The T5 Q&a Thread - split
- Thread starter eagle9252
- Start date
fessoclown
Dis-Membered
I believe it does. I just added a DIY actinic strip to my 6x80W instead of buying an actual Reefbright. It really does give a bunch of extra pop and I run it as an extra bright "moon light" on its own after the fixture shuts down.
My combo is similar to yours but six bulbs.
B+
C+
B+
P+
C+
B+
Diy reef bright
If I only had 4 bulbs I would do your combo.
My combo is similar to yours but six bulbs.
B+
C+
B+
P+
C+
B+
Diy reef bright
If I only had 4 bulbs I would do your combo.
DiscusHeckel
Acropora Gardener
Does anyone know whether or not FM Ultra Royal Blue and FM Aquascience Blue are the same tubes?
Thanks
Thanks
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
I would like to know this also.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Nope, different bulbs. FM sells both on their site.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
The Giesemann fixture is a heck of a sleek fixture for sure. The ATI in terms of performance, nothing else can currently come close. I think it was Ryan who did a PAR measurement for two equivalent ATI and Giesemann units and found the ATI had around 15-20% more PAR. Its mentioned somewhere on his thread.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Not sure where to purchase the whites, the blues are still available at Marine Depot and BRS, but for a couple of bucks more you should get the vastly superior bulbs that ATI or Giesemann make, IMO.
DavidinGA
Active member
Would this guys design be beneficial if I mounted my fans like he did to cool the "cold spot"?
I'm going to add T5 to my tank and use (3) Kessil 360we to supplement over standard 90.
thinking I go 4x54w ATI sunpower. Max height is 9" off the water line.
Can you recccomend aclimation schedule? Start at 2 hrs peak time per day and add time weekly or daily? Any advise is appreciated.
SPS dominate that are under (2) 120w maxspect razors and the kessils as mentioned above.
thinking I go 4x54w ATI sunpower. Max height is 9" off the water line.
Can you recccomend aclimation schedule? Start at 2 hrs peak time per day and add time weekly or daily? Any advise is appreciated.
SPS dominate that are under (2) 120w maxspect razors and the kessils as mentioned above.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Maybe because they light the coral more evenly, I have never done much to acclimate corals under T5. This is my experience, but I have seen the same experience in other tanks as well.
I recently had some corals in a tank that was almost dark for a a couple weeks and just moved them into the high-light T5 tank and they were fine. Just start with the lights 8-10 inches off the water and run with all bulbs on for 6 hours or so.
I have used everywhere between 6 and 8 hours but didn't notice much difference past 6.5 hours. If you see bleaching, cut back the photoperiod or raise the lights a couple more inches. In my SPS tank I have 12 T5s, 6 inches above the water in a 16" shallow tank, and haven't had anything bleach yet.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Matt excellent and quick response. Much appreciated!
Perhaps I get (2) two bulb fixtures for front and back and place the kessils right down the middle. Can you advise a good quality 2 bulb 48" fixture? With a fan would perfect.
I usually prefer ATI fixtures but they don't make a 2 bulb fixture - Giesemann doesn't either. Aquatic Life and Coralife look like your best bet for two bulbs, and they are cheap, but I have no clue how well they will perform, sorry.
Thanks Matt. I ended up going with the ATI dimmable. So if I understand you correctly, I shouldn't have any worry about too much light by removing the (2) 120w razors and installing this ATI fixture? Should I be concerned with breaking these in for 50 hours above the tank? The maxspect have been running 65%ish, the (3) 369we's around 50%.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Would this guys design be beneficial if I mounted my fans like he did to cool the "cold spot"?
I think it certainly can't hurt, I can't remember the exact details of why the cold spot has to be cooled, but it has been proven to increase par. Once you set up your rig, see if your LFS has a Par meter to borrow. I was surprised when using it how many things made no difference to PAR and what things impacted it a bunch.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
That is an excellent unit and the dimming should be fun to play with once the bulbs are broken in
Start at 10 Inches above the water, and In my experience you will be fine. I switched over with a hard cutover from LEDs 2.5 years ago or so and I melted one coral, but I had the lights 5 inches above the water at the time - whoops! I've never seen any other coral do that since, whether fresh from the store or even ones that had been in the sump or garage mostly in the dark.
You only need to be concerned about break-in for bulbs if you are going to dim the bulbs - to start out with I'd just go 100% with the bulbs. About 11-11.5 hours with two blue bulbs, then in the middle of that 11.5 hour window, 6 hours with all them on. What bulb mix are you going to start with?
max height I can go is 6.5" under canopy and removing canopy is not an option. I have 11.25" to play with (2" clearance above the unit and the thickness of the unit itself (2.1").
Perhaps I break them in uninstalled and once broken in, start out about 50% and move up form there every few days.
I'm all ears if 50 hours at 100% is not necessary!
(3) Blue +
(2) Coral +
(1) Purple +
and as mentioned, (3) 360we
Perhaps I break them in uninstalled and once broken in, start out about 50% and move up form there every few days.
I'm all ears if 50 hours at 100% is not necessary!
(3) Blue +
(2) Coral +
(1) Purple +
and as mentioned, (3) 360we
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Your plan should be fine, breaking in the bulbs in advance. Once you are running and you get up to 100%, in 10 months or so when you swap bulbs just swap in two bulbs at a time with a week or so in between installs rather than all 8 bulbs at once.
