The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[pura vida mi]

Thanks Dennis

Thanks Dennis

This is why I like to leace people with option between the 6,500K, Aqua Blue Special, and the New Generation. Each produces a little different effect and some like one whole others like a different combo.

The GE 6,500 K will brighten things up considerably. but unless you have a lot of blue light with it it will show a noticable yellow caste. The New Generation will not give the yellow caste but will not quite as bright as the GE. Then the Aquablue special fills in the greens nicely and some people that are divers claim it makes a more natural looking effect but others claim it takes out some of the snap. Personal preference is the big thing between these combinations.

Thanks - the tank is pretty "dark" now I guess. Also the 24" ATINIC was DOA, so only running a BLUE+ up front for now. However the ATINIC will not add any "briteness" correct?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Opps I meant the ATI was more expensive than the narva blues.

So if it came down to it, money no object which would you recommend for more PAR out of the ATI blue plus and the Narva blue?

Thanks for the reply (also do you have a tank thread/ information on your LED lighting? as we are interested in LED units ourselves, having made a couple ourselves)

For 7 bux the NARVA might be worth a try but I seriously doubt they are going to have better PAR if they are cheaper. There isn't enough marketing overhead in this industry to be able to cut expenses that much.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

why the 6500k daylight over the aqua blue special. and would the order which you listed the lamps be the order from front to back i should use also?

I prefer having the yellow from the GE but a Aquable or even KZ New Generation will work. As far as order blue front and back with either 2 blues or a purple plus and a blue in the dusk/dawn slot with the GE or whatever in the middle

 

[islandborn83]

You would be WAY WAY WAY WAY better off spending the money on an ATI fixture. If your rocks are stacked high enough you can get away with the SPS on top but probably shrooms only in the bottom. Even a ATI fixture is probably pushing it as far as support high light zoas in the bottom of the tank.

what about a Tek 6 Bulb fixture? would that be sufficient for my 70 gallon 30" tall tank? The fixture its self is about 16" the bulb section is about 12" so I was thinking of removing the canopy lid and basicly use the fixture as the canopy lid. let me know what you think, thank in advance

my next option would be a Orphek

 

[The Grim Reefer]

what about a Tek 6 Bulb fixture? would that be sufficient for my 70 gallon 30" tall tank? The fixture its self is about 16" the bulb section is about 12" so I was thinking of removing the canopy lid and basicly use the fixture as the canopy lid. let me know what you think, thank in advance

my next option would be a Orphek

Your idea of a fixture for a canopy lid is good. You really need a powerful fixture for a 30 tall. ATI if you want T5's. Some of the LED fixtures would work. You'd need 3 watt LED's with optics installed.

 

[tegee]

To all ATI T5 users....I have a question as it relates to fan speed.

I have a 24" ATI PM fixture running all ATI bulbs for 8.5 hours each day. I was running the fan on the 9v setting, but the fans/fixture ran louder than desired so I moved the fan's power adapter to the 7.5v setting and obviously the entire fixture rans much quieter.

From experience, can you share your advice on the "cons" of running the fans at 7.5v instead of 9v? Any experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance..........

 

[rtparty]

To all ATI T5 users....I have a question as it relates to fan speed.

I have a 24" ATI PM fixture running all ATI bulbs for 8.5 hours each day. I was running the fan on the 9v setting, but the fans/fixture ran louder than desired so I moved the fan's power adapter to the 7.5v setting and obviously the entire fixture rans much quieter.

From experience, can you share your advice on the "cons" of running the fans at 7.5v instead of 9v? Any experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance..........

Slightly less PAR and slightly less bulb life, unless your ambient temp is low enough that 7.5v still provides enough cooling.

 

[WayOfTheReef]

I have no experience with T5's, but will be getting T5 fixture soon. What do you guys think about this combo on an 8 bulb fixture and what order should I place them:
ATI Blue Plus x4
ATI Purple Plus x2
ATI Coral Plus x2

What color temperature do you guys think would that combo give me?

 

[collie man]

i heard 7.5 v was the optimal speed to run for bulb life and par...am i crazy?

 

[GSMguy]

The temp of the room will dictate the fan speed needed I run 9v in the summer and 7.5 in the winter.

 

[tegee]

Slightly less PAR and slightly less bulb life, unless your ambient temp is low enough that 7.5v still provides enough cooling.

Why would running the fans at 7.5v produce less overall par value on the bulbs? Because they are running hotter?

I am located in the Northeast and the room runs about 68 degrees in the winter (heating) months and the room has a/c in the summer months. So I would say that the average temp is 68-70 degrees throughout the year.

Do you know what ATI suggests?

 

[rtparty]

i heard 7.5 v was the optimal speed to run for bulb life and par...am i crazy?

GSMguy asnwered this perfectly. I know some people who have to run them at 12v and others run them at 6v. If your ambient temp is around 70-76F, 9v seems to be best.

The temp of the room will dictate the fan speed needed I run 9v in the summer and 7.5 in the winter.

Exactly. In my last apartment we didn't have AC here in Utah. During the summer months and constant 95-100F days, I was very tempted to turn my fans up to 12v. I already had a large fan blowing on the tank and fixture though to keep the tank below 81F.

Why would running the fans at 7.5v produce less overall par value on the bulbs? Because they are running hotter?

I am located in the Northeast and the room runs about 68 degrees in the winter (heating) months and the room has a/c in the summer months. So I would say that the average temp is 68-70 degrees throughout the year.

Do you know what ATI suggests?

The hotter a bulb gets, the more pressure inside the tube. More heat = less output. Especially when you are using the correct ballasts like ATI does. When the ballasts recognize the added resistance, they don't run the bulbs as hard. You can also overcool them as well and have the same issue. The ballasts will cut some power to help try and protect things. I don't think the ballast knows whether the bulbs are under cooled over over cooled, it just knows the resistance isn't within spec. Therefore, something could be wrong and the ballast goes into a "safety" mode.

