T5's: A cautionary note

[growyourown]

Uno,

Is that pic with the T5's on?

Glenn

 

[FastUno]

No, just MH on. I tried to play around with the cam settings, cause the last set of pics I took made the tank look too blue & was not quite what I saw.

I am trying to put out a video of my tank tonight. I have the video just have to compress & upload them. Might give you a better idea of what it looks like. I will try to take some more vid this week, but this time with MH only, T5 only, & then both.

 

[tgreene]

BTW tgreene, I gotta git this xenia out of my tank soon Still want it?

Yep!!! Let me know what day works best for you, since I live on the North Shore, but work in Metairie @ Causeway & 10.

 

[GoldStripe]

I was thinking of adding 2 T5's to my lighting. I've got 2x250 DE 20k AB's in ROIII pendants with Ice Cap eBallasts. I'm trying to find a fixture that is just one unit so I can do 1 54w in front and 1 in back. I was thinking of using 10k T5 bulbs. What do you gurus think? Should I use 2 in front and 2 in back? Different Kelvin? My tank is 48x24x30 (150 gal)

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Stripe

Just get a 2 lamp T5 retro from reefgeek. I believe those are the separete reflectors instead of the pairs but call them to make sure. I would start with 1 front and 1 back. I assume you just want to brighten up the halides a bit? Get the aquablue lamps.

 

[scarletknight06]

I'm thinking about trying T5's for a 40g breeder all sps tank. I would want to be able to keep sps at all depths of the tank (16"). How many bulbs would I need? 6x39w or 8x39w.

This seems like a good deal
http://www.aquauniverse.com/compone.../category_id,62/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,31/
but what do you guys think. what bulb combo would be best?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Dont waste you money on the poorly designed T5's. I know someone who just upgraded one of those fixtures with good reflectors and said it was a huge difference. You could use a 4 lamp Tek hood if your tank is only 16" tall. I know reefgeek has the 4 lamp tek hoods for 249 bux right now.

 

[tjay]

Yep!!! Let me know what day works best for you, since I live on the North Shore, but work in Metairie @ Causeway & 10.

Any evening this week would be fine. Boss is gone

 

[JustFin]

hi, i'm researching HO T-5's, the lower profile and reduced heat compared to MH is what has me very interested

I'm setting up a 75G and wondering whether a 6lamp Tek light would be enough or whether the 8lamp would be better. If I try any SPS I would keep them around the top. Any imput from experience would be appreciated.

 

[GoldStripe]

Yeah, I saw the retro but I was trying to use an actual fixture. I guess I could always buy 2 of the 2 lamp fixtures and take a bulb out right?

Yes, I'm want to take a little of the blue of my 20k's out.

 

[GoldStripe]

JustFin, I think you'd be fine with the 6 lamp but I'll let someone with experience answer

 

[growyourown]

Hell I have the 6 light on my 90 and I may go to 4...

FWIW

 

[GoldStripe]

That's what I've heard. But I think I may be able to get away with 2 of the 54x2 fixtures with my 2x250 halide because my tank is 30" tall. But I don't know

 

[Codeman00]

Hell I have the 6 light on my 90 and I may go to 4...

FWIW

growyourown,

What bulbs are you running and what photoperiod?

 

[growyourown]

Re: Catalina T5 Actinic

Re: Catalina T5 Actinic

Codeman, from a few days ago...

I have the catalina as well... I love these lights

Here is my tank with only two 54W T5 CA Actinics:

And now with all 6 lights:

(Back)
CA Actinic
D&D Aqua Blue
GE Day 6500K
D&D Blue Plus
D&D Aqua Blue
CA Actinic
(Front)

The fixture:

A bit of an old pic all lights:

My most recent pic:

My Favia:

Heres a link to the CA Lights: http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/cat18_1.htm

Glenn

 

[rioreef]

A couple of questions.

If one of your T5 bulbs goes out, will the rest of the lights in that bank continue to work? I know if you remove one they don't.

Second, I see a lot of bulb configurations with a daylight bulb. Why is this? The daylight spectrum is more than half the makeup of the Aquablues already (60/40 split I believe). I don't see many individuals having Power Compact, VHO or MH setup with daylight bulbs.

Just wondering.

cr

 

[horkn]

well, the daylight, esp the ge 6500k one, is the highest PAR output of any t5ho bulb.

and it brings out reds and orange and yellow in corals better than the aquablue

 

[tgreene]

I find that the T5 daylight bulbs have a yellowish cast to them, and seem to promote the growth of undesirable algae.

 

[rioreef]

horkn,

Do you know if those running PC, VHO, MH get those colors more vibrant? Do they run the daylights to get these color to show more?

Anyone else have a comment...

What about my question on the bulb burning out and will the others still light.

 

[tgreene]

What about my question on the bulb burning out and will the others still light.

With my CoralVue fixture, once the lights are burning, I can remove a bulb w/o theother going out, so I would assume the same would hold true if a bulb were burned out. HOWEVER, they will not start up w/o both bulbs being in their sockets!