The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[Tank2379]

60G Cube mixed Reef but want the 20K look getting and ATI Sunpowered fixture 8 bulb just looking for the right combo for coloration pop and growth... :-) let me know

Thanks
Frankie

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by alessandro

any suggestion?
will be too yellow?
tank is 220 gls only SPS.
now I have 5 ATI Blu+
2 ATI Purple +
3 ATI AB

It sounds good to me.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by creefer01

A few questions....

I'm setting up a rimless tank with 40B dimensions. I want to use T5 as the primary light source supplemented by LED for some shimmer. The primary reason for this is that I have a hell of a time with my current LED getting the color I desire from my coral. The plan is to get a 6 lamp fixture that I'll use for a while until I get the plan finalized on removing a lamp and modding the fixture with an LED strip. The tank will be SPS dominant. That having been said, I have the following questions.

1. Is it better to go with a 36" fixture or a 24" fixture?
2. I have a line on a nearly new 36" aquatic life 6 lamp T5. Any thoughts on pros and cons to this fixture?
3. What is the best lamp configuation for a tank like this considering I prefer a more blue look to a tank?

Thanks in advance.

36 inch fixture. That particular one is fine for a 40. 4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 Purple plus and a KZ New Generation for lamps

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by Tank2379

60G Cube mixed Reef but want the 20K look getting and ATI Sunpowered fixture 8 bulb just looking for the right combo for coloration pop and growth... :-) let me know

Thanks
Frankie

6 Blue Pluys. 1 Purple Plus and 1 KZ New Genration

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by sneaton

if too many p+ bulbs are bad what would i notice? how long would it take to see affects? what type of corals would be most affected? thanks for all the help....ive had the 3b+ 3p+ on my 75 since May and nothing has died or bleached...i did have some recession on some favia and a couple sps but i didnt do a water change for 6 months so i attribute that to water chemistry....ive been doing water changes every week for the last 3 weeks and dosing and ive noticed my corals are doing really well..(sps grew a 1/2 inch in the 3 weeks)

i just switched a purple out with a aquablue,will that be ok? do i need to watch things still?

On a personal preference making drastic changes in a short period of time gets me very nervious since the corals can adjust to thing slowly. The change from a purple to an Aqua Blue Special is not a drastic change since they both have a lot of Blue in them. Your also getting the red from your other purple plus bulbs so it is only slightly decreases. You should gain by a little from the added cyan and greens the Aqua Blue special adds.

Whater Chemestry is just as important as lighting for coral growth. Going months without water changes or dosing will drop the neccessary chemcal level of the tank to almost zero. If it stays there too lokng corals will perish.

As far as telling when your bulbs should be replaces is very difficult to the nacked eye. The florescing chemicals inside the bulbs usualy phosphate compoinds slowly deterioriate. This is a very gradual process and results in less light being emitted as well as color spectrum slowly shifting to longer wave lenghts. With the naked eye looking at a tank everyday this is very hard to detect.

I try to make it a habit to change at least 2 of my 8 bulbs every three months. With only 1/4 of the effected by any change. That way changes are never drasticly noticable. I also know that none of my bulbs have been there for more than a year which is close to the maximium life expectancy of a T-5 bulb.

[creefer01]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

36 inch fixture. That particular one is fine for a 40. 4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 Purple plus and a KZ New Generation for lamps

Thanks, Grim.

[llebcire]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

KZ New Gen in place of the aquablue

Time to order bulbs again.

Current setup is 4x54w (front -> back):

ATI Blue+
KZ Purple
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue+

I don't like it.

Tank is too pink/purple. Seem to be missing blue colors, greens don't "pop" and reds seems washed out and appear orange.

I've used UVL75.25 and KZ Purple - think they've been the problem and overpowered a 4 bulb system.

Ideas?

-Eric

[ebayes11]

What's the current consensus for the best T5 ballast for retrofit applications?

[GSMguy]

Originally Posted by llebcire

Time to order bulbs again.

Current setup is 4x54w (front -> back):

ATI Blue+
KZ Purple
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue+

I don't like it.

Tank is too pink/purple. Seem to be missing blue colors, greens don't "pop" and reds seems washed out and appear orange.

