The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[tegee]

Well.....I just made the T5 plunge on my 180-gl SPS tank.

I was able to pick up a factory seconds (very minor cosmetic damaged) ATI PM 10 x 80w fixture last month from Reef Geeks. It may be a bit overkill for my application (would have preferred a 8 x 80w or possibly a 48" ATI PM, but the deal was simply toooooo good to pass up).

This fixture is awesome and is a monster. I am hoping that my sps's really get the T5 pop. I am coming off running three 250w MH (Radiums) with VHO supplementation. The growth was great, but with my nutrient starved system my colors looked way off and pale.

I am pretty excited about this lighting conversation and am a bit nervous too. This is my first lighting change in close to 4-years. Not to mention, I just did a big re-aquascape of my 180-gl tank, so there has been a lot to adjust to overall.

Attached are some pics of the newly installed ATI PM setup. The bulbs installed are:

Front.....
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Purple+
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Purple+
Blue+
Blue+
Back.......

BTW: I apologize for the bad pics, I just snapped some quick ones for this thread......enjoy!

 

[rtparty]

Without any side vents, you run the risk of frying those ballasts. ATI fixtures are not meant for canopies and need serious ventilation to stay cool.

Just an FYI.

PS - I would look into a couple actinic bulbs to lower the PAR a little. That fixture is total overkill and you may find yourself fighting too much light and bleaching everything.

 

[TropTrea]

I will agree with rt party.

I added side holes and additional fans on the sides of my Canopy when I went thrugh my first ballast.

The other thing is your now running 800 Watts of light and that is lot of light For T-5's. Be very aware of your corals bleaching out. T-5 lighting seems much more effecient that MH's and I went from 800 watts of MH's to 432 Watts of T-5's with looked like it was giving me more light than the MH's were. Bulb selection will be very critical to prevent bleaching. The bleaching initialy comes from excessive light in the red spectrum but you should be safe there with with 2 Purple Plus and 2 Coral Plus. I would not add another full spectrum bulb. The next would be a total excess of light in the blue range where the Blue plus bulbs could get a pair either disconnected or several replaced with Attinics.

 

[tegee]

Without any side vents, you run the risk of frying those ballasts. ATI fixtures are not meant for canopies and need serious ventilation to stay cool.

Just an FYI.

PS - I would look into a couple actinic bulbs to lower the PAR a little. That fixture is total overkill and you may find yourself fighting too much light and bleaching everything.

Yes, both of you are correct.....I am very nervous about running that ATI fixture in my canopy. Like I mentioned, I literally got a killer deal for this fixture and there was no way I could find a 48" PM so I had to grab a factor second 60".

To that end, I will have to keep an eye on the temperature within the canopy and may look into boring side vents on the canopy. The back end of teh canopy is fully opened and the top of the canopy has (3) 6" vents with (3) 75 cfm vans venting out. But I will definitely have to keep a tight eye on the temp factor.

I am very paranoid about removing the canopy because this is a TV room and used extensively by my family. Light spillage is a MAJOR concern for me.

Do you think with (3) exhaust fans on the top and a completely opened back I will be fine?

Also, I ran my MH's (750watts in total) for 8.5 hours and my VHO's for 11 hours......what should be my total run time on the ATI PM?

Many thanks.........

 

[tegee]

Without any side vents, you run the risk of frying those ballasts. ATI fixtures are not meant for canopies and need serious ventilation to stay cool.

Just an FYI.

PS - I would look into a couple actinic bulbs to lower the PAR a little. That fixture is total overkill and you may find yourself fighting too much light and bleaching everything.

BTW: if I measure the temp within the canopy......how high is too high of a temp within the canopy?

Thx

 

[rtparty]

Yes, both of you are correct.....I am very nervous about running that ATI fixture in my canopy. Like I mentioned, I literally got a killer deal for this fixture and there was no way I could find a 48" PM so I had to grab a factor second 60".

