The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[yellowsnow]

Hi I have a to get new bulbs soon wright now I have coralife 10'000K and actinic blue by aquatic life. I want to go with ATI 12'000k & ATI true actinic I have four bulbs to change I am new to salt water 8 months I have soft & SPS I call them hard corals every thing is growing great .My lights are on for 7hours fist the blues 1hour them the 10'000k those turn off one hour before the moon lights come on . Dose anyone have a good combo for me so my corals will keep growing at a good pace my neon green birdsnest is growing like a weed.Thank You Yellowsnow

 

[yellowsnow]

My lights are T5 54w

 

[TropTrea]

Hi I have a to get new bulbs soon wright now I have coralife 10'000K and actinic blue by aquatic life. I want to go with ATI 12'000k & ATI true actinic I have four bulbs to change I am new to salt water 8 months I have soft & SPS I call them hard corals every thing is growing great .My lights are on for 7hours fist the blues 1hour them the 10'000k those turn off one hour before the moon lights come on . Dose anyone have a good combo for me so my corals will keep growing at a good pace my neon green birdsnest is growing like a weed.Thank You Yellowsnow

It sounds like you have the same lighting I initialy started out with about 10 years ago. In time I found out it was not the greatest and I did loads of experimenting. My suggestion for you would be to pick up 2 ATI Blue Plus bulbs initially. Replace one of your Atinics and one of you 10,000K's with them. With this change you only slightly be decreasing the 420nm atinic light since these Blue Plus do provide some, But you will be increasing your 460nm to 500nm lighting that is equally as important.

After a few weeks change out your other Atinic bulb for an ATI Purple plus. This bulb is basically another Blue bulb but also has a nice peak in the red range for added color balancing and providing the corals with there needed red light.

Finally a week or two later change out the last 10,000K bulb. This is very debatable on what will please your eye as well as provide the best color growth. the range of bulbs here include the 6,500K (yellowish) the 10,000K, 12,000K 14,000K or even the Aqua Blue Special (strong in the blue greens). I'm personally running the 14,000K 75% Atinic25% full spectrum but on my next bulb change will probably go with the ZK New Generation.

 

[ninjanole]

Hey I've just started a 65 gallon hex tank and I would like to add some corals and possibly a few anemones. The light fixture that i have is a 24" coralife t5 ho with 2 bulbs. currently only a 24w actinic bulb is in there but not running as only fish and rock are in the tank. What is the best combo for bulbs? I have asked my LFS but I get different answers. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[TropTrea]

Hey I've just started a 65 gallon hex tank and I would like to add some corals and possibly a few anemones. The light fixture that i have is a 24" coralife t5 ho with 2 bulbs. currently only a 24w actinic bulb is in there but not running as only fish and rock are in the tank. What is the best combo for bulbs? I have asked my LFS but I get different answers. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks

Unfortunatly with a 65 gallon Hex the longest fixtures you can go with are with 24" tubes. 36" Tubes would over hang your tank. Simularlt your limited on the width of the fixture since there are short sides. However I had seen some beautifuly lit Hex tanks in the past.

With just two bulbs I would go with one ATI Blue Plus and the other probably a New Generation. Idealy a six bulb fixture would be the best however with the tank dimensions I doubt one would available without overhang. But if were me I would look for a LED light for a tank like this. A home built LED fixture would save you money as well as customizable to your tank size.

 

[cayecaulker]

To all T5 gurus... I currently run a Giesemann 12 bulb (54 watt) fixture over my SPS dominate reef (48X30X20). I have run a mixture of ATI blue+, Aquablue specials and Actinic. Color and growth have been good. Assuming perfect water chemistry, is there a lighting combination that will move my color and growth from good to great?

 

[TropTrea]

To all T5 gurus... I currently run a Giesemann 12 bulb (54 watt) fixture over my SPS dominate reef (48X30X20). I have run a mixture of ATI blue+, Aquablue specials and Actinic. Color and growth have been good. Assuming perfect water chemistry, is there a lighting combination that will move my color and growth from good to great?

You did not tell us how many of each bulbs you have, which would give us an idea of your balance. With this fixture I would use

in the dawn to dusk circuit for 12 hours run time
3 of the ATI Blue Plus bulbs. and 1 of the APT Purple Plus bulbs.

on the second circuit running 10 hours per day
3 more ATI blue plus bulbs with 1 of the ATI Aqua Blue Specials.

then on the final circuit running 8 hours per day
2 more of the Aqua Blue Plus bulbs with 1 GE 6,500K and a New Generation by GZ.

