The T5 Q&a Thread

[nebraskareef]

I'm sure this has been answered a million times in here, but I can't seem to find it. What is the width of either tek2 or icecap reflectors? I'm trying to get something little set back up and just want to run 2 bulbs on a 20L. Would like to use the existing "hood" thats on the tank.

Thanks alot guys.

[P.Kelly]

Ice cap is 2.5"

I've heard people say the Teks are wider, but I don't know if they are 3" or not.

IceCap standoffs are 2.5" wide.

[nebraskareef]

You are the man.

Much appreciated!

[P.Kelly]

Aquatinics are 2", BTW

[Mark426]

scav1180,

here is the thread with that tank:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=1

[richard king]

Not trying to hijack......
Just wanted to thank Grim for his advice on the ORDER of 6 T5s. I was close, but the few changes mentioned made a big difference. I didn't anticipate the improvement.
Thanks again and to those who might minimize the order of the lamps, believe!

Richard

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by 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

reefgeek

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by 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

There really isn't a reliable way to convert Lux to PAR. The type of light will vary the reading but also the spectrum. PAR looka (approximatly) at 400 to 700nm and lux focuses on 555nm. A lamp that happens to have a strong spike in that range of light (all flouorescents have a strong spike at 546nm due to one of the eliments in the gas) and the lux meter reads it you will get a high reading whether there is any other usable spectrum or not.

I can just tell you from practical experience that there is no way you are getting anywhere close to 200 PAR at the bottom of that tank. I would be really interested to know what your real PAR numbers are. Interesting mod but perhaps the wider Tek 2 reflectors would do better under those conditions.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by petes97
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

ATI only has one actinic. It may not be listed the same way on the site as it is on the lamp.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by 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?

Aquablue
Super Actinic
Blue Plus
75/25

would be my best guess

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by scav1180
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!

Those were the lamps he was using.

I would try this

Front
Blue Plus
Pro Color
Aquablue
UVL 75/25
Aquablue
Blue Plus

As I remember Fijiblue ended up changing that combo because it was a bit too pink. . The 75/25 is less red but shouldn't shift the color much.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by 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

Try this
Front
Blue Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus
Aquasun
UVL Super Actinic
Blue Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus
Aquasun
Blue Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus

That would get you started. I would grab a ATI Pro Color and a GE 6500K daylight to play with as well. Maybe even a 2nd actinic.

[ddetar00]

Grim...
I am sure SOMEWHERE in this massive thread you have identified the mfg of the bulbs you are recomending... I have made an effort to find this but have had no luck, sorry to ask but who is the mfg of these bulbs when you sepcify "blueplus, aquablue, aquasun, etc." ?

Thanks

[lukinrats]

ATI makes blue+ and aquablue... UVL (Aquasun)(super actinic)

[lukinrats]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
There really isn't a reliable way to convert Lux to PAR. The type of light will vary the reading but also the spectrum. PAR looka (approximatly) at 400 to 700nm and lux focuses on 555nm. A lamp that happens to have a strong spike in that range of light (all flouorescents have a strong spike at 546nm due to one of the eliments in the gas) and the lux meter reads it you will get a high reading whether there is any other usable spectrum or not.

I can just tell you from practical experience that there is no way you are getting anywhere close to 200 PAR at the bottom of that tank. I would be really interested to know what your real PAR numbers are. Interesting mod but perhaps the wider Tek 2 reflectors would do better under those conditions.

Thanks for the opinion!!! I will try to save up for a PAR meter... Someone really should get some to rent out to all the people on RC... They could probably do pretty good
I may try the teks later, but they are really a little too wide... I think I could make them work but the reflectors would hang over the edges a little... fixture is a little over 11" wide... Teks are 3" wide right?

[SunnyX]

Hey guys and Grim,

I am currently in the planning phase of a new reef tank. CurrentlyI am tearing down my 225gl in order to make a move. I plan on setting the new tank up within a few months afterwords.

The new tank will be smaller than the current one . I decided to go with a rimless tank, either 48x24x20 or 48x32x20.

My current tank is using two 400W MH's along with 480W of VHO's.

I decided that the new tank will be strictly T5 as I have always wanted to try something different.

I have been looking around and looked at the 48" 8 bulb ATI fixtures, Aquatinics, and TEK.

The question I have is, on a 20" high reef am I going to see a big difference between the Ati and TEK fixtures? Is the Ati really worth twice the price?

I know that the Ati has better PAR but I really dont think I will need that much more PAR. In the past I have run lower watage on my reef with the same or better results.

Thanks

[lukinrats]

Grim, I am also encouraged by the fact that my lux readings were up in that range with the fixture being so high up in my canopy

If you look at this , you will see the exact canopy that I have on my tank... Canopy is 15" tall, and overlaps the tank 1.5"... lights are screwed to the top lid... I got some adjustable hanging mounts to lower it with, so I will be doing that soon... A few weeks ago, I had it mounted about 6" from the top of the water... I had gotten 3 frags, Digi, birdsnest, and monti cap... I put them sort of 2/3 up in the tank, and all 3 bleached (i think from the light... I moved them down to the sandbed and they are starting to look better... How high should this fixture be? Do I really just need to find a way to check the par before I will know

Thanks,
Nathan

[mojo~]

Thanks for the help, just put in the bulbs that grim suggested. Thanks. Perfect.
blue+
aquablue+
blue+
Aquasun
blue special
blue+

[SunnyX]

I just wanted to add to what i had above:

Looking at the Ati 48" 6x54W Powermodule, would that be adequate for a 48"x24"x20"? I figure that the 6 bulb Ati will be as or more powerful than the 8 bulb Tek fixture.

What do you think?

Thanks

[Lynx113]

I am getting color loss in my green/puple cap. I have 6x54w t5 ho's over a 75 gal. Coral in just above mid way in the center of the tank. near alot of other coral with good color.

ATI blue+
URI Actinic White
Giessmann 20k
Giessmann 20k
URI actinic white
ATI Blue+

[Lynx113]

sorry didnt add the question.

Does anyone have problems with t5's and coral color? If someone has this coral with only T5's maybe they could PM me and tell me about there tank specs and bulbs.

[kpk]

How will t5's work on a 30" deep tank? Has anyone had any success with this? I am looking at a aquatinics 14x39 fixture. Any better suggestions?

[CoralKing]

How does the Solar Flare compare to a 48" Constellation?
Does the fact that the Solar Flare is overdriven compensate for the extra bulb the Constellation has?

Are there any drawbacks to overdriving the bulbs, as the Solar Flare does?

Thanks

[Acan Lord]

If I did three retrofit kits, and each comes with 2 bulb. Would using 1-54 W 10,000°K and 1-54 W 460 nm actinic for each of the three. So three 10,000*K and three 460 nm all thogether. Will that look too blue or will that be a good combo?

[scunfcu]

These T5 combination are driving me crazy. I want to use UVL Super Actintic with ATI Aquablue, Blue Plus and ProColor for a 5 bulb combination to pop up purple,pink, blue,Red and Green on my sps? This is TX5 lighting.

How about this combination?

Front
Blue Plus
Super Actintics
ProColor
Blue Plus
Aquablue