The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[SDonkey]

Time to start replacing bulbs again and I have been out of the scene for about 8 months. Currently running a 6 bulb Aquatic Life 6x36 fixture.
Right now it has Front to back:

1.Blue Plus
2.Blue Plus
3.Coral Plus
4.Blue Plus
5.Purple Plus
6.Blue Plus

Please keep in mind the lighting switch operates 1,3,5,6 on one switch and 2 and 4 on the other. Can be tricky with dusk/dawn lighting.

On my frag tank I just have 2 2x24" GLO fixtures with:
Front to Back

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus


Mainly interested in coral growth and a more blueish that white look.
Look forward to any suggestions!
Zack

 

[rtparty]

Time to start replacing bulbs again and I have been out of the scene for about 8 months. Currently running a 6 bulb Aquatic Life 6x36 fixture.
Right now it has Front to back:

1.Blue Plus
2.Blue Plus
3.Coral Plus
4.Blue Plus
5.Purple Plus
6.Blue Plus

Please keep in mind the lighting switch operates 1,3,5,6 on one switch and 2 and 4 on the other. Can be tricky with dusk/dawn lighting.

On my frag tank I just have 2 2x24" GLO fixtures with:
Front to Back

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus


Mainly interested in coral growth and a more blueish that white look.
Look forward to any suggestions!
Zack

If you like what you have, stick with it. You could try 4 blue plus and 2 coral plus for the 6 bulb if you really want.

Is there anything you don't like about your current combos?

 

[SDonkey]

Nope, just wondered if anything new was out there and if i could swap anything to promote growth. Im not a big fan of the Purple but it does seem to help corals like red planet "pop" more.
Zack

 

[wcharon]

I don't know if the order will affect the way you like them now, but i am very happy with the order recommended to me by RParty.

Front to Back:
B+
P+
B+
C+
B+
B+

Let me know if you give it a try and if it looks beter.

Time to start replacing bulbs again and I have been out of the scene for about 8 months. Currently running a 6 bulb Aquatic Life 6x36 fixture.
Right now it has Front to back:

1.Blue Plus
2.Blue Plus
3.Coral Plus
4.Blue Plus
5.Purple Plus
6.Blue Plus

Please keep in mind the lighting switch operates 1,3,5,6 on one switch and 2 and 4 on the other. Can be tricky with dusk/dawn lighting.

On my frag tank I just have 2 2x24" GLO fixtures with:
Front to Back

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus


Mainly interested in coral growth and a more blueish that white look.
Look forward to any suggestions!
Zack

 

[TropTrea]

Time to start replacing bulbs again and I have been out of the scene for about 8 months. Currently running a 6 bulb Aquatic Life 6x36 fixture.
Right now it has Front to back:

1.Blue Plus
2.Blue Plus
3.Coral Plus
4.Blue Plus
5.Purple Plus
6.Blue Plus

Please keep in mind the lighting switch operates 1,3,5,6 on one switch and 2 and 4 on the other. Can be tricky with dusk/dawn lighting.

On my frag tank I just have 2 2x24" GLO fixtures with:
Front to Back

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus


Mainly interested in coral growth and a more blueish that white look.
Look forward to any suggestions!
Zack

Personal color preference is a big issue. bt here what I would do.

positions 2 and 4 would remain as Blue Plus bulbs for your dawn todusk effect.

Psitions 3 and 5 I would use coral plus in both of those positions. The big thing is that the coral plus have a strong red element in there color and I do not believe the purple plus is needed to add more red. However on personal preferece 2 coral plus bulbs could be to bright in some people eye preference while for others it might not be bright enough. But the 2 coral plus would be a good starting point. If it were to brightfor you you could always go with just one Coral Plus.

The remainer of the bulbs should be blue plus as these are the primary bulbs for giving you usable PAR for your corals.

As far as your 4 bulb fixture on the frag tank. Simply replace the purple plus you have there with anther blue plus. Growthshould be more important than color on a *** tank and the more blue plus bulbs the more growth you will see. The coral pluswill simply leave a bit more reflective color to the tank compared to all blue plus bulbs.

 

[TropTrea]

I was looking at a DIY option about a month ago but it would have required me making some type of canopy. It would have included 2 x Hamilton aruba sun T5's and a 48" ReefBreeders LED for about $1K But I really wanted to stay open top and was looking for something more sleek.

Thanks again for all your feedback.

I'm not sre what size tank we are talking here ut from your sketch I'm guessing it is 6' or longer and at least 18" deep.

Since yor talking a DIY build with LED's and T-5's this is what I would do.

For the T-5's I would go with a simple Pair of the 80 watt bulbs down the center of the tank. Then use 2" wide by 1" tall channeling to mount your DIY LED's. If you have a 72" long tank you can mount 18 LED's on each channel.
Running a pair of 1" X 1" channeling front to back you can bolt the LED channels to the as well a sit the T-5 lights directly on them.

