The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[M Woodhill]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Change the position you have listed as a superblue now to a second Fiji Purple and the 4 slots that are new generations to Super Blues so you have 4 super blues 2 fijis and 2 coral lights.

thanks grim

it wont be so blue huh? i like the present color crisp white with only a hint of blue

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by M Woodhill

thanks grim

it wont be so blue huh? i like the present color crisp white with only a hint of blue

If the Coral lights are still the pure white they used to be this will be like 14K or so.

[ryan1985]

Hey Grim, what do you think of this combo? I have mostly softies and like a relatively blue look. I have a 36" fixture and a 24" fixture. I'm thinking:

x2 36" 39W ATI Purple Plus
x2 36" 39W ATI Blue Plus
x2 36" 39W GE 6500K

x1 24" 24W ATI Purple Plus
x3 24" 24W ATI Blue Plus

This combo was mostly Dennis' recommendation (thanks!) but I just want to be sure it's not going to be "too white" with the 2 GE's... I guess that may come down to personal preference though. Thanks in advance

[theReefKing]

We just set up a 65 gal frag tank.
I have the 36" AquaticLife Six Lamp T5 HO Light Fixture, so there are 6 39W bulbs to play with.

This tank is all about the frags. SPS and LPS.

I want the frags to glow and grow! Really wow the Craigslist buyers.

Tell me what bulb and brand to buy and I will buy it!
Tell me where to place them and I will follow!

Lead On Lord of the T5!

(and thank you in advance)

[Chris2223]

Hi grim, I posted a few pages back abt your thoughts on which brand fixture to get. I was wondering your thoughts abt a couple things if you wouldn't mind helping out.

First, I was looking into getting the Tek Elite 48" 8 bulb fixture bt was wondering if the Ati Sunpower 48" 6 bulb fixture would still be a better option? It will be over a standard 75g Mixed reef. Getting the 6 bulb Ati will put me in the same price rang as the 8 bulb Tek, which is better for my pocket lol

Second, do you think that the Ati fixture is that much better quality than the Tek to compensate for having 2 less bulbs?

Third, if the 6 bulb Ati fixture is recommended what bulb combo would give me say a 14k ish light/ medium blue color?

Thanks for all your help and your great knowledge abt T5s!

[rburns24]

You can get them from goreef.com in Montreal. Shipping is cheap and service is excellent.

Originally Posted by M Woodhill

Hey Grim

I'm now running a combo that I really like. But the problem is I can't find any supply in Ottawa of GE 39w 6500k

Can I switch to KZ combo from back to front:

New generation 14000k
Coral light 10000k
Superblue 20000k
New generation 14000k
Coral 10000k
New generation 14000k
Fuji purple
New generation 14000k

thanks

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by ryan1985

Hey Grim, what do you think of this combo? I have mostly softies and like a relatively blue look. I have a 36" fixture and a 24" fixture. I'm thinking:

x2 36" 39W ATI Purple Plus
x2 36" 39W ATI Blue Plus Change to 3
x2 36" 39W GE 6500K Change to 1

x1 24" 24W ATI Purple Plus
x3 24" 24W ATI Blue Plus

This combo was mostly Dennis' recommendation (thanks!) but I just want to be sure it's not going to be "too white" with the 2 GE's... I guess that may come down to personal preference though. Thanks in advance

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by theReefKing

We just set up a 65 gal frag tank.
I have the 36" AquaticLife Six Lamp T5 HO Light Fixture, so there are 6 39W bulbs to play with.

This tank is all about the frags. SPS and LPS.

I want the frags to glow and grow! Really wow the Craigslist buyers.

Tell me what bulb and brand to buy and I will buy it!
Tell me where to place them and I will follow!

Lead On Lord of the T5!

(and thank you in advance)

4 Blue Plus
1 Purple Plus
1 Coral Plus.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by Chris2223

Hi grim, I posted a few pages back abt your thoughts on which brand fixture to get. I was wondering your thoughts abt a couple things if you wouldn't mind helping out.

First, I was looking into getting the Tek Elite 48" 8 bulb fixture bt was wondering if the Ati Sunpower 48" 6 bulb fixture would still be a better option? It will be over a standard 75g Mixed reef. Getting the 6 bulb Ati will put me in the same price rang as the 8 bulb Tek, which is better for my pocket lol

Second, do you think that the Ati fixture is that much better quality than the Tek to compensate for having 2 less bulbs?