If your room is right around 68F all the time, 7.5v shouldn't be too much of an issue. When I was exhaustively testing the different fan speeds I was in a basement where the air was about 64F all the time. I found that 7.5v worked best in that setting but as soon as the fixture was moved up into the 70F house, 9v was a better setting.

ATI used to suggest 4v until they had a slew of bad units showing up. Ballasts were failing at a rampant rate (at least on this forum) and the cause was overheating. I believe ATI suggests 7.5v now but there are too many factors to make a blanket statement like that.

Here is a great thread if you want to know more.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1641235

Starting around page 15 is the talk about what temp the air should be exiting the fixture.

 

[Fieroguy19]

Alright so I am running the Tek Elite 6x54W on a 90g mostly SPS. It is time to replace the bulbs and was thinking about changing it a little, although my corals have been looking pretty good so I don't want to change too much.

When the dawn/dusk blue plus are on it looks a little too much like windex with not enough depth for some reason. I was thinking about trying a UVL 454 bulb in the first spot but wanted to see if that would work or not? Suggestions? I don't know what the PAR level is on that bulb and I need all I can get with the SPS. I am kind of kicking myself for not getting the sunpower.

Are the GE and aquablue special still good coices for "white" bulbs?

Current bulbs
ATI blue plus
ATI blue plus
GE 6500
ATI aquablue special
ATI blue plus
ATI blue plus

 

[TropTrea]

I have no experience with T5's, but will be getting T5 fixture soon. What do you guys think about this combo on an 8 bulb fixture and what order should I place them:
ATI Blue Plus x4
ATI Purple Plus x2
ATI Coral Plus x2

What color temperature do you guys think would that combo give me?

My guess is you will fairly white the Coral Pluss should brighten that tank up so my guess would be in the 12,000K range.

I have seen very little on the ATI Coral Plus bulbs and two of them might turn out to be a lot of red when your also running two Purple Plus Bulbs. I personally would run only one purple plus and one coral plus with the rest blue plus initially. Then from there if you do not like the color add either another purple plus or coral plus.

Where are you getting the coral plus bulb from? I have not seen them yet on any US sellers web sites. This is a new bulb and until we see what it does in tanks from various sources it is hard to try and evaluate.

 

[Jester376]

Quick Question....getting ready to purchase my new ATI sunpower 8x80w fixture for my 225g 60x36x24 tank. I am mostly going to be having softies and LPS but I do want to be able to have a few colonies of SPS as well. I really like that look of the 14k as opposed to the 20k look. What bulbs would you suggest I run to achieve the 14k look in my tank? And would I be fine having SPS as long as they were near the top?

 

[WayOfTheReef]

My guess is you will fairly white the Coral Pluss should brighten that tank up so my guess would be in the 12,000K range.

I have seen very little on the ATI Coral Plus bulbs and two of them might turn out to be a lot of red when your also running two Purple Plus Bulbs. I personally would run only one purple plus and one coral plus with the rest blue plus initially. Then from there if you do not like the color add either another purple plus or coral plus.

Where are you getting the coral plus bulb from? I have not seen them yet on any US sellers web sites. This is a new bulb and until we see what it does in tanks from various sources it is hard to try and evaluate.

They are not out yet. I'm waiting for them to come out. thanks for your input.

 

[Alex T.]

Hey Grim, thanks for the advice on the bulb choices for an ATI 8x80.

I was wondering your thoughts on the Sfiligoi Stealth 8 bulb fixture. The only difference I see is the glass shield that Sfiligoi offers instead of the acrylic shield on the ATI fixture that many claim starts to sag.

Any thoughts? Are these fixtures comparable in performance? Thanks in advance.

 

[GSMguy]

Call Reefgeek for the coral+

 

[rtparty]

Alright so I am running the Tek Elite 6x54W on a 90g mostly SPS. It is time to replace the bulbs and was thinking about changing it a little, although my corals have been looking pretty good so I don't want to change too much.

When the dawn/dusk blue plus are on it looks a little too much like windex with not enough depth for some reason. I was thinking about trying a UVL 454 bulb in the first spot but wanted to see if that would work or not? Suggestions? I don't know what the PAR level is on that bulb and I need all I can get with the SPS. I am kind of kicking myself for not getting the sunpower.

Are the GE and aquablue special still good coices for "white" bulbs?

Current bulbs
ATI blue plus
ATI blue plus
GE 6500
ATI aquablue special
ATI blue plus
ATI blue plus

Pull the Aquablue for an ATI Purple Plus and put that on your dusk/dawn.

I personally would run 3 Blue PLus and 1 Purple for dusk/dawn and then have the GE and Blue Plus come on for day light.

 

[rtparty]

Quick Question....getting ready to purchase my new ATI sunpower 8x80w fixture for my 225g 60x36x24 tank. I am mostly going to be having softies and LPS but I do want to be able to have a few colonies of SPS as well. I really like that look of the 14k as opposed to the 20k look. What bulbs would you suggest I run to achieve the 14k look in my tank? And would I be fine having SPS as long as they were near the top?

SPS will be fine anywhere under the fixture. I would actually run the 48" ATI compared to the 60" and I might even look into the 10 bulb Powermodule. Yes it will be more money but you are really pushing your limits with an 8 bulb fixture over a 36" wide tank.

It is up to you though. A lot of people run a shorter fixture when using ATI. They are powerful fixtures.

Either way you go:

8 bulbs: 5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and 1 GE 6500k

10 bulbs: 6 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus, 1 ATI Coral Plus and 1 GE 6500k