The Grim Reefer

HI Grim..I hope your still around I have not been on here in forever...
I am getting a Sunpower 48 inch fixture....8 bulb x 54watt
What is the best bulbs to put in it to pop colours and grow my mixed reef sps/lps?
In order from front to back please.... Thanks kindly! Tim

Are you still the man to talk to about t5? What are your thoughts on the Giesmann Tropic bulb?

Hey Grim. I plan to use a 4x24w bulb fixture over a 20 long. What would you recommend front to back for optimum light and zoanthid growth?

Sorry to Bug you but apparently you are the T5HO God!

I'm planning on Building my own T5 Fixture. I have a 6 foot long reef, and barely anyone sells a 6 foot light

My plan is to purchase a Sun Blaze 2Ft 4Bulb light, and a Sun blaze 4ft 4Bulb and cannibalize the 2 into my own custom fixture (Far cheaper then buying any retrofit kits, and they have fairly decent reflectors)

I want to run two separate channels so to speak, So Two 4ft Bulbs and Two 2ft bulbs on one channel (Blues) the remaining on the second channel

So onto my question, can a ballast handle running different sized (wattage) lights together?

Example a workhorse 7 is able to run four 54 watt bulbs, But what happens if I wire Two 24 watt lights and Two 54 watt lights to one ballast? Does the ballast detect the different wattage of the bulbs, or will it overdrive the smaller or maybe under drive all the lights?

All set swapped out affected ballast. Pretty simple actually and bulbs are all working!!!

Hi Grim. I'm hoping you can help me out. I have the constellation system only t5s. The 3 bulb switch is only turning on 1 bulb (the 4th/middle one). The 1 and 7 positions bulbs aren't turning on. Do you think it's one of the sylvanic ballasts? I read Aquactinics constellation ballast explanation and saw how it's two in one. With each sub ballast utilizing a switch. Would this mean I need a new 4x54W T5 Sylvania since they are in one casing? That's what I'm understanding. I switched out a bulb and then noticed a day later. Tried other bulbs no dice. Could it be wiring...? Thanks for your help.

~Avgou

I have a 30 gal 30in long 18 high with the t5 ho can I put sps in the top portion of my tank?

i wanted to know what bulbs i need for my coralife 48 inch t5 ho fixture for a frogspawn and a long tentacle anemone they seem to be doing okay but i want them to flourish and thrive its a 4 bulb fixture please i want a good mix between purple and white thank you



current tank 70 gallon bow front with a rusty angel, 2 ocellaris clownfish, a spotted hawkfish, a yellow tang, a diamond goby, a 6 line wrasse, and a royal gramma, and a long tentacle anemone and a frog spawn coral

Grimster, wasup buds. Setting up a tank again....FINALLY! What do you think is the best LED light fixture & what is the best biggest bang for the buck fixture? Gonna probably do a 75g ultimately, but starting slow with a 40g.

Bro, only one day into the damn hobby & 200 bucks later, I already have 4 species of corals , 4x fish & 20lbs of LR from a local reefer. Daz the way you do it, the el cheapo way and save some money for LED's.

Hey, i was reading a thread that you and another member called kolo where you were talking about lighting and par/pur etc and I asked a question, but the thread is quite old and was unsure whether it would appear on you profile!

I was basically wandering whether the same would apply for mh bulbs as well (as in blue is better overall for growth)

Regards

James

Oh great light bulb guru: Grim Reefer. I am wondering if one bulb manufacturer is better than the other. Of course they all claim to be the best. Hoping your plethora of information can help me purchase the real thing as opposed to the pretenders. It is time for a light bulb update in my tank and I am looking to purchase the best bulbs out there. By the way I will be purchasing T5's. Thank you for any input you may offer.

Help I have been reading post about t5 bulbs and the time has come to change the bulbs in my 72" nova extreme pro. I purchased the following bulbs based on posts with links to your suggestions
2 Ge 6500k
2 ati purple plus
8 ati blue plus
I am wondering what order I should run them in the fixture?? Thanks in advance.

