The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[Michigan Mike]

Just picked up an 8 bulb Tek Light to put ove my 90. Montipora up top and lps below. Please recommend bulbs and order.
Thanks
Mark

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Back
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Coral plus
Blue plus
Blue plus
Coral plus
Purple plus-dawn/dusk
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Front

 

[Michigan Mike]

Looking for thoughts...... I am shooting for an 18-20K look, with growth of course lol

Tank is a 58 Oceanic w/ no center brace. Fixture is a Current NOVA extreme pro 36" 6X39W.

SPS on the rock work and Acans/lps on the sand bed.

Current configuration is:

Front to back:
ATI Blue plus
ATI Actinic
ATI Coral Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus

Thanks very much for input.

What don't you like about this? What do you want different, more blue?

 

[mkbtank]

What don't you like about this? What do you want different, more blue?

I do like it, but maybe just a shade more blue. At least to try out. Best suggestion to do so? Thanks for the reply!

 

[Michigan Mike]

Swap the purple for a coral plus, maybe swap the actinic for a blue plus if you want even more blue but the purple is a fairly white/bright bulb so swapping it will give you the quickest results.

 

[mkbtank]

Thanks. I swapped the purple for a coral plus. May be a shade too blue lol. At least I know now. Thanks!!

 

[npsossi@msn.com]

Back
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Coral plus
Blue plus
Blue plus
Coral plus
Purple plus-dawn/dusk
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Front

Thanks for the information. I have been running 2,250 watt 14k metal halides for years over this tank. Will this be a good change?
Thank you

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[npsossi@msn.com]

Thanks for the help

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[Stylo328]

Back
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Coral plus
Blue plus
Blue plus
Coral plus
Purple plus-dawn/dusk
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Front

Will this produce a ~14k look, or will it be closer to 20k?

I am about to purchase an 8 x 54 ATI Sun Power and need some help with which bulbs to order. I currently have a 4 bulb Tek fixture over my 20 with the following:

Blue+
GE 6500
Blue+
Fiji purple

And am not crazy about the look. The corals don't pop at all, seem washed out.

Thanks,

 

[Michigan Mike]

Will this produce a ~14k look, or will it be closer to 20k?

I am about to purchase an 8 x 54 ATI Sun Power and need some help with which bulbs to order. I currently have a 4 bulb Tek fixture over my 20 with the following:

Blue+
GE 6500
Blue+
Fiji purple

And am not crazy about the look. The corals don't pop at all, seem washed out.

Thanks,

I guess its subjective...washed out natural or washed out blue? I personally think blue washes colors out, when I ran that 4 bulb combo it is a more natural look with purple undertones & my coral had a natural pop, but if your looking for a blue look with pop, do the 8 bulb combo above, the combo I mentioned is closer to a 14k Phoenix (electric ballast) so its relatively close to 20k look by "hobbiest's" standards although we need to improve upon this kelvin rating system we use.

 

[Stylo328]

Washed out blue. I have always used XM20k bulbs with no supplementation and loved the look.

That said, what is the combo you referenced in the post that will give the 14k look? I feel a little lost.

Thanks

 

[Michigan Mike]

Back
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Blue plus-dawn/dusk -*purple/actinic - either way
Coral plus
Blue plus
Blue plus
Coral plus
Purple plus-dawn/dusk - *actinic - either way its up to you. I'd put actinic here myself.
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Front

Try this, its close to XM 20k, Phoenix 14k. You can swap the second from rear blue plus for an actinic or place the purple plus as the second to the rear bulb & put an Actinic as the second from the front slot. Like above.
The purple closer to the rear gives a deeper purple undertone but closer to the front makes it a litte more pink.
Try it different ways if you want it I think the actinic will give you a closer to halide look.

 

[TropTrea]

Looking for thoughts...... I am shooting for an 18-20K look, with growth of course lol

Tank is a 58 Oceanic w/ no center brace. Fixture is a Current NOVA extreme pro 36" 6X39W.