Normaly I think the GE 6,500 is yellow of a bulb but you do have more than average number of blue bulbs to be predominant over that yellowness. You do not need the Atinics as both the ATI bulbs all produce a good precentage of Atinic light.

Now there may be some personal taste issues where it might look too blue for you personaly and if that is the case you can remove one of the blue plus bulbs and replace it with a fuller spectrum bulb. However I would not go less than 50% of your bulbs as Blue Plus. Simularly you could use a wider spectrum bulb in place of the AquaBlue Special.

 

[brob22]

4 blue plus
1 ge6500
1 purple plus
1 vho super atinic
1 vho actinic whight
doese this look like a good lighting scheme? im going for a 12 - 14 k look
and thanks for all the help

 

[Spike Spiegel]

I am starting a 24" x 18" x 12" frag tank and want to put a 4 bulb t5 on it. I can only have the light at most 6" above the tank. will the lights be to strong? I'm going to put SPS in it.

 

[TropTrea]

4 blue plus
1 ge6500
1 purple plus
1 vho super atinic
1 vho actinic whight
doese this look like a good lighting scheme? im going for a 12 - 14 k look
and thanks for all the help

Yjos ,oght ne a little bluer than 14,000K
I would pull the Super Atinic that is giving off very little visable light and replace it with an ATI Aqua Blue Special.

Then from personal taste if it is still to blue change out the Atinic White with a GZ New Generation.

 

[TropTrea]

I am starting a 24" x 18" x 12" frag tank and want to put a 4 bulb t5 on it. I can only have the light at most 6" above the tank. will the lights be to strong? I'm going to put SPS in it.

PRovided you balance your lighting it should not be an issue. The nice thing is that if you have excessive PAR you can always cut back your lighting cycle to some extend to make up for it. But make sure you do not over do the red end of the spectrum especially around 685 nm. Three ATI Blue Plus bulbs with either a GZ New Generation or a GE 6,500K should do wonders for your coral growth. Since it is a frag tank viewing color is less important than coral growth.

As a point of info on my old Frag tanks also 12" deep I used to keep my SPS coral plugs in a grid just under the water surface and the LPS corals on the bottom partially shaded.

 

[Fishbrawler]

Currently i have a T5 light fixture with 4 T5 54 watts each.
soon i need to replace the bulbs....can someone tell me what is the best combination (as in light colour and wavelength) to have for the new bulbs? i want a slightly blue tint but not way outa sight blue. Pics anyone.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

PRovided you balance your lighting it should not be an issue. The nice thing is that if you have excessive PAR you can always cut back your lighting cycle to some extend to make up for it. But make sure you do not over do the red end of the spectrum especially around 685 nm. Three ATI Blue Plus bulbs with either a GZ New Generation or a GE 6,500K should do wonders for your coral growth. Since it is a frag tank viewing color is less important than coral growth.

As a point of info on my old Frag tanks also 12" deep I used to keep my SPS coral plugs in a grid just under the water surface and the LPS corals on the bottom partially shaded.

Thanks for the response. How far was your light above the tank?

 

[brob22]

Yjos ,oght ne a little bluer than 14,000K
I would pull the Super Atinic that is giving off very little visable light and replace it with an ATI Aqua Blue Special.

Then from personal taste if it is still to blue change out the Atinic White with a GZ New Generation.

i apreciate the help, but i have 6 t5 bulbs and two vho bulbs

my plan is to use the vho bulbs as floresents, since the t5s dont have good pure floresent blulb. so if u dont mind me asking again my six bulb t5 combo is
4blu plus
1ge6500
1purplrplus

vho- 1 super actinic
vho - 1 actinic whight

sorry for the repeat i just want a killer set up by christmas

 

[ninjanole]

Unfortunatly with a 65 gallon Hex the longest fixtures you can go with are with 24" tubes. 36" Tubes would over hang your tank. Simularlt your limited on the width of the fixture since there are short sides. However I had seen some beautifuly lit Hex tanks in the past.

