The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TruespeedEM1]

8 bulb and run 5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and 1 GE 6500k. Grab an ATI Coral Plus as well to play with.

You answered this a couple days ago but I was just wondering what you thought about the 6 bulb? ive got a 265 thats going FOWLR and I will be getting a 75 to do my reef with the corals from the 120, and getting rid of the 120 all together. Would a 6bulb not work on 24" depth? I just dont want to get an 8 bulb fixture and fry everything in a 75 once I convert.

Thoughts?

 

[DaveG99]

Im going to buy an ATI Sunpower 6x24 soon

I read that the fixture has 2 power cords. One controls 2 and 5 and the other controls 1,3,4,6. I want to get this combo of bulbs.....

4 blue+
1coral+
1 purple+

In what order should they go? I like to have a blue color come on in the morning a couple hours before the bright white bulbs and also stay on a little longer at night.

 

[rtparty]

You answered this a couple days ago but I was just wondering what you thought about the 6 bulb? ive got a 265 thats going FOWLR and I will be getting a 75 to do my reef with the corals from the 120, and getting rid of the 120 all together. Would a 6bulb not work on 24" depth? I just dont want to get an 8 bulb fixture and fry everything in a 75 once I convert.

Thoughts?

If you are going to a 75 just get a 6 bulb fixture. Take out one blue and one purple.

 

[rtparty]

Im going to buy an ATI Sunpower 6x24 soon

I read that the fixture has 2 power cords. One controls 2 and 5 and the other controls 1,3,4,6. I want to get this combo of bulbs.....

4 blue+
1coral+
1 purple+

In what order should they go? I like to have a blue color come on in the morning a couple hours before the bright white bulbs and also stay on a little longer at night.

Put the purple plus in the second slot and the coral plus in the 5th. Have 1,3,4,6 all be blue and turn those on first.

 

[TropTrea]

Hi TropTrea,

Thanks for the reply, is GE 6500k better UVL AquaSun? and what is a 'new generation' in place of one of the blue plus bulbs.

with a few Blue Plus bubs the GE 6,500K is a better bulb since the Blue Plus drowns out the yellow in the GE bulb, making it a much crisper and brighter effect.

The new Generation is made by KZ it is a full spectrum bulb with a little stronger blue to it than the GE 6,500K

There is lot of color preference between these two bulbs mainly on how blue someone likes there tank looking and how bright they want it appear. For those wanting a purer white look they can go with two GE 6,500K and 6 Blue Plus bulbs, For someone who ant nearly the max of the Blue but still some full spectrum they could go with 7 Blue Plus and 1 New Generation.

For effect they can also add an ATI Purple that is strong in the Blues but does add a little red kick in place of one or even 2 of the Blue Plus bulbs dependent on how purple they want the total effect.

The big thing is a lot of this is personal color taste. With 8 bulbs and at least 4 Blue Plus in the mix PAR seldom is an issue any more and then it comes out to more what pleases the owners eye. And through time your taste can change as I would have never wanted to go as blue in the past as I'm doing now.

 

[TropTrea]

Im going to buy an ATI Sunpower 6x24 soon

I read that the fixture has 2 power cords. One controls 2 and 5 and the other controls 1,3,4,6. I want to get this combo of bulbs.....

4 blue+
1coral+
1 purple+

In what order should they go? I like to have a blue color come on in the morning a couple hours before the bright white bulbs and also stay on a little longer at night.

from front to back
1 ATI Purple Plus
2 ATI Blue Plus Dawn to Dusk
3 ATI Blue Plus
4 ATI Coral Plus, ATI Aqua Blue, KZ New Generation or GE 6,500K
5 ATI Blue Plus Dawn to Dusk
6 ATI Blue Plus

 

[DaveG99]

from front to back
1 ATI Purple Plus
2 ATI Blue Plus Dawn to Dusk
3 ATI Blue Plus
4 ATI Coral Plus, ATI Aqua Blue, KZ New Generation or GE 6,500K
5 ATI Blue Plus Dawn to Dusk
6 ATI Blue Plus

thanks. I think that would work great.

 

[JAStoodz]

I have been looking at the T5 ATI SunPower fixtures. I am building a 150 marineland DD aquarium. The dimensions are 36"x36"x27". This will be a mixed reef so I need good coverage and a lot of light. The dimensions have made it very difficult to find a good lighting combination.

I am thinking two of the 6 x 36" 39 Watt fixtures would give me a good enough spread to cover the entire tank and promote SPS growth.

What do you think?

Thanks

 

[rtparty]

thanks. I think that would work great.

I really hesitate to EVER put a purple bulb up front. Not only does it make the tank look more pink/purple, you lose all of the red light coming from it. It only hits the front couple inches of the tank.

If you don't like it in the second slot, move it to the third but you want to keep purple bulbs front of center if possible.

 

[romanr]

I have been looking at the T5 ATI SunPower fixtures. I am building a 150 marineland DD aquarium. The dimensions are 36"x36"x27". This will be a mixed reef so I need good coverage and a lot of light. The dimensions have made it very difficult to find a good lighting combination.

