shred5
Premium Member
Personally I would go 60" with Sps because you want to light all sides of the coral unless you do not plan on going to the edges. Really depends on Aquascaping and coral placement.
The T5 Q&a Thread - split
- Thread starter eagle9252
- Start date
Personally I would go 60" with Sps because you want to light all sides of the coral unless you do not plan on going to the edges. Really depends on Aquascaping and coral placement.
Keep the purple near the front to better highlight the whole tank, 3rd or 4th slot. If you use only one Actinic I would put it in slot 2 but I would put one in 2 and 7 personally (replacing a blue) especially with LED supplementation. For the coral and blue play around to make it how you want, the placement will change how you perceive the tank's overall color.
IF you want high light SPS wall to wall I would agree. Also depends on how much light spill you are willing to tolerate and if you can compromise with just keeping softies, LPS, and "easy" SPS like plating montipora on the side.
Rockhead21564
Member
80w bulb recommendations
80w bulb recommendations
Ati 6x80w fixture
Been out of it a while, does this sound like the correct set-up? Probably softies
Thanks Grim
Aqua blue
blue plus
purple plus
blue plus
Aqua blue
blue plus
80w bulb recommendations
Ati 6x80w fixture
Been out of it a while, does this sound like the correct set-up? Probably softies
Thanks Grim
Aqua blue
blue plus
purple plus
blue plus
Aqua blue
blue plus
Unfortunately he does not post here any more.
The only thing I will suggest is that you look into the coral plus bulb. It is 50% blue+, 40% ABS, and 10% purple about the same par as a blue plus. You obviously like a whiter tank than most on here now days. I use them 50/50 with true actinic to avoid making the tank too blue cast.
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five.five-six
Well-known member
Need some lighting advice
6' tank 24 deep and I'm running 2X250 radium 20k's. I'm suplamenting dusk and dawn with 3X36 watt PC CFLs. It actually grows coral pretty well but I'm looking to improve.
Background: I recently bought a 420NM LED strip. It's not bright enough for the tank but I played around with it and it the corals pop insanely. My wife absolutly loves it. I think it looks like a rave or a black light fun house but happy wife happy life. Normally my wife is the breakmaster on tank spending but she likes the pop so much she got all schoolgirlish "œHow much does it cost? Can we get it?
Tank is a new SPS tank, running 6 months and it's really starting to settle down to the point where I have invested in some very nice frags and am in grow them out mode. I have a set of 10K par monster halide lamps that are bright as heck but almost yellow. I like them; wife hates them.
So I want to replace the CFLs with 2X T5HO. I have been considering but not limited to:
ATI true O3 (I'm old schools and that's what we ran back in the day)
ATI Blue plus
The ideal lamp, in order of importance would:
Promote growth.
Provide my wife's beloved 420nm pop.
Tame the 10k aqualine halides into more of a radium 10k color.
TIA
6' tank 24 deep and I'm running 2X250 radium 20k's. I'm suplamenting dusk and dawn with 3X36 watt PC CFLs. It actually grows coral pretty well but I'm looking to improve.
Background: I recently bought a 420NM LED strip. It's not bright enough for the tank but I played around with it and it the corals pop insanely. My wife absolutly loves it. I think it looks like a rave or a black light fun house but happy wife happy life. Normally my wife is the breakmaster on tank spending but she likes the pop so much she got all schoolgirlish "œHow much does it cost? Can we get it?
Tank is a new SPS tank, running 6 months and it's really starting to settle down to the point where I have invested in some very nice frags and am in grow them out mode. I have a set of 10K par monster halide lamps that are bright as heck but almost yellow. I like them; wife hates them.
So I want to replace the CFLs with 2X T5HO. I have been considering but not limited to:
ATI true O3 (I'm old schools and that's what we ran back in the day)
ATI Blue plus
The ideal lamp, in order of importance would:
Promote growth.
Provide my wife's beloved 420nm pop.
Tame the 10k aqualine halides into more of a radium 10k color.
