T5's: A cautionary note

[FastUno]

What's all this commotion I hear about T5's & coral reaction? Sounds preposterous!! Who started this thread anyway?

Well, it has been a while, but I think I am at the stage where I can legitimately give a T5 vs MH report. I have been really busy with work lately but I will compile something soon.

Can't believe you guys are still prolonging this thread. Think of all the confused newbies.

 

[Codeman00]

I am interested in hearing this report....

The only thing that isn't doing well in my tank (4 T5s, 2 VHOs) are some of the SPS corals....I guess I don't have enough light yet or they haven't settled down because many of them are new in my tank). My mushrooms are in the shade and all spread out, even the green striped ones....I planned for that it all worked out. I am getting the flourescent green coralline on the glass and that stuff is tough as nails. I don't remember you talking about cyano problems..but maybe you did. I grow that stuff on the substrate by the pound! Other than that, no real problems...I can't wait to read "the report".

One thing that I noticed is a lot of people on RC have bought T5s in the last couple of months..amazing how many new T5 posts I've read. They're coming on strong I guess.

 

[RedEyeReef]

What's all this commotion I hear about T5's & coral reaction? Sounds preposterous!! Who started this thread anyway?

Well, it has been a while, but I think I am at the stage where I can legitimately give a T5 vs MH report. I have been really busy with work lately but I will compile something soon.

Can't believe you guys are still prolonging this thread. Think of all the confused newbies.

I'm interested... I have used MH for over 10 years with great success but have been wondering how T5 would compare.

 

[horkn]

well, my pocillopora has doubled in size from whne i got it.

and thats under 3x39 of t5ho
my monitpora has grown as well, but its about the size it used to be, due to my hasty fix of an aptaisia on the rock it is attached to

 

[Codeman00]

Thats good news because I just got a pink pocillopora. Its interesting that I watch my green montipora digita grow daily halfway down the tank while my two orange digita frags don't grow at all. Strange. I have a green slimer that I bleached somewhat at the top of the tank...I moved it about halfway now next to the poci and it seems to be coming back strong. I also have a blue tort that hasnt adapted to the tank yet..hopefully the polyps will come out soon. My purple rim caps aren't doing much at all at the bottom or midway in the tank.

hornk, do you have any pics of your tank / corals? If you dont want to post them I can PM you my email address.

 

[growyourown]

I can report that my Green Favia is doing amazing, it extends really well after lights out and has added at least 10 new sections in the last 45 days or so... It is right up near the surface with good current and tons of light.

All of my zoas are doing great and multiplying like crazy.

I do still need to catch this damn mantis, it is driving me nuts.

Hes getting huge....

Oh well I love my T5's

Glenn

 

[Codeman00]

My zoos love it too..there are more and more every day! Keep posting your T5 progress.

 

[horkn]

codeman. i can post pics probably tomorrow. mine is an orange montippora, and if i wouldnt have used vinegar to kill the lone aptaisia, it would be a bit bigger than it is. somehow the vinegar msut have flushed back to the main part of the frag, and bleached out the big chunk of it in the middle. i'll post pics...

the pink pocillopora is doing great, as well as my 4 kinds of zoos, xenia is growing like mad, the shrooms are doing well, just not spreading like i was told they would, which is fine.. my micromussa rock has 3x as many polyps as it did when i got it, and the gsp(both kinds) are growing well, as well as my newly acquired gorgonian and toadstool. oh yeah i forgot my hamemr, which seems to do ok, and kenya tree. man i have a lot more than i used to have

 

[The Grim Reefer]

My Shrooms are getting huge and spreading with the halides. Pretty funny how the Orange ones reacted. There were a ton of them on a rock but they were always small when I had the T5's. Now that they have grown so much there are maybe six you can see and I assume a lot of smaller ones moving around the tank. I got friggn orange shrooms and Zoos from one end of the tank to the other. The blue shrooms are more of a violet color now. They were a bright blue under the T5's but are definatly healthier under the halides. They are spreading a lot more but nothing like the oranges. The ricordas have gotten a lot bigger too.

 

[Warnberg]

All, I took Grims suggestions and replaced 2 of the 6000k sunlights with 11000 aqua blue specials. What a diferance, tank looks great and if you want to some SPS progress with the T5's take a look in my gallery. There is a shot in there of the corals when I put them in and a shot 30 days later......

Another example:

30 days later and under the new lights

 

[johns]

Can anyone tell me the exact length of the ATI T5 bulbs (without the pins) like you might use in an SLS Tek Light?

When I contacted Commodity Axis about ordering the T5 Superblue bulbs some of you were talking about recently, they told me they needed a precise length for the bulb without the pins (46.5", 46", 47", 45.5") to make sure it would fit properly.

 

[Warnberg]

What wattage bulb are you talking about? If you are talking about the 54 watters I can measure when I get home and tell you.

 

[Codeman00]

The T5s only come in one size at the 48" length...and actually the 48" are about 46.5". As you probably know, the VHO bulbs come in both 46.5" and 48" for whatever reason. T5s dont have that issue...only one length to avoid confusion.

 

[johns]

Warnberg - Yes 54W bulbs. Sorry, I thought I wrote that.

I thought they were only one length, but Commodity Axis is telling me otherwise when I ask about the Superblue bulbs . Does anyone know what they are talking about?

 

[Obi-dad]

I will measure exactly later, but I think the ATI 54w are 46.5 inches, and the Helios superblues T5 are longer, about 47.5". These superblues are very cool BTW. Even better are the endcaps they have, they are small and push on to the end of the bulb and don't have the standoff - which means they do not obstruct the airflow. I will be posting more about these endcaps soon, I like them.

 

[Warnberg]

All T5's (for a particular wattage) are the same length so I'm not sure what they are talking about. A T5 54 watt bulb is the same lenght no matter what color the bulb is....

 

[Obi-dad]

Dave, I have ATI/DD and Helios bulbs, the Helios T5s are longer.

 

[Codeman00]

Thats nice that Helios decided to create their own standard. Now I would have to drill new holes and move my endcaps to change bulbs...

 

[Obi-dad]

I didn't have to redrill anything on my canopy because I don't use standoffs. I mount the reflectors to the canopy (drill a hole through the reflector) and use Molex pins with heat shrink tubing to connect the wires. Now I have the new endcaps from commodityAxis on some of the bulbs instead of the Molex pins. When you don't use standoffs you get better airflow over the bulbs.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The ati 54 watt lamp should be 46.5. Helios has some odd size lamps. Unlike ATI Helios is the company that designs and actually makes the lamps so they make some weird sizes for other uses.