T5 Lighting May Be For You

[JonnyD91]

is there any oter place to geet bulbs besides reefgeek?

 

[rjwilson37]

Yep, there are a lot of places that have them, but reefgeek packs & ships them very well and has pretty much the best prices for the good German Bulbs.

 

[tsutherland]

thanks for the info, if I can think of more questions I will be back.

 

[rioreef]

what is more natural?

what is more natural?

I have 6x54w with four overdrive with an IC660. Bulb combos are:

AB
B+
AB
B+
AB
B+

I have a ATI sun around and have tried it, but I am wondering what look is more natural (comments from any T5 divers), bluish or more towards the yellow?

CR

 

[rjwilson37]

Actually it is more towards what you like for the look, because some tropic waters are more blue than other's and corals that are in different depths of water will have a different look as well. It all started off with the 6,500 and 10,000 for the most part and just over the past few years they are coming out with the 12k, 14k, and 15k bulbs and the T5 11k bulbs since T5's are pretty new as well.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

A 50/50 mix of blueplus and aquablue lamps would probably be close to what light would look like 20 feet down or so. The 6000K sun lamp would be what you would see in the first several feet under the water.

 

[katz66]

grim,
i've never been to montana, would love to help out!

rj,
last night i just switched my sun bulb for a 11k. it is now exactly like you posted. i like it better because it looks a little more blue as opposed to a yellowish tinge.

i also took a whack of macro shots that i still have to upload so i will post them soon.

oh yeah, ditto what rj said about reef geek.

 

[rjwilson37]

I just got a tripod and had some fun with the macro function on my new camera, here are two macro shots.

 

[katz66]

those are some really sweet pics, what kind of camera? I just got a canon elph sd450. not really intended for macro shots but definitely priced right for a pocket camera. my father in law just bought the new nikon slr so i will be stealing it shortly to take some pics of the tank. these will have to do for now . . .

 

[rjwilson37]

Those are some nice pictures, I have the Kodak Easyshare Z700 that has a macro mode and the camera was only $200.

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6342042#post6342042 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JonnyD91
is there any oter place to geet bulbs besides reefgeek?

www.aqualuxlighting.com has the good bulbs, german and the Ge ones as well.


i am very impressed with my entire setup from aqualux, and its by far the easiest on the wallet.

 

[katz66]

rj,
after all is said and done, including price, heat, electricity bill, aesthetics, maintenance, telling the wife the actual cost of the lights etc

i guess the million dollar question: MH or t-5's?

 

[rjwilson37]

324w used for a 6 bulb T5 compared to a minimum 500w MH without supplimentation is really the big difference. Make sure you put your lighting 10" above the tank if you decide to go with MH and don't forget to get 2 4.5" fans for the canopy if using MH. The MH will heat up the tank a little bit, I keep my house at 73 to 74 degrees and if the house get's above that the temp in my tank jumps 2 degrees where it is already running at 81 to 83 degrees. There are pros and cons for both, being that the T5's are only good for tanks up to 24" in height, which is right where your at with the 90g.

This really has to be your decision, to weigh the pros and cons as to what you want to do with your tank.

There were two reasons I did not go with the T5's 6 bulb setup.
1) They sit 2" from the top of the tank and with me leaving a lot for Training and such, I needed to make the tank very accesible for feeding and cleaning the glass for my wife. My new hood with the MH has feeding doors in front and I can pretty much get in the tank and do what ever I need to do without taking off the canopy. I could not do that with the T5's.
2)I wanted to be able to do anything including crocea clams and be able to put them anywhere in the tank as well as seeing the shimmering effect to see if I like it. It makes my wife a little dizzy looking at the tank for any long period of time, with that shimmering.

Lighting is a tough decision, here is the latest picture comparison from my old T5 to the new MH, this is my X-Mas picture of the tank and a small video to see the shimmering effect.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/90g/movies/rjs90gtank122505.wmv

T5 lighting before switching to MH

Latest picture under my 2x250w 14k MH with no supplimentation.

 

[I Love Coral]

I have 46g bow front.......what should my T5 setup be?

 

[new2u]

I'd go with the 4*39 watt fixture, I've got it on my 58 and its doing great! I don't think 2 would really cut it though

 

[new2u]

Sorry Double Post

 

[NeilPearson]

I have an 8 bulb T5 setup on a 24" deep tank. I am not getting good color at all. Most corals are quite pale. Could this be from too much light?

 

[I Love Coral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6371515#post6371515 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NeilPearson
I have an 8 bulb T5 setup on a 24" deep tank. I am not getting good color at all. Most corals are quite pale. Could this be from too much light?

Do yo have any True Blue bulbs or Actinics? If so what is the split?

 

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6371515#post6371515 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NeilPearson
I have an 8 bulb T5 setup on a 24" deep tank. I am not getting good color at all. Most corals are quite pale. Could this be from too much light?

What bulbs are you using.

 

[MyMonkey]

So, I suppose the T5 lights must be near the surface of the water? I am now looking into a redesign of my Canopy. MH is an option; however, I don't want the heat and bulb replacement costs. Although, I really like the feeding doors which I use now. I need the space above the water like you Rj. Any suggestions?