The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[SilverOne]

Hello,

I posted on the last page about what bulbs would be good for my fixture. Its been awhile since I used t5 after playing around with LED.

I put my aquantinics constellation 14 bulb fixture back on my tank. I see some newer bulbs out there..

For 14 bulbs/7 rows on a 125g... what do you recommend?

Thanks again!

 

[rtparty]

4 blue plus and 3 coral plus

 

[jedimaster1138]

Happy to say I've read most of this thread.

120g mixed reef, acropora galore, clams, etc. 8x80w Sunpower.

Current bulb arrangement is as follows:

Front
BuildMyLED Custom Strip (see below)
ATI Blue+
ATI Purple+
ATI Blue+ [dawn dusk]
GE6500k
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+ [dawn dusk]
ATI Purple+
ATI Blue+
Back

The BML strip is a 2-1 ratio of 450 nm blue and 405 nm violet. When just the strip is running everything glows that nice actinic-y glow, especially greens.

My question pertains to bulb order and the GE6500k. I'm loving what it's doing to my SPS, specifically acropora. They've all colored up with lots of PE and growth has taken off dramatically. Oregon tort is a nice deep blue with purple edges and is showing signs of growth, which is saying a lot for an acro that grows so slow.

That all being said, I'm not totally in love with the color from my LPS, zoanthids and palys etc that live low and in the front of the tank. While the SPS look great with all the bulbs burning, that other stuff looks best during the dawn/dusk period (2 Blue+) I realize I'm probably asking for the best of many worlds here, but I'm wondering if the order / arrangement of bulbs, especially what's nearest the GE6500k would help shut me up some My rock work is such that the acropora are mostly under bulbs 4-5-6, probably more the latter 2. Up front are all the LPS and z/p etc. Picture below to illustrate (badly, sorry) The rock work with the acro are mostly obscured behind the overflow in this profile shot, but trust me they are there. Heh I wanted to show a profile shot to illustrate the arrangement of corals/rocks in relation to the individual bulbs.

I had seen a bulb layout in this thread with the ATI Purple+ immediately on either side of the GE6500k. I don't do that, at least not in adjacent slots. (IIRC this was one of TropTea's layouts?) Would that help any in my situation/specific desire? Secondly, would I perhaps we better off front loading the fixture with Blue+ and even moving the GE back a slot so that it's more over the acro and less over the sandbed stuff? I realize all the bulbs are going to mix thanks to the effectiveness of the ATI reflectors, but would this matter? Also would it matter having a Purple+ directly in front of the GE - would this help "neutralize" the GE's tendency to make red zoas, bleeding apples etc look less red and more brownish...or at least less vibrant red?

I've even been tossing around just going with 1 Purple+ and adding an actinic in the front most position, or 1 purple+ and 1 coral+ (i have a bunch of spares of everything) Possibly something like

Front
BML
Actinic
Blue+
Blue+
Purple+
GE6500k
Blue+
Blue+
Blue+
Front


TIA...sorry for all the "maybe this and that" just curious what the experts here have to say.

 

[TropTrea]

That would make the reflectors under 2" each. Is that correct?

Well if you take 19" and divide that between 8 bulbs you get 2.375" for each reflector.

 

[rtparty]

Well if you take 19" and divide that between 8 bulbs you get 2.375" for each reflector.

Correct. But he also said there is 2-3" on each side that is just fixture.

 

[TropTrea]

My question pertains to bulb order and the GE6500k. I'm loving what it's doing to my SPS, specifically acropora. They've all colored up with lots of PE and growth has taken off dramatically. Oregon tort is a nice deep blue with purple edges and is showing signs of growth, which is saying a lot for an acro that grows so slow.