SPS on the rock work and Acans/lps on the sand bed.

Current configuration is:

Front to back:
ATI Blue plus
ATI Actinic
ATI Coral Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus

Thanks very much for input.

I realy do not think you can go any bluer and still give the corals some of the full spectrum lighting they need. So I would not pull the Coral Plus. The only thing you possibly change is pulling the purple plus for another Blue Plus or an Atinic to make it Bluer.

 

[mkbtank]

I realy do not think you can go any bluer and still give the corals some of the full spectrum lighting they need. So I would not pull the Coral Plus. The only thing you possibly change is pulling the purple plus for another Blue Plus or an Atinic to make it Bluer.

Thank you. I actually tried pulling the purple plus and replacing with another coral plus and then a blue plus. It was a bit too blue so I went back to 3blue plus, 1 purple plus, 1 coral plus and 1 actinic where I started.

Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Nae's reef]

Hi Grim Reefer, I recently purchased a used 65g reef tank set up (deep not long) The light that came with it was a solar extreme 36" light running 4t5 HO bulbs (2x deep blue 10k and 2x deep blue actinic 39w) since I bought it used I want to replace the bulbs. What are the best t5 bulbs and layout to use? I'd like to keep my options open to grow sps corals. I'm currently cycling my tank and don't want to be limited on what I can grow. Will 4t5s be enough? Would adding an led (am I allowed to say what led fixture I'm thinking?) be a good idea or add more t5s or do I have enough with only 4? What do you recommend?

 

[Michigan Mike]

Hi Grim Reefer, I recently purchased a used 65g reef tank set up (deep not long) The light that came with it was a solar extreme 36" light running 4t5 HO bulbs (2x deep blue 10k and 2x deep blue actinic 39w) since I bought it used I want to replace the bulbs. What are the best t5 bulbs and layout to use? I'd like to keep my options open to grow sps corals. I'm currently cycling my tank and don't want to be limited on what I can grow. Will 4t5s be enough? Would adding an led (am I allowed to say what led fixture I'm thinking?) be a good idea or add more t5s or do I have enough with only 4? What do you recommend?

What are the dimensions of your tank ? What kind of overall color appeals to you?

 

[rtparty]

Hi Grim Reefer, I recently purchased a used 65g reef tank set up (deep not long) The light that came with it was a solar extreme 36" light running 4t5 HO bulbs (2x deep blue 10k and 2x deep blue actinic 39w) since I bought it used I want to replace the bulbs. What are the best t5 bulbs and layout to use? I'd like to keep my options open to grow sps corals. I'm currently cycling my tank and don't want to be limited on what I can grow. Will 4t5s be enough? Would adding an led (am I allowed to say what led fixture I'm thinking?) be a good idea or add more t5s or do I have enough with only 4? What do you recommend?

You don't have enough light with that setup. Even good bulbs won't allow heavy sps.

I'd take the money for new bulbs and buy an all new system.

 

[Nae's reef]

Great :-/ I was worried that was the case. What do you recommend? In the medium price range.

 

[Nae's reef]

Tank dimensions are 36"Lx18wx24D. I don't know what overall color I like, I just know I want what works best to grow my corals. I like when the colors pop but if it means sacrificing what they need then I'd rather have what makes the corals happiest.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Tank dimensions are 36"Lx18wx24D. I don't know what overall color I like, I just know I want what works best to grow my corals. I like when the colors pop but if it means sacrificing what they need then I'd rather have what makes the corals happiest.

I'm not familiar with the fixture you have but if you added a couple reefbrite led strips to it, it could be a good fixture for the tank size.

Either a 6x39w T5 like a ATI or TEK would be just fine.

2 blue plus & 2 coral plus will grow SPS coral as long as the SPS is directly under the lamps/reflectors & in the top half of the tank. LPS should be lower & around the edges of the lamps.

So with only 4 bulbs you have around a 30"x 9" area for SPS in the top half of the tank, give or take.

 

[Nae's reef]

Thanks Mike