The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[mhucasey]

thanks again matt!

You bet BTW your combination of bulbs is a good one, very popular combo around here.

 

[Crackem]

What bulb combo would you recommend for a 120 gallon 48 x 24x24 ? I bought a 48" 8 bulb ati dimmable fixture. The fixture will be mounted in a canopy that is 11.5"s in height. I will also be adding 2-3 strips of rapid leds. The tank will be barebottom and high end sps so im more concerned with color over growth.

 

[jimrawr]

T5 GURUS please help me out here..Can anyone point me in the right direction, or educate me on how spectrum works with a dimmable unit? If we are dimming the bulbs by a certain percentage, are we also creating spectrum shifts that can be detrimental to the corals?

The reason I ask is that I have a 8x54w unit over my 75g tank and its simply too strong, I roast LPS on the sandbed even when the unit is at 60%. So now I am wondering am I safe to run it at say 50% or should I be looking for a new fixture because I will be changing the spectrum too much?

 

[reyon]

Just switched from a Giesemann FUTURA LED to an ATI Hybrid Powermodule (8 bulbs) and i just love it.
As i got this fixture from a fellow reefer it came with bulbs and i am about to Change the tubes.
I love your combo of tubes you showed a few postings earlier:
Blue plus ati
Aquablue azure giesemann
Super actinic giesemann
Fiji purple korallenzucht
Super actinic giesemann
Actinic blue giesemann
Aquablue special ati
Kz new gen korallezucht

As you listed it from Front to Back, my question is:
What kind of setup would you use on a room divider...well...peninsula style tank. Should i got for a symmetric setup? As it can be viewed from three sides i'm not really sure about the Placement of the tubes.


-Simon

 

[mhucasey]

T5 GURUS please help me out here..Can anyone point me in the right direction, or educate me on how spectrum works with a dimmable unit? If we are dimming the bulbs by a certain percentage, are we also creating spectrum shifts that can be detrimental to the corals?

The reason I ask is that I have a 8x54w unit over my 75g tank and its simply too strong, I roast LPS on the sandbed even when the unit is at 60%. So now I am wondering am I safe to run it at say 50% or should I be looking for a new fixture because I will be changing the spectrum too much?

Im sorry, I don't have any experience with the dimmable units, but Im curious as to what your photoperiod with all bulbs is? I have an 8 bulb unit over my LPS-heavy tank and have never roasted an LPS coral.

 

[jimrawr]

Im sorry, I don't have any experience with the dimple units, but Im curious as to what your photoperiod with all bulbs is? I have an 8 bulb unit over my LPS-heavy tank and have never roasted an LPS coral.

I think, without looking at the schedule since I am not at home, that the 2 bulbs turn on at 10am and shut off at 11pm, and the 6 bulbs go from noon to 6pm.

 

[mhucasey]

Just switched from a Giesemann FUTURA LED to an ATI Hybrid Powermodule (8 bulbs) and i just love it.
As i got this fixture from a fellow reefer it came with bulbs and i am about to Change the tubes.
I love your combo of tubes you showed a few postings earlier:
Blue plus ati
Aquablue azure giesemann
Super actinic giesemann
Fiji purple korallenzucht
Super actinic giesemann
Actinic blue giesemann
Aquablue special ati
Kz new gen korallezucht

As you listed it from Front to Back, my question is:
What kind of setup would you use on a room divider...well...peninsula style tank. Should i got for a symmetric setup? As it can be viewed from three sides i'm not really sure about the Placement of the tubes.


-Simon

I would replace the middle Actinic with the ABS and move the Actinic to its old position # 7 to even it out more.

 

[mhucasey]

I think, without looking at the schedule since I am not at home, that the 2 bulbs turn on at 10am and shut off at 11pm, and the 6 bulbs go from noon to 6pm.

Very strange - Since I went from one tank to 2 and put all my LPS in the deeper tank(22"), i kept all 8 bulbs as-is for the most part and have a similar photoperiod. I have frogspawns, flowerpots and candy cane corals in there and I know from previous testing that the biggest flowerpot is getting about 450-550 par. I considered doing something to reduce the light but decided to see how they responded. They have been doing fine so far, they stayed small for a while till they adjusted but then after a week or two came back to normal. The best elegance coral I ever saw was under a 1000 watt metal halide bulb, and supposedly those are a low light LPS coral.

When you say that they are roasted, what specifically is happening? What bulbs are you using?

 

[reyon]

Quite an easy solution, thanks a lot Matt.

Any experience comparing the fiji purple from KZ with the super purple from Giesemann? And is the KZ New Gen comparable to the Giesemann Aquablue azure?