I would set up two of LED Channels using 5 Watt LED's in a ratio of 6 Neutral Whites to 12 Royal Blues. This would give you up to 82 Watts of LED lighting per channel that is equivelent to roughly 2 of your 80 watt T-5 bulbs. Cost per Channel would be in the rang of $150.00 each.

You could also go with a third Ral for a pre dawn to post dusk lighting in which I would run 6 True Blue, 6 UV, and 6 Royal Blue LED's running on a 700ma driver. This would give you about 36 additional watts additional deep blue LED lighting to give you a period of time with unbelievable florescense from your corals.

If your tank is wider than 18" from front to backI would add additional Rails like the first two on a ratio of one per each additional 6" of tank width.

You can put all the Blue LED's on a fixed driver of 1400ma but for your white LED' I would use dimmable drivers to allow you to adjust the color of the tank to your viewing prleasure. On the T-5's I would simply use ATI Blue Plus bulbs.

Your biggest variiable to cost would be which T-5 fixture you got. But roughly were looking at an 18" tank $450, 24" tank $600, a 30" tank $750 plus the cost of the T-5's.

If you go with comwercial LED fixtures I would go with two smaller LED units ratyher than one big one. This will allow them to sit closer to the edges of the tank.

 

[SDonkey]

Personal color preference is a big issue. bt here what I would do.

positions 2 and 4 would remain as Blue Plus bulbs for your dawn todusk effect.

Psitions 3 and 5 I would use coral plus in both of those positions. The big thing is that the coral plus have a strong red element in there color and I do not believe the purple plus is needed to add more red. However on personal preferece 2 coral plus bulbs could be to bright in some people eye preference while for others it might not be bright enough. But the 2 coral plus would be a good starting point. If it were to brightfor you you could always go with just one Coral Plus.

The remainer of the bulbs should be blue plus as these are the primary bulbs for giving you usable PAR for your corals.

As far as your 4 bulb fixture on the frag tank. Simply replace the purple plus you have there with anther blue plus. Growthshould be more important than color on a *** tank and the more blue plus bulbs the more growth you will see. The coral pluswill simply leave a bit more reflective color to the tank compared to all blue plus bulbs.

Thank you for the advice sir!
Zack

 

[Huntor0]

Dennis thank you so much for your feedback it is appreciated.

 

[bozoman]

After a few years hiatus due to geographic relocation I am finally setting up a 48" x 20" x 20" starting tank. Got shipping confirmation on my ATI Dimmable SP 8x54w yesterday, so time to order bulbs. I am a little worried that the 8 bulb fixture is overkill for my planed mixed reef, but I will be upgrading to a 96" system in the near future, at the wifes insistance (smirk), so I am planing ahead where I can on equipment.

My last tank (taken down in 2009) used 4 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI Aquablue Special. The Aquablues seemed to wash out colors more than I would like and dawn/dusk with Blue+ alone seemed flat and unrealistic to me. I'm looking for a balanced but blue look where a wide variety of colors will pop from dawn till dusk.

This is a peninsula tank, so here is what I have come up with so far. All ATI bulbs.

Option 1.
Blue+
Actinic
Coral+
Blue+
Purple+
Coral+
Actinic
Blue+

Option 2.
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Purple
Actinic
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+

Too much of the red end of the spectrum and the light looks purple, which I don't want. More of a blueish indigo hue. I don't want the pastel color look either. Never used or seen the Coral+ of Purple+ in person, so I'm looking for some guidance.

 

[rtparty]

After a few years hiatus due to geographic relocation I am finally setting up a 48" x 20" x 20" starting tank. Got shipping confirmation on my ATI Dimmable SP 8x54w yesterday, so time to order bulbs. I am a little worried that the 8 bulb fixture is overkill for my planed mixed reef, but I will be upgrading to a 96" system in the near future, at the wifes insistance (smirk), so I am planing ahead where I can on equipment.

My last tank (taken down in 2009) used 4 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI Aquablue Special. The Aquablues seemed to wash out colors more than I would like and dawn/dusk with Blue+ alone seemed flat and unrealistic to me. I'm looking for a balanced but blue look where a wide variety of colors will pop from dawn till dusk.

This is a peninsula tank, so here is what I have come up with so far. All ATI bulbs.

Option 1.
Blue+
Actinic
Coral+
Blue+
Purple+
Coral+
Actinic
Blue+

Option 2.
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Purple
Actinic
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+

Too much of the red end of the spectrum and the light looks purple, which I don't want. More of a blueish indigo hue. I don't want the pastel color look either. Never used or seen the Coral+ of Purple+ in person, so I'm looking for some guidance.

