The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[Michigan Mike]

Any of you T5 masters have a 6 bulb combo that is a good approximation of a Radium being driven by an electronic ballast?

That's what I'm looking for. I've been debating going for MH/ T5 setup, but I don't know that I can stomach the heat or the $200/ year bulb costs.

And I'm thinking about replacing my current fixture. I've grown out all of my colonies with a 6x54 Nova Extreme Pro...color is good, but I think I can do better. So I'm debating either a 6x54 ATI Sunpower or a 6x54 LET retro. Thoughts?

Would it be crazy to put the ATI in an open top canopy? The wife isn't crazy about a hanging fixture.

2 blue plus & 4 coral plus is going to be pretty close to radium on electronic ballast. Maybe a aquablue special instead of a coral plus but I'm not sure, you have a pic?

ATI fixture in open top canopy is fine if there is a little space on the side or hot air to vent from the fixture, should be fine.

Current Nova Pro is junk compared to ATI Sunpower.:thumbsup: or let retro.

 

[phenom5]

2 blue plus & 4 coral plus is going to be pretty close to radium on electronic ballast. Maybe a aquablue special instead of a coral plus but I'm not sure, you have a pic?

Interesting. I've been running 5x B+ & Aquablue Special. Bought 2 years worth back before the Coral+ was really an option. How's the color of the Coral+ compared to the AQ Special?

ATI fixture in open top canopy is fine if there is a little space on the side or hot air to vent from the fixture, should be fine.

How much space? The fixture is 47" according to the specs on Reefgeek, and the canopy would be ~48.5".

I know the ATI fixtures are pretty much the T5 fixture, but I'm not certain that they are $200 better.

Current Nova Pro is junk compared to ATI Sunpower.:thumbsup: or let retro.

Yeah, I know. We weren't expecting to set up a new tank when I did, and I wasn't planning on going with so much SPS when I did set up the tank...that last all of 3 weeks.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Interesting. I've been running 5x B+ & Aquablue Special. Bought 2 years worth back before the Coral+ was really an option. How's the color of the Coral+ compared to the AQ Special?



How much space? The fixture is 47" according to the specs on Reefgeek, and the canopy would be ~48.5".

I know the ATI fixtures are pretty much the T5 fixture, but I'm not certain that they are $200
.

Coral plus is more blue, actually its less green & yellow really, it looks like 15k bulb, consider the aquablue a 11k bulb. So one aquablue bulb will whiten up the tank a lot more than multiple coral plus bulbs.

Placing a small fan by the ATI fans /vent should be more than enough as long as you have some space between the canopy wall & ATI vents.

They are $200 better, the bulb life itself is worth it over a couple years, plus the increased PAR & true odors out of your bulbs, nothing is better, you can add a fan on the bulbs' label ends on a LET retro & get similar results.

 

[phenom5]

Coral plus is more blue, actually its less green & yellow really, it looks like 15k bulb, consider the aquablue a 11k bulb. So one aquablue bulb will whiten up the tank a lot more than multiple coral plus bulbs.

They are $200 better, the bulb life itself is worth it over a couple years, plus the increased PAR & true odors out of your bulbs, nothing is better, you can add a fan on the bulbs' label ends on a LET retro & get similar results.

Thinking about trying our 4x Blue+, and 2x Coral+. But I'm wondering if I should pick up an extra Coral+ or AQ Special so I can play with the color.

So the ATI is $200 better, but you can get the same results with a LET retro for $200 less?

 

[Michigan Mike]

Thinking about trying our 4x Blue+, and 2x Coral+. But I'm wondering if I should pick up an extra Coral+ or AQ Special so I can play with the color.

So the ATI is $200 better, but you can get the same results with a LET retro for $200 less?

With equal ballasts, reflectors & cooling yes you can save money with the retro. You should look into how ATI cools the ballasts & bulb label ends. Otherwise without cooling your bulbs won't last as long or be as powerful.

Get a PAR meter if you buy the LET retro & cool the bulbs until you get the highest PAR. The bulb ends should be cooled at the manufacturers label.

I have a thread about it, get the most out of t5 bulbs, or something like that.

 

[GroktheCube]

I'm thinking of adding some supplemental T5s to my LEDs for some more blue, and to fill in a bit of a gap between my UV and Royal Blue LEDs. I'm using two strips from buildmyled.com that are fairly full spectrum, using 6500k, 400nm, 450nm, 470nm, 525nm, and 660nm LEDs. They are providing very bright, clean light with a visual appearance around 12k. Each of the two strips draws about 76w.

I'm not quite sure how many T5 bulbs to add, or what fixture would work well for me. Would two bulbs be enough, or would four be better? It seems like there's a huge price gap between the lower end fixtures and the higher ones. I'm at a bit of a loss. I don't want something that's more than nine inches wide, and I really don't want to spend many hundreds of dollars. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[E.intheC]

I'm looking at having a custom tank built, and am probably going with an ATI Sunpower with Reefbrite LED supplements. Tank is going to be a mixed reef, but heavy LPS.

