T5's: A cautionary note

[horkn]

i see what you meant grim

but you are saying your CDR's have metal clips?

if so, yours must be some of the only ones like that. all the CDR's i have seen have the same plastic clips that i have.

on a good note, none of my clips have had any melting ot breaking issues in the 17 months i have had them.

on an even better note, my great job i got 6 months ago has me dealing with electronics supply houses (even allen bradley/ rockwell automation and other HUGE places). and one place that is local has the exact clips i need, if i ever need them

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7290048#post7290048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ctreefer
horkn, do you have any pics of your tank with that lighting setup? I have a 3 bulb setup as well overdriven with an icecap 430. I'm currently using 1 ge surrounded by 2 actinic +. Not sure the par or color difference between your blues and my actinic +

thanks

vince

i have an old pic. all my newer pics have this nasty bryopsis i am fighting. So i will post the old one it still looks the same. btw, these are not the blue+ (which would be the same as Actinic+), but ati blue...and all driven by a w5 ballast

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7302010#post7302010 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by horkn
i have an old pic. all my newer pics have this nasty bryopsis i am fighting. So i will post the old one it still looks the same. btw, these are not the blue+ (which would be the same as Actinic+), but ati blue...and all driven by a w5 ballast

Got some tasty rocks in that tank, must look good covered with some corals.

Yeah, my CDR's have metal clips but remember it is the 60" version.

Don't overlook your lamps as the cause of the bryopsis. When I was running the halides I got a nasty outbreak and tried everything to get rid of the crap. I noticed the 14K lamps were looking a little dull and threw in some 10Ks I had. Despite looking a little yellow they were a lot brighter. Within a week I noticed the algae decreasing and within a couple weeks it was nearly gone. At 17 months you could easily have enough of a shift in your lamps to cause it.

 

[oldimpala]

Ballast Upgrade

Ballast Upgrade

Alright; I've got a silly question...

I'm an SPS nut, and am presently running a 6x54 Tek Light (Thanks to you Grim), with 3 x Blue Plus, 1 x GE Daylight, and 2 x Actinic +'s.

I'm seriously considering upgrading my 4-lamp ballast to an IceCap 660; but do you think it's really necessecary on a 72G Bowfront? I don't seem to have problems with the corals (Montis, Acros, etc in the top half of the tank); but would this allow me greater flexibility in placement, would it be a substantial difference in the light amount? I know people throw around 20%, or 40%, but gimme an analogy; is it like the difference between my Coralife 260W PC fixture, and this Tek-Light, or is it barely visible?

Next question is, has anyone actually replaced the ballasts in these units, and how do you get to them? I'm not afraid of the wiring; I just don't want to butcher the fixture. Are the factor ballasts accessible by removing the reflector, or do I need to dissassemble the fixture itself....

Any help would be appreciated...

Thanks-
-Andy/Oldimpala

 

[The Grim Reefer]

You would have to remote wire the ballast. The IC wont fit in the fixture. You also need a couple fans blowing across the lamps for cooling. You get about 35% increase in light with the Ice Cap ballast. The thing you gotta ask yourself is do you need the extra light that bad.

 

[horkn]

you know , the lamps may be part of the issue. i will be swapping mine out here one at a time to see if that helps. I do know that the 6500k bulbs will grow algae where other higher K bulbs won't.

i did not have a good enough clean up crew to begin with, but i do now, that teamed with my weekly water changes of my own rodi water instead of store bought unkown quality ro water, i am sure i will get a handle on it soon...


yeah, there are some nice rocks in there, mostly too big for this tank, but i did pick that aga 90 rr tank stand and canopy a couple weeks back. mmuwhhwahahah

 

[The Grim Reefer]

My 14K halides had no problem growing algae and they were still blue looking when I changed them out. I would probably switch the blues out first. The one thing everyone agrees on is they will die before the others.

We close on the new house on Monday, I should be in the house by the end of the month. Then I can start setting up the 105. I gotta get me an RO unit installed first, damn city water anyway.

 

[horkn]

good news grimmy



hopefully i will get my 90 running sooner rather than later... but we need to move first as well...


the reason i dont htink its the bulbs is that the bryopsis grows as quickly now at 16-17months on the bulbs as they did at 4-5 months....

 

[dwdenny]

for montipora I am going with a 4X39w would I be better off with 1 GE 1 Aquablue and 2 blue+ lamps. I was thinking originally goin 2 AB and 2 B+ but not sure if I will have enough PAR. I want color and growth but will take slow growth for better color. What do you all think?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7306140#post7306140 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by horkn
good news grimmy



hopefully i will get my 90 running sooner rather than later... but we need to move first as well...


the reason i dont htink its the bulbs is that the bryopsis grows as quickly now at 16-17months on the bulbs as they did at 4-5 months....

