The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[lilpatty19]

Hi I have a 28 gallon bowfront tank with a 4 bulb 24 watt aquatic life fixture that I had on my freshwater tank and am now looking to change the bulbs so that I can keep some lps and SpS and possibly a clam. Which bulbs do you recommend and what brand?
Thanks!
Patty

 

[SDonkey]

i was running 4-blue plus,1purple plus, 1- coral plus in my 6bulb. it was just a touch to blue for my liking 25k ish. definately more blue then my 20k leds. i added new aquatic life 10k i had lying around in place of 1 of the blue+'s and i really like the like it.

I have been having this same issue with the Aquatic life 6 bulb. I had a UVL Super Actinic in the place of the purple plus and just switched back to the Purple Plus. I do like the dark blue but I am hoping for better growth now.
Zack

 

[TropTrea]

Hi I have a 28 gallon bowfront tank with a 4 bulb 24 watt aquatic life fixture that I had on my freshwater tank and am now looking to change the bulbs so that I can keep some lps and SpS and possibly a clam. Which bulbs do you recommend and what brand?
Thanks!
Patty

I would go with:

2 ATI Blue Plus
1 ATI Purple Plus
1 ATI Aqua Blue Special

this will allow you to keep most soft corals and LES corals. For the LPS you will have to keep them in the top 1/3 of the tank.

Now if you want to add Clams especialy on the bottom I would look at suplementing with some QUALITY 3 watt LED's. An added 24 Watts of LED's would extend your options considerably for keeping basicly anything in your tank.

 

[nova65ss]

Can anyone help me with my new T5 fixture combo? I have a solona and just switched from a 4 bulb aquaticlife to a 20" nova extreme 6 bulb setup. I have alot of lps and some sps up high.

The problem is ATI does not have a 20" bulb so I will need a suggestion on brand and color combo as well. Thank you!

 

[fiji4118]

Hey Grim and company.

About to replace my bulbs. Current setup below for a mixed reef based on Grim's previous suggestion. Mostly LPS and zoas. Has worked great for growth and the few Sps I have love this setup. I'm wondering if there is a way to get this a little bit whiter without compromising the growth/health of the corals. I have seen the coral + mentioned a bit. I don't think it was available last time I bought bulbs. Tank is a 150.


80W bulbs
Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI purple Plus
Blue plus
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

Also, recommendations on where to buy online? Anyone new out there I should look at.

Thanks!

 

[CarlitosReef]

I have a standard 55g I am in the process of setting up all though the T5 fixture I can't seem to get it out of my head. I am planning in upgrading in the future but as for now I am between if to get the 6 bulbs or the 4 bulbs in 48" version.

I like the idea of having more room to play with with the 6 bulbs but my tank being 12" I would have some light coming off the edges.

I already have the TEK fixture legs but I figured if I get the 6 bulb I could hang it a little higher?

Advice???

BTW it will be mostly a frag tank I want to slowly add a little bit of everything in corals.

 

[dadina]

Nova extreme 36" 4 bulb

Nova extreme 36" 4 bulb

Grim, I found your recommendation on Nova extreme36" 4 bulb, but I want all ATI if possible to keep only 1 vendor (expensive to ship here in PR) Should i do a blue plus, purple plus, and 2 aqua blue?

I have beginner 29g, established ~2 years, softies, fish, no SPS, but want to try LPS and anemone eventually. Thanks on behalf of all of us!

 

[cintec]

Hi All,

I have decided to get a T5 light unit but need some help on choosing which one I have a 4ft tank should I use 39w or 54w unit.

Then what is the difference between the Ati sun power and Ati powermodule.

Also is there any issues buying second hand(things to look out for) I was about to buy a 8x54w unit for cheap but it was sold after the guy agreed a price with me and agreed to hold it

 

[jacob.morgan78]

Hello!

Current: front to back on aquatic life 72" t5 fixture 6 rows 12 bulbs
Blue plus
Aquatic life's purple bulb (came with fixture)
GE 6500
Blue plus
Coral plus
Blue plus

I can't get my clam to stay up on the rock closer to the light. Plus, I want the best light selection possible for coral growth. I was thinking about changing the purple bulb to another blue plus. Any better suggestions??? I kept the aquatic life purple bulb originally because Grimm said it wasn't a ad bulb.

Thanks for any guidance anyone can offer!!!

 

[TropTrea]

I have a 6x54 ATI PM. Currently running:

4 Blue +
1 Coral +
1 Purple +

Went to the LFS and he recommended I change one of my B+ to a True Actinic to get the 420 wavelength.

Any ideas/thoughts on this?

That is old school as well as what some low cost manufacturers still push. The atinic bulbs center there spectrum around 420 nm with a spread of about 30 nm so they produce light between 390 nm and 450 nm. Later they came out with 450 nm "atinics" which they promoted to use with the true atinics these centered around 450 nm with a bout a 35 nm spread so they went from 415 nm to 485 nm. The newer design like the Blue Plus are about 460 nm peak but produce light from 400 nm to 550 nm.

