My very unusual lighting setup (T5 and T8) Watcha think? :)

[stereomandan]

I’m upgrading from my 38g to a new 90g and needed to upgrade the lighting. I’ve read up on the T5’s and have overdriven T8’s in the past with great success.

I am trying for a spectrum that covers the full visible light range. Finding a bulb with a lot of output in the red region wasn’t easy, but I found the Zoo Med Flora Sun which tailors to the blue and red regions.

The bulbs will be run off an IC660 ballast, so all will be overdriven. All bulbs will utilize an Icecap T5 reflector. I will have to bend/modify slightly the clamps to hold the T8 bulbs.

I’m going with this combo:
T5 54W UVL Super Actinic ($22)
T8 32W GE Daylight 6500 K Daylight ($3.50)
T8 32W Zoo Med Flora Sun 8500 K ($11)
T5 54W ATI Blue Plus ($21)

Each T5 will draw about 85W and each T8 will be about roughly the same. The super actinic was chosen for the fluorescence and violet colors, the Daylight 6500 K was chosen for PAR and the green and yellow colors and low cost, the Flora Sun was chosen for the red/orange range and PAR and low cost, and the Blue Plus was chosen for the Blue Spectrum with decent PAR.

Can’t wait to hook it all up and give some feedback.

Flora Sun Spectrum:


GE Daylight Spectrum (approx.)


ATI Blue Plus Spectrum:


Actinic Spectrum: (this is actually the ATI actinic 03 bulb, but the UVL is similar)


Dan

[horkn]

sounds good, but couldnt you just run a t5ho ge 3000k bulb to bring out the reds instead of the t8?

have you actually attempted to put a t8 bulb into the t5 reflector? even with the aqualux t5 reflectors that are a tad over 3" wide i think that ould be difficult, plus you would need to figure a new way to mount the reflectors on the t8's

[stereomandan]

Originally posted by horkn
sounds good, but couldnt you just run a t5ho ge 3000k bulb to bring out the reds instead of the t8?

have you actually attempted to put a t8 bulb into the t5 reflector? even with the aqualux t5 reflectors that are a tad over 3" wide i think that ould be difficult, plus you would need to figure a new way to mount the reflectors on the t8's

I couldn't find the spectrum of the GE 3000 K T5 bulb, so I couldn't decide to use it. Do you have a spectrum chart, and where do you buy them?

Yeah, it will be fun modifying the T5 reflectors. We'll have to see how it goes.

Dan

[horkn]

reefgeek has the ati 3000k bulbs. according to grim, he said that bulb pops the reds very well.

[stereomandan]

Originally posted by horkn
reefgeek has the ati 3000k bulbs. according to grim, he said that bulb pops the reds very well.

I can't find them. Do you have to call reefgeek directly? Bummer, I just placed an order from reefgeek today and could have included the 3000k bulb.

Dan

[Shawnts106]

I couldn't find the spectrum of the GE 3000 K T5 bulb

They have them at my Local LOWES... I didnt get one because I dont know about it.

[stereomandan]

Found a great link about the GE T5 bulbs. Are the ones at lowes the 54W versions? I saw them yesterday too, but didn't check the wattage, and I don't remember if they were 3000K or something else. The 3000K spectrum does look close to what I'm looking for and could replace my flora-bulb when the time comes.

Spectrum for all of GE's T5 bulbs


Dan

[stereomandan]

Thought I would check back in with an update:

Well, all the bulbs are in. Only difference from the original plan is the addition of a couple more actinic bulbs since I had them on hand and the Icecap ballast can handle more bulbs.

In the pic, from top to bottom:
T5 54w ATI Blue Plus
T5 54w UVL Superactinic
T8 32W GE 6500K daylight bulb
T12 110W VHO UVL Super Actinic
T8 32W Zoo Med Flora Sun 8500 K
T12 95W VHO UVL Super Actinic


I added the bottom two bulbs tonight. I've had the other four in for months. I figured I may as well add them since I had them laying around gathering dust.

Here's a crummy pic of the tank with all of the bulbs on. It is hard to get the camera to get the color right.


Not sure if you can tell, but I a put a T5 reflector on the GE T8 bulb, which really helps. I have another T5 reflector laying around, and I may add it to the new Zoo Med T8 bulb.

Dan

[pjf]

To improve the efficiency of your T8 reflectors, you can replace your T8 bulbs with T6 bulbs in the future. The light from the thinner T6 is more easily reflected towards your tank.

If you wish to use T6HO bulbs, you can use them with your T8 ballasts for normal output. You can also upgrade your T8 ballast with higher wattage electronic ballasts for high output.

Here is a source for T6 & T6HO bulbs plus ballasts: www.naturallighting.com

[stereomandan]

pjf, thanks for the reply.

Actually, all of the bulbs are already on electronic ballasts. The T8’and T12’s are on one IC660 ballast, so the T8’s are being substantially overdriven, and why they are so bright. Icecap has some great articles about doing this on their website. Basically, NO T8 bulbs on a Icecap ballast product equal to, or more light than a comparable VHO bulb of the same length.

The T5’s are on the Icecap Dynamic ballast, so they are being driven at spec output of 54W.

Part of the reason I chose T8’s is due to the very low bulb cost. ($3.50/bulb for the GE daylight, and roughly $11 for the Zoo Med bulb.) Since the T8 bulb is only 0.16� wider diameter than a T6 bulb, it is not blocking much more light that a T6 with it’s own reflector. I still need to mount the other T5 reflector to the Zoo Med T8 I just installed, part of the reason it looks dimmer in the picture.

I will look into the T6 bulbs though, for possible use in the future. Thanks for the link.

Dan