The T5 Q&a Thread

[snaza]

Do i need a pure actinic bulb in a 6 bulb combo for a mixed reef or will the 3 blue plus give me enough actinic spectum?

[snaza]

I got a cheap 2x54w unit of ebay. only has 1 reflector which seems to be made of aluminium plastic or something. pretty crappy anyway. This is just for a second tank of softies but was wandering how much less output would it give than an icecap 2 bulb retro? half the output?

[kenyacat]

Grim, I guess I have another couple questions. You said:

4 would be fine but 6 would allow you to upgrade from the 55 someday and probably be better for the Sebea. If you do 4 grab one of the Azoo fan arrays fosters and smith sells and clamp it to the back frame of the tank blowing across the fixture.

For lamps

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Aquablue

for 6
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Aquablue

I took a look at the graph on reefgeek.com but I don't really know what I am looking at. My question is for the 4 or 6 what kind of color am I getting? Right now I run just plain PCs on a 29 gallon. 65w 10,000K and a 65w actinic. The actinic is on when the white is on.

I don't want something that is too blue either. Not sure if anyone out there has a picture of their tank with these colors. I do not I can swap them out if I don't like them, but I would like to know what to expect in terms of what look would I get with either of them.

I still can't decide if I want 4 or 6. I keep thinking I will have more algae if I have the extra wattage I don't need.

Oh, and I hear a lot about par. Since I do not know what that means, are mine good in that respect?

Thanks for helping.

[tinnghe]

For anything that has the height with 24+ would hallidecombo be better or aqatinics 6 better

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by mjstover
what would be the difference between the ATI Blue Plus and the Giesemenn Actinic Plus

Different manufacturers producing a lamp with pretty much the same output

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by snaza
Do i need a pure actinic bulb in a 6 bulb combo for a mixed reef or will the 3 blue plus give me enough actinic spectum?

Depends what you are raising. If you have corals with certain green fluorescent properties the Actinic will cause them to pop nice.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by snaza
I got a cheap 2x54w unit of ebay. only has 1 reflector which seems to be made of aluminium plastic or something. pretty crappy anyway. This is just for a second tank of softies but was wandering how much less output would it give than an icecap 2 bulb retro? half the output?

Probably a safe guess.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by kenyacat
Grim, I guess I have another couple questions. You said:





I took a look at the graph on reefgeek.com but I don't really know what I am looking at. My question is for the 4 or 6 what kind of color am I getting? Right now I run just plain PCs on a 29 gallon. 65w 10,000K and a 65w actinic. The actinic is on when the white is on.

I don't want something that is too blue either. Not sure if anyone out there has a picture of their tank with these colors. I do not I can swap them out if I don't like them, but I would like to know what to expect in terms of what look would I get with either of them.

I still can't decide if I want 4 or 6. I keep thinking I will have more algae if I have the extra wattage I don't need.

Oh, and I hear a lot about par. Since I do not know what that means, are mine good in that respect?

Thanks for helping.

Those lamps would have good PAR. Overall the color should be close to what you have with the PC's as far as the color of light you see but what till you see what the corals look like

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by tinnghe
For anything that has the height with 24+ would hallidecombo be better or aqatinics 6 better

You get much over 24" tall and it's time to start considering halides if you have much SPS, clams or anemones. If you are careful about placement T5 will probably be good at 30"

[Phanman1]

Hey Grim,

I just purchased the aquactinics constellation fixture and wanted to know what kind of bulbs you recommend. My tank is 60L 18W 26H and i know i might be a little dim on each of the sides as the lighting fixture is 48". I plan on keeping mostly SPS for corals and fish of course.

Let me know what kinda bulbs you would go for please and thx.

[danielson1506]

Hi, I'm planning a 120G, 48X24X24 and would like clams on the sandbed and a couple sps on the rocks. I was thinking on 6 bulb icecap retro non overdriven but wasnt sure if it would be sufficient for 24" height for clams on the sand. Is it necessary to overdrive the bulbs to have clams at the bottom? I am kind of tied with electricity use and that is why I'm choosing t-5s instead of 2-250W halides + actinic. Would overdriven with 4 bulbs be sufficient?

So

6X bulb retro - 324Watts?

4X bulb Overdriven - 340 Watts?

Or combo of the two?