Also the ratio of "atinic" to 10,000K lighting used to have an old standard of 1 to 1. However it was found that corals colored up much better as well as grew better with ratios in the 1 to 3 to 1 to 4 range, with the majority of bulbs in the blue spectrum.

 

[TropTrea]

Can anyone help me with my new T5 fixture combo? I have a solona and just switched from a 4 bulb aquaticlife to a 20" nova extreme 6 bulb setup. I have alot of lps and some sps up high.

The problem is ATI does not have a 20" bulb so I will need a suggestion on brand and color combo as well. Thank you!

Are you sure it is a T-5 20" bulb you need?

18 Watt HO T-5's are 16.5" Long
24 Watt HO T-5's are 22.5" Long
39 Watt HO T-5's are 34" Long
54 Watt HO T-5's are roughly 42" long

I have never heard of a 20" long T-5 bulb. If that is what your fixture takes you may be stuck with what gave you. But good luck if the bulbs ever burn out trying to find replacements.

 

[TropTrea]

Hello!

Current: front to back on aquatic life 72" t5 fixture 6 rows 12 bulbs
Blue plus
Aquatic life's purple bulb (came with fixture)
GE 6500
Blue plus
Coral plus
Blue plus

I can't get my clam to stay up on the rock closer to the light. Plus, I want the best light selection possible for coral growth. I was thinking about changing the purple bulb to another blue plus. Any better suggestions??? I kept the aquatic life purple bulb originally because Grimm said it wasn't a ad bulb.

Thanks for any guidance anyone can offer!!!

The Aqualife purple is simular to the ATI purple plus however you would get slighly better light using the ATI Purple plus. So the switch could give you a niminal gain. Anoter gain might be swaping the Coral Plus to a Blue Plus. The tank won't be quite as bright but the Par would be lightly higher with more Blue.

If it were mine I would add a strip of LED's for added suplementation. If it is a 24" deep tank a strip of about 30 watts of Blue LED's in the front and back of the 6 bulb fixture.

 

[TropTrea]

Hi All,

I have decided to get a T5 light unit but need some help on choosing which one I have a 4ft tank should I use 39w or 54w unit.

Then what is the difference between the Ati sun power and Ati powermodule.

Also is there any issues buying second hand(things to look out for) I was about to buy a 8x54w unit for cheap but it was sold after the guy agreed a price with me and agreed to hold it

you definatly want a 48" fixture. with the 36" fixture you would have notable fall off of the light on the ends.

I believe the biggest difference is the housing for these units. I believe they use the same Ballasts and the same Reflectors which are the most important things.

On used fixtures you want to check the shine of the reflector, chearness of the shield, and see that all the bulbs are lighting up and stayng lit. Ideally you want a fixture with two power cords so you can spilt up the bulbs on two timers.

 

[nova65ss]

Are you sure it is a T-5 20" bulb you need?

18 Watt HO T-5's are 16.5" Long
24 Watt HO T-5's are 22.5" Long
39 Watt HO T-5's are 34" Long
54 Watt HO T-5's are roughly 42" long

I have never heard of a 20" long T-5 bulb. If that is what your fixture takes you may be stuck with what gave you. But good luck if the bulbs ever burn out trying to find replacements.

Sorry yes they are 18s the fixture is 20 wasn't thinking correctly. The smallest bulb ATI makes is 24. Thank you

 

[jacob.morgan78]

If it were mine I would add a strip of LED's for added suplementation. If it is a 24" deep tank a strip of about 30 watts of Blue LED's in the front and back of the 6 bulb fixture.

Interesting. I'll definitely consider this. Any recommendations for a direction to go with this? I have zero knowledge on LEDs... Brand? Store?

Thanks a lot!!

 

[johnike]

I am considering switching to T5 and ran across 8 bulb and 12 bulb, 48" hydroponic fixtures as cheap as $150 a piece. Two of them would sit on the 240 nicely. Are these acceptable using rows of Blue Plus, Aquablue Specials, Fiji Purples, or are they not suitable for aquarium use?
Thanks, John.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I am considering switching to T5 and ran across 8 bulb and 12 bulb, 48" hydroponic fixtures as cheap as $150 a piece. Two of them would sit on the 240 nicely. Are these acceptable using rows of Blue Plus, Aquablue Specials, Fiji Purples, or are they not suitable for aquarium use?
Thanks, John.

Stick to the good stuff over that large a tank. Cheap fixtures won't have good reflectors which is important on deep tanks.

 

[johnike]

Could the reflectors be gutted and replaced with worthy replacements?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Could the reflectors be gutted and replaced with worthy replacements?

Yeah but suddenly you turn a 150.00 fixture into a 450.00 fixture. You are usually going to be better off buying the right equipment to begin with.

 

[johnike]

Would 2 12 bulb fixtures be overkill on a tank this size? (Mixed reef)
And kindly point me in the direction of your choices in fixtures or DIY's.
Thanks Grim.