So this isn't something new. Prob not lamps then.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7307099#post7307099 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dwdenny
for montipora I am going with a 4X39w would I be better off with 1 GE 1 Aquablue and 2 blue+ lamps. I was thinking originally goin 2 AB and 2 B+ but not sure if I will have enough PAR. I want color and growth but will take slow growth for better color. What do you all think?

The 50/50 mix would be fine as long as you like the look.

 

[dwdenny]

Well I was thinking that the GE might help bring out some of the colors. I will have to buy an extra AB just in case. If I like the GE then I have a spare AB for the next bulb change. I guess the color I am lookig for is a natural looking color. I know will be hard and natural is in the eye of the beholder. Any way I am going to get a GE and if I dont like I will change it. lol Thanks Grim for all the valuable help.

Doug

 

[horkn]

dwdenny, i have a friend in my club that has 2 GE and 2 aquablue. in my eye its a tad too white.

but it grows corals quickly.

i think 1 ge, 1 aquable and 2 blue+ is what most people settle on.

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7307483#post7307483 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
So this isn't something new. Prob not lamps then.

no not new at all. the bryopsis came in on my first coral, right after i got the t5ho unit going. constant pruning wasnt enough on my end, but had i a big enough clean up crew, i bet there wouldnt have been an issue...

oh well, every week i take a new rock out and end up being the clean up crew myself.. live and learn, when i get my 90 rolling, i will have a fuge from day1, only my own RODI water, no CC, and a normally sized clean up crew....

 

[Fishy1]

Here's my monti under 2 AB and 2 B+

I started out with two one inch pieces about a year ago.....just superglued them together. It's about 6 1/2 inches across right now......my green digi has done as well. I had to frag it back many times as my tank is only a 55 gallon. My 120 comes sometime next week

I had a GE in the mix once but after a while it looked to yellow to me so I switched out and replaced with an AB. HTH

fishy1

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7308554#post7308554 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by horkn
dwdenny, i have a friend in my club that has 2 GE and 2 aquablue. in my eye its a tad too white.

but it grows corals quickly.

i think 1 ge, 1 aquable and 2 blue+ is what most people settle on.

Adding the GE lamp will make the light look less blue, Aquablue 11000K-GE 6500K. I have done the 50/50 mix with 6 lamps and it was too blue for my taste. Adding a GE in took a little of the blue look out of the light and made Red and Yellow color corals look way better.

 

[Bathypelagic]

I have noticed in the past several have mentioned Aqualux as a vendor for supplies, I see that they are giving up the ship and have some bulbs on special. Since I am not a T5 user I do not know the quality of the bulbs or if it's a good value, just thought I'd pass along the info.

 

[davejnz]

Byropsis,that stuff is a PITA.It'll grow under blue light as well as 6.5k light.I had a nasty outbreak in my old reef.Actually,it was one of the deciding factors in tearing down that tank.Curing the rock in darkness(cooking,hate that term)for a couple months will get rid of it.What worked for me was simply pruning it then removeing the rock to my BB tank.Within a month,it whitened then died off.I've heard that sea hares will eat the stuff.I tried just about every other herbivore(excluding fish)and nothing would touch it.

 

[ROR]

oldimpala

You have the same tank that I have. Does 6 lamp tek fixture fit ok over your tank? You say you are looking to upgrade to Icecap. Are you finding it is not enough light for acros? Bowfronts are a pain to fit T5 lights over. I'm trying to deside if I should build a retro canopy with different length bulbs or get a fixture.

Rob

 

[dwdenny]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7308586#post7308586 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fishy1
Here's my monti under 2 AB and 2 B+

I started out with two one inch pieces about a year ago.....just superglued them together. It's about 6 1/2 inches across right now......my green digi has done as well. I had to frag it back many times as my tank is only a 55 gallon. My 120 comes sometime next week

I had a GE in the mix once but after a while it looked to yellow to me so I switched out and replaced with an AB. HTH

fishy1

Awesome pic Fishy1 that is what I am hoping for. Are you running the T5 on IC ballast or apec ballast? Sense this tank is only 16" deep No need for me to run IC unless this was going to be a n acro tank but it is not. I am going to get a GE just to play with the setup. If I dont like it I am sure someone here or on my local club will take it. Thanks for all the input