To that end, I will have to keep an eye on the temperature within the canopy and may look into boring side vents on the canopy. The back end of teh canopy is fully opened and the top of the canopy has (3) 6" vents with (3) 75 cfm vans venting out. But I will definitely have to keep a tight eye on the temp factor.

I am very paranoid about removing the canopy because this is a TV room and used extensively by my family. Light spillage is a MAJOR concern for me.

Do you think with (3) exhaust fans on the top and a completely opened back I will be fine?

Also, I ran my MH's (750watts in total) for 8.5 hours and my VHO's for 11 hours......what should be my total run time on the ATI PM?

Many thanks.........

I would run your dusk dawn like 8 hours and all 10 for 2 hours
to start. Then add an hour every week or so and monitor your corals. Test your water weekly right now to watch for spikes in consumption.

BTW: if I measure the temp within the canopy......how high is too high of a temp within the canopy?

Thx

To be honest, I only say this to be helpful, you need side vents. It isn't a "maybe" or "we will see" situation. ALL of the hot air escapes out the side. There is no where else for it to go. Open back and fans on top won't pull the heat away fast enough. I've seen multiple people fry ballasts and then complain about ATI later.

The air exiting your fixture shouldn't be more than 110F. If it is, you are running too hot.

Please accept my advice as being helpful and wanting to see you succeed. I never wish ill upon others.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

 

[tegee]

I would run your dusk dawn like 8 hours and all 10 for 2 hours
to start. Then add an hour every week or so and monitor your corals. Test your water weekly right now to watch for spikes in consumption.


To be honest, I only say this to be helpful, you need side vents. It isn't a "maybe" or "we will see" situation. ALL of the hot air escapes out the side. There is no where else for it to go. Open back and fans on top won't pull the heat away fast enough. I've seen multiple people fry ballasts and then complain about ATI later.

The air exiting your fixture shouldn't be more than 110F. If it is, you are running too hot.

Please accept my advice as being helpful and wanting to see you succeed. I never wish ill upon others.

First Ryan.....there is no offense taken, I completely understand that you are simply trying to give me advice from experience. As I mentioned, I would have liked to get a smaller (48" PM) so my canopy could have handled the heat better, etc but simply could not find one.

Anyway, I will look into boring side vents asap to evacuate the heat. I will tell you this, the fan noise is driving my NUTS. I run an ATI PM 6 x 24w on my 60-gl cube, but the noise leve is nowhere near what this 10-bulb unit is at.....a bit frustrating.

I will go ahead and lower the hours running the entire 10-bulbs to 2-3 hours until the sps's acclimate to the new T5 lighting.

MANY thanks again.............

 

[Froggy]

Tegee, I do not have an ATI fixture so this is a shot in the dark but I have read that the fan can rub the lettering on the cover if too tight causing vibration noise and a simple loosening of a screw can reduce the fan noise quite a bit. May or may not be your issue but something to look at.
Joe

 

[tegee]

Tegee, I do not have an ATI fixture so this is a shot in the dark but I have read that the fan can rub the lettering on the cover if too tight causing vibration noise and a simple loosening of a screw can reduce the fan noise quite a bit. May or may not be your issue but something to look at.
Joe

Thx Joe......I did check the fans prior to installing the fixture. But it never hurts to double check.

Thx for the tip.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Ok.. I just installed my 6 bulb 54 watt sunpower and all I can say is wow! Im running 4 ati blue+ and 2 purple +. I also own 1 more blue+ and a ge 6700K. This kicks out so much more light than my 8 bulb nova pro. the ATI bulbs are fantastic.

My Question is should I change my ratio or add the ge 6700 in? or a coral plus. I like the color now and with just the blue +. I want that middle road of growth and color.

I am running 4 bulbs (blue +) for 8 hours and the 2 purple+ on for 3hours. fixture is 10" off the water for now. I will slowly bring them up to 10 hours and 6 hours for the all on. Thanks guys. I really like this fixture and didn't really believe how much more light i would get. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Well.....I just made the T5 plunge on my 180-gl SPS tank.

