The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TropTrea]

i apreciate the help, but i have 6 t5 bulbs and two vho bulbs

my plan is to use the vho bulbs as floresents, since the t5s dont have good pure floresent blulb. so if u dont mind me asking again my six bulb t5 combo is
4blu plus
1ge6500
1purplrplus

vho- 1 super actinic
vho - 1 actinic whight

sorry for the repeat i just want a killer set up by christmas

I'm not sure what you mean by florescent bulb are you referring to UV bulb with an extremely short wave length barely visible to the naked eye? If you are they are really useless to corals. The shortest wave length corals utilize is 417 nm and HO T-f bulbs produce enough light in that range to make the corals happy. I think you would be more than happy moving the 6,500K to a VHO in place of the Atinic and putting in another blue plus in the HO T-5's. Eliminating the super atinic would brighten things up a little and using the 6,500K in a VHO bulb would add even more brightness. With the 6 HO T-5 bulbs all producing blue you should still have an effect in the 12,000K to 14,000K range.

I remember a write up years ago that listed estimated effect.
100% 6,500K = 6,500K
100% 10,000K = 10,000K
50% Atinic 460nm (blue plus)/ 50% 10,000K = 12,000K
75% Atinic 460nm (blue plus)/ 25% 10,000K = 14,000K
87% Atinic 460nm (blue plus)/ 12% 10,000K = 16,000K
94% Atinic 460nm (blue plus)/ 6% 10,000K = 18,000K
96% Atinic 460nm (blue plus)/ 3% 10,000K = 20,000K

Since your using a 6,500K bulb the effects of the 6,500K will be more drastic than a 10,000K bringing the color temp down even faster.

 

[brob22]

i was reffering to the uri now uvl super actinic t12 bulb

but i think ill take ur advicer and just ditch the vho's

thanks for the response and the write up

happy hol;idays

 

[rezaktp]

What is the actual length of a 80W t5 with the waterproof end caps?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

What is the actual length of a 80W t5 with the waterproof end caps?

Just under 60" with the waterproof endcaps

 

[TropTrea]

i was reffering to the uri now uvl super actinic t12 bulb

but i think ill take ur advicer and just ditch the vho's

thanks for the response and the write up

happy hol;idays

The Very High Output bulbs were popular before the compact floresecent bulbs came out. Dimensionally they were very similar to Standard Florescent Bulbs usually T-12 but a 4 foot long bulb ran at 100 or 110 Watts. They produced a lot more light than the standard 40 Watt Florescent bulb.

When the Compact Florescent Bulbs first came out they were the super bulbs of there time at least in the florescent line. At 55 Watts they well exceeded the light output of the standard florescent bulbs and two of them with a total of 110 watts well exceeded the HO Florescent Bulbs. The problem though were the wide design of the Compacts and when coupled with a reflector there was an extreme loose of light.

The HO T-5 then came out which did not produce as much light as the HO or Compacts but do to there thin design made it much easier to design an efficient reflector around. With the 5/8 tube width it was easy to fit 8 of these bulbs into a 12" fixture with a very efficient reflector design. With the VHO bulbs being 1 1/2 inched just 4 bulbs would require a 15" fixture to design an equivalent reflector. Even if it was done the amount of light from of 4 100 Watt VHO T-5's did not equal the output of 8 54 Watt HO T-5's.

Today even in the industrial lighting industry VHO lighting is seldom used. Replacement bulbs are still available however with much more efficient fixtures out today it is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

 

[PortlandReefer]

I have been reading this great info..
I have a 300 (48X48X30) cube being built my plan is to do LED's I'm not sold on LED'S and I was giving a (6)T-5 retro kit I plan on doing a mix reef with lots of SPS high in the tank. So I don't have to worrier about the T-5 doing 30 deep. So my plan is to do 2 t-5 then 2 LED's then 2 more T-5 and then 2 more LED's then the last to T-5. Here is the lay out.