Third, if the 6 bulb Ati fixture is recommended what bulb combo would give me say a 14k ish light/ medium blue color?

Thanks for all your help and your great knowledge abt T5s!

6 is a better number for a 75 to begin with. The ATI will have higher PAR but wont cover as large a footprint, not an issue in your case.

4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Coral Plus and a GE 6500K for a slightly blue, more sunny mix and for a little more subdued look a Purple Plus instead of the GE.

[Photobug]

I have 4 ballast on my fixture of which I only use 2. I am thinking of removing all 4 and placing 2 of them in a cabinet next to the tank to hold electronics and other fish supplies. Eventually there will be a DIY controller to control lights.

Will this work? How about wiring with a 14guage 4 wire to controll two sets of lights; one common ground, one common neutral and two individual hots two control two T5 circuits, will that work?

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by Photobug

I have 4 ballast on my fixture of which I only use 2. I am thinking of removing all 4 and placing 2 of them in a cabinet next to the tank to hold electronics and other fish supplies. Eventually there will be a DIY controller to control lights.

Will this work? How about wiring with a 14guage 4 wire to controll two sets of lights; one common ground, one common neutral and two individual hots two control two T5 circuits, will that work?

Some ballasts are limited in the amount of wire you can have feeding to the lamps. Theoretically it will work assuming you don't exceed the wire length the ballast can handle.

[Photobug]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Some ballasts are limited in the amount of wire you can have feeding to the lamps. .

I have not looked at the ballasts yet. Is the wire length printed on it? I am guessing 6 feet of wire running between ballasts and the lights.

[jdantunes]

Hey Grim...

I currently have a Elos AquaPlanet II 2X150W MH and 4X54W T5 over a standard 75 Gallon (48x18x21) It's been running over a year and it has been very difficult to keep some corals happy with this setup. Some of my SPS fading colors and zoanthids shrinking to micro size and not getting any new polyps..

I want to step back a bit and to do that I'm replacing my light system with an ATI Powermodule 4X54W. I seen examples of my same size tank and similar fixtures and I get the feeling this fixture will be a more suitable for my tank inhabitants. What you think?

Also, can you recommend me a good combo to get good color and growth.

Thank you

[PhLipStyLz]

Hey Grim - I've been out of the hobby for awhile and just about to get back into it. I'm planning to do a 40gal breeder/frag tank (36"x18"x16"high).

I plan to do either a 4 bulb or 6 bulb T5 setup driven by two separate IC660s. I also have a DIY LED pendent that contains 12 Royal Blue Cree XP-E and 12 White Cree XP-E that I plan to supplement the T5s with.

Based on this layout/configuration, can you provide recommendations for both a 4 and 6 Bulb setup? I purchased two IC660s to do dusk/dawn so I was thinking either 2 or 3 bulbs on each ballast. My LED pendant has two ballast as well to independently control the blue and white LEDs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by jdantunes

Hey Grim...

I currently have a Elos AquaPlanet II 2X150W MH and 4X54W T5 over a standard 75 Gallon (48x18x21) It's been running over a year and it has been very difficult to keep some corals happy with this setup. Some of my SPS fading colors and zoanthids shrinking to micro size and not getting any new polyps..

I want to step back a bit and to do that I'm replacing my light system with an ATI Powermodule 4X54W. I seen examples of my same size tank and similar fixtures and I get the feeling this fixture will be a more suitable for my tank inhabitants. What you think?

Also, can you recommend me a good combo to get good color and growth.

Thank you

Do 6 lamp fixture, either ATI model will be fine. 4 Blue Plus, 1 Purple Plus and 1 Coral Plus

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by PhLipStyLz

Hey Grim - I've been out of the hobby for awhile and just about to get back into it. I'm planning to do a 40gal breeder/frag tank (36"x18"x16"high).

I plan to do either a 4 bulb or 6 bulb T5 setup driven by two separate IC660s. I also have a DIY LED pendent that contains 12 Royal Blue Cree XP-E and 12 White Cree XP-E that I plan to supplement the T5s with.