TIA
shred5
Premium Member
Actininc T-5 lamps do not put out a lot of par but cause pop but not as much Pop as royal blue led. So if you are looking for pop go led. If you are looking for growth stay away from actinic and the blue plus would be better. Any blue lamp would help with the 10k color. With halides I do not think I would be worry to much about par with halides.If it were me I would probably supplement a halide with a Reefbrite strip or sBar strip.
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shred5
Premium Member
As for lamps they all will keep coral well as long as it is not to much actinic and are good quality lamps, so it is just preference.. I usually play around when setting up a new tank and add several different lamps so I have colors covered. Just remember the lamps that are in the front is predominately what the eye sees. So if a white lamps is in the front it will be whiter and if a blue is in front it will be bluer. I like to start with a blue lamp then go white for a nice crisp color. I just do not like recommending lamp combination because it is all taste. I still buy a different lamp here and there to try them out. I just bought a KZ New Generation and love it but it is really crisp white and then a I go with a lamp with a little red to compliment it. I would stick with ATI, KZ or Giesmann.
five.five-six
Well-known member
Took a look at the reefbrights and they are a bit spendy. I already have ballasts for T5HO and a pair of lamps,reflectors and endcaps would run about $100
shred5
Premium Member
There are a few companies making led replacements for T-5. I use two myself in one of my t-5 fixtures. http://www.euroquatics.com/e5-lamps/
I think a few other make these too now.
They are a little more pricey but not too bad.
Otherwise the blue + would give you more of a blue color and more par.
Actinic would give you less par but a little more pop.
https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/lumenbar48/ these are on sale right now. They are royal blue and absurdly cheap right now so they may be a good option. I love ati actinic bulbs for sunrise/set but they do not cut through warm bulbs like a blue plus. There is not enough bright blue and cyan to make a difference to your eye in the true actinic.
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shred5
Premium Member
five.five-six
Well-known member
Wish they were 5 foot.. I don't think 4 foot will cut it on a 6' tank
but at that price they might be worth a try
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
See if you can find the MACNA speaker videos where Tullio with Reef Brite does his presentation. You might pay more for their products but there's a reason.
Big E
Premium Member
What's the reason? His speech is all about correct spectral distribution.
It also focuses on how important spectrum is to a corals growth and color.
I don't see any relation to the Reefbrite bars. They aren't any different than their competitors...........it's basically a 450nm supplemental bar without a controller.
shred5
Premium Member
Probably the wrong one he is a very popular speaker at the conferences. I have known him for a very long time and is one of the smartest people when it comes to lighting.
Bpb
New member
I agree with BigE on this one. I don't really see physically what sets apart a Reef Brite strip from a reef breeders or a sbreef strip besides about 2x the price. Royal blue is royal blue spectrally. What would separate a blue strip fixture's quality on this end would be what diodes are used and driver. He may be a great friend but that presentation alone doesn't command a 2x price difference for one blue strip vs another. They may very well be worth the extra cost. But why? What materials, design, diodes, drivers, ect make them physically and functionally better?
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TimeConsumer
Active member
Not really a Q and A but me thinking out loud here. I'm getting ideas and cash ready for a 20 long (30") nano build that I'm starting next month and I'm going to light it with T5s. Going with a 4x24w 24" fixture over the tank which will be populated with softies and LPS. As I am going to hang the fixture I need something that looks decent and I'm considering dropping the cash on the ATI Sunpower. However this would probably put out way more PAR than I need for softies so I'm thinking I'll dial the light output back by using one or two lower light bulbs like 2x Blue Plus, 1 6500k, and 1 true actinic.
My other option is going with a horticultural fixture that obviously won't be as good as an ATI but looks decent (agrobrite designer), with the main drawback here being only one cord so no dawn/dusk cycle. I figure if I go with this I do the same bulb combo and given this fixture is much lower light output than an ATI I could simply drive all four bulbs for a longer photoperiod using the same combination.
My other option is going with a horticultural fixture that obviously won't be as good as an ATI but looks decent (agrobrite designer), with the main drawback here being only one cord so no dawn/dusk cycle. I figure if I go with this I do the same bulb combo and given this fixture is much lower light output than an ATI I could simply drive all four bulbs for a longer photoperiod using the same combination.
TimeConsumer
Active member
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