The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TropTrea]

ATI Power 6x54 48"

I keep LPS/Softies. Tanks is 20" high

I'm about to buy a whole new set of bulbs. Can you recommend a combo for a nice 20k look.

On your Dawn to Dusk
either two ATI Blue Plus or 1 ATI Blue Plus and 1 Purple Plus dependent on your color preference.

The total lighing should be 4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and either
1 GE 6,500K, or New Generation, or Aqua Blue Special. These are in order of giving you the least to the most Bluishness in your tank. all would be somewhere close to the 18,000K to 20,000K final effect.

 

[lazyrhino]

It's time to replace the 4x54W T5 bulbs under individual Miro-4 parabolic reflectors on my 75g LPS/softie reef.

Currently I have:
1 x KZ Fiji Purple
2 x ATI Blue Plus
1 x ATI Aquablue Special

I would like to shift to something just a little bit more blue. What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

 

[GSMguy]

Replace the AB special to a Blue+.

 

[sneaton]

would 3 purple + and 3 blue+ be ok for growth....i love the look

 

[pwoller]

would 3 purple + and 3 blue+ be ok for growth....i love the look

LPS, SPS, or softies? I've run 6 blue plus and 2 purples and got decent growth all around. Whats the depth of your tank?

 

[sneaton]

sps and lps...tank is 12" deep

 

[TropTrea]

would 3 purple + and 3 blue+ be ok for growth....i love the look

With 3 Purple plus bulbs you would be realy be pushing the limit on the red. The 685 mn (long wave lenght red light) wave lenght is atributed to a lot of the bleaching of corals and the Purple plus produces bot Red and Blue Light.

There is also little light in that combination in the are of cyan and green light which some pigments do use. I think your corals would be much happier with 4 Blue Plus one purple plus, and one aquablue plus or coral plus.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

It's time to replace the 4x54W T5 bulbs under individual Miro-4 parabolic reflectors on my 75g LPS/softie reef.

Currently I have:
1 x KZ Fiji Purple
2 x ATI Blue Plus
1 x ATI Aquablue Special

I would like to shift to something just a little bit more blue. What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

KZ New Gen in place of the aquablue

 

[The Grim Reefer]

would 3 purple + and 3 blue+ be ok for growth....i love the look

4 Blue Plus and 2 purple plus has been used by a number of people. A 50/50 mix I dunno. I'd keep an eye on stuff if you try it. I'd have a Blue Plus on standby just in case you need to pull a purple. Pure red light doesn't provide growth but nobody has really tried using a lot of the purple lamps so nobody knows for sure if red inhibits growth or simply doesn't provide what the corals need for growth. I know there are a lot of SPS corals that are right at the surface and even exposed to air so they are getting a lot of red in the natural sunlight. Hard to say.

 

[WayOfTheReef]

Hi Guys, will an ATI Sunpower 6x80 watts be enough to run a standard 180 gallon 72x24x24 SPS dominant reef?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hi Guys, will an ATI Sunpower 6x80 watts be enough to run a standard 180 gallon 72x24x24 SPS dominant reef?

You really should get an 8 lamp unit for a tank that size unless you are willing to limit the corals to being on the rocks below the lamps.

 

[sneaton]

if too many p+ bulbs are bad what would i notice? how long would it take to see affects? what type of corals would be most affected? thanks for all the help....ive had the 3b+ 3p+ on my 75 since May and nothing has died or bleached...i did have some recession on some favia and a couple sps but i didnt do a water change for 6 months so i attribute that to water chemistry....ive been doing water changes every week for the last 3 weeks and dosing and ive noticed my corals are doing really well..(sps grew a 1/2 inch in the 3 weeks)

i just switched a purple out with a aquablue,will that be ok? do i need to watch things still?

 

[WayOfTheReef]

You really should get an 8 lamp unit for a tank that size unless you are willing to limit the corals to being on the rocks below the lamps.

I have these 2 fixtures that I can buy used for my 180 gallon: ATI Sunpower 6x80, or a Tek Fixture 8x80. Would you recomend the tek fixture, or will the ATI with just 6 bulbs still reflect more light than the tek 8 bulb?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

if too many p+ bulbs are bad what would i notice? how long would it take to see affects? what type of corals would be most affected? thanks for all the help....ive had the 3b+ 3p+ on my 75 since May and nothing has died or bleached...i did have some recession on some favia and a couple sps but i didnt do a water change for 6 months so i attribute that to water chemistry....ive been doing water changes every week for the last 3 weeks and dosing and ive noticed my corals are doing really well..(sps grew a 1/2 inch in the 3 weeks)

i just switched a purple out with a aquablue,will that be ok? do i need to watch things still?

If things were looking up under 3 purple plus it probably isn't an issue. Dana Riddle did an experiment giving corals ONLY red light and they didn't do well. I would think bleaching or lack of growth would be the issue to watch for. I'd put the 34d purple back in and keep up on your water changes and see how things do.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I have these 2 fixtures that I can buy used for my 180 gallon: ATI Sunpower 6x80, or a Tek Fixture 8x80. Would you recomend the tek fixture, or will the ATI with just 6 bulbs still reflect more light than the tek 8 bulb?

The ATI will put higher PAR into the tank but in a smaller area. If you are willing to leave the sandbed open the 6 lamps will work, or limit the sandbed to Acans or other lower light corals.

 

[WayOfTheReef]

Thanks Grim. What do you think about attaching reefbrite blue LEDs to the front and back side of the canopy to supplement the 6 bulb ATI's? Will the blue LED's go well with the aTI bulbs or no?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Thanks Grim. What do you think about attaching reefbrite blue LEDs to the front and back side of the canopy to supplement the 6 bulb ATI's? Will the blue LED's go well with the aTI bulbs or no?

Aesthetically it would help but they aren't going to add much in the way of PAR. Throw a couple blues out over the sandbed and make an acan garden under them. Acans aren't crazy about direct light from T5's so they should do good, brains too.

 

[OwenReefin]

I have a 40 breeder mixed tank, I'm hoping to do 4x39w LET retro kit, what bulb combo? And would this be sufficient to run a mixed tank with sps, lps, clams?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I have a 40 breeder mixed tank, I'm hoping to do 4x39w LET retro kit, what bulb combo? And would this be sufficient to run a mixed tank with sps, lps, clams?

If ing to do clams go with 6 lamps so you have enough light to the sandbed. 4 Blue Plus 1 Purple Plus and 1 GE 6500K

 

[alessandro]

ATI Powermodule 10x80w.

bulbs:
6x ATI Blue Plus
2X ATI Purple Plus
2X Giesemann Midday (GE6500k is not on option here)

What do you think about?

any suggestion?
will be too yellow?
tank is 220 gls only SPS.
now I have 5 ATI Blu+
2 ATI Purple +
3 ATI AB