What bulbs should I run.....
After reading was thinking ???
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500
ATI Blue Plus
KZ New Generation
ATI Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I have been reading this great info..
I have a 300 (48X48X30) cube being built my plan is to do LED's I'm not sold on LED'S and I was giving a (6)T-5 retro kit I plan on doing a mix reef with lots of SPS high in the tank. So I don't have to worrier about the T-5 doing 30 deep. So my plan is to do 2 t-5 then 2 LED's then 2 more T-5 and then 2 more LED's then the last to T-5. Here is the lay out.

What bulbs should I run.....
After reading was thinking ???
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500
ATI Blue Plus
KZ New Generation
ATI Blue Plus

If you are building your own LED's I'd forget the T5's and just use a good color mix of LEDs

If not then

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
LED
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
LED
Purple Plus
Blue Plus

 

[swissgaurd]

do you see anything wrong with running 10 blue plus and 2 purple plus bulbs
on my 225 for sps
i really dont mind the blue.
the fixture on the left ive eliminated the aquablue special

 

[PortlandReefer]

If you are building your own LED's I'd forget the T5's and just use a good color mix of LEDs

If not then

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
LED
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
LED
Purple Plus
Blue Plus

Yea the LED's are DYI I want the T-5 for insurance have seen to many LED's gone bad and I figure this way I'm safe. If it wasn't a great deal on the T-5 I wouldn't but figure if I have them use them. Do you see any draw back to this??
By the way great post lost of great information.

The brand on these are ATI????

 

[The Grim Reefer]

do you see anything wrong with running 10 blue plus and 2 purple plus bulbs
on my 225 for sps
i really dont mind the blue.
the fixture on the left ive eliminated the aquablue special

Nothing Wrong with it as long as you like the look.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Yea the LED's are DYI I want the T-5 for insurance have seen to many LED's gone bad and I figure this way I'm safe. If it wasn't a great deal on the T-5 I wouldn't but figure if I have them use them. Do you see any draw back to this??
By the way great post lost of great information.

The brand on these are ATI????

Yeah, ATI

If it were me I'd do

Front
Royal Blue LED's
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
50/50 Royal Blue/Neutral White LED
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
50/50 Royal Blue Neutral White LED
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
Royal Blue LED's

Front and rear LED banks for dusk/dawn 1 then add in the center ATI Blue Plus/Purple Plus pair. Tank should look like watching cartoons on acid.

 

[TropTrea]

Grim

On your LEDS you are only using Royal Blue while it seems most people are equally spliting there Blue LEDS between Blue and Royal Blue. Can you give me your reasoning here?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim

On your LEDS you are only using Royal Blue while it seems most people are equally spliting there Blue LEDS between Blue and Royal Blue. Can you give me your reasoning here?

Because there is no such thing as white light. In my experience there is enough green spectrum in the white LED's to cover everything. My halftones all look fantastic which means I am covering all the spectrum. Pink and beige colored objects are great for checking spectrum because they need a wide range of light to appear as they should. I also have a crude spectrometer that shows all the colors coming in fine.

 

[fessoclown]

questions...

questions...

Hi, I have a 2X24 Aquaticlife fixture currently running 2 Giesemann Aquablue Plus bulbs. I bought it used and that's what it came with. Is this a good set up? I have a 20Gallon tank that is mostly just a couple zoas + mushrooms right now, I am just getting started. I would like the maximize growth and have the colors pop a bit more...
I was thinking of adding DIY LEDs eventually rather than more T5's.
My questions are:
1. For now should I switch out one of the Giesemann aquablue+ for something else?
2. Later If I add LED's as a suppliment how many? and what colors? Cool White? White, Royal Blue, Blue, Red, Violet....??????

As I said I am just starting out but if I do add LED's I want to be able to do most corals down the road so I would prefer to do 1 order and build and make it hardy enough from the start. ie Would 24 LEDs be overkill?

 

[TropTrea]

Hi, I have a 2X24 Aquaticlife fixture currently running 2 Giesemann Aquablue Plus bulbs. I bought it used and that's what it came with. Is this a good set up? I have a 20Gallon tank that is mostly just a couple zoas + mushrooms right now, I am just getting started. I would like the maximize growth and have the colors pop a bit more...
I was thinking of adding DIY LEDs eventually rather than more T5's.
My questions are:
1. For now should I switch out one of the Giesemann aquablue+ for something else?
2. Later If I add LED's as a suppliment how many? and what colors? Cool White? White, Royal Blue, Blue, Red, Violet....??????

