The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[RebelReef]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Should be OK. I'd use Coral Plus instead of Aquablue lamps.

Thanks again!

[Tabasco]

Hello and thank you for being such a great resource!!

I am getting ready to purchase an 6 bulb ATI sunpower dimmable and bulbs. I was planning to go 4 blue +, 1 purple +, and 1 coral +. OR 3 blue +, 1 purple +, 1 coral + and 1 true actinic.

Seems like you don't recommend true actinics very much. What is the reason for that? Which combo do you think would be better?

[bryman]

Hello T5 Gurus,

It's about time for me to replace my bulbs again, and with the Black Friday sales I might take the plunge. Right now I am running front to back in my 6 bulb Sunpower:
- Blue Plus
- Blue Plus
- Fiji Purple
- Coral+
- Blue Plus
- Blue Plus

My PAR levels are really good and I keep the fixture 8" above the tank. I am at the color temp that I like, but it seems as though some of my colors are a bit washed out by all the blue. Also, I wonder if I am missing spectrum down low and up high. I was thinking of changing things out a bit and doing this:

- Blue Plus
- Blue Plus
- Fiji Purple / Purple+
- Aquablue Special
- Blue Plus
- ATI True Actinic

I am hoping that I would end up with about the same color temp appearance but with better color rendition, as I'd get wider spectrum from the Aquablue up high and the True Actinic down low. I know I won't get as much PAR, but I can always lower the fixture a bit. What do you think?

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by Tabasco

Hello and thank you for being such a great resource!!

I am getting ready to purchase an 6 bulb ATI sunpower dimmable and bulbs. I was planning to go 4 blue +, 1 purple +, and 1 coral +. OR 3 blue +, 1 purple +, 1 coral + and 1 true actinic.

Seems like you don't recommend true actinics very much. What is the reason for that? Which combo do you think would be better?

The blue plus lamp has actinic output so there is really no point using actinic lamps other than using one for a more subdued dusk/dawn look. I'd use the first mix.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by bryman

Hello T5 Gurus,

It's about time for me to replace my bulbs again, and with the Black Friday sales I might take the plunge. Right now I am running front to back in my 6 bulb Sunpower:
- Blue Plus
- Blue Plus
- Fiji Purple
- Coral+
- Blue Plus
- Blue Plus

My PAR levels are really good and I keep the fixture 8" above the tank. I am at the color temp that I like, but it seems as though some of my colors are a bit washed out by all the blue. Also, I wonder if I am missing spectrum down low and up high. I was thinking of changing things out a bit and doing this:

- Blue Plus
- Blue Plus
- Fiji Purple / Purple+
- Aquablue Special
- Blue Plus
- ATI True Actinic

I am hoping that I would end up with about the same color temp appearance but with better color rendition, as I'd get wider spectrum from the Aquablue up high and the True Actinic down low. I know I won't get as much PAR, but I can always lower the fixture a bit. What do you think?

Use your current mix and instead of Coral Plus use a GE 6500K

[bryman]

Thanks Grim, I'll give it a shot.

[Chaka]

So I am all for reading; however, 94 pages to see if someone has asked this question was not on my list to do. My question is, does water depth decrease the light required for sps. I am looking to purchase a tank 16 inches deep. How many watts would this require? fixture would sit 4-6 inches off water. Fixture would be using 80w bulbs so how much you fellas think I would need?

[M Woodhill]

Hey Grimm, once again thanks for your last combo for me:

F---->B

ATI Blue+
GE 6500k
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
GE 6500k
ATI Purple+
ATI Blue+

I'd like to add a lil more red into it, can i replace one blue with kz fiji purple?

[GSMguy]

My recent experience with ATI actinic is good, I wanted more pop than the blue plus bulbs were giving during dawn to dusk so I pulled a blue plus out of my 6 bulb and added an ATI actinic.

