T5's: A cautionary note

[JamisonRD]

Does anyone know (or have any pics) of what 3 blue+ and 1 Sun would look like (or close to it)?

Cheers -- Jamison

 

[glenns]

Hey Grim,

My 4 light T5 retro kit arrived yesterday. I've installed them in my canopy and they appear to work fine. Boy, are those bulbs bright. :dance: However, I do have some questions.

First of all the rear light is very close to the intake pipe for my Remora Pro. Do the lights generate enough heat they may damage that grey PVC pipe?

Second, I mounted the ballasts in the canopy close to the fans and above the reflectors. There is is about 1 - 2 inches of space between the ballasts and reflectors. Is there any problem with this location? I have a glass top over the tank, and they are mounted as far from the skimmer as possible.

Third, my canopy fans draw air out of the canopy, not blow it in. There is a large opening spanning nearyly the entire length of the rear of the canopy. Air is drawn in through there and out. Will this air flow be sufficient for removing the heat generated from the lights?

Finally, I just want make sure the bulb order is correct.

AquaBlue+
AquaBlue+
Actinic (30W NO bulb)
6500K GE Bulb
Blue +

Thanks.

 

[Drewpy]

First of all the rear light is very close to the intake pipe for my Remora Pro. Do the lights generate enough heat they may damage that grey PVC pipe?

I have a tek fixture and a remora... the lights are about an inch or two from the intake pipe for the remora, no damage. Also the acrylic shield which is directly under the lights shows no damage... And i would say the acrylic material is more suseptible to heat damage then pvc material. So i bet you are just fine. Just check the pvc after a few hours with the lights on to be sure it is not melting or warping.
If in doubt a piece of heavy aluminum foil would be an easy heat shield.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I doubt the lamp will get hot enough to cause a problem with the skimmer which is water cooledby the way

I had my fans blow air in the open back. The fans will last longer and I had mine blowing in at the ballasts so at least while the lights were one the ballasts were getting fresh air.

Assuming your Blueplus is the front lamp I would maybe swap the position of the GE lamp so it is the first one behind the actinic just to see if the light looks better.

Hey Grim,

My 4 light T5 retro kit arrived yesterday. I've installed them in my canopy and they appear to work fine. Boy, are those bulbs bright. :dance: However, I do have some questions.

First of all the rear light is very close to the intake pipe for my Remora Pro. Do the lights generate enough heat they may damage that grey PVC pipe?

Second, I mounted the ballasts in the canopy close to the fans and above the reflectors. There is is about 1 - 2 inches of space between the ballasts and reflectors. Is there any problem with this location? I have a glass top over the tank, and they are mounted as far from the skimmer as possible.

Third, my canopy fans draw air out of the canopy, not blow it in. There is a large opening spanning nearyly the entire length of the rear of the canopy. Air is drawn in through there and out. Will this air flow be sufficient for removing the heat generated from the lights?

Finally, I just want make sure the bulb order is correct.

AquaBlue+
AquaBlue+
Actinic (30W NO bulb)
6500K GE Bulb
Blue +

Thanks.

 

[glenns]

Thanks Grim. Actually, the Blue+ is in the rear. The first two are the AquaBlue+ bulbs, then the Acticic, then the daylight followed by the Blue+

To be honest, I cannot see a big difference when then Actinic is running. The T5's drown it out..

 

[spykes]

what do you guys think of T-5 as a suppliment to the MH? im going to use the hellolight MH relector for my canopy, there is no room for T-5 relectors so it it anygood to put Two T-5 as suppliments?

 

[jnb]

my t-5s jme so far

my t-5s jme so far

My 120 (4 feet wide 24 inch deep) with 6 light THREE foot Tek light. I have since moved the wall hammer down as he likes less light imo. I just upgraded from a 65 Three foot tank to this 4 foot and was not going to get another fixture until I believed I was not happy with only three feet. So far I like it - I have the open brain thriving nicely to the far side now, some shrooms out of direct light and liking it. And actually, I need to check I was runnning only 4 of 6 bulbs for a while.

But, of course, I am curious what some MH's would do with the colors

 

[The Grim Reefer]

what do you guys think of T-5 as a suppliment to the MH? im going to use the hellolight MH relector for my canopy, there is no room for T-5 relectors so it it anygood to put Two T-5 as suppliments?

