temp looks PERFECT!!

[JerseyWendy]

Originally posted by Camocustom98
JerseyWendy,

Thank tank is absolutely gorgeous! I only have a bc29 but I just picked up 4 bulb T5 N.Extreme and I LOVE IT.

Beautiful Reef. I think the color temp looks PERFECT!!

Thank you very, very much, Camocustom. I can honestly say I owe the THANK YOU to the Grim for recommending the bulbs.

---
Wendy

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by layer3switchguy
Thanks! Think it will be enough light to get good growth and color? I'm worried it may be too blue...

If it were mine I would do a GE daylight or Gmann Midday in place of the middle aquablue/

[Camocustom98]

ok so Grim Reaper man is the one to talk to...i have one for you.
I just got my t5s, i have rics, yumas, zoas, and some LPS, i want a better spectrum and look than the stock 2 24w10ks and the 2 24w 460nm.

What would you reccomend?

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by Camocustom98
ok so Grim Reaper man is the one to talk to...i have one for you.
I just got my t5s, i have rics, yumas, zoas, and some LPS, i want a better spectrum and look than the stock 2 24w10ks and the 2 24w 460nm.

What would you reccomend?

If it's in the budget dump all the stock lamps. If not pull a toK and add a UVL Super Actinic.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus or Aquablue for a less blue look.

[Camocustom98]

cool cool....its in the budget, thanks...Now, for where to get these bulbs...online i am assuming...nobody by me sells T5s....if so its only slimpaqs

[P.Kelly]

Where can I find the follwoing lights online. ReefGeek doesn't seem to stock half of these, unless the names got lost in translation from Symon.

Ati blue plus
Ati Actynic
Ati blue spezial
Ati blue actynic
aquasince white
korallenzucht fiji purple
Ati blue spezial
Ati blue plus

Thanks in advance,

[Justin74]

Just the spelling Pete Actynic= Actinic; Spezial=Special Reefgeek has all those ATI's

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Bulbs/

They even have fiji purples on sale right now

The last one, Im not sure about. Is it suppose to be aquascience? Im unfamiliar with it.

-Justin

[lukinrats]

Ok... I have this question that I am sure will sound stupid, but here it goes... Anyone can answer, but I would love to hear from Grim on this!!!!

I have an 8 bulb Catalina retrofit... I have replaced almost every bulb in it, and also tossed out the individual reflectors that came with it... I probably should have kept them on there with the new bulbs, just for a reference, but it is too late now... Anyway, I replaced the individual reflectors with 4 ice cap SLR's... That means that I have 2 bulbs on each reflector, which I know is considered a NONO... If not a NONO then at least undesirable... I have the fixture about 12" above the surface of the water

Now!! I wanted to know what kind of light I was getting after all this experimentation... I did not want to drop a whole bunch of money on a PAR meter... Instead I looked around on RC and found some Lux values that Halide and T5 users had posted, and decided to compare this first... I just expected my results to be SH*#^^, so I got a Lux, and proceeded to check my lights... Remember that the lights are 12" above the surface of a 30" tall tank w/ 4" sandbed... The numbers I got were equal to what most Halide and T5 users had posted... I was seriously taken a back by this, and I am now wondering what kind of PAR I am getting... I mean if you go by this then my lights are in the 200-300 range for PAR without moving them down any... The LUX measurement that I get with the meter about 6" - 8" under the fixture is in the 35,000 to 45,000 vicinity, meaning 400-600 Par... All the way at the bottom of the tank on the sandbed, I am getting 8,000 LUX, or close to 200 PAR

Just to give an idea... the pictures below are what I am comparing my readings to... This guy is using Halides, and I know the spectrum difference is supposed to cause a slight PAR differences, but this is just preliminary for me






Is there anywhere that rents par meters maybe... I really hate to buy one just to check my lights, but I am really curious now what this fixture is registering in its current state... I have about 4-6" to play with, as far as lowering it towards the surface, so I think that is good

Anyway, I just wanted to give everyone some idea of what how my brain is functioning on this, and maybe get some answers

BTW... My bulb config is as follows

Front:
B+
Sup. Act
Ushio 10,000k
AquaBlue
B+
Ushio 10,000k
B+
Actinic
Back:

I hope the reply to this does not make me feel like too much of an idiot...LOL!!!
I THINK that I have a light that I can utilize, but I maybe just a dumb%#@... I really hope not!