Based on this layout/configuration, can you provide recommendations for both a 4 and 6 Bulb setup? I purchased two IC660s to do dusk/dawn so I was thinking either 2 or 3 bulbs on each ballast. My LED pendant has two ballast as well to independently control the blue and white LEDs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Don't use Ice Cap ballast. Not only don't you even come close to needing the higher output they kill the lamps a lot sooner.

4 lamps standard ballasts will be fine. 3 Blue Plus and a Purple Plus

Personally, I'd just finish out the LED build.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by PhLipStyLz

Hey Grim - I've been out of the hobby for awhile and just about to get back into it. I'm planning to do a 40gal breeder/frag tank (36"x18"x16"high).

I plan to do either a 4 bulb or 6 bulb T5 setup driven by two separate IC660s. I also have a DIY LED pendent that contains 12 Royal Blue Cree XP-E and 12 White Cree XP-E that I plan to supplement the T5s with.

Based on this layout/configuration, can you provide recommendations for both a 4 and 6 Bulb setup? I purchased two IC660s to do dusk/dawn so I was thinking either 2 or 3 bulbs on each ballast. My LED pendant has two ballast as well to independently control the blue and white LEDs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm running a 40 breeder on just 24 Cree XP-E LED's. My color balance is a little different 4 Neutral Whites, 8 Blues, and 12 Royal Blues. It is more than enough light in itself running on 1050 ma Ballasts. It is actualy brighter than when was running 4 T-5's, (2 ATI Blue Plus and 2 ATI Aqua Specials) and the florescense of the corlas pop much bolder.

[codeblue48]

I just got my ati sunpower 6 bulb fixture. Here are my bulbs : 4x Blue Plus, 1x Purple Plus, 1x Coral plus. My dawn/dusk channels are 2 and 5.

What order should I put them in front to back? Thanks for your help

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by codeblue48

I just got my ati sunpower 6 bulb fixture. Here are my bulbs : 4x Blue Plus, 1x Purple Plus, 1x Coral plus. My dawn/dusk channels are 2 and 5.

What order should I put them in front to back? Thanks for your help

Front
1 Blue Plus
2 Blue Plus
3 Coral Plus
4 Blue Plus or Purple Plus
5 Purple Plus or Blue Plus
6 Blue Plus

Initial list is with Blue and Purple for dawn to dusk some people think this is too purple others love it. If you think it is too purple swap 4 and 5 around putting the purple on mid day lighting.

[codeblue48]

Thanks Troptrea

[kmu]

What T5 bulbs would you supplement a 20k Radium metal halide with?

I was thinking maybe

2 ATI Blue plus and 2 ATI Actinic

or

2 ATI Blue plus and 2 ATI purple Plus

[ry428]

Hey Grim,
I am replacing my deep blue 4 bay 36" and upgrading to a Tek light 6 bay 36". I am currently running 2 aqua blue and 2 actinic+. My tank is a 65 gallon 36"x18"x24". I am still new to reef tanks. Right now I only have 2 polyps and a mushroom. I want to get a BTA and expand to other corals. What would be a good bulb selection for growth, color pop, and future additions? Looking to go with all new bulbs. Thanks for all the help.

[ry428]

Hey Grim,
I am replacing my deep blue 4 bay 36" and upgrading to a Tek light 6 bay 36". I am currently running 2 aqua blue and 2 actinic+. My tank is a 65 gallon 36"x18"x24". I am still new to reef tanks. Right now I only have 2 polyps and a mushroom. I want to get a BTA and expand to other corals. What would be a good bulb selection for growth, color pop, and future additions? Looking to go with all new bulbs. Thanks for all the help.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by kmu

What T5 bulbs would you supplement a 20k Radium metal halide with?

I was thinking maybe

2 ATI Blue plus and 2 ATI Actinic

or

2 ATI Blue plus and 2 ATI purple Plus

3 blue plus and a purple plus

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by ry428

Hey Grim,
I am replacing my deep blue 4 bay 36" and upgrading to a Tek light 6 bay 36". I am currently running 2 aqua blue and 2 actinic+. My tank is a 65 gallon 36"x18"x24". I am still new to reef tanks. Right now I only have 2 polyps and a mushroom. I want to get a BTA and expand to other corals. What would be a good bulb selection for growth, color pop, and future additions? Looking to go with all new bulbs. Thanks for all the help.

4 Blue Plus 1 Purple Plus and 1 Coral Plus.