The T5 Q&a Thread - split

hey grim, newbie needing help on bulb color & growth choice. Tank mostly LPS/ Soft. 2 SPS high in 33gal tank.

Whats the best bulb combo for color & growth? As well as order? I would prefer to use Geisemann bulbs as i can get them @ LFS, unless ATI is much better?

Im running: 2x39w Aquatic life & 2x24w Coralife fixtures mounting in my DIY canopy. 39w is over the front of the tank, 24w is over the back half of the tank.

I need to replace all 4 bulbs. I currently have in order:
Front
39w stock aquaticlife 10k
39w Giese actinic +
24w unknown 10k
24w Giese Actinic +
back

Both fixtures and bulbs were hand-me-downs. Thanks.
 
Michigan Mike said:
What's the dif between the ge6500 ecolux and ge6500 starcoat? I see my ecolux bulbs i git from reefgeek say made in china and the pic at vivid has the star coat made in Hungary.
Click to expand...

The Grim Reefer said:
Close to the same lamp. Starcoat was the old style I think.
Click to expand...

canesfan44 said:
Hey Grim and everyone. Thanks for always answering my questions and help over the years. Anyway, I just noticed that GE makes a 6500k Starcoat t5 bulb. What's the difference between the Starcoat and the Daylight, or are they the same?
Click to expand...
The Grim Reefer said:
Don't know if they are the same but the starcoat is the new "daylight" lamp.
Click to expand...

You sure?lol
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
It seams the starcoat has the higher lumens. What is it about 5% difference in lumens? The bulb life isn't important as we only use the bulb for a small fraction of it. Knowing if one bulb degrades intensity and spectrum faster than the other would be a determining factor but I will never know. I also think its probably a near wash between them.
 
Last edited:
Hi grim I am seting up a standard 75g and know for sure I want an 8 bulb fixture. I will be keeping a little bit of everything in it softies, LPS,SPS. Which fixture would you recommend? Also, I think I may copy a previous mentioned lamp selection:
Front
B+
P+
B+
GE6500
B+
P+
B+
B+

With this lamp selection would there be a strong blue hue? Would the corals have more color and a slower growth rate? Thanks for your time!
 
Hello Grim - thanks for the great thread and all the time you've put into helping everyone. I'm sure it's been asked, but searching "40 breeder" on this thread was a nightmare...

I am setting up a 40B and would like to try some easier low light corals - mushrooms, maybe zoas or GSP, those types. I'd be looking at a 36" fixture on mounting legs over a BRS mesh top.

Would a 2 bulb T5 fixture be sufficient, or would I need to get a 4 bulb fixture?
 
Grimm, I got a problem here, whatever coral I place above 4" from the sand bed from Birdsnest to montipora they burn/die off. The birdsnests tip died so I had to place it on the sandbed and my montipora turned brown so I had to place it on the sandbed again.


I have a 40 Breeder running tek 4x39 lights. the lights are 4" from the surface of the water currently.
 
I currently have a 6 bulb tek light with 1 aquablue plus, 3 blue plus, a fiji purple and a giesemann midday. It seems a little bright when the daylights are on. What do you suggest I replace them with?
 
Grim- help on bulbs and timing please...

ATI powermodule 8x80

Current bulbs
ATI 5 blue plus / 1 purple plus / 2 aquablue special

Recommended bulbs-
Giesemann 4 blue plus / 2 fiji pink / 2 lagoon blue

How do you like the above bulb configuration and how would you run the 2 bulb / 6 bulbs timing? Fixture is 11" off the water line. THANKS!!!
 
sweeper7 said:
Yes I can, I read most people run these fixtures at 4" though, why is mine so "strong"
Click to expand...
Your lights aren't too strong, the corals need to be acclimated slower. Too little light will brown sps coral as we all know. Too much light will bleach coral white. Less hours of light total with the light raised higher should help. I had to run 2 blue plus bulbs for a Few days while my new green monti cap adjusted, it turned bright white with all the lights at first. After a few days of blue bulbs only it started to green up. My other acros darkened a lot during this time but oh well. I ended up lowering it to halway and turned all the lights on again. Now it looks good and green with a Purple rim. Whew!
If the corals are lightening that's fine it's when they turn white then its too much too fast.
 
I have a 10 bulb T-5 unit that is currently running the following combo front to back...

B+
P+
B+
GE 6500k
B+
B+
P+
B+
Coral+
B+

My wife says the lighting is too white/yellow and wants more blue. In my past tanks with a 6 bulb combo, I loved running 4xB+ & 2xP+. What would you recommend to get this type of color I'm looking for? I'm even open to an actinic as I feel I have plenty of par for my SPS with the 10 bulbs.
 
I've had the birdsnest for 1 month and if I go up he turns white.

The monti I've had for 1 week and if I had him on the bottom n be was green j moved him up 4 inches and in 2 days turned brown. So I'm confused now cuz I feel it's too much light.

I can't get my radio actives to fully open as well they are open but not in full diameter more like the rim is up. Ill post pics Tom
 
hello, I upgraded yesterday from a two bulb fixture to a current nova extreme 4x54watt t5 ho fixture. I have it over a standard 55gal tank, with sps, softies, zoas, and an RBTA. with two bulbs, I had to keep everything in the top 6 inches of the tank . Now that I got the four bulb fixture, I moved everything down in the tank. my fixture came with tru lumen 12000k bulbs and tru lumen actinic 460 bulbs. I switched out on of the 12000k for a geisman 15000k blue+ bulb. from front to back it is....12000k/actinic 460/15000k b+/actinic 460. my questions are, is this bulb combo good for my corals and nem? if not what do you recommend? also my previous photoperiod was one hour actinic only am followed by daylight for ten hours followed by one hour actinic only pm, should I decrease my photoperiod in the beginning since I have double the light output now? if yes, what amounts and combo do you recommend and how often /much should I increase it?
 
I have a T5 DIY fixture that is 12x48" for a 55 gallon tank. It has 8 bulbs on it but I am only using 4 and it seems like plenty of light for our soft coral tank.

The one problem is that the reflector is only a shinny piece of sheet metal behind all the bulbs together. I am thinking of removing extra ballasts and bulbs so that I can have 4 bulbs with good reflectors and a LED strip down the center. The one reflector I can get details on is 2.5" wide, which only leaves me 1/2" for LED when factoring in the 10.5" wide interior of my light panel.
  1. Are there any reflectors that are thinner than 2.5"?
  2. Would it work to bend them inward to give me some space left over for LEDs?
  3. The bulbs are pretty hot, how should I go about cooling my custom panel?
 
Last edited:
I setting up my 40g again after being out for the last four years. I am now ready to restart this build. I planned to put T5's on this tank from the begining. I know I want to keep LPS and some SPS. I am looking at the Micro-4 4X39w retro. Bulbs will be about 6 or so inches off the water.

Question 1: will this be enough for SPS up high near the lights. I could go 6X39w if I had too.
Question 2: I was planning on using this bulb configuration B+, AB special, Purple plus, B+ not sure with a 6 bulb configuration. I want a 14000K or so look. I know I dont like the 20000k look that is for sure. Thanks for the help everyone.

Doug
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Can't find 60"VHO Actinics anymore... LED recommendations
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
griss
griss
S
Jumping Back In
2
Replies
20
Views
431
kfisc
kfisc
xclusive252
Kessil help please
Replies
4
Views
467
wvned
wvned
griss
Talk to me about Hydros
2 3
Replies
42
Views
2K
wvned
wvned
Guygettnby
Nyos 220 on a 120g?
Replies
8
Views
589
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
Back
Top