I would go with something like 4 Blue Plus, 2 Actinic and 2 Coral Plus. Grab an extra Coral Plus to mess around with.

Blue
Actinc
Coral
Blue
Blue
Coral
Actinic
Blue

For dusk/dawn I would do both actinic so you may need to change your order slightly.

 

[TropTrea]

After a few years hiatus due to geographic relocation I am finally setting up a 48" x 20" x 20" starting tank. Got shipping confirmation on my ATI Dimmable SP 8x54w yesterday, so time to order bulbs. I am a little worried that the 8 bulb fixture is overkill for my planed mixed reef, but I will be upgrading to a 96" system in the near future, at the wifes insistance (smirk), so I am planing ahead where I can on equipment.

My last tank (taken down in 2009) used 4 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI Aquablue Special. The Aquablues seemed to wash out colors more than I would like and dawn/dusk with Blue+ alone seemed flat and unrealistic to me. I'm looking for a balanced but blue look where a wide variety of colors will pop from dawn till dusk.

This is a peninsula tank, so here is what I have come up with so far. All ATI bulbs.

Option 1.
Blue+
Actinic
Coral+
Blue+
Purple+
Coral+
Actinic
Blue+

Option 2.
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Purple
Actinic
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+

Too much of the red end of the spectrum and the light looks purple, which I don't want. More of a blueish indigo hue. I don't want the pastel color look either. Never used or seen the Coral+ of Purple+ in person, so I'm looking for some guidance.

Normaly I do not recommend Atinics however you have only about a 85 gallon tank with the best T-5 fixture using 8 bulbs on the market so you could easily get away with 6 bulbs and 8 high par bulbs may be over kill for your system. So I will not debate RTParty on the use of Atinics for you.

Color is something very personal. From your old fixture with 4 blues and 2 Aqua blues the recomendation from RT will look very blue to you. As a comarison 3 Blue plus bulbs and 1 Aqua Blue Special would look very close to having 4 coral plus bulbs. So if start out with his combination you will have the option of adding more coral plus bulbs in the future to brighten thing up without any big changes ion your PAR.

As far as the Purple plus they are doughly 60% Blue plus and 40% red to give a purple hue. They work noce with the Aqua Blue Specials to complement the missing red and you can even use two of them with a 6,500K to break the yellow tint. But the coral pul has a good red element in them so you do not need to aded them it those bulbs unless you like a purple tint to you tank.

 

[asmodyus]

So I have A Aquatic Life Set that I bought open Box it over a year old not I have had for little over 2 moths. Not sure if the bulbs were used or what. So I think I am just going to replace it I think. So the setup is (4) T5 HO and (2) 150w Metal Halide.

Current Setup

T5HO

(4)420/460 Aquatic Life Bulbs

HID

(2)10k 150w

Thinking about going with

T5 HO

Actinic
Blue+
Actinic
Purple+

HID

(2)14k 150w.

What you guys think. For my Mixed Reef 65 Gallon Tank.

 

[IOWNYOU]

LOL@ T5

Led all the way. Get with the program ,folks!

 

[Dapg8gt]

LOL@ T5

Led all the way. Get with the program ,folks!

Lolz.. Say that when your back here asking what bulbs to supplement that led fixture with =)..

 

[rtparty]

Don't feed the trolls.

 

[IOWNYOU]

Lolz.. Say that when your back here asking what bulbs to supplement that led fixture with =)..

Used Hot5 for about a year then I switched to Leds. Guess what's in my closet collecting dust :uhoh3:

 

[FlyPenFly]

Used Hot5 for about a year then I switched to Leds. Guess what's in my closet collecting dust :uhoh3:

Your sense of dignity and good manners?

 

[rogergolf66]

Your sense of dignity and good manners?

Lol

I think we have all tried LEDs. To each there own. I know I did led for a few years and now back to halides on display wilt led supplement and t5 on frag tank with led supplement

Personally led are great for fish only, softies, LPS, zoa and paly tanks but I just think not there with sps. If u like them we are all happy for u, but I am also happy not running them as my main lighting.

I was able to grow sps just fine color was good too but not great. I did a test same water same flow the best I could one tank MH one tank LED the MH blew the LED away.

Pm me in a year as I'm running the same test now with an ATI 8x54 t5 setup verse the MH I will keep a pic log to see what results r.

Good luck with ur LEDs. Glad u like them but they r not for everyone.

Roger

 

[IOWNYOU]

Your sense of dignity and good manners?

No, your sense of reality and down right ignorance to admit LEDs > T5.

With t5 and MH you'd have to change out bulb every few months. Who's the sucker here?

 

[rtparty]

No, your sense of reality and down right ignorance to admit LEDs > T5.

With t5 and MH you'd have to change out bulb every few months. Who's the sucker here?

Do you have anything constructive to add or just trying to see how quickly you can get banned from RC?