T5 Questions Plz Look

[YoungReefer06]

Hello,

I work at a professional aquaculture facility and my boss has put me in charge of setting up the lighting for a 12' vat that will house mostly zoanthids. My job is to find the best T5 lighting for the project.

Here is what I am thinking:
-3 x 4' fixtures

Here are my questions:
1.) I believe that I want fixtures with individual reflectors, what ones have this?

I am told that I can "over-drive" the bulbs...

2.) What ballast is best for doing this with?
3.) Can I buy a T5 fixture (not retro-kit) without a ballast so I can choose my own to overdrive them?
4.) Will overdriving the bulbs cause them to have to be replaced more often?
5.) What bulbs are best for growth, and what bulbs are best for color?

If you can answer any of these questions it would be greatly appreciated. Also any link to articles about T5's would be awesome!

Thank you!!!

 

[Overland04]

I can answer a few to start,

1. An icecap 660 ballast can be used to over drive the bulbs,
2. I wouldn't overdrive
3. Overdriving will shorten the life of the bulb substantially
4. There are no know fixtures with out ballasts

Is the tank 12' round or like 12 x ?
Did he set some kind of a budget?

I'm a huge fan of the ATI fixtures because the quality, reflectors, output, and cooling. I don't think your boss would like the $$$ but I believe the Tek light would work well for your application.

Good Luck!

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Really need to know how tall the vats are.

 

[Paulairduck]

I see no reason to overdrive the bulbs for zooanthids.

you can get the new wave or sun blaze from sunlight supply 8 bulb fixtures, I have used both for aquarium's and have had no issues. they are perfect for a propagation setup. they have individual reflectors also, and the price is right

 

[Henry Bowman]

Re: T5 Questions Plz Look

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14850210#post14850210 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by YoungReefer06
Hello,

I work at a professional aquaculture facility and my boss has put me in charge of setting up the lighting for a 12' vat that will house mostly zoanthids. My job is to find the best T5 lighting for the project.

Here is what I am thinking:
-3 x 4' fixtures

Here are my questions:
1.) I believe that I want fixtures with individual reflectors, what ones have this?
Aquactinics, ATI, Geismann, and Tek (not sure about the Tek)
"IF" you wanted to retro this set up, you can get the IceCap ballasts and good individual reflectors....?


I am told that I can "over-drive" the bulbs...
2.) What ballast is best for doing this with?
3) Can I buy a T5 fixture (not retro-kit) without a ballast so I can choose my own to overdrive them?

IceCap ballasts are the only ones avail that I know of that overdrive the bulbs. Aquactinics Solar Flare is a 48" unit (I have one) that comes with IceCap ballasts that overdrive the lamps and individual reflectors. The unit is great, I grow and frag SPS in my 90 gl tank. Some of the German light fixtures overdrive 54 watt lamps to 80watts but I dont know which ones


4.) Will overdriving the bulbs cause them to have to be replaced more often?

Some say the overdriving of lamps causes the bulb life to shorten. ATI bulbs are my choice and the mfgr indicates that they can be overdriven without shortening the life. 12-18 months...


5.) What bulbs are best for growth, and what bulbs are best for color?
Cool part about T5's is that the bulb combos can be changed. For growth, you need bulbs in the 6000 to 10K range GE makes a good sunlight (6500K) bulb

If you can answer any of these questions it would be greatly appreciated. Also any link to articles about T5's would be awesome!

Thank you!!!

 

[YoungReefer06]

Thank you all GREATLY for the information that you have provided. I really appreciate the comments.

The vat is 12' by 4' by 12" deep.

The zoanthids seem to keep their color best under high lighting, that is why I asked about over-driving.

 

[Henry Bowman]

No big deal. Part of the fun for me is lurking and helping here on RC.


Best of luck !

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14855300#post14855300 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by YoungReefer06
Thank you all GREATLY for the information that you have provided. I really appreciate the comments.

The vat is 12' by 4' by 12" deep.

The zoanthids seem to keep their color best under high lighting, that is why I asked about over-driving.

You could get away with the Cheaper Sunlight supply fixtures with the cheap individual reflectors BUT you will need more lamps front to back if you use them than if you had a higher output setup mounted higher up to allow the light to spread.

Something like a Sunblaze mounted 4" above the vat will be fine but I wouldn't place critters more than a few inches fore or aft of the reflector arrays. I would say a 4 lamp unit would give you 12" of high intensity light. Depending how you plan to stock the vats 2 or 3 rows deep of 3 54 watt fixtures end to end will cover the vats nicely.