 

[mhucasey]

Quite an easy solution, thanks a lot Matt.

Any experience comparing the fiji purple from KZ with the super purple from Giesemann? And is the KZ New Gen comparable to the Giesemann Aquablue azure?

I have the Aquapink and the KZ Fiji purple. The Aquapink is essentially the same as the new superpurple. To my eye the Giesemann Aquapink is close to the Fiji Purple. There is something off to my eye about the ATI Purple Plus, every time I try to make it work I end up pulling the bulb after a few days.


I have New Gen and AquaBlue Azure bulbs. These are visually different. The Azure is a very cold white light with a good amount of green while the New Gen is about a 16K, more balanced white bulb(a bit more yellow).

Both are good bulbs for adding brightness to a tank that is heavy with Blue bulbs. I would swap out a blue bulb and replace it with one of these and the overall color would not change very much, just the brightness.

 

[JamesHolt]

6 bulb fixture, 12" of water, 60g frag tank
Bulbs are, front to back
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI AquaBlue Special
ATI AquaBlue Special
ZooMed CoralSun Actinic
ZooMed OceanSun 10k
Bulbs might be a month old

Do these look Right/Happy (I am badly colorblind)
Red Acan and Green Hairy Mushrooms

Reason I am asking is they look really different than when I had them under MH@20k
Here are some older pics under the MH

My LTA is hanging out under the 10k so I think I got that one right..

Thanks

 

[mhucasey]

6 bulb fixture, 12" of water, 60g frag tank
Bulbs are, front to back
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI AquaBlue Special
ATI AquaBlue Special
ZooMed CoralSun Actinic
ZooMed OceanSun 10k
Bulbs might be a month old

Do these look Right/Happy (I am badly colorblind)
Red Acan and Green Hairy Mushrooms

Reason I am asking is they look really different than when I had them under MH@20k
Here are some older pics under the MH

My LTA is hanging out under the 10k so I think I got that one right..

Thanks

They may be getting too much red and yellow intensity. Additionally, the large amount of green in the spectrum washes out the color somewhat. The corals don't look like they are in trouble, though, just dull/browned.

Your mix has half the bulbs as white bulbs. If you want to reproduce the 20K look of the Radium you need a lot more blue. For a six bulb fixture, no more than one ABS, maybe a coral plus, or pink/purple bulb, and the rest blue.

 

[JamesHolt]

They may be getting too much red and yellow intensity. Additionally, the large amount of green in the spectrum washes out the color somewhat. The corals don't look like they are in trouble, though, just dull/browned.

Your mix has half the bulbs as white bulbs. If you want to reproduce the 20K look of the Radium you need a lot more blue. For a six bulb fixture, no more than one ABS, maybe a coral plus, or pink/purple bulb, and the rest blue.

Will that still support the Anemone??

 

[mhucasey]

Will that still support the Anemone??

The blue bulbs put out more usable light for the corals and anemone than the white ones do, so yes, adding more blue will be fine.

 

[lionfish300]

Hey guys, I am thinking about go toward all T5. On a 96" x 36" x 24" H some sps at the top mostly lps and clams. What are you guys suggest? I can do either retro or fixtures. Thanks in advance

 

[JamesHolt]

The blue bulbs put out more usable light for the corals and anemone than the white ones do, so yes, adding more blue will be fine.

OK Thanks , I will go get three more of the blue, gonna leave one ABS over the anemone and do all blue.. I can use the rest over my sump

 

[DaveRaz]

I've never used T5 so imagine my sunrise once I turned on the new ATI fixture. Glad I went this route.

 

[mhucasey]

I've never used T5 so imagine my sunrise once I turned on the new ATI fixture. Glad I went this route.

That's awesome

 

[serbusfish]

Im currently running 4x 54w T5 bulbs but they are odd length tubes (42") and I am limited to what branded bulbs I can use. I want to go with ATI tubes so im planning to get a new fixture that will mount onto the tank but the standard length 54w bulbs will be too long. So I was wondering if 4x 39w T5's be acceptable for use on a 75 gallon tank (20" deep)? I soft corals and LPS, with a Montipora Cap the only SPS so far.

 

[mhucasey]

Im currently running 4x 54w T5 bulbs but they are odd length tubes (42") and I am limited to what branded bulbs I can use. I want to go with ATI tubes so im planning to get a new fixture that will mount onto the tank but the standard length 54w bulbs will be too long. So I was wondering if 4x 39w T5's be acceptable for use on a 75 gallon tank (20" deep)? I soft corals and LPS, with a Montipora Cap the only SPS so far.

What are the dimensions of the tank?