The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[rogergolf66]

If you had to run only two 24w bulbs... What would they be and how long would you recommend running them each day?

Im not the expert but I would think a ati blue plus and a coral plus

 

[chris.francis14]

Im not the expert but I would think a ati blue plus and a coral plus

How is that going to look? Would the blue plus or coral plus go in the front? How long would you run it? Keep in mind I will not interested in doing SPS.

 

[therra978]

Great thread.

Getting Rid of my Vega to go with ATI Sunpower dimmable 6 X 39W for a 57 Deep blue rimless.

Sorta going to miss the shimmer I get from LED. People who are running reefbrites with sunpower, are you guys getting shimmer?

Also, what bulb combo is good for a SPS tank? Color is more important than growth to me.

Thanks

 

[rtparty]

Actualy with the 55 gallon tank being only 13" front to back and the fact your corals will not be any further than 18" from the bulbs you could get away with a 4 Bulb fixture ATI fixture. With the powerful klight that the ATI fixtures produce you could almost have to much power with the 6 bulb ATI fixture. While the 6 bulb Odyssea is probably about equal to the light output of the 4 bulb ATI you would end up paying 50% mre in your electric bill every month for lighting the tank.

AN ATI Sunpower 4 Bulb fixture will cost you about $435. Initialy
The Odyssea 6 bulb fixture will cost you around $200.00 but your annual maintance cost is roughly increased by $50.00 plus the added eclectical cost of about $70 per year means that after 20 years you start savingmoney with the bigger investment of the ATI fixture.

With the 4 bulb Sunpower bixture I would start with two Blue Plus Bulbs and 2 Coral Plus bulbs. Then based on your p[ersonal color preference later you can either replace a Coral Plus with Blue Plus to make things bluer or if you want to brighten it up more replace a Blue Plus wth Coral Plus.

Remember the Coral Plus bulbs were originaly designed as a stand alone bulb for saller tanks. If you ran all Coral plus ATI thought it would be the prefered lighting. But many of us prefer a bluer tank than what all Coral Plus give us. And some of even like a tank a lot more blue.

It's a custom 55. I answered the question.

Don't forget that bulbs need to replaced twice a year in Odyssea fixtures. They are way more to maintain and have no resale value.

 

[rtparty]

If you had to run only two 24w bulbs... What would they be and how long would you recommend running them each day?

Blue plus and coral plus or 2 coral plus depending on how blue you want the tank. I'd run them the standard 8 to 10 hours.

 

[rtparty]

Great thread.

Getting Rid of my Vega to go with ATI Sunpower dimmable 6 X 39W for a 57 Deep blue rimless.

Sorta going to miss the shimmer I get from LED. People who are running reefbrites with sunpower, are you guys getting shimmer?

Also, what bulb combo is good for a SPS tank? Color is more important than growth to me.

Thanks

4 blue plus and 2 coral plus

 

[sahin]

Great thread.

Getting Rid of my Vega to go with ATI Sunpower dimmable 6 X 39W for a 57 Deep blue rimless.

Sorta going to miss the shimmer I get from LED. People who are running reefbrites with sunpower, are you guys getting shimmer?

Also, what bulb combo is good for a SPS tank? Color is more important than growth to me.

Thanks

You wont get any real good shimmer from Blue Reefbrites. I had 24 Cree Royal Blue LED's in my last Sunpower unit. Not much real shimmer.

You will need the white LED's to get you any significant shimmer.

 

[acabgd]

It's a custom 55. I answered the question.

Don't forget that bulbs need to replaced twice a year in Odyssea fixtures. They are way more to maintain and have no resale value.

Thanks, I really appreciate the reply!

 

[rogergolf66]

What the largest foot print the ati 8x54w sunpower can handle? Thinking light spread and intensity wise. The unit is what 46x18 I beleive. I was thinking 60x30? What do u think? Ideally it would be a frag tank so thinking the tank wouldn't be very tall.

Roger

 

[sahin]

What the largest foot print the ati 8x54w sunpower can handle? Thinking light spread and intensity wise. The unit is what 46x18 I beleive. I was thinking 60x30? What do u think? Ideally it would be a frag tank so thinking the tank wouldn't be very tall.

Roger

For a frag tank that would be plenty of light. The last 6 inches of each end would be obviusly lower PAR, but this is quite fine. You can place lower light SPS or LPS here.

Just noticed that you are thinking of 60x30, I read it as 60x20, but still, I would say with a shallow frag tank you would have to lift the light up high anyway and that means you ought to be able to cover the 6inches front and 6inches back quite fine as well.

 

[TropTrea]

If you had to run only two 24w bulbs... What would they be and how long would you recommend running them each day?

If you go with ATI recomendation you would run both bulbs as Coral Plus. Most of us here like a little bluer look than that so we would probably go with a coral plus and a Bluie Plus.

 

[TropTrea]

What the largest foot print the ati 8x54w sunpower can handle? Thinking light spread and intensity wise. The unit is what 46x18 I beleive. I was thinking 60x30? What do u think? Ideally it would be a frag tank so thinking the tank wouldn't be very tall.

