The T5 Q&a Thread - split

dustinc said:
I have a 10 bulb T-5 unit that is currently running the following combo front to back...

B+
P+
B+
GE 6500k
B+
B+
P+
B+
Coral+
B+

My wife says the lighting is too white/yellow and wants more blue. In my past tanks with a 6 bulb combo, I loved running 4xB+ & 2xP+. What would you recommend to get this type of color I'm looking for? I'm even open to an actinic as I feel I have plenty of par for my SPS with the 10 bulbs.
Click to expand...

Switch the ge6500 for a blue plus and go from there. That should help a lot.
 
Jimbob said:
Hello Grim, et al.

I have an 85 G tank that is 48x18x22.

It is currently lit with 10 Ecoxotic LED strip lights, 5 of them of the 12W Gen 1 varietal and 5 of them the Gen 2 19W varietal. In short, I basically don't like them as much as I liked the VHOs on my old 85G tank. This tank came with the LEDs though, so I have stuck with them for awhile.

I found today that I have access to a 4 bulb 48" Tek Light and was wondering what your thoughts are on replacing my LEDs with this 4 bulb Tek. I have mostly LPS and softies with a few lower light SPS.

Do you think the 4 bulb Tek would be enough over my 48x18 footprint and if so, thoughts on bulb combo?

I was thinking maybe something like all ATI bulbs with 2 Blue Plus, 1 Purple Plus, and 1 Aqua Blue Plus.

Or maybe Gieseman bulbs with 2 Blue+ and 2 Actinic+ but worried about it being too blue, not enough light , etc.

Mostly, I am concerned with the viability of a 4 bulb Tek to replace the LEDs.
Click to expand...

Grab the tek if you still can. 3 blue plus and 1 purple plus is what I'd run.
 
stlcard said:
hey grim, newbie needing help on bulb color & growth choice. Tank mostly LPS/ Soft. 2 SPS high in 33gal tank.

Whats the best bulb combo for color & growth? As well as order? I would prefer to use Geisemann bulbs as i can get them @ LFS, unless ATI is much better?

Im running: 2x39w Aquatic life & 2x24w Coralife fixtures mounting in my DIY canopy. 39w is over the front of the tank, 24w is over the back half of the tank.

I need to replace all 4 bulbs. I currently have in order:
Front
39w stock aquaticlife 10k
39w Giese actinic +
24w unknown 10k
24w Giese Actinic +
back

Both fixtures and bulbs were hand-me-downs. Thanks.
Click to expand...

3 Actinic Plus and 1 of whatever their pink lamp is unless you can score a fiji purple locally.
 
Chris2223 said:
Hi grim I am seting up a standard 75g and know for sure I want an 8 bulb fixture. I will be keeping a little bit of everything in it softies, LPS,SPS. Which fixture would you recommend? Also, I think I may copy a previous mentioned lamp selection:
Front
B+
P+
B+
GE6500
B+
P+
B+
B+

With this lamp selection would there be a strong blue hue? Would the corals have more color and a slower growth rate? Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...

Corals will look and grow great under that lighting. 15K blue look. I'd but the ATI Sunpower.
 
greg1786 said:
hello, I upgraded yesterday from a two bulb fixture to a current nova extreme 4x54watt t5 ho fixture. I have it over a standard 55gal tank, with sps, softies, zoas, and an RBTA. with two bulbs, I had to keep everything in the top 6 inches of the tank . Now that I got the four bulb fixture, I moved everything down in the tank. my fixture came with tru lumen 12000k bulbs and tru lumen actinic 460 bulbs. I switched out on of the 12000k for a geisman 15000k blue+ bulb. from front to back it is....12000k/actinic 460/15000k b+/actinic 460. my questions are, is this bulb combo good for my corals and nem? if not what do you recommend? also my previous photoperiod was one hour actinic only am followed by daylight for ten hours followed by one hour actinic only pm, should I decrease my photoperiod in the beginning since I have double the light output now? if yes, what amounts and combo do you recommend and how often /much should I increase it?
Click to expand...

The lamps you have are OK for now for a transitional period but withing the next few months I would move to 3 ATI Blue Plus and 1 Purple Plus. I'd keep the dusk/dawn at 12 hours and decrease the others down to 8 for now, maybe even a little less.
 
Photobug said:
I have a T5 DIY fixture that is 12x48" for a 55 gallon tank. It has 8 bulbs on it but I am only using 4 and it seems like plenty of light for our soft coral tank.

The one problem is that the reflector is only a shinny piece of sheet metal behind all the bulbs together. I am thinking of removing extra ballasts and bulbs so that I can have 4 bulbs with good reflectors and a LED strip down the center. The one reflector I can get details on is 2.5" wide, which only leaves me 1/2" for LED when factoring in the 10.5" wide interior of my light panel.
  1. Are there any reflectors that are thinner than 2.5"?
  2. Would it work to bend them inward to give me some space left over for LEDs?
  3. The bulbs are pretty hot, how should I go about cooling my custom panel?
Click to expand...

Don't know of any smaller reflectors but you could always trim down the facing edges of a couple to make room for LED's to shine through.
 
dwdenny98 said:
I setting up my 40g again after being out for the last four years. I am now ready to restart this build. I planned to put T5's on this tank from the begining. I know I want to keep LPS and some SPS. I am looking at the Micro-4 4X39w retro. Bulbs will be about 6 or so inches off the water.

Question 1: will this be enough for SPS up high near the lights. I could go 6X39w if I had too.
Question 2: I was planning on using this bulb configuration B+, AB special, Purple plus, B+ not sure with a 6 bulb configuration. I want a 14000K or so look. I know I dont like the 20000k look that is for sure. Thanks for the help everyone.

Doug
Click to expand...

Should be OK but cool one end of the lamps with a small fan. I'd use a coral plus instead of the aquablue but other than that it should look good.
 
The Grim Reefer said:
Hell no, Gimme a break, it's been two years since I switched to LEDs :fun4::rollface::fun4:
Click to expand...

Lol!
I was wondering if you where ever coming back!:wavehand:
You watching the tigers get their butts kicked? :debi:

BTW a bud of mine ordered a handful of "starcoat" bulbs from a wholesale company ($10 each) and he recieved the same ecolux bulbs that reefgeek sent me. Ecomagination ecolux/starcoat bulb. Go figure...:hb2:lol
 
Michigan Mike said:
Lol!
I was wondering if you where ever coming back!:wavehand:
You watching the tigers get their butts kicked? :debi:

BTW a bud of mine ordered a handful of "starcoat" bulbs from a wholesale company ($10 each) and he recieved the same ecolux bulbs that reefgeek sent me. Ecomagination ecolux/starcoat bulb. Go figure...:hb2:lol
Click to expand...

Don't much follow baseball anymore. It's the time of the year in the 4 year cycle if you get my meaning.

GE has made a couple changes to that lamp. The original 6500K daylight was a little more ivory colored. There were some regulatory changes a few years back were a couple lamps got changed. Helios had a super blue that was nice before the change and crap afterwards.
 
The Grim Reefer said:
Grab the tek if you still can. 3 blue plus and 1 purple plus is what I'd run.
Click to expand...

Thanks Grim,

I actually picked up a used Sunpod off of a friend... one of the 2x150W DE MH setups with 2x130W PC actinics. I was a bit worried the 4 bulb Tek light might not be enough light for my tank and when the Sunpod became available, I jumped on it. I do appreciate the response though!
 
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