I've used UVL75.25 and KZ Purple - think they've been the problem and overpowered a 4 bulb system.

Ideas?

-Eric

3x ATI blue plus
1X GE 6500k

[nanoreef16g]

I feel like my 40 breeder needs a little more pop in the lighting. I currently have the following combo from front to back:

Aquablue Special
Blue Plus
2 x 150 watt 14k Phoenix
Blue Plus
Aquablue Special

I don't want too much more blue look to the tank. A little will be fine. Any suggestions as to bulb replacement?

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by ebayes11

What's the current consensus for the best T5 ballast for retrofit applications?

Triad Sylvania or Osram

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by nanoreef16g

I feel like my 40 breeder needs a little more pop in the lighting. I currently have the following combo from front to back:

Aquablue Special
Blue Plus
2 x 150 watt 14k Phoenix
Blue Plus
Aquablue Special

I don't want too much more blue look to the tank. A little will be fine. Any suggestions as to bulb replacement?

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Halides
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

[nanoreef16g]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Halides
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

Grim, you don't think this will make it too blue? If it does can I add one of the Aquablue Specials back? If so, in what position?

[Chrisrush]

Getting a new fixture (aquaperfekt photon plus) for my new tank (60x30x18) which has 2x250w DE HQI MHs and 6x54w T5s. I will plan to run the MHs 4 hrs a day, so I'll need the T5s to run 8-10 hrs.

Any recommendations? I am ordering from SOS, so the options are ATi, Giesemann, Hagen, Hexarc and UV. Part of me was thinking 2 of each, Hexarc 460 Blue, Oceanic Blue and True Actinic, but I'm worried that may be too blue. I like a 15k tank. I could throw in an AquaSun or something similar. The T5s are on either side of the MHs, so I might need a pair of whiter lamps.

[lazyrhino]

Originally Posted by GSMguy

Replace the AB special to a Blue+.

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

KZ New Gen in place of the aquablue

Originally Posted by TropTrea

You have several options.
The Fiji Purple to an ATI Purple Plus
Or the Aqua Blue to an ATI Coral Plus

Either of these bulbs would bive a stronger Blue without pulling out to much of the monotone effect that you would get with all Blue Plus Bulbs. If you want a considerable more blue Shift than repace them both, as mentioned.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'll look into each of these options.

This is such a great thread, thanks for all the work everyone puts into it. You've created quite the resource here.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by nanoreef16g

Grim, you don't think this will make it too blue? If it does can I add one of the Aquablue Specials back? If so, in what position?

It might but the purple lamp will offset that. If you think it's too blue I'd drop down to 12K halides myself. The dusk/dawn with those lamps will look good. If you decide to add an aquablue do it in the 3rd slot back.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by Chrisrush

Getting a new fixture (aquaperfekt photon plus) for my new tank (60x30x18) which has 2x250w DE HQI MHs and 6x54w T5s. I will plan to run the MHs 4 hrs a day, so I'll need the T5s to run 8-10 hrs.

Any recommendations? I am ordering from SOS, so the options are ATi, Giesemann, Hagen, Hexarc and UV. Part of me was thinking 2 of each, Hexarc 460 Blue, Oceanic Blue and True Actinic, but I'm worried that may be too blue. I like a 15k tank. I could throw in an AquaSun or something similar. The T5s are on either side of the MHs, so I might need a pair of whiter lamps.

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
Halides
Giesemann Midday
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

[llebcire]

Originally Posted by GSMguy

3x ATI blue plus
1X GE 6500k

Maybe. Think I'm hoping for a 15k - 20k look.

I'm thinking of going all ATI - I don't have a dealer locally where I can see the combos in person to get a better feel.

Would like to see 3x Blue Plus with a new Coral Plus or 2x Blue Plus, 1 Actinic and 1 Coral Plus in person.

May need to hit up George @ Reef Geek for some ideas.

I know people rave about the KZ Purple, ATI Purple & UVL 75.25 but they seem to pink to me (owned KZ & UVL).

Unfortunately I don't keep old bulbs to test combos.

-Eric

[nanoreef16g]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

It might but the purple lamp will offset that. If you think it's too blue I'd drop down to 12K halides myself. The dusk/dawn with those lamps will look good. If you decide to add an aquablue do it in the 3rd slot back.