That all being said, I'm not totally in love with the color from my LPS, zoanthids and palys etc that live low and in the front of the tank. While the SPS look great with all the bulbs burning, that other stuff looks best during the dawn/dusk period (2 Blue+) I realize I'm probably asking for the best of many worlds here, but I'm wondering if the order / arrangement of bulbs, especially what's nearest the GE6500k would help shut me up some My rock work is such that the acropora are mostly under bulbs 4-5-6, probably more the latter 2. Up front are all the LPS and z/p etc. Picture below to illustrate (badly, sorry) The rock work with the acro are mostly obscured behind the overflow in this profile shot, but trust me they are there. Heh I wanted to show a profile shot to illustrate the arrangement of corals/rocks in relation to the individual bulbs.

What your coming up with is the classic question of how do I bring up the reflective colors as well as the florescent colors. Can You get a balance.

Unfortunately what is happening is that the florescent colors are glowing just as brightly as they were just your LED strip. However the the eye does not perceive this as the reflective colors in the back ground start increasing the brightness of the background.

Every tank is different between the ratio of corals giving florescent colors and those giving reflective colors. Every individual has there preference to which they prefer the most. Unfortunately it is a mater of blending the two together as close to your liking as possible.

In your case you might see an improvement putting the back three bulbs as a purple, GE, purple. However this might also create some unusual shadows for you that you may or may not like.

Another possibility would be switching to a bulb that gives less full spectrum light such as the Aqua Blue, Or several Coral Plus Bulbs.

 

[jedimaster1138]

What your coming up with is the classic question of how do I bring up the reflective colors as well as the florescent colors. Can You get a balance.

Unfortunately what is happening is that the florescent colors are glowing just as brightly as they were just your LED strip. However the the eye does not perceive this as the reflective colors in the back ground start increasing the brightness of the background.

Every tank is different between the ratio of corals giving florescent colors and those giving reflective colors. Every individual has there preference to which they prefer the most. Unfortunately it is a mater of blending the two together as close to your liking as possible.

In your case you might see an improvement putting the back three bulbs as a purple, GE, purple. However this might also create some unusual shadows for you that you may or may not like.

Another possibility would be switching to a bulb that gives less full spectrum light such as the Aqua Blue, Or several Coral Plus Bulbs.

Thanks Dennis for the detail. I think I see what you're driving at.

I'm going to give a shot to the following lay out:

LEDS
B+
B+
B+
Purple+
GE6500k
B+
Purple+
B+

Heck, that might even benefit the SPS high on the rock by bringing the GE6500k more over their heads directly.

Do you think there would be any obvious benefit (or detriment to growth) to pulling either of the Purple+ in favor of a Coral+ or Blue+ (which would give me 6). If so, which one?

Thanks again.

 

[h0bite]

I just received my ATI Powermodule(only T5) from Marine Depot.
What bulb is better to use for sunrise? My number 3 and 8 will start an hour before the other 8. I was thinking 2 ATI actinic, but they are almost useless for corals. So, I don't want to put useless bulbs.
Thanks

 

[rogergolf66]

I just received my ATI Powermodule(only T5) from Marine Depot.
What bulb is better to use for sunrise? My number 3 and 8 will start an hour before the other 8. I was thinking 2 ATI actinic, but they are almost useless for corals. So, I don't want to put useless bulbs.
Thanks

If u don't want attinic use 2 blue plus or a blue plus and a purple plus

 

[mhucasey]

For h0bite:
I'm a little different than many others here in that I love the look of a tank that is farther to the blue spectrum than many others run but I don't like the look of blue bulbs only, even for dawn and dusk. I have found that for the two bulbs my favorite combination by far is a blue plus in the #3 position and a KZ New Generation(14K) in the back(#6 for me, #8 for you).

Two bulbs only don't provide much more than viewing light for you, there isn't enough par to do anything for the corals. Thats ok, you only want to run all 10 Bulbs for 6-8 hours max to get the best color and growth.

 

[TropTrea]

Thanks Dennis for the detail. I think I see what you're driving at.

I'm going to give a shot to the following lay out:

LEDS
B+
B+
B+
Purple+
GE6500k
B+
Purple+
B+

Heck, that might even benefit the SPS high on the rock by bringing the GE6500k more over their heads directly.