I am thinking two of the 6 x 36" 39 Watt fixtures would give me a good enough spread to cover the entire tank and promote SPS growth.

What do you think?

Thanks

I think you'll be happier with an 8 bulb rig.

 

[JAStoodz]

Dual 8 bulbs, or a single unit?

 

[DaveG99]

I really hesitate to EVER put a purple bulb up front. Not only does it make the tank look more pink/purple, you lose all of the red light coming from it. It only hits the front couple inches of the tank.

If you don't like it in the second slot, move it to the third but you want to keep purple bulbs front of center if possible.

yeah I could swap the purple with a blue plus...purple into the middle spot and blue+ at the front


from front to back
1 ATI Blue Plus
2 ATI Blue Plus .....Dawn to Dusk
3 ATI Purple Plus
4 ATI Coral Plus, ATI Aqua Blue, KZ New Generation or GE 6,500K
5 ATI Blue Plus..... Dawn to Dusk
6 ATI Blue Plus

 

[centrix]

Thanks TropTrea for the help.

I have sent you an email.

 

[romanr]

Dual 8 bulbs, or a single unit?

For a mixed reef 8 should be fine.

 

[Faisal1976us]

Hi ,,,

Today i test my DIY T5 light ( 10x80w Osram Ballast , ATI PM reflectors ,
5 ATI blue+ , 3 ATI Aquablue , 2 ATI purple+ )


any one can tell me, why Purple+ very light pink color ? is it normal ?

 

[TropTrea]

I really hesitate to EVER put a purple bulb up front. Not only does it make the tank look more pink/purple, you lose all of the red light coming from it. It only hits the front couple inches of the tank.

If you don't like it in the second slot, move it to the third but you want to keep purple bulbs front of center if possible.

Yes I messed up on that one

Got used to posting for 8 bulbs and forgot the Blues in front somehow when I reduced it to 6 bulbs and tryoing to get Blues in slot 2 and 5. This should work better.

from front to back
1 ATI Blue Plus
2 ATI Blue Plus Dawn to Dusk
3 ATI Purple Plus
4 ATI Coral Plus, ATI Aqua Blue, KZ New Generation or GE 6,500K
5 ATI Blue Plus Dawn to Dusk
6 ATI Blue Plus

 

[TropTrea]

Hi ,,,

Today i test my DIY T5 light ( 10x80w Osram Ballast , ATI PM reflectors ,
5 ATI blue+ , 3 ATI Aquablue , 2 ATI purple+ )


any one can tell me, why Purple+ very light pink color ? is it normal ?

Purple is actualy a trick on the eye. The eye only sees three distict colors Blue, Green and Red. The urple plus creates light in both the blue and red part of the spectrum. So when the red and blue part of the eye are activated the brain tells us it is purple. Now purple up against blue causes the eye to think it is actualy more red than it actualy ie and the blue more blue than they actualy are. Your description of pink is realy a lot of blue and red light.

 

[Faisal1976us]

Purple is actualy a trick on the eye. The eye only sees three distict colors Blue, Green and Red. The urple plus creates light in both the blue and red part of the spectrum. So when the red and blue part of the eye are activated the brain tells us it is purple. Now purple up against blue causes the eye to think it is actualy more red than it actualy ie and the blue more blue than they actualy are. Your description of pink is realy a lot of blue and red light.

So you don't think I have problem from ballast over driver or bad bulbs ?

 

[TropTrea]

I have been looking at the T5 ATI SunPower fixtures. I am building a 150 marineland DD aquarium. The dimensions are 36"x36"x27". This will be a mixed reef so I need good coverage and a lot of light. The dimensions have made it very difficult to find a good lighting combination.

I am thinking two of the 6 x 36" 39 Watt fixtures would give me a good enough spread to cover the entire tank and promote SPS growth.

What do you think?

Thanks

On this sized tank the 12 bulbs would be a good option. You have 36" from front to back which is large area to cover. Most fixtures will cover an area twice there width, an ATI 8 Bulb fixture is 17.5" wide so the widest tank it should work woith would be 35". There 10 bulb fisture on the other hand is 21" wide so it would handle you tank easily. I would look at the price difference here between the 10 bulb and two 6 bulb fixtures. Financialy the 10 bulb will save you money, But if want maximium PAR you do have two extra bulbs when using two 6 bulb fixtures.

 

[rtparty]

On this sized tank the 12 bulbs would be a good option. You have 36" from front to back which is large area to cover. Most fixtures will cover an area twice there width, an ATI 8 Bulb fixture is 17.5" wide so the widest tank it should work woith would be 35". There 10 bulb fisture on the other hand is 21" wide so it would handle you tank easily. I would look at the price difference here between the 10 bulb and two 6 bulb fixtures. Financialy the 10 bulb will save you money, But if want maximium PAR you do have two extra bulbs when using two 6 bulb fixtures.

A good rule of thumb is one bulb for every 3 inches. Therefore, an 8 bulb setup is best used on a 24" tank.

For a 36" wide tank, 10 bulbs is the absolute minimum with 12 bulbs being a better choice.

I personally would do halides on that size tank. T5s are going to cost a ton more to replace each year.