The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[Michigan Mike]

yup! ) just trying to see if it is worth keeping the t5s v/s going to LED... hard choice..

Ya, I'm gonna wait on the LEDs for awhile. I still love halides and t5. What LEDs you thinking about if you not mind me asking. You can pm if you want.

 

[Froggy]

That's one of the features I really like on the TEK 8 bulb fixture. The bulb banks are divided into 4's. bulbs 1,2,7,and 8 are on one and the inner 4 bulbs on the other. I love the color of 3 blue plus and 1 purple plus on my dusk/dawn. The inner 4 include two more blue plus, a purple plus, and a GE6500 for the full daylight hours.

 

[Thatgrimguy]

Do you recommend 4, 6, or 8 bulbs for a 40b?

 

[Froggy]

Do you recommend 4, 6, or 8 bulbs for a 40b?

what are the dimensions of the 40b? You will only need one bulb for every 3" or so of tank width. 4 bulbs for 12" width, 6 bulbs for 18", 8 bulbs for 24" etc.

Joe

 

[coffeetwitch]

what are the dimensions of the 40b? You will only need one bulb for every 3" or so of tank width. 4 bulbs for 12" width, 6 bulbs for 18", 8 bulbs for 24" etc.

Joe

40b is 18" wide but only 16" deep top to bottom...

 

[jacob.morgan78]

I have a fixture with six rows (12 bulbs) of T5HO. I'm curious about what you guys think the optimum photoperiod is for a mixed reef. I've recently (mostly) tackled a cyano issue that has me thinking about what a good amount of time to have the lights on. There are two timers: one daylight (4 rows) and one dawn/dusk (2 rows). How much time do you think is best to have all six rows on at the same time? How much time before and after this time period should I have the 2 rows only running?

Thanks!

 

[tspfish]

I run a 6 bulb T5 light that has the following bulbs,
Front
ATI Blue +
ATI Purple +
GE Daylight
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
Back
I am changing my tank to a Peninsula Style Aquarium viewable on three sides. Not sure it will look right with only one purple or daylight as it will be viewable on three sides. Any thoughts?

 

[BZOFIQ]

I have an ATI SunPower 8x80W 60" fixture over 24" wide tank (180).

I'd like to add a shimmer with LED with some sort of LED strip or maybe replace two of the T5s with strips inside the fixture (but would prefer the strip attached on the outside)

From some reviews I read that with so many T5 bulbs the shimmer isnt visible at all. What stips would you recommend and the route. Should the strip be attached to the front of the fixture or the back?

PLS HELP.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I have an ATI SunPower 8x80W 60" fixture over 24" wide tank (180).

I'd like to add a shimmer with LED with some sort of LED strip or maybe replace two of the T5s with strips inside the fixture (but would prefer the strip attached on the outside)

From some reviews I read that with so many T5 bulbs the shimmer isnt visible at all. What stips would you recommend and the route. Should the strip be attached to the front of the fixture or the back?

PLS HELP.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Do you recommend 4, 6, or 8 bulbs for a 40b?

6 bulb fixture for 18" wide tanks. Although you may not need a full 36" 6 bulb fixture unless you want all SPS, if you want more soft corals a 4 x 39w or 6x 24w fixture may suit you better, probably the latter if using ATI fixtures. If using cheaper fixtures like Current nova extreme or something like that then go with 6x39w fixture because they don't come close to the power and intensity of ATI fixtures.
You can always use a couple low PAR actinics if using a 6x39w ATI fixture in a mixed or soft coral reef to help lower the intensity and not fry all your corals.

 

[Michigan Mike]

I have a fixture with six rows (12 bulbs) of T5HO. I'm curious about what you guys think the optimum photoperiod is for a mixed reef. I've recently (mostly) tackled a cyano issue that has me thinking about what a good amount of time to have the lights on. There are two timers: one daylight (4 rows) and one dawn/dusk (2 rows). How much time do you think is best to have all six rows on at the same time? How much time before and after this time period should I have the 2 rows only running?

Thanks!

Have the 2 rows run for an hour before the rest of the lights are on, run all lights for 6 or 7 hours then let your 2 rows run again for an hour or 2 before turning them off for the night.
No need to have more than 8 hours total IMO you can even do less, like 6-7 hours total. Especially if your battling algae then do less hours. I believe corals can't use more than 7 hours of light effectively.

 

[Michigan Mike]

I run a 6 bulb T5 light that has the following bulbs,
Front
ATI Blue +
ATI Purple +
GE Daylight
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
Back
I am changing my tank to a Peninsula Style Aquarium viewable on three sides. Not sure it will look right with only one purple or daylight as it will be viewable on three sides. Any thoughts?