You could try Helios superblues if they are in stock. www.commodityaxis.com has them in limited supply. You have to contact them through the website because the superblue isn't listed on it yet.

They are the "cheap" striplight T5's that you just plug in, easy to mount and don'ttake up much room. I am using 2 4 foot lamps as Dusk/Dawn with 3 250 watt 14K halides. You can definatly see the difference when these are on even with the 14K halides. I think they would do great with 10K halides.

The first 6 or 7 pics in my gallery is of the superblues.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Nice Tank JNB

 

[Warnberg]

Ok, JNB... Nice tank and how do you keep your sand so clean? I know this is off topic but I'm curious....

Thanks

 

[jnb]

Thanks - I was right not all 6 t-5s are on in the picture above below is a better light showing. This rock and other life was a recent (two months now) transfer from a smaller tank which I used new live sand in the transfer - its not deep, I have numerous snails that burrow (ceriths I think) and good water flow and my sand is sort of small grained - all those things.. plus my tang, black blenny, ransfield (sp) goby all are picking up chunls of gravel all day long... oh - and my tank does not have a heavy load right now. and maybe the less light then many is helping (now we have a t-5 connection)?

Let me see your sand.

Ok, JNB... Nice tank and how do you keep your sand so clean? I know this is off topic but I'm curious....

Thanks

 

[Obi-dad]

Grim was right on about the superblue bulbs. Got my Helios superblues from www.commodityaxis.com , way cool. They are marked as 38W, and slightly longer than the ATI bulbs. I think the 38w must be what is drawn if you use the Helios ballast, but I just got the bare bulbs and hooked them up to my Icecap. Way bright, so I think they are probably drawing the same as other T5s on the Icecap ballast (Icecap says around 85w). The color is very nice, similar to the ATI blue+ but appears brighter to the eye and a little whiter. Very cool look, makes all colors pop out at you. I am a little busy right now, but will try them on my Triad ballast to see what they look like on that. I will take some photos this weekend, although photos are not real useful in comparing bulbs since the eye sees differently than the camera. Overall first impression is that I like them. I hope to borrow our club's PAR meter at the meeting so I can get some readings.

 

[Warnberg]

JNB, there is a full tank shot in my Gallery.....

 

[horkn]

i dont have sand, and you dont want to see it anyways

but i can say i got rid of my cyano problem now.. now just that darn hair algae.....

i just need to save away and get the overflow and return pump so i can get my fuge running

 

[jnb]

I see - you must be referring to the red in the sand on the front - if I have my timing right - your tank is a new set up? If so, lots of things will need to simmer/grow/stablize with lots of funky cycles yet to be had/experinced/put-up-with - but it seems I do see lots of tanks with deeper sand with the red. My sand in its two months spent the first month with light brown algae on the surface (diatoms?) but its gone now

JNB, there is a full tank shot in my Gallery.....

 

[Warnberg]

Yeah, only thing I am seeing is the red/green in the front. But you are right the tank is new (week 14 now) but between the snails, the yellowhead goby they seem to be cleaning things nicely.....

Thanks

 

[Codeman00]

Obi-dad,

I sure am interested in seeing those pictures of the new SuperBlue bulbs. I have a decision to make as to whether I should add one more VHO Super Actinic to the mix or if I should scrap the VHOs and put 2 T5 super blues in their place. I saw a friends VHO tank the other day and it was amazing how much more flouresce he had then me. The T5s seem to over power the single VHO and just might do the same to 2 VHOs. I hate to mess with my blue+, blue+, Sun, Day combo because I dont want to lower my coral growth rate. Decisions decisions.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Obi

Those are 54 watt lamps that were mislabeled. I am sure you can get better pic than I did.

I'd get them on the triad ballast. I don't know what the longevity of the lamp will be but I wouldn't push it. A single lamp over my 23.5" tall tank was 10 UMOL's at the sand with no reflector. I am running 2 4 foot lamps staggered in a 6 foot hood for dusk/dawn only. But with the 3 250 14K halides running you can still see these things make a difference all the way to the sand despite being behind the UV sheild and running with crappy reflectors.

 

[Obi-dad]

Codeman, the color of the superblue is completely different than the VHO actinic (blue vs purple/pink).

Grim, I plan to try them on the Triad. They are nice bulbs.

 

[spykes]

are they better then the 75 watt VHOS?