Current combo
#1 Blue+
#2 Actinic ( was blue plus previously)
#3 Purple plus
#4 Blue plus
#5 Blue plus
#6 Coral +

One of the issues I was having is that under only blue + my pink birdsnest looked more grey blue than pink. I placed the ATI true Actinic in the #2 spot and the result was incredible. When only #2 and #5 bulb slots are on the birdsnest which is directly under the actinic bulb is much deeper red. All the corals under the actinic look great.

I would reccomend trying the actinic for anyone not worried about PAR.

[Josh125]

Hi, thinking about switching to T5s given I'm not thrilled with my coral coloration with LEDs. The tricky part is I have an 18" cube and I don't really see much in that length. Is a 20" fixture as small as most mfg's go? If so, I'm not seeing many options for bulbs in that length. Am I missing anything?

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Josh125

Hi, thinking about switching to T5s given I'm not thrilled with my coral coloration with LEDs. The tricky part is I have an 18" cube and I don't really see much in that length. Is a 20" fixture as small as most mfg's go? If so, I'm not seeing many options for bulbs in that length. Am I missing anything?

The old T-8 did have 12" and 16" bulbls that were offered in a very limited color selection. However I doubt you could get enough light from these with these to realy suport any corals.

I personaly love the LED's and think they they are an improvement over the T-5's. The big thing is they do allow you to custom balance the light to make the corals happy as well your personal color taste, when you do these as a do it yourself project. The comercial LED fixtures however fall in a wide spectrum of what I consider garbage to a little better than good dependent on the LED combination they use and what power they are driving them at.

My personal taste building a fixture for LED's would be in the range of 24 to 30 3 Watt LED's on an 18" cube. I would start with 8 Royal Blue LED's, 8 Blue LED's, and 4 cyan or green LED's then add enough neutral whites to balance it to your personal color taste. I would start with 4 Neutral whites giving you basicly a 4 blue to 1 white ratio or if you like a whiter brighter tank you can gi as far as 10 neutral whites for a nearly a 2 blue to 1 white ratio. Note that the neutral whites brighten the tank up much more so than than the cool whites and other high K whites.

You third option could be using a single small Metal hide.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by GSMguy

My recent experience with ATI actinic is good, I wanted more pop than the blue plus bulbs were giving during dawn to dusk so I pulled a blue plus out of my 6 bulb and added an ATI actinic.

Current combo
#1 Blue+
#2 Actinic ( was blue plus previously)
#3 Purple plus
#4 Blue plus
#5 Blue plus
#6 Coral +

One of the issues I was having is that under only blue + my pink birdsnest looked more grey blue than pink. I placed the ATI true Actinic in the #2 spot and the result was incredible. When only #2 and #5 bulb slots are on the birdsnest which is directly under the actinic bulb is much deeper red. All the corals under the actinic look great.

I would reccomend trying the actinic for anyone not worried about PAR.

this is interesting as I have two different varieties of pink birdsnest. I have tried swapping around Bulbs to make them look better as they both seem to like different light. One with sharp points is a lighter pink color but I have found that the GE 6,5000K makes it much pinker than the Aqua Blue Special and Im getting fantastic growth with the GE bulb on that coral. The other Birdsnest is much deeper colored red with round tips and seems to look deeper red under the more blue light of the Aqua Blue Special.

This shows that different corals react differently under different lighting. You can balance your tank to make one coral look fantastic however will you makeing another coral loose some of attractiveness?

[GSMguy]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

this is interesting as I have two different varieties of pink birdsnest. I have tried swapping around Bulbs to make them look better as they both seem to like different light. One with sharp points is a lighter pink color but I have found that the GE 6,5000K makes it much pinker than the Aqua Blue Special and Im getting fantastic growth with the GE bulb on that coral. The other Birdsnest is much deeper colored red with round tips and seems to look deeper red under the more blue light of the Aqua Blue Special.

This shows that different corals react differently under different lighting. You can balance your tank to make one coral look fantastic however will you makeing another coral loose some of attractiveness?

That's pretty much it, there is no one combo that works for every tank. The birdsnest in my tank that I was trying to improve is a pointy tip Hystrix.

