The T5 Q&a Thread - split

I've been pondering a retro fit. Any suggestions on reflectors?

I'm looking at Hellolights and the XM reflectors they sell as well as Champion lighting and some they have labeled as Icecap. Both are parabolic polished reflectors and range from 2" to 2.5" wide.

Ballast will be Coralvue 430 running 3, 48" tubes each.

May try sandwiching a couple of Hydra 52s in between 6 T5's. Dimensionally it will fit I just don't know exactly how it will look...the light output that is.

Thoughts?
 
I've been pondering a retro fit. Any suggestions on reflectors?

I'm looking at Hellolights and the XM reflectors they sell as well as Champion lighting and some they have labeled as Icecap. Both are parabolic polished reflectors and range from 2" to 2.5" wide.

Ballast will be Coralvue 430 running 3, 48" tubes each.

May try sandwiching a couple of Hydra 52s in between 6 T5's. Dimensionally it will fit I just don't know exactly how it will look...the light output that is.

Thoughts?

LET reflectors were the best retrofit reflector but not sure if they're still around with Reefgeek out of business. IceCap made solid units as well.

I'd avoid using the 430 ballasts with T5s. It will slightly overdrive them and kill life. If you are adding some LEDs in the middle, go with 4 T5 bulbs instead. Get a proper T5 ballast to run the bulbs and make sure you cool the label end of the bulbs.
 
Forgot to mention tank is 24" tall. :) Also I think in last photo the middle number 145 should be dead center middle.

Thanks for posting your numbers. I saw a recommendation last month for someone to get 2 36" fixtures rather than the 60" over a 180 and I thought it was insane but too late to reply. :) 60" bulbs are just $2 more than the 36" versions and you need half as many so the money savings in replacement bulbs is extreme and this 60" SUnpower fixture puts out a TON of light, as you measured.

I also use the ATI 60" fixture, just 6 bulbs, over a 72x18x24" 150 gallon tank. I have a BML custom strip angled back to light the front. I had to raise it as far as I could, 15" above the glass lids, to get the PAR where I wanted it.

I'm so glad I went back to T5, I love the light.
 
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LET reflectors were the best retrofit reflector but not sure if they're still around with Reefgeek out of business. IceCap made solid units as well.

I'd avoid using the 430 ballasts with T5s. It will slightly overdrive them and kill life. If you are adding some LEDs in the middle, go with 4 T5 bulbs instead. Get a proper T5 ballast to run the bulbs and make sure you cool the label end of the bulbs.


Thanks. You wouldn't run 6 bulbs, surronding LEDS?

CoralVue specs the 430 for T5's??? What ballast would you recommend?

I was thinking it was the 660 that overdrives them?

I also just noticed LET are sold by BRS in there T5 kit.

One last thing the tank is 50*23*18deep
 
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Thanks. You wouldn't run 6 bulbs, surronding LEDS?

CoralVue specs the 430 for T5's??? What ballast would you recommend?

I was thinking it was the 660 that overdrives them?

It's not needed unless the tank is more than 24" wide. The LEDs will provide plenty of light and the T5s will fill in shadows and spectrum.

CoralVue ballasts are the old IceCap ballasts. They all overdrive to some degree and aren't spec T5 ballasts. From my understanding they originally were made to run T12 bulbs but someone found out they would fire just about any fluorescent bulb. Doesn't mean they were designed to run the bulbs properly. There are tons of examples out there of people having issues with bulb life while using the 430 and/or 660 ballasts.

I had a buddy running 4 24" bulbs off one 430 and fought with them the whole time. He was replacing bulbs every 4 months before asking me why. He switched them out and never had a problem again.

Just look for spec ballasts. I can only think of Osram off the top of my head
 
Thanks alot, I may try out one of the kits from BRS that has the LET reflectors, ballasts, pigtails, standoffs, ......


I just installed the 6 x 80w kit from LET. If you have any questions email LET, they were very quick to reply. The kit was relatively easy to install. Much easier than the 113 LED DIY, that it replaced.
 
New to sps with t5

New to sps with t5

So I been looking around and wondering what everyone's light schedule was with t5s also bulb combo and how high you fixture is hung
I've have a couple sps hat have bleached and raised my to the to 8" and lowered my schedule to 1:30-330 atinics 3:30-9 all on and 9-10 Atinics
I'm running a 8x54 watt ati
Blue plus
Coral plus
Blue plus
purple plus
Blue plus
Blue plus
Coral plus
Blue plus
Front to back
I'm running a bare bottom system. If that means anything also the nutrients are low. But I wouldn't called it ultra low.lIt's only 3 pieces that have bleached out.
I think it was my lights as they were sitting around 3-4"
I'm gonna rent a par meter but was wondering what they were keeping there Par around.
Also my last setup was LEDs with decent results so I'm by far no expert but not a beginner with keeping a reef system
Just new to t5s
Thanks again everyone
Also lighting schedule and bulb combo maybe?!!
 