Do you think there would be any obvious benefit (or detriment to growth) to pulling either of the Purple+ in favor of a Coral+ or Blue+ (which would give me 6). If so, which one?

Thanks again.

If I were pulling a purple plus and you did not want it to get brighter I'd go with the Blue Plus. As for your preference on color I'd pull the front most purple plus bulb.

 

[TropTrea]

I just received my ATI Powermodule(only T5) from Marine Depot.
What bulb is better to use for sunrise? My number 3 and 8 will start an hour before the other 8. I was thinking 2 ATI actinic, but they are almost useless for corals. So, I don't want to put useless bulbs.
Thanks

I will agree that the Atinics do little for coral growth. There only benifit is for some pretty florescence under extremely low reflective light situations. Add almst any fuller spectrum light and you balance them right out of the picture.

I prefer a pair of Blue Plus bulbs for dawn to dusk. However some people prefer a purple and blue combination. I think the combo looks too pink. Others that want a little brighter effect will go with a blue and coral but to me that is too bright and does not pop the florescence in the corals as much as I like for dawn to dusk.

 

[mhucasey]

I agree that a purple and a blue together come off very pink to me(and my girlfriend agrees too, and she likes more pink than I do). I feel that the coral plus with blue plus is better but for my tastes still a bit pink(Im picky).

One note for pairing a blue plus with a white or purple: if the overall effect seems a bit muddy and the pop isn't there, make sure that the blue bulb is up front. Swapping the positions of my white and blue bulb was surprising in how much of a visual difference it made. It makes sense though- the blue is hitting the front of the corals more, and this is the side of the coral you see most often. This viewable side will pick up the pop from the blue bulb more heavily. The white or purple bulb in the back then just brings up the overall white level. Try moving the bulbs around, its pretty surprising.

 

[d2mini]

I agree that a purple and a blue together come off very pink to me(and my girlfriend agrees too, and she likes more pink than I do). I feel that the coral plus with blue plus is better but for my tastes still a bit pink(Im picky).

One note for pairing a blue plus with a white or purple: if the overall effect seems a bit muddy and the pop isn't there, make sure that the blue bulb is up front. Swapping the positions of my white and blue bulb was surprising in how much of a visual difference it made. It makes sense though- the blue is hitting the front of the corals more, and this is the side of the coral you see most often. This viewable side will pick up the pop from the blue bulb more heavily. The white or purple bulb in the back then just brings up the overall white level. Try moving the bulbs around, its pretty surprising.

Yeah, i just added the following to my Radiums...

(back)
Blue+
Coral+
*Radium*
Purple+
Blue+
(front)

It is a little pink.
If I wanted more blue, what would you change out and with what?

 

[rtparty]

Yeah, i just added the following to my Radiums...

(back)
Blue+
Coral+
*Radium*
Purple+
Blue+
(front)

It is a little pink.
If I wanted more blue, what would you change out and with what?

Change the purple for another blue plus. I just switched out my purple plus with a coral plus so I now have 3 blue plus and 1 coral plus plus the LEDs. I like it so far and it isn't as cold as I thought it may be.

 

[TropTrea]

Yeah, i just added the following to my Radiums...

(back)
Blue+
Coral+
*Radium*
Purple+
Blue+
(front)

It is a little pink.
If I wanted more blue, what would you change out and with what?

You already have the bulbs other than an additional Blue Plus Bulb.

Keep in mind that the Purple Plus has roughly twice the red of the Purple Plus. So you now have 3 Measures of red.

Going with the Purple and 3 Blues would drop you to 2 Measures of Red.

And if you went with the Coral and 3 Blues you would have 1 measure of red. But the amount of white would also increase slightly

Different people have different tastes here so I would suggest rotate to the purple with 3 Blues initially then let it sit of two weeks like that so your eye adjusts to it. Then try the Coral Plus in place of the Purple. Wait another two weeks for your eye to adjust again. Now switch back to the purple plus and make your decision which looks better?