I was able to pick up a factory seconds (very minor cosmetic damaged) ATI PM 10 x 80w fixture last month from Reef Geeks. It may be a bit overkill for my application (would have preferred a 8 x 80w or possibly a 48" ATI PM, but the deal was simply toooooo good to pass up).

This fixture is awesome and is a monster. I am hoping that my sps's really get the T5 pop. I am coming off running three 250w MH (Radiums) with VHO supplementation. The growth was great, but with my nutrient starved system my colors looked way off and pale.

I am pretty excited about this lighting conversation and am a bit nervous too. This is my first lighting change in close to 4-years. Not to mention, I just did a big re-aquascape of my 180-gl tank, so there has been a lot to adjust to overall.

Attached are some pics of the newly installed ATI PM setup. The bulbs installed are:

Front.....
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Purple+
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Purple+
Blue+
Blue+
Back.......

BTW: I apologize for the bad pics, I just snapped some quick ones for this thread......enjoy!

I would def leave the back open and having fans blowing down toward the ATI's fans-will help, but without some free space to let the air escape on the vent side and a path of least resistance (so to speak)for it's escape, it won't work very good.

If the bulbs are an issue raise the fixture, it looks like your SPS dominate so they should adjust.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I checked the temp of the air coming out my ATI sunpower at the end of the fixture by the shield and housing. it was 121. I had the fan set at 9 volt. I bumped it up to 12 and 10 minutes later it said 128. What should the temp be? And am I measuring in the right spot? Thanx.

 

[tegee]

Ok everyone......

I measured the temp of my ATI PM inside my canopy and it was 114-115 degrees with the digital thermometer held directly outside the side vents. It went down to 111 degrees about 5-minutes after leaving the front door of the canopy open to exhaust the trapped heat.

So the obvious was confirmed......the canopy is trapping about 4+ degrees with the ATI fixture. I will be going to Plan B and cutting some vents in the side of the canopy as soon as time permits.

HTH

 

[E.intheC]

I've got a 4 bulb Powermodule and would like a bulb combo that will bring out the red colors, while not giving the tank an overly white/yellow look. A crisp white/14KK look would be fine.

Thanks in advance :thumbsup:

 

[mbg75]

It's not the exiting air temp you need to measure. The temp at the bulb ends should be in the 90's. temp at the center of the bulb 120's. moving from the center of the bulb, towards the exit, the temp should drop.

 

[rtparty]

It's not the exiting air temp you need to measure. The temp at the bulb ends should be in the 90's. temp at the center of the bulb 120's. moving from the center of the bulb, towards the exit, the temp should drop.

Many of us did a test a couple years ago to get a rough estimate with everything and measuring the exiting temperature was just fine.

I measured my bulb ends with a laser thermometer and then checked the air exiting the fixture. Around 108f is ideal for most fixtures.


Sent from my Galaxy S3

 

[rtparty]

I've got a 4 bulb Powermodule and would like a bulb combo that will bring out the red colors, while not giving the tank an overly white/yellow look. A crisp white/14KK look would be fine.

Thanks in advance :thumbsup:

Try 2 blue plus, 1 coral plus and 1 purple plus. An aquablue may be a good extra to get.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

 

[rtparty]

I checked the temp of the air coming out my ATI sunpower at the end of the fixture by the shield and housing. it was 121. I had the fan set at 9 volt. I bumped it up to 12 and 10 minutes later it said 128. What should the temp be? And am I measuring in the right spot? Thanx.

What is your ambient temp and setup?

Sent from my Galaxy S3

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Ryan- Ambient temp is 67. Its hung over the tank from hang kit. No canopy.

 

[tegee]

Ok.....another question with my ATI PM 10 x 80w fixture on my sps tank.

I am running: 6-Blue+, 2-Purple+ and 2-Coral+.

Of these bulbs, what creates the best Dawn-to-Dusk setup on #'s 3 & 8?


Front.....
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Purple+
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Purple+
Blue+
Blue+
Back.......


Right now I have a Purple+ and a Coral+ coming on in the 3 & 8 position and the color is just ok IMHO.

Any advice is appreciate........