I need a second opinion on this.

My nephew purchased a 90 galloon used reef set up. His only lighting is a twin tube HOT-5 running 10,000K generic bulbs. I will be building a LED set up to compement his T-5's

My general thoughts on the LED's would be adding roughly 100 Watts of Royal Blue and 60 Watts of Neutral Whites. These would all be Cree 5 Watt Chips. Then for his present T-5's he should use either two ATI Blue Plus or 1 Blue Plus with a Purple Plus.

Since I like the three phase lighting it would go roughly
Pre dawn to dusk 8 Royal Blues for 40 Watts
Dawn to Dusk the HO T-5's 108 Watts
Then mid day 12 Royal Blues for 60 Watts plus and 12 Neutral Wites for 60 Watts
Predawn to Dusk.

Considering this is a 90 gallon tank I'm thinking of using 60 degree Lenses on the mid day LED's.

What are your general thoughts about this idea. I think the LED's with the Blue Plus T-'s will create a good balance in the Blue range.

I need a second opinion on this.

My nephew purchased a 90 galloon used reef set up. His only lighting is a twin tube HOT-5 running 10,000K generic bulbs. I will be building a LED set up to compement his T-5's

My general thoughts on the LED's would be adding roughly 100 Watts of Royal Blue and 60 Watts of Neutral Whites. These would all be Cree 5 Watt Chips. Then for his present T-5's he should use either two ATI Blue Plus or 1 Blue Plus with a Purple Plus.

Since I like the three phase lighting it would go roughly
Pre dawn to dusk 8 Royal Blues for 40 Watts
Dawn to Dusk the HO T-5's 108 Watts
Then mid day 12 Royal Blues for 60 Watts plus and 12 Neutral Wites for 60 Watts
Predawn to Dusk.

Considering this is a 90 gallon tank I'm thinking of using 60 degree Lenses on the mid day LED's.

What are your general thoughts about this idea. I think the LED's with the Blue Plus T-'s will create a good balance in the Blue range.

Hi grim I heard from a fellow reefer you were the one to ask. I have ati's powermodulale 8x54w and was wondering what sequence is the best for growth and colour.
Thanks
Colin

Sorry, Sorry, Grim I just read your post at the bottom after I posted this here ""You need to ask questions in the T5 Q&A thread in the equipment forum, I have a hard enough time keeping up with that and PM's without answering them here too"". I did post it there at the bottom of page 51, again I do apologize to the T5 GOD

Hello, Grim
I am going to be starting a new 90g, 48'' 18'' 24'', I want to do mostly SPS , do you think I could do it with a 6 bulb T5 set up, I don't want to run MH because I don't want to run a chiller, From want I have been reading for the past two hours I think the bulbs should be
Blue+
Purple +
Blue+
Ge 6500
Blue+
Blue+
I want the best SPS growth and a nice look too I think I like a 14k look.
Please let me know Grim Thanks

IN NEED OF THE GRIM REEFERS HELP.......Lately i been experiencing color loss in my corals with some even going as far as bleaching out from the fixture being to close to the surface of my 72 gallon bowfront (Was running 3 ati blueplus 1 ati aquabluespecial and 1 65k and one purple plus)....i have a 6 bulb ati fixture with bulbs 2 and 5 come on separtely from 1,3,4,6......i have acess to about 5 ATI blue plus one GIESMANN12k one ATI 14k one ATI purple plus one HAGEN 6500k and one ATI true actinic and i have 2 bulbs coming in the mail from UVL that were defected....they r resending me A UVL SUper ACtinic and a UVL 75.25.......with all those bulbs at my disposal what combination would u use?? AND with my tank having LPS and softies toward middle and bottom with SPS toward the top how far off the water would u reccomend i keep this fixture??

need your expertise please! thank you
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19715927#post19715927

(On a side note, a controller would be the first preference over multiple cords and timers)