The reason I say wait to weeks is that some people will say wow this is too blue but once they see it for a while they start liking it more and more. But when you switch back you recall what you missed with the old lighting and can start rethinking the situation again.

The other thing to reconsider is the room lights. While they do not effect the colors you eyes sees in the tank they do effect the static look of the area. People running 3,200K incadescent or warm white room lights will generaly prefer a tank that is warmer looking, because the blue lighting will contrast more and be more obvious. People with Cool White Compacts or LED Room lights will like a bluer look in there tank as is less contrast with blue aquarium bulbs.

I know personal y we had that we had 3,200K drop lights in our sun room and loved a 14,000K look on our tank. We switched to neutral whites in the room and to me the tank started looking too white. Later we switched to 6,500K lights for plants in the sun room and now I have lighting on my tank that is bluer than most 20,000K lighting bulbs.

 

[mhucasey]

I just got some new bulbs and did a bulb comparison, swapping out bulbs and position of the bulbs with my girlfriend assisting on seeing changes and letting me know what she was seeing. I have asbestos fingers so I can swap out the bulbs while running and get a quicker color comparison than if I had to turn everything off and wait for bulbs to cool.

Anyhow, I now have a Purple Plus, DD Aquapink, and KZ Fiji purple in inventory and the Fiji purple wins hands down. Its much more purple and not overly red, and doesnt result in the pink cast that I dislike when combined with blue and white bulbs.

I have both KZ superblues and ATI Blue Plus bulbs and Have compared extensively. Blue plus is more powerful visually, my take is that there is a touch more green in it. All Blue plus are a bit "Windex" for me. The Super Blue are more like royal blue LEDs, and are a nice option to replace a few Blue Plus and provide a slightly less green Mix.

KZ New Generation are my favorite white bulb by far now. Looking at it I think its very close to a Coral Plus Bulb but with a touch less red.

After many tries, the current mix comes out as
(Front-Back):
B+
Fiji Purple
B+
B+
SuperBlue
KZ New Generation
SuperBlue
B+

This combo actually elicited a "Wow!" from my girlfriend, who loves the tank and reef stuff but who is pretty oblivious to light changes.
Here is a Iphone photo - its obviously more blue in the picture than to my eye:

Open invitation to San Diego Area Reefers with Camera Skills- I have pretty much every major bulb and enough of them to come up with any combo. I'd love to get true to life comparison pics with several combos for other people to reference, if you are interested PM me.

 

[whispers]

4 bulb help

4 bulb help

Hey guys I'm about to buy the 24 ati led powermodual has 4 t5 and LEDs for my 55 gal 30x22x19 Elos 70 sps and Lps tank and need advise of what bulb combo to go with please help
I like the 20k look

 

[sahin]

Hey guys I'm about to buy the 24 ati led powermodual has 4 t5 and LEDs for my 55 gal 30x22x19 Elos 70 sps and Lps tank and need advise of what bulb combo to go with please help
I like the 20k look

20K is very subjective...and having LED's in the mix makes it so much harder...

Having said that, I would go as follows:

Front:
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
---LED---
ATI Purple+
ATI Blue+

In addition to the 4xT5's you have:

24watts of Royal Blue, Blue, White and about 3-4watts of Red.

The White LED's with the above combo will be enough to supply the rest of the spectrum in terms of Orange, Yellow, Green colours etc.

If you find the above too blue, and want to add a bit more white into the mix rather than having the white coming from the LED's, go with this combo:

ATI Blue+
ATI Coral+
---LED---
ATI Purple+
ATI Blue+

Then adjust the LED's to change the overall look to your liking.

Or, you can go with:

ATI Blue+
ATI Coral+
---LED---
ATI Coral+
ATI Blue+

I personally like the ATI Purple+ for the pop it gives to certain colours...but again remember you have the LED's to customise the overall colour way more than a 4 tube combo allows.

 

[whispers]

ATI Blue+
ATI Coral+
---LED---
ATI Purple+
ATI Blue+
That was exactly what I was thinking thanks so much