With just two bulbs I would go with one ATI Blue Plus and the other probably a New Generation. Idealy a six bulb fixture would be the best however with the tank dimensions I doubt one would available without overhang. But if were me I would look for a LED light for a tank like this. A home built LED fixture would save you money as well as customizable to your tank size.

What is a New Generation? Is that a brand or a spectrum? I cannot find anything about them? If you say a 6 would be ideal if i can get a 4 i assume that would be an improvement on what i have, what types of bulbs should i fill that with? Sorry for my glaring lack of knowledge i've tried searching but i cant find too much on a hex tank. Also, if i were to build an LED is there a reference place for number of LEDs or best brand/type for optimal lighting for my dimensions?

Thanks

 

[cayecaulker]

You did not tell us how many of each bulbs you have, which would give us an idea of your balance. With this fixture I would use

in the dawn to dusk circuit for 12 hours run time
3 of the ATI Blue Plus bulbs. and 1 of the APT Purple Plus bulbs.

on the second circuit running 10 hours per day
3 more ATI blue plus bulbs with 1 of the ATI Aqua Blue Specials.

then on the final circuit running 8 hours per day
2 more of the Aqua Blue Plus bulbs with 1 GE 6,500K and a New Generation by GZ.

Normaly I think the GE 6,500 is yellow of a bulb but you do have more than average number of blue bulbs to be predominant over that yellowness. You do not need the Atinics as both the ATI bulbs all produce a good precentage of Atinic light.

Now there may be some personal taste issues where it might look too blue for you personaly and if that is the case you can remove one of the blue plus bulbs and replace it with a fuller spectrum bulb. However I would not go less than 50% of your bulbs as Blue Plus. Simularly you could use a wider spectrum bulb in place of the AquaBlue Special.

This is the current order:
Front
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
----
Aquablue Special
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
----
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Aquablue Special
Blue Plus

I've been thinking about this order...
Front
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
GE 6500
----
Blue Plus
KZ New Generation
GE 6500
Blue Plus
----
Purple Plus
KZ New Generation
Blue Plus
Blue Plus


Thought?

 

[jgraz]

Ok, Im planning a 20Gal High mixed reef, I want to be able to keep anything, but realize I need to position properly. Is a 4-buld t5 enough to do this. I've considering a few different fixtures, TEK, Coralvue 5/led combo, and Current nova(which I have on hand), and a few others. Right now the ATI is not in the discussion because of cost. Will the above 4x24 fixtures be enough to handle SPS anywhere in tank or even half way and higher. Thanks in advance guys.
John

 

[TropTrea]

This is the current order:
Front
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
----
Aqua blue Special
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
----
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Aqua blue Special
Blue Plus

I've been thinking about this order...
Front
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
GE 6500
----
Blue Plus
KZ New Generation
GE 6500
Blue Plus
----
Purple Plus
KZ New Generation
Blue Plus
Blue Plus


Thought?

What you were thinking about would give you a little more color snap and a slight decrease in PAR from where your at. I would replace the front most GE 6,500K with a Blue Plus though. With two New Generation bulbs and the two GE's might turn things a little to the yellow. But keep in mind there is lot of personal taste in what the color should look like and the effects of different lights on different corals.

 

[TropTrea]

What is a New Generation? Is that a brand or a spectrum? I cannot find anything about them? If you say a 6 would be ideal if i can get a 4 i assume that would be an improvement on what i have, what types of bulbs should i fill that with? Sorry for my glaring lack of knowledge i've tried searching but i cant find too much on a hex tank. Also, if i were to build an LED is there a reference place for number of LEDs or best brand/type for optimal lighting for my dimensions?

Thanks

<http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Bulbs/Korallen_Zucht_(KZ)/24W_New_Generation_14000K_T5_HO_Fluorescent_by_Korallen_Zucht>

 

[TropTrea]

What is a New Generation? Is that a brand or a spectrum? I cannot find anything about them? If you say a 6 would be ideal if i can get a 4 i assume that would be an improvement on what i have, what types of bulbs should i fill that with? Sorry for my glaring lack of knowledge i've tried searching but i cant find too much on a hex tank. Also, if i were to build an LED is there a reference place for number of LEDs or best brand/type for optimal lighting for my dimensions?

Thanks

Woops first try the link did not show up.

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...on_14000K_T5_HO_Fluorescent_by_Korallen_Zucht