As I said I am just starting out but if I do add LED's I want to be able to do most corals down the road so I would prefer to do 1 order and build and make it hardy enough from the start. Would 24 LEDs be overkill?

first on your present fixture.
I would strongly recommend you swapped on of your Aqua Blues for an ATI Blue Plus bulb. This would increase your Blues considerably which is what most corals love. The Aqua Blue as a second bulb will provide enough of the other colors for you.

Now for the LED's. I'm presently working on a supplemental LED fixture myself. If your going to all LEDS you basically have a choice between the 1 Watt LEDs and the 3 Watt LEDs. With the 1 Watt LED's 24 of them would be much better than what you have now however I still think in would be lacking for many SPS corals. Going to a 24 3 Watt Bulbs on the other hand I think would be over kill. 72 Watts of LED Lighting on a 20 Gallon tank would be really over kill.

I'll assume that it a 20 gallon tall tank so the dimensions of the surface are Roughly 12 X 24 giving you 288 square inches of surface area. With a Heat sink of aluminum plate 3/16" X 8" X 20" you should be able to run about 10 3 Watt LED's without fans and up to 20 with fans. I would look at running about 15 of the 3 Watt units with fans for cooling. For led I'd go with 5 Blues, 5 Aqua Blues, 2 Warm Whites, and 3 Cool Whites. But remember the selection on the whites especially have a lot of user color preference in their selection.

 

[fessoclown]

Thanks! I will try switching one of the t5's to an ATI blue plus for now.
I am thinking about adding this kit
http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/Aquarium-14-LEDs--DIY-Dimmable-Kit.html
to supplement and give me moonlights. 4 whites 10000k, 3 whites 4500k and 7 royal blues.
Blues and whites on different drivers so I can leave the blues on at night...
sound good?
What about adding a couple red or violet and/or UV to the blue chain?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Thanks! I will try switching one of the t5's to an ATI blue plus for now.
I am thinking about adding this kit
http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/Aquarium-14-LEDs--DIY-Dimmable-Kit.html
to supplement and give me moonlights. 4 whites 10000k, 3 whites 4500k and 7 royal blues.
Blues and whites on different drivers so I can leave the blues on at night...
sound good?
What about adding a couple red or violet and/or UV to the blue chain?

I wouldn't mess with UV led's if you are running T5's. I'd use Royal blue LEDs with a Blue and Purple Plus T5 lamp. It would be 20K blue but should look sweet.

 

[pwoller]

I am running a tek elite 8 bulb over my 48x24x20 mixed reef. Hung 10 inches off the water. Current bulbs front to back are:

Blue +
Blue +
Blue +
Fiji purple
Blue +
Fiji purple
Blue +
Blue +

I love this look when just the 4 blue plus are on and when all the bulbs are on too, the sps are doing great but I cant find any place to put my chalices where they dont get too much light. On the front glass in the corners I am getting 220 PAR with all the bulbs on and my chalices dont seem happy about it. Well some of them while others seem ok. I just need advice on how to reduce the PAR in some of the front areas so that I can put the lower light chalices up there and they wont need sunscreen. My thought were to go down to a 6 bulb fixture if need be but I was curious if you had any bulb suggestions that might help with this problem?

 

[nanoreef16g]

40 Breeder Lighting Combo

40 Breeder Lighting Combo

I have a 36" Current Outer Orbit that I am using over my 40 breeder. I have two Phoenix 14k bulbs as well as two Aqua Blue Plus bulbs and two Aqua Blue Special bulbs. Any recommendations on where to place the T5's in this fixture for optimum light?

 

[Dimon]

I am running one of each: UVL superactinic, ATI blue plus(blue), ATI aquablue special(white) and a GE 65000K daylight. Do you guys think it is a good setup?