Looking for a 12-14k look, would this combo look right?

6X bulb
Front
blue plus
75/25
Aquasun
super actinic
aquablue
blue plus

4X bulb overdriven
blue plus
Aquasun
Super actinic
blue plus

Which combo would be great for me? Thanks

[jpatrician]

I am downsizing my 120 and I am setting up a 60 gallon cube (24x24x24) rimless. I preferably would like to stick to all t5 and not have to use my MH's from the old setup. Are there any suggestions for enough t5 lighting to support a mixed reef? So far highest wattage 24" fixtures I am finding are 6x24w.

[jpatrician]

I am downsizing my 120 and I am setting up a 60 gallon cube (24x24x24) rimless. I preferably would like to stick to all t5 and not have to use my MH's from the old setup. Are there any suggestions for enough t5 lighting to support a mixed reef? So far highest wattage 24" fixtures I am finding are 6x24w.

[snaza]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Probably a safe guess.

I just put an icecap reflector in the housing and fitted perfect. still only 1 reflector for 2 bulbs as they are pretty close together. would this help? would it still be better to get individual reflectors?

[hndakd]

Hi grimm,

you do a great service to this community

my question for ya is.... I just replaced a nova extreme 8x54 for a 6x54 tek. What would your recommendations be for bulbs. I have a bunch left over from the nova that i would like to reuse. right now im running

front
superactinic
blue plus special
ge 6500
blue plus
uvl 75/25
blue plus

this is on a 90 48/18/24

thanks

[Phillips]

I know the number of bulbs in the fixtures aren't the same, but has anyone measured the difference in performance between these two lines of fixtures?

Does one get more PAR per bulb out of one or the other?

I'm trying to figure out which to order and the price difference is not small.

Thanks in advance for any info.

[reefermike1]

hey grim, im setting up a prop tank that is 48x12x12. will be mainly for growing sps, but starting out small ill only have a dozen frags or so from my display. on a tank that size only 12" tall, do u think ill be able to get away with 2x48" bulbs and have the frags right under them(possibly overdriven)? or do u think ill need 4 bulbs?

thanks

[chark]

What T5 lighting would you suggest for a 185 gal 60x30x25? What bulbs would you use?

[EvilE]

Grim, I got my new bulbs from reefgeek today!! They look fantastic! Thanks much!! I put the bulbs in this order (due to the way I wired up the endcaps/ballasts)
Front:
blue+
aquasun
blue+
super actinic blue

Is that order ok? I have a Blue+ and the actinic as my dusk/dawn lights--thanks!

[timespinner]

Thanks Grim! Much appreciated!

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Should do really good.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Actinic
ATI Pro Color
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue (Or Blue Plus for a more blue look)

Set the actinic and the Blue Plus towards the back as a pair for Dusk/Dawn.

[sbcaes]

are there ANY 20"
t5 fixtures? or if not. how would you (grim)
go about making one? (i'm guessing using 18" t5s? or something of the sort?)

[Milhouse]

Originally posted by sbcaes
are there ANY 20"
t5 fixtures? or if not. how would you (grim)
go about making one? (i'm guessing using 18" t5s? or something of the sort?)

There are no T5 High Output(HO) under 24". You'll see some places sell T5's in shorter lengths, but they aren't the same. T5 just refers to the diameter of the bulb. So they are the same size(I think it means 5/8" if I'm not mistaken), just not high output. You can check cadlights for the non HO version.

[sbcaes]

hrmm does anyone know if the maker of t5's comes from china? and if so who is the manufacturer? any reason for not making t5's in the 18-20" lengths?

[tinnghe]

ok finally i nail it down to 2 choices, i have a 120g with 48x24x24 im thinking either to get a solarflare or a ati powermodule 8x54 what would u suggest?

[PCIALF]

Hi Grim

Someone bought my existing light this weekend so I could no longer wait for a ATI 8 bulb fixture to come back in stock and am going with the 8 light TEK on a 120 is this light going to perform well also? or am i selling it when the ATI's are available
thanks

also you recommended

Front
Blue Plus
Super Actinic
Aquablue
Pro Color
Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
Super Actinic
Blue Plus


is this the same with this fixture?

coming from 2 - 150 DE MH 10k and 2-96w actinics am I going to have to ease to the 8 bulbs lit or will the coral be ok

Thanks