The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[swk]

All that being said I have changed my bulbs to the following

Front
Blue +
Blue+
Purple +
Coral +
Blue+
Blue+

Is this ok, or should I seperate the coral and purple plus bulbs? Something like -

Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+

Thanks for the advice!

 

[wcharon]

I have been playing around with my cmbination and finished this way and i like it a lot:

B+
P+
B+
B+
B+
C+

I went this way because i like to use the Dawn/Dusk at the begining and final stage. If i moved thr C+ closer to the center the tank will look too white for my taste.

Hope this help.

All that being said I have changed my bulbs to the following

Front
Blue +
Blue+
Purple +
Coral +
Blue+
Blue+

Is this ok, or should I seperate the coral and purple plus bulbs? Something like -

Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+

Thanks for the advice!

 

[clowninaround74]

The T5 Q&a Thread - split

Help!!!! Just hung my 8x24 ATI dimmable light and have the following bulb setup:

Front:

Blue +
Actinic
Blue +
Coral +
Blue +
Actinic
Coral +
Blue +

With the fixture on, I really like the color spectrum. I do have an extra aqua blue special bulb if that spectrum is too blue for growth and color. Suggestions?

I also want to make sure my schedule is ok. I'm running a shorter photo period to help acclimate the corals while the bulbs burn in at 100%

I have it set as follows:

Channel 1: only fires 2 bulbs
1: 9:00 on
2: 9:01 100%
3: 15:00 100%
4: 15:01 OFF

Channel 2: the other 6 bulbs fire up
1: 10:00 ON
2: 10:01 100%
3: 14:00 100%
4: 14:01 OFF

I'm coming from a Radion pro which was set at 60% running from 8:00am to 8:30pm.

How long would you run this shortened photo period and is what I currently have programmed provide enough light to both keep the corals alive and not burn the SPS?

Thanks!

 

[Oliver P.]

So, am I right to glean from this, in laymens terms, that the blue plus is a better bulb not only because it produces more par, but also is a more useful light to the coral than your actinic bulb?

Thanks!

Exactly. The graphs shows that the most usable radiation is between 455-475nm (light blue). Dark blue (440-450nm) is useful, too. But not in the same way.
Also violet light is useful. But it is only 50% of blue light at 470nm.

We have modified our Blue plus to the more useful "light blue" (454nm) side.

Of course, all corals are able to adapt (more or less) on different light conditions in terms of intensity and color distribution. But it is better to give our corals what they used to know from mother nature. In this way we avoid to stress our corals and to give them what they need... useful light.

regards,
Oliver

 

[clowninaround74]

Help!!!! Just hung my 8x24 ATI dimmable light and have the following bulb setup:

Front:

Blue +
Actinic
Blue +
Coral +
Blue +
Actinic
Coral +
Blue +

With the fixture on, I really like the color spectrum. I do have an extra aqua blue special bulb if that spectrum is too blue for growth and color. Suggestions?

I also want to make sure my schedule is ok. I'm running a shorter photo period to help acclimate the corals while the bulbs burn in at 100%

I have it set as follows:

Channel 1: only fires 2 bulbs
1: 9:00 on
2: 9:01 100%
3: 15:00 100%
4: 15:01 OFF

Channel 2: the other 6 bulbs fire up
1: 10:00 ON
2: 10:01 100%
3: 14:00 100%
4: 14:01 OFF

I'm coming from a Radion pro which was set at 60% running from 8:00am to 8:30pm.

How long would you run this shortened photo period and is what I currently have programmed provide enough light to both keep the corals alive and not burn the SPS?

Thanks!

Anybody?

 

[TropTrea]

All that being said I have changed my bulbs to the following

Front
Blue +
Blue+
Purple +
Coral +
Blue+
Blue+

Is this ok, or should I seperate the coral and purple plus bulbs? Something like -

Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+

Thanks for the advice!

This varies with your fixture and which bulbs are on the same switch.

I like to keep the fullest spectrum bulb to the from of the middle. So on a 6 bulb fixture it would be in the third position from the front. on an 8 bulb fixture it would be 4th from the front.

Any other bulbs that are not blue plus or atinic should be on the same switch. So that determines where you put the other bulbs. But you want to keep it balanced so you do not want two purple or two full spectrum bulbs in either the front or back without none on the other side.

Just think balance with the brightest being center to front of center.

 

[swk]

This varies with your fixture and which bulbs are on the same switch.



I like to keep the fullest spectrum bulb to the from of the middle. So on a 6 bulb fixture it would be in the third position from the front. on an 8 bulb fixture it would be 4th from the front.



Any other bulbs that are not blue plus or atinic should be on the same switch. So that determines where you put the other bulbs. But you want to keep it balanced so you do not want two purple or two full spectrum bulbs in either the front or back without none on the other side.



Just think balance with the brightest being center to front of center.

So if I am reading this correctly, the layout that I am currently using, is fine, with the purple plus and coral plus next to eachother with 2 blue plus in front of, and behind the bulbs?