Thanks for posting your numbers. I saw a recommendation last month for someone to get 2 36" fixtures rather than the 60" over a 180 and I thought it was insane but too late to reply. :) 60" bulbs are just $2 more than the 36" versions and you need half as many so the money savings in replacement bulbs is extreme and this 60" SUnpower fixture puts out a TON of light, as you measured.

I also use the ATI 60" fixture, just 6 bulbs, over a 72x18x24" 150 gallon tank. I have a BML custom strip angled back to light the front. I had to raise it as far as I could, 15" above the glass lids, to get the PAR where I wanted it.

I'm so glad I went back to T5, I love the light.
Yeah, you don't get the same results with smaller bulbs. Not the same amount of cross pollination :)
I have mine at 10" and I still may go higher like you. Could still be too much for some chalices on the bottom. ..especially in the middle. I'll report back when bulbs are older.
 
I was afraid of that....

Back
Blue plus-dawn/dusk
Blue plus
Aquablue
Blue plus
Purple
Blue plus-dawn/dusk.
Front.

Currently running this set up over my 40 breeder. Any tips to make it a lil more closer to 20k. Day lights are a lil to bright for me. .I am willing to sacrifice growth.
 
Looking for a good combo 4x39w over a 40br. What are your thoughts on the following combos?

3 B+, 1 ge6500k

2 B+, 1 actinic, 1 ge6500k

I'm looking for something that is a touch more white than 3b+, 1 coral+.... yet crisp and greens still pop.

This is a mixed reef w sps, a clam, and zoos. Miro-4 retrokit w hep ballasts.
 
Seems like all the T5 PAR measurements I have come across are done with large multi lamp fixtures. Many of us here (including me) have smaller tanks and just cant fit 6 or 8 lamps over our tanks. So... I decided to purchase an Apogee Quantum SQ-120 Sensor to measure the output of my ATI 4x24 Dimmable. I took 4 depth measurements at 3 different locations across the light. The center measurement is self explanatory, the left and right are right at the end of the reflectors. The depth measurements are in inches from the splash shield. The fixture is hanging 5" above the surface of the water. All pumps were off during the test. The 24W lamps are 2 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI Coral+. I took each reading numerous times and the numbers below are the average of each.


ATI_PAR1.jpg


Note: Lamps are 3 months old and have been running with a 1 hour ramp up and a 1 hour ramp down.
 
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Seems like all the T5 PAR measurements I have come across are done with large multi lamp fixtures. Many of us here (including me) have smaller tanks and just cant fit 6 or 8 lamps over our tanks. So... I decided to purchase an Apogee Quantum SQ-120 Sensor to measure the output of my ATI 4x24 Dimmable. I took 4 depth measurements at 3 different locations across the light. The center measurement is self explanatory, the left and right are right at the end of the reflectors. The depth measurements are in inches from the splash shield. The fixture is hanging 5" above the surface of the water. All pumps were off during the test. The 24W lamps are 2 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI Coral+. I took each reading numerous times and the numbers below are the average of each.


ATI_PAR1.jpg


Note: Lamps are 3 months old and have been running with a 1 hour ramp up and a 1 hour ramp down.

Nice readings and chart

6 or 8 bulb units don't necessarily put out more PAR though. Especially on an 8 bulb setup. The outside bulbs have very minimal, if any, effect on the center of the tank.

Within reason (maybe 10-15%), all ATI setups put out the same PAR readings.
 
probably has already been answered in the 211 pages of this thread lol

but i'm setting up a new tank, sps dominated, and i'm kinda jumping ship on the LED only plan after i didn't get the results i was looking for before.

im picking up two 36" aquatic life T5 2x54w fixtures, and i'll be mounting two AI sol super blues inbetween them. i'll give the stock T5 bulbs a shot first but later will swap them out for ATI's.

so...opinions on bulb combos? and are the aquatic life 54w decent for sps? the tank is 36x30x18"
 
Don't bother with crap bulbs. Imagine all the cash you have invested in your build....at this point what's another 80 bucks to set yourself up for the greatest chance of success?

I would pick up 2 blue plus and 2 coral plus and maybe a couple extra of different colors of you want to experiment. I played around with lots of combos and settled on the basic blue+/coral+ combo. Looks the best to my eyes.

Post some pics!
 
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