[reeferlover]

Everyone here is such a great resource and there are a couple new bulbs from ati since i was in the reef game. I recently bought a used 8 bulb TEK and like the legs so I picked those up to. Now this will be on a 75 gal all sps or mostly sps. I can only have fixture about 6 inches about the water so that im not blinded by the light. What are my options. I want to be able to view my tank as long as possible. should i just run 6 bulbs? and I want to have the best colors and grwoth so.......

HELP!!!

F------>B??

I love the blue look too. But not too blue not washed out. My favorite was the phoenix 15k

[GSMguy]

Originally Posted by reeferlover

Everyone here is such a great resource and there are a couple new bulbs from ati since i was in the reef game. I recently bought a used 8 bulb TEK and like the legs so I picked those up to. Now this will be on a 75 gal all sps or mostly sps. I can only have fixture about 6 inches about the water so that im not blinded by the light. What are my options. I want to be able to view my tank as long as possible. should i just run 6 bulbs? and I want to have the best colors and grwoth so.......

HELP!!!

F------>B??

I love the blue look too. But not too blue not washed out. My favorite was the phoenix 15k

Front to back for the pheonix look

Blue+
Blue+
Actinic
Coral +
Blue +
Blue +
Coral plus
Blue plus

[reeferlover]

is that too much for a 75? and what about the purple? or the aqua blue will i be missing anything? thanks again

[GSMguy]

Originally Posted by reeferlover

is that too much for a 75? and what about the purple? or the aqua blue will i be missing anything? thanks again

I would not run any aquablue, they really do wash out colors. You could replace one of the Purple in place of a coral or a blue depending on what you like. The reason I did not recommend it is that the coral and actinic bulbs both have good amounts of the purple color. The Purple is really a daytime bulb with mucho red purple highlights.

[reeferlover]

cool thank you. so your not thinking i will bleach sps with that and how many hours would you run the two sets of bulbs

[kelp47]

Hey Grim. It seems you're the go-to guy for T5 questions. Can you help with my predicament: Trying to balance light spill, enough light and fan noise. Sorry it's so long!

I have already read through TONS of threads on lighting, and I still can't seem to settle on the best fixture for my tank. So maybe someone can enlighten me. Here's the situation:

-Tank is 48x18x20 -Tank is place directly behind couch, so both light spillage along the length of the tank and fan noise are concerns. -I plan to have a mixed reef, but not a huge one. I still love the fish and want plenty of room for them! At this point, I really like lps and softies, but would like to have the possibility of sps, especially since I'm completely new to learning what coral is what. -I'd like to go with an ATI fixture because of the numerous good reviews. Also I like the built in timer and, on some, the dimmable feature.

So here are the fixtures I've considered and what I'm not sure about: -48" 6x54W Dimmable SunPower: This was my original idea, but I'm thinking there will be a lot of light spillage. The 6-bulb fixture is 13.4" wide, which just leaves a little over 2" gap on either side. Is that enough to cut down on spillage? But since then I read that many people place a 36" fixture over a 48" tank. I've also read that the fan can be a little noisy, and I couldn't cut down the voltage too much with 6 bulbs. -36" 6x39W Dimmable SunPower: So I looked at cutting the length, but really my main problem is not the ends, but light spillage along the length of the tank. However, if someone can confirm that light spillage along the length won't really be an issue here, this might work well. But is it enough light? Fan might still be an issue here. -48" 4x54W Dimmable SunPower: This should reduce light spillage along the length of the tank, but is it enough light? I can strategically place any sps I may get, but will this put enought light along the sides where I can enjoy my fish?

I also looked at the Powermodules because I read that the fans are quieter. It looks like ATI is only making LED Powermodules now, but the T5's are still available through retailers. So I would basically be looking at the same issues as above, without the fan noise issue. BUT they're not dimmable. So if the light is too bright, then I would have to raise the fixture, which would produce more light spillage. These are also more expensive!