Any recommendations as to a good 12K halide brand to buy?

[big cats]

Okay. A couple questions for the pros!

First let me start by saying that I am getting ready to set up a 90g reef, that I am going to be keeping LPS and Softies only in, and want to know what lighting to put on there. I've been told a strictly T5 setup will be perfectly fine, and to be honest, I want to try it out. I just don't know enough about the bulbs and bulb combinations to just order something and "wing it"

So, with that said, what do you guys think will be the best for my tank? To my knowledge the tank is just a standard 90g, 48" long. would a 48" fixture be the way to go, or would a 36" work out better if I centered it in the middle of the tank?

And secondly would be the amount of bulbs and combinations and placement of these bulbs..So what would be a nice amount of bulbs to put on the tank that would give me a modest growth rate, and nothing out of control? 4 or 6? Not only that, but I like the hint of blue look to my tank. Nothing too blue, but nothing too white either, so what would I do to make that happen? I like my corals to fluoresce, so how do I achieve this with T5's? My original thoughts were to just have a set of actinics to just use for at night when I like to just sit and watch the tank, or even have a DIY LED strictly blues set up and integrated with my T5's to keep them on constantly...or is there a way to keep them fluorescing by using only T5's?

And lastly, bulb placement? I know this is essential because when I built my LED system for my nano tank I spent days making diagrams of how to place them in order to maximize growth, overall look, and best spread of certain colors of lights. I am just not sure on how to do this with T5's..

I think that covers it as far as what I'm looking for, and if you need any additional info don't hesitate to ask! TIA

-Jordan

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by nanoreef16g

Any recommendations as to a good 12K halide brand to buy?

Been a long time, seems to me Ushio had a nice lamp in that range.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by big cats

Okay. A couple questions for the pros!

First let me start by saying that I am getting ready to set up a 90g reef, that I am going to be keeping LPS and Softies only in, and want to know what lighting to put on there. I've been told a strictly T5 setup will be perfectly fine, and to be honest, I want to try it out. I just don't know enough about the bulbs and bulb combinations to just order something and "wing it"

So, with that said, what do you guys think will be the best for my tank? To my knowledge the tank is just a standard 90g, 48" long. would a 48" fixture be the way to go, or would a 36" work out better if I centered it in the middle of the tank?

And secondly would be the amount of bulbs and combinations and placement of these bulbs..So what would be a nice amount of bulbs to put on the tank that would give me a modest growth rate, and nothing out of control? 4 or 6? Not only that, but I like the hint of blue look to my tank. Nothing too blue, but nothing too white either, so what would I do to make that happen? I like my corals to fluoresce, so how do I achieve this with T5's? My original thoughts were to just have a set of actinics to just use for at night when I like to just sit and watch the tank, or even have a DIY LED strictly blues set up and integrated with my T5's to keep them on constantly...or is there a way to keep them fluorescing by using only T5's?

And lastly, bulb placement? I know this is essential because when I built my LED system for my nano tank I spent days making diagrams of how to place them in order to maximize growth, overall look, and best spread of certain colors of lights. I am just not sure on how to do this with T5's..

I think that covers it as far as what I'm looking for, and if you need any additional info don't hesitate to ask! TIA

-Jordan

Tek or Aquaticlife 6x54

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K
ATI BLue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by nanoreef16g

Any recommendations as to a good 12K halide brand to buy?

When I ran Hides I liked the growth I got from the 6,500K Ushio but for color I liked the 10,000K XM with a lot of Atinics.

[big cats]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Tek or Aquaticlife 6x54

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K
ATI BLue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

Okay, so 6 bulb it is..Which do you feel is a better fixture, the Tek or Aquaticlife? I know the Aquaticlife comes with LED's and a timer, but are those really necessary? I have heard people happy with both fixtures, but I still can't decide which is best for me. That extra $100 I could save by getting the Tek sounds nice, but if I decide to get a timer and moons it will probably cost me that extra $100 if not more anyways right?

And would the way you listed the bulbs be as such, front = top of list and back = bottom of list? or the other way around?

[Chrisrush]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
Halides
Giesemann Midday
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

Thanks Grim. Always a great resource. I'll get the fixture up and snap a few pictures of the color.