The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[tegee]

I recently installed a Tek Elite 8-bulb (48") fixture over my newly installed sps frag tank.

To that end, what bulb configuration would everyone recommend to get maximum growth to grow-out my sps's, while maintaining their color when they go to my tank (or other friends tanks) that run Radium and/or MH's.

So I guess what I am asking, is how do I get the best of both worlds on my new frag tank with an 8-bulb Tek Elite fixture and trying to maintain a 20k Radium look?

Any help and direction would be greatly appreciated........

 

[rtparty]

Hey all...

I currently own 2 AI SOL Blues and switched over from a 6 bulb sunpower almost 2 years ago. I was never completely happy with the leds compared to my t5s. The only reason I switched was due to electricity savings, dimming, and shimmer. But I never got the color I wanted from my AIs. I was wanting your opinions on whether you think I should switch back to T5s or not.

Current display is 36x18x18, and a future frag tank will be a 40 Breeder. I am looking to light both tanks with the same type of lighting so I do not shock corals and figure t5s would be the most economic choice. I thought my old bulbs could be used on the frag tank. So every 4-5 months I could switch out bulbs on display and move to frag, so I get 8+ months out of every bulb.

What are your thoughts?

Sounds like a good plan. Go 6 months on the display and then 6 months on the frag tank. Assuming you use good fixtures with proper cooling.

I recently installed a Tek Elite 8-bulb (48") fixture over my newly installed sps frag tank.

To that end, what bulb configuration would everyone recommend to get maximum growth to grow-out my sps's, while maintaining their color when they go to my tank (or other friends tanks) that run Radium and/or MH's.

So I guess what I am asking, is how do I get the best of both worlds on my new frag tank with an 8-bulb Tek Elite fixture and trying to maintain a 20k Radium look?

Any help and direction would be greatly appreciated........

Unfortunately you may have to sacrifice some color for maximum growth. It won't look the greatest but I would run 5 blue plus and 3 ge6500k. That's not a radium look but growth will be there and the blues will keep a nice color for you. The best thing is that the 6500k bulbs are dirt cheap.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[125mph]

Blue
Purple
Blue
6500
Blue
Coral

Dusk/ dawn is going to be tough here. You don't want a bright overpowering bulb in the front or back. Things don't blend all that well like that.

How do most people set up their dusk/dawn cycles? With the AIs, I just dimmed it down to 2%.. but with the T5s, I just leave 2 out of the 8 on? Which two are best for it?

 

[sur4die]

I have a 120G 4x2x2 tank with a 6x54W fixture.
I keep a mixed reef, but I'm moving more towards SPS with my stock lately.

I have had issues with keeping color from washing out in the past so even if my colors don't pop i just want to stave off a washed out look.

Which bulbs should I get?

 

[tegee]

Unfortunately you may have to sacrifice some color for maximum growth. It won't look the greatest but I would run 5 blue plus and 3 ge6500k. That's not a radium look but growth will be there and the blues will keep a nice color for you. The best thing is that the 6500k bulbs are dirt cheap.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks Ryan.....you are correct. It will be tough to get the best of both worlds with color and quick growth in a frag tank setup. So I will go with (5) Blue+ and (3) 6500.

Many thanks.......

 

[mikeyp1055]

How do most people set up their dusk/dawn cycles? With the AIs, I just dimmed it down to 2%.. but with the T5s, I just leave 2 out of the 8 on? Which two are best for it?

I'm wondering the same thing. I have a 6 bulb t5 tek light. I ran out of funding 2 bulbs short. Right now I can run only 2 bulbs I have all ATI bulbs 1 purple plus, 1 actinic, 1 blue plus, and a coral plus. With the bulbs I have I would like to set up the dust setting now and when I get my last bulbs, just plug and enjoy

 

[Howebomber]

Thanks grim. Can you recommend order of placement.

 

[Froggy]

Try it and tell us what YOU think, that's all that matters. Seems like it should be a good combo

I have had this combo installed for a few days and I do really like it. It was just what I was hoping it would look like. To my eyes, the tank is a bright white, gives me the sunny look I was looking for, still plenty of coral florescence and without the tank being too blue. The combo still has plenty of red in the spectrum as my pinks and reds in corals still show out nicely. Here is the combo I went with:

front
blue plus
purple plus
blue plus
GE 6500
blue plus
coral plus
blue plus
blue plus
back

- Joe

 

[hul kogan]

Here are my latest thoughts on bulb choice and layout. I want to move away from the overly blue look, so what do you think of this?

[------ATI Coral Plus-----][------ATI Coral Plus-----]
[-----ATI Purple Plus-----][------ATI Blue Plus------]

{Phoenix 150w} {Phoenix 150w} {Phoenix 150w}

[------ATI Blue Plus------][-----ATI Purple Plus-----]
[------ATI Coral Plus-----][------ATI Coral Plus-----]

 

[luvzz2play]

So i've got a 75g and I think I"ll eventually have mostly LPS in it. I have a T5x6 Light with a timer for the front 3 and a timer on the back 3. I am hoping for good color but not too much blue and I want good growth. what about this? This fixture came with 3 actinics so thought i would use 2 of them but would that be bad?

front
actinic
purple+
actinic
6500
blue+
coral+
back

 

[TropTrea]

Hey all...

I currently own 2 AI SOL Blues and switched over from a 6 bulb sunpower almost 2 years ago. I was never completely happy with the leds compared to my t5s. The only reason I switched was due to electricity savings, dimming, and shimmer. But I never got the color I wanted from my AIs. I was wanting your opinions on whether you think I should switch back to T5s or not.

The big issue with the comercial LED fixtures is that the ligh balance is simply what the manufacturer picks as what he/she is the best for you. I have several tanks with home built LED systems on them and after playing around with the LED combination I got fantastic growth and colors that I enjoy. The big thing to remember is that everyone does not have the same taste in color for there tanks. Years ago what I thought was too blue for my taste is now now blue enough.

What are your thoughts?

The big issue with the comercial LED fixtures is that the ligh balance is simply what the manufacturer picks as what he/she is the best for you. I have several tanks with home built LED systems on them and after playing around with the LED combination I got fantastic growth and colors that I enjoy. The big thing to remember is that everyone does not have the same taste in color for there tanks. Years ago what I thought was too blue for my taste is now now blue enough.

As far as rotating your T-5's and replacing then goes. I personly only change one or two bulbs out every 4 months. I then have bulbs running up to 