I think it is also worth mentioning that I really had some trouble finding the lighting that I wanted for this tank... Reason being that it is only 12.5" front to back depth, so that was a limiting factor, along with the fact that it is 30" deep... I felt like I needed maximum wattage in a compact unit, and not break the bank... That is why I went with this retro...I have had it for over a year now, so the mods done are new, and were only to try and spend a little to maybe make it better... If I had to do it again right now, then I am sure I would have more choices

Thanks in advance,
Nathan

[P.Kelly]

Originally posted by Justin74
Just the spelling Pete Actynic= Actinic; Spezial=Special Reefgeek has all those ATI's

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Bulbs/

They even have fiji purples on sale right now

The last one, Im not sure about. Is it suppose to be aquascience? Im unfamiliar with it.

They've got a actinic ATI, but not a blue actinic, and no aquascience, so those are the two I'm trying to find.

[lukinrats]

Originally posted by petes97
They've got a actinic ATI, but not a blue actinic, and no aquascience, so those are the two I'm trying to find.

I know that Aquarium Specialty has the bulbs that you are looking for, because I saw them last week when I was looking for a couple

Later

[P.Kelly]

Originally posted by lukinrats
I know that Aquarium Specialty has the bulbs that you are looking for, because I saw them last week when I was looking for a couple

Later

I don't see blue actinic there, only Aquablue Special, Blue Plus, True Actinic 03, and Pro Color.

They do have the aquascience, thanks.

Pete

[Chris Lakies]

Hey Grim,

I'm having a 4 bulb combo for my mini reef.

(All 22" Bulbs with Icecap single light reflectors) I'm planning on a UV Super Actinic, UV 75.25, ATI Blue+, ATI Aquablue.

how should these be arranged front to back of aquarium?

[scav1180]

Originally posted by Mark426
Mr. Grim,

I have a TX5 fixture over my cycling 30G (24Lx16Hx18W) nano tank. I will move the contents of my 20L over in the next week or so. This tank will house zoa's and moderate light LPS. I love the look of this tanks lighting and would like to duplicate it as close as possible with the TX5. PAR is not a big deal with my low light corals, color is what I am looking for (haven’t heard that before have you )

Here is the tank:



You had some comments on this tank awhile back, as a reminder he is running 2 Blue Special, 2 Blue Plus, 2 Pro Color.

So..... what would you suggest for the same look with 5 lamps verses his 6 and in what order.
Thanks man.... you have put a lot of effort into this thread.

Mark

p.s. Thought about this: Blue Special, Blue+,UVL Actinic, Pro Color, Blue+. Dont worry, you wont hurt my feelings!

Grim..

2 Blue Special, 2 Blue Plus, 2 Pro Color. do you know if these are the actual bulb combo for that tank?

That is the color I want my tank to look. Not sure if the color scheme looks different in person.

I am currently running tek 6bulb. 48". It currently has 2 blues with 4 daylights. I dont like the look of it. Its too Pink? Its how I got the lights from another user.

What bulb combo would I need to get it to look like that tank in the pic above and in which order..

Thank you!

[RRaider]

Ok, I installed the 660 and recommended bulbs, I think I'd like a little more blue but in the mean time my fish want to know where I can get them some sun glasses!

[kvosstra]

Grim,

I am getting 2 6x54 ATI powermodule fixtures for my 48x36x24 - all SPS and a single large rose anenome. Also, I could make one of the 6 bulb an 8 bulb setup if that would be advisable.

I have a 4 bulb with 2 blue special and 2 blue plus on my smaller 40 G SPS reef - and I really like the color combination and the growth of the corals - although they are much closer to the surface of the water.

So what bulbs should I do to get both coral color, color of the light to be a nice blue like my above setup, and most PAR so that I can have my corals 12 inches below the water line?

Thanks for any advice.
-Kyle