I'm probably overanalyzing, but this is a big purchase and I want to get it right the first time. Plus, if my tank is too obtrusive (with light and noise), my husband will not be very happy with me... Thanks for ANY feedback!

[kelp47]

Sorry double post. Don't know why it did that.

[GSMguy]

Originally Posted by reeferlover

cool thank you. so your not thinking i will bleach sps with that and how many hours would you run the two sets of bulbs

Start the SPS low and as they aclimate to your lights move them up.
How low to start them and whe to move them up depends what kind of lighting the coral were under before going into your tank.

[nbsdsailor]

Hey guys, what is a good 8 bulb 20kish combo using all Giesemann bulbs?

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by Chaka

So I am all for reading; however, 94 pages to see if someone has asked this question was not on my list to do. My question is, does water depth decrease the light required for sps. I am looking to purchase a tank 16 inches deep. How many watts would this require? fixture would sit 4-6 inches off water. Fixture would be using 80w bulbs so how much you fellas think I would need?

It isn't so much about watts. It's number of lamps to properly cover the footprint of the tank. The shallower tank does allow you to use fewer lamps BUT that isn't always preferable. I'd do at least 6 lamps so you get a nice mix

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by M Woodhill

Hey Grimm, once again thanks for your last combo for me:

F---->B

ATI Blue+
GE 6500k
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
GE 6500k
ATI Purple+
ATI Blue+

I'd like to add a lil more red into it, can i replace one blue with kz fiji purple?

Yep

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by kelp47

Hey Grim. It seems you're the go-to guy for T5 questions. Can you help with my predicament: Trying to balance light spill, enough light and fan noise. Sorry it's so long!

I have already read through TONS of threads on lighting, and I still can't seem to settle on the best fixture for my tank. So maybe someone can enlighten me. Here's the situation:

-Tank is 48x18x20 -Tank is place directly behind couch, so both light spillage along the length of the tank and fan noise are concerns. -I plan to have a mixed reef, but not a huge one. I still love the fish and want plenty of room for them! At this point, I really like lps and softies, but would like to have the possibility of sps, especially since I'm completely new to learning what coral is what. -I'd like to go with an ATI fixture because of the numerous good reviews. Also I like the built in timer and, on some, the dimmable feature.

So here are the fixtures I've considered and what I'm not sure about: -48" 6x54W Dimmable SunPower: This was my original idea, but I'm thinking there will be a lot of light spillage. The 6-bulb fixture is 13.4" wide, which just leaves a little over 2" gap on either side. Is that enough to cut down on spillage? But since then I read that many people place a 36" fixture over a 48" tank. I've also read that the fan can be a little noisy, and I couldn't cut down the voltage too much with 6 bulbs. -36" 6x39W Dimmable SunPower: So I looked at cutting the length, but really my main problem is not the ends, but light spillage along the length of the tank. However, if someone can confirm that light spillage along the length won't really be an issue here, this might work well. But is it enough light? Fan might still be an issue here. -48" 4x54W Dimmable SunPower: This should reduce light spillage along the length of the tank, but is it enough light? I can strategically place any sps I may get, but will this put enought light along the sides where I can enjoy my fish?

I also looked at the Powermodules because I read that the fans are quieter. It looks like ATI is only making LED Powermodules now, but the T5's are still available through retailers. So I would basically be looking at the same issues as above, without the fan noise issue. BUT they're not dimmable. So if the light is too bright, then I would have to raise the fixture, which would produce more light spillage. These are also more expensive!

I'm probably overanalyzing, but this is a big purchase and I want to get it right the first time. Plus, if my tank is too obtrusive (with light and noise), my husband will not be very happy with me... Thanks for ANY feedback!

Just sit the fixture an inch or so above the tank and cheat it towards the back a little. You could also just build a topless canopy for the tank. Just make sure the end of the fixture where the air vents out has an inch of space at least. You could do a 6x36" unit mounted about 6" above with a canopy like that and be fine.