As it stands now, the 1st channel is solely blue+ bulbs. I have not begun to play with the dimming capability of this fixture

 

[joejoe1055]

im setting up a 180gallon in next 2 months, i thinking im going to get the ati sonpower 60"
4 or 6 tube. which one would u guys recomend? and which bulbs (i like the 14k look)

tank will be 72"x24x25

 

[Mark426]

im setting up a 180gallon in next 2 months, i thinking im going to get the ati sonpower 60"
4 or 6 tube. which one would u guys recomend? and which bulbs (i like the 14k look)

tank will be 72"x24x25

IMO.....6 lamps is the absolute minimum for the tank you have.

 

[joejoe1055]

ok i was wondering marine depot gives a few sizes according to coral choices
im planning a mix tank mostly lps and softies with a few sps close to the top

 

[DavidinGA]

I know hardly anything about T5 but am considering supplementing my leds with some to see if I can get faster growth from my sps.

What options do I have for a retro kit or diy for 2-4 bulbs on a 6ft tank? I found zero 6ft kits online and only a couple 5ft kits (Hamilton Aruba) did I miss something or is 5 and 6 foot not readily available?

Ideally I would like to add 2 t5s in front of my two reef breeders photon 32's and 2 T5's in the back behind the leds. Would you think adding 4 tubes with my existing leds would get me some faster sps growth (all things considered and parameters in check of course)?

Links would be greatly appreciated for what's available for sale out there.

Thanks!

 

[TropTrea]

I know hardly anything about T5 but am considering supplementing my leds with some to see if I can get faster growth from my sps.

What options do I have for a retro kit or diy for 2-4 bulbs on a 6ft tank? I found zero 6ft kits online and only a couple 5ft kits (Hamilton Aruba) did I miss something or is 5 and 6 foot not readily available?

Ideally I would like to add 2 t5s in front of my two reef breeders photon 32's and 2 T5's in the back behind the leds. Would you think adding 4 tubes with my existing leds would get me some faster sps growth (all things considered and parameters in check of course)?

Links would be greatly appreciated for what's available for sale out there.

Thanks!

I have found the best combination being the glue T-5 bulbs to supplement the LED's. Most LED's lack in the 465 to 510 range of the spectrum while the quality Blue T-5's peak in the 460 to 470 range with a good wide distribution that covers the entire range I mentioned.

As far as amount of T-5's I usually go with two tubes in the center with LED's both in front and behind the LED Strips. In your case I would get 2 twin bulb 36" long fixtures.

 

[TropTrea]

im setting up a 180gallon in next 2 months, i thinking im going to get the ati sonpower 60"
4 or 6 tube. which one would u guys recomend? and which bulbs (i like the 14k look)

tank will be 72"x24x25

I would think you would be much happier in the long run with two 8 bulb 36" fixtures. Sure initially you might be happy with the 6 bulb fixture as it will work well with most lo light soft corals but son you will desire some of corals that require much more light.

 

[DavidinGA]

I have found the best combination being the glue T-5 bulbs to supplement the LED's. Most LED's lack in the 465 to 510 range of the spectrum while the quality Blue T-5's peak in the 460 to 470 range with a good wide distribution that covers the entire range I mentioned.

As far as amount of T-5's I usually go with two tubes in the center with LED's both in front and behind the LED Strips. In your case I would get 2 twin bulb 36" long fixtures.

OK.

On my 6 ft tank why would you recommend 2 twin 36" fixtures instead of say 2 twin 60" fixtures?

 

[DavidinGA]

My reef breeders leds have these:

channel 1; 48 450nm royal blue.*

Channel 2; *22 4500K neutral whites, 10 480nm blues,​ 4 660nm reds, and 12 410-420nm violets.*

Channel 3; 3 480nm blue moonlights, for a total of 99 3 watt LEDs.

I have two of these over my 6ft tank.

Which t5 bulbs would add to what is missing in my spectrum and possibly provide the best results (growth)?

Thanks

 

[DavidinGA]

Crickets

 

[Mark426]

Better response in the LED thread?

 

[DavidinGA]

Maybe...

 

[Yellow Eyes]

It seems like this is the ATI T5 Thread. So maybe someone here can point in the right color direction. I just bought a Coralife Lunar T5 4 bulb fixture, and the bulbs it came with (two 10,000K and two Actinics) are just blah.

I have a 20 Gallon nano tank, its 13.5 inches deep to the top of the sand. Its currently cycling so I have a while, but I was thinking of just keeping some softies and LPS coral. The fixture itself has two powercords, each controls two lights. So ideally I would like to keep my fixtures in pairs of two. (I do the blue's for sunrise/set and then add the whites on for "daylight").

So my question is, with all the ATI bulbs out there, which would work be good to keep the sunrise/set cycle as well as a good daylight and be helpful for my future corals?

 

[swk]

I've been using a mix of blue plus and coral plus and it looks great. In my 6 bulb unit I have 4 blue plus and 2 coral plus.

For 4 bulbs I would do 3 blue plus and a single coral plus, but 2 and 2 would work great too