If the tank is 36x21x18high, would a six bulb 24inch fixture work?
For a 40x20x18high, I'm assuming the 36 inch, six bulb would be required?

Thanks for the help.

 

[rtparty]

Thinking about trying our 4x Blue+, and 2x Coral+. But I'm wondering if I should pick up an extra Coral+ or AQ Special so I can play with the color.

So the ATI is $200 better, but you can get the same results with a LET retro for $200 less?

I just tried 4 blue and 2 coral, :thumbdown:

I definitely won't recommend that again unless you like a very cold monochromatic look. It isn't a ton better than 4 blue and 2 aquablue.

3 blue, 2 coral and 1 purple was alright but I'd be inclined to go 2 purple and 1 coral instead.

I'm thinking my old 4 blue and 2 purple is still the ultimate starting point.

 

[rtparty]

I'm looking at having a custom tank built, and am probably going with an ATI Sunpower with Reefbrite LED supplements. Tank is going to be a mixed reef, but heavy LPS.

If the tank is 36x21x18high, would a six bulb 24inch fixture work?
For a 40x20x18high, I'm assuming the 36 inch, six bulb would be required?

Thanks for the help.

Yes to both although you may be able to stretch the 24"on the 40". I wouldn't really recommend that though. That's asking a lot imo.

 

[rtparty]

I'm thinking of adding some supplemental T5s to my LEDs for some more blue, and to fill in a bit of a gap between my UV and Royal Blue LEDs. I'm using two strips from buildmyled.com that are fairly full spectrum, using 6500k, 400nm, 450nm, 470nm, 525nm, and 660nm LEDs. They are providing very bright, clean light with a visual appearance around 12k. Each of the two strips draws about 76w.

I'm not quite sure how many T5 bulbs to add, or what fixture would work well for me. Would two bulbs be enough, or would four be better? It seems like there's a huge price gap between the lower end fixtures and the higher ones. I'm at a bit of a loss. I don't want something that's more than nine inches wide, and I really don't want to spend many hundreds of dollars. Does anyone have any advice?

I'm not too sure who makes a decent 2 bulb fixture. I think aquatic life does.

I'd run 2 kz superblue if you want to add 420-460nm light.

 

[Michigan Mike]

I'm not too sure who makes a decent 2 bulb fixture. I think aquatic life does.

I'd run 2 kz superblue if you want to add 420-460nm light.

That's why I up port purple bulbs, they bring a lot of pop & volor to the combos.
I myself like multiple blue & a couple purple but not everyone likes the purple bulbs, I always felt something was missing & don't mind the pink/purple tinge @ the top of the waterline, others may like something else.
I know a friend liked 3 blue & 3 coral bulbs before he switched to LEDs but it took him a little burn-in time.
He second guesses hi self for buying Apollo LEDs instead of a ATI Sunpower, he didn't like the pink from the LEDs but he is happy with the growth etc & is around 55% on each channel I believe.

 

[GroktheCube]

I'm not too sure who makes a decent 2 bulb fixture. I think aquatic life does.

I'd run 2 kz superblue if you want to add 420-460nm light.

I saw the aquaticlife fixtures, and they look decent. The only 4 bulb fixtures I've seen narrow enough to fit in the space I'd like are the ATI fixtures and Chinese fixtures. How good/bad are the fishneedit.com fixtures?

The reviews I've seen posted on this forum are mixed, but no one seems to be talking about the fixture lighting on fire or dying after a couple of months.

All the other cheaper 4 bulb fixtures I looked at (hydroponics and grow lights) are a bit too wide for me.

This is supplemental lighting, so I don't want to spend an arm and a leg if I don't have to, but I also don't want to get a crappy fixture that will burn down my house or die on me in a few months.

 

[Michigan Mike]

How wide are you talking about? Most 4 bulb fixtures are roughly the same length & width.

 

[Michigan Mike]

I saw the aquaticlife fixtures, and they look decent. The only 4 bulb fixtures I've seen narrow enough to fit in the space I'd like are the ATI fixtures and Chinese fixtures. How good/bad are the fishneedit.com fixtures?

The reviews I've seen posted on this forum are mixed, but no one seems to be talking about the fixture lighting on fire or dying after a couple of months.

All the other cheaper 4 bulb fixtures I looked at (hydroponics and grow lights) are a bit too wide for me.

This is supplemental lighting, so I don't want to spend an arm and a leg if I don't have to, but I also don't want to get a crappy fixture that will burn down my house or die on me in a few months.

I own a 30" 4x24 fishneedit fixture, its cheap, it would be great on a 20long or something like that.
The ballasts, reflectors, wiring, bulbs are all bad but it hasn't stopped working or anything like that but you can tell when I have the same bulbs in the FNI & ATI fixture you can obviously tell the ATI fixture looks so much brighter.
The housing & legs on he FNI fixtures are okay & you could make a good fixture out of the housing/legs if you are handy.