I don't see a problem but you can play with the bulb arrangement and have the purple and GE bulbs closer to the center but I doubt it will be a noticeable problem. Try this
ATI Blue +
AZI Blue +
ATI Purple +
GE Daylight
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +

 

[The Grim Reefer]

hey grim, sorry to make you repete yourself. ive read through this thing and still lost.

im putting a 6 bulb over a 90 gallon. want to do some lps, softies, and maybe sps up high. i like the look of the phoenix 14k hqi bulbs and would like to mimic that look while still getting the pop of actinic and par of 6500k.

what bulbs and order of them front to back if you could?

thanks.

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I have a fixture with six rows (12 bulbs) of T5HO. I'm curious about what you guys think the optimum photoperiod is for a mixed reef. I've recently (mostly) tackled a cyano issue that has me thinking about what a good amount of time to have the lights on. There are two timers: one daylight (4 rows) and one dawn/dusk (2 rows). How much time do you think is best to have all six rows on at the same time? How much time before and after this time period should I have the 2 rows only running?

Thanks!

10 to 12 hours with the dusk/dawn pair running and 5 to 9 hours with them all running.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I have an ATI SunPower 8x80W 60" fixture over 24" wide tank (180).

I'd like to add a shimmer with LED with some sort of LED strip or maybe replace two of the T5s with strips inside the fixture (but would prefer the strip attached on the outside)

From some reviews I read that with so many T5 bulbs the shimmer isnt visible at all. What stips would you recommend and the route. Should the strip be attached to the front of the fixture or the back?

PLS HELP.

Front pointing towards the back at an angle. You need to use high power LED's the 3 watt ones. Use white. Even then you might not see much when all the lamps are on.

 

[TropTrea]

I have an ATI SunPower 8x80W 60" fixture over 24" wide tank (180).

I'd like to add a shimmer with LED with some sort of LED strip or maybe replace two of the T5s with strips inside the fixture (but would prefer the strip attached on the outside)

From some reviews I read that with so many T5 bulbs the shimmer isnt visible at all. What stips would you recommend and the route. Should the strip be attached to the front of the fixture or the back?

PLS HELP.

I have that shimmer with a home built strip of LED's However if I were to do it again I would use the new LED's that were not available when I built mine.

I would use the CREE XM-L Neutral White LED's with the strip at the front of the tank angling 45 degrees to the back. The LED's would be spaced about 4 inches apart and run on a driver that would max out between 2300ma and 3000ma. This would basicly run the LED's near 10 Watts each. Then for your T-5 lighting you would not have to have any full spectrum bulbs but just the Blue Plus bulbs and possibly 1 purple plus.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Front pointing towards the back at an angle. You need to use high power LED's the 3 watt ones. Use white. Even then you might not see much when all the lamps are on.

Thank you. I decided to get a ReefBrite strip that uses 3W LEDs. At 60" long it appears to be a match for my new SunPower fixture. I'll start with 1 in the front then and get another one down the line to add to the back.

 

[clostoyo]

Whats the best deal on 4 - 24 " t5 bulbs? Is anyone running a special through this weekend? Free shipping maybe ? I need to purchase 4 bulbs and would like to get the best deal possible, thanks.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I have that shimmer with a home built strip of LED's However if I were to do it again I would use the new LED's that were not available when I built mine.

I would use the CREE XM-L Neutral White LED's with the strip at the front of the tank angling 45 degrees to the back. The LED's would be spaced about 4 inches apart and run on a driver that would max out between 2300ma and 3000ma. This would basicly run the LED's near 10 Watts each. Then for your T-5 lighting you would not have to have any full spectrum bulbs but just the Blue Plus bulbs and possibly 1 purple plus.

This is probably the best way to go if you want serious shimmer. Even with lower power LED's this is going to get you the best shimmer.

P.S. Dennis, I told you so:wavehand:

 

[Jhuneke]

Hi Grim,
I just picked up a T5 retrofit for my 60g 48 x15x16 tank..it has Universal lighting Accustart ballast (2x54w) I have 2...4 SLR Icecap Reflectors and caps for all bulbs. I was hoping for advice on bulb choices. Just getting started with corals, now have only a leather (as well as GBA and frogspawn)..also would this setup be sufficient to house any sps or only good for lps? I am really liking the dusk look of the uvl super actinics, my leather just glows nuclear under those! ,but am not sure they provide enough par ..and I also enjoy a very bright daylight effect. Any suggestions would be a wonderful help. Thanks in advance for any "light you can shed" on this for me!

Jami