Roger

Based on the dimendions of the fixture it is designed to handle a tank that is 48" X 24" and has enough light to penetrate to about 30" tall. With you frag tank though you can raise the lights for a wider spread since you do not need the penetration. So I would look at possibly handling a tank 52" X 30", or 60" X 36" without much of an issue. If you go much larger than thtthan alternate lighting should be considered.

 

[TropTrea]

Great thread.

Getting Rid of my Vega to go with ATI Sunpower dimmable 6 X 39W for a 57 Deep blue rimless.

Sorta going to miss the shimmer I get from LED. People who are running reefbrites with sunpower, are you guys getting shimmer?

Also, what bulb combo is good for a SPS tank? Color is more important than growth to me.

Thanks

No you will not get any shimmer with T-5 bulbs. But a single strp of Royal Blue LED's in the front of the tank and angled backwards will give you fantastic shimmer.

SPS corals have both reflectivce color as well as Florescent color. When you bring one to the forefront the othr looses is kick. With LPS's I recommend more blues to bering out there strong florescense while SPS's look better with a whiter balance. So I would run with 4 Blue Plus Bulbs 1 Purple Plus, and one Aqua Blue Special. For dawn try the combination of a Blue Plus with the Purple Plus, as well as 2 Blue Plus Bulbs. Different people like these two combination and if you like one you probably will not like the other.

 

[tiomm]

T5 newbie here.
I used to light my 13 gallon (24"x12"x12") SPS tank with two PAR30 lamps about 12" off the surface.

A couple of days ago I changed it to a 6x24w T5 fixture (cheap fixture I got from a Chinese site).
It's running KZ and Aqua Medic bulbs.

Right now it's just running three bulbs about 16" above the surface (4 hours/day) and my SPS does not look good. Very little PE and loosing color/turning brown.

Why is this happening?
Too much/not enough light or are they just having a hard time adjusting?

 

[sittnon18s]

well I left t5's awhile ago and setup a nano and ran the ai vega color for a year and wasn't happy at all with it. now im back to t5s. just got the dimmable sunpower 6x24 over my jbj 30g rimless. Very nice light I must say. right now im running
b+
p+
b+
b+
c+
b+
but I think the color is a bit white for me. it could be the bulbs are just brand new and need to break in. light has been only running for 8hrs now. what would be the best bulb to replace to make it a bit bluer
thanks

 

[TropTrea]

well I left t5's awhile ago and setup a nano and ran the ai vega color for a year and wasn't happy at all with it. now im back to t5s. just got the dimmable sunpower 6x24 over my jbj 30g rimless. Very nice light I must say. right now im running
b+
p+
b+
b+
c+
b+
but I think the color is a bit white for me. it could be the bulbs are just brand new and need to break in. light has been only running for 8hrs now. what would be the best bulb to replace to make it a bit bluer
thanks

Wow I would expect this tank to be very blue with only 1 purple plus and 1 coral plus other than he Blues. You could get another blue and swap it with either the purple or the coral to see which you like the best.

As far as your old light if it was LED's you will never get the blue that LED's are capable of producing with either florescent or mh bulbs. If your looking for good coral growth you do not want that precise blue look either.

 

[TropTrea]

T5 newbie here.
I used to light my 13 gallon (24"x12"x12") SPS tank with two PAR30 lamps about 12" off the surface.

A couple of days ago I changed it to a 6x24w T5 fixture (cheap fixture I got from a Chinese site).
It's running KZ and Aqua Medic bulbs.

Right now it's just running three bulbs about 16" above the surface (4 hours/day) and my SPS does not look good. Very little PE and loosing color/turning brown.

Why is this happening?
Too much/not enough light or are they just having a hard time adjusting?

The selection of bulbs in 24" lenght is very limited and I suspect that is your biggest issue. Also the fact that 144 watts is way to much light for a 13 gallon tank.

I would stick to just runniong three bulbs as your runnin them now. But if you can get 2 Atinic and 1 Fulspectrum bulb you would probably close to what you need.

 

[tiomm]

The selection of bulbs in 24" lenght is very limited and I suspect that is your biggest issue. Also the fact that 144 watts is way to much light for a 13 gallon tank.

I would stick to just runniong three bulbs as your runnin them now. But if you can get 2 Atinic and 1 Fulspectrum bulb you would probably close to what you need.

Right now I'm running KZ Fiji Purple, KZ Superblue and AM Reef White. It may not be the combo your speaking of. But I feel the color it puts out is more what I prefer. I don't like the ultra blue tanks. Is this necessary for having happy SPS?

 

[sittnon18s]

Wow I would expect this tank to be very blue with only 1 purple plus and 1 coral plus other than he Blues. You could get another blue and swap it with either the purple or the coral to see which you like the best.

As far as your old light if it was LED's you will never get the blue that LED's are capable of producing with either florescent or mh bulbs. If your looking for good coral growth you do not want that precise blue look either.

yea I guess with my leds it was really blue and I am just used to seeing it really blue. I will probly get used to the new look in a few days. the only thing I miss a little is the shimmer but if my corals actually grow now I can do without that.

 

[rogergolf66]

U can add a blue led strip in front and behind the t5 fixture