 

[GroktheCube]

I could make anything under 10" work just fine, as that's the amount of space I have The ATI fixtures are 9.4", most of the other 4 bulb fixtures I've seen are 13"+.

The fishneedit fixture is appealing at the price point, I really don't mind tinkering, and I don't care if I get 25% less PAR out of the fixture (given even that is more than what I need) but I also don't want to cheap out now if it will end up costing me more in the long run.

Given this isn't the tank's primary lighting, I don't mind if the fixture isn't top of the line, but I'm also not averse to spending more up front if over the course of a couple years it'll save me on bulb and/or fixture replacements.

 

[Michigan Mike]

I could make anything under 10" work just fine, as that's the amount of space I have The ATI fixtures are 9.4", most of the other 4 bulb fixtures I've seen are 13"+.

The fishneedit fixture is appealing at the price point, I really don't mind tinkering, and I don't care if I get 25% less PAR out of the fixture (given even that is more than what I need) but I also don't want to cheap out now if it will end up costing me more in the long run.

Given this isn't the tank's primary lighting, I don't mind if the fixture isn't top of the line, but I'm also not averse to spending more up front if over the course of a couple years it'll save me on bulb and/or fixture replacements.

I'm guessing the FNI fixture is closer to 50% less PAR compared to the ATI.
I can assure you a 4 bulb Sunpower will guarantee you awesome results that will last you a long time, & the bulbs will last longer- saves money on bulb changes.

If you think 2 T5 bulbs is enough I would look around for a 2 bulb TEK fixture or 2 bulb LET retro. Aquaticlife also makes a 2 bulb fixture.

 

[GroktheCube]

Thanks for the advice. I think I may just go with the ATI fixture. Doing a little more reading, it does seem like it is THAT much better, and would probably pay itself off in the long term, or even medium term.

Also, based on my reading, going with 4 bulbs it seems that 2x blue+ or kz superblue, 1x actinic, and 1x purple would be a good way to add light in the 410-440 range, balance out the fairly white LEDs, and add some extra pop/contrast. Is my thinking correct?

 

[toofrigginswt]

Are there any deep blue, almost violet T5 bulbs? I have the blue plus and an actinic in my setup for sunset. However, I'm not getting that pop or fluorescence on my corals that I use to get with vho or blue leds. Heck, I even got that pop with actinic power compacts. The blue plus and actinic T5's appear to be almost aqua/greennish blue and doesn't give me that deep blue/violet that makes the neons in my tank stand out. Any recommendations?

Looking for this kind of pop for greens and neons. Hope this user doesn't mind me using his picture as an example:

[/QUOTE]

 

[TropTrea]

Thanks for the advice. I think I may just go with the ATI fixture. Doing a little more reading, it does seem like it is THAT much better, and would probably pay itself off in the long term, or even medium term.

Also, based on my reading, going with 4 bulbs it seems that 2x blue+ or kz superblue, 1x actinic, and 1x purple would be a good way to add light in the 410-440 range, balance out the fairly white LEDs, and add some extra pop/contrast. Is my thinking correct?

That is both a yes and a no answer.

If your looking at florescent pop to the tank there is nothing that matches a combination of 450 to 460 nm LED's. These are tighter spectrumed and do not give you a lot of light over 480nm which starts masking the florescent pop in corals.

I like a combination of Blues and Whites in my LED's. The Blues to push that extra pop and the neutral whites used very sparingly to bring out the reflective colors in the coras and fish. A ratio of 1 neutral white to between 4 and 6 Blue LED's is about right dependent on a persons color taste using just LED's. With the T-5's the ratio can be more in the range of 1 neutral white to 2 or 3 Blue LED''s.

Note from your above combination I would not use the purple plus if your using neutral white LED's. They both have a considerable red component and you could easily get a overly purple or pink tank. If you use Cool White LED's this won't be an issue.

 

[TropTrea]

The lighting in your picture is very close to what my tank looks in the predawn to post dusk phase of my lighting. In this phase I'm using strictly a combination of 5 Watts of near UV led's, 10 Watts of 454nm Roayal Blue LED's and 5 Watts of 460 nm Blue LED's. The only difference is I also have some corals (Acan's and Zoo's) that floresce in some of the longer wave lenghts (like yellows and reds.)

No you cannot get this effect with simply T-5's as they all have more of a white component to them than you get with wave lenght specific LED's. This is why I'm goping with combination of LED's and T-5's.

Are there any deep blue, almost violet T5 bulbs? I have the blue plus and an actinic in my setup for sunset. However, I'm not getting that pop or fluorescence on my corals that I use to get with vho or blue leds. Heck, I even got that pop with actinic power compacts. The blue plus and actinic T5's appear to be almost aqua/greennish blue and doesn't give me that deep blue/violet that makes the neons in my tank stand out. Any recommendations?

Looking for this kind of pop for greens and neons. Hope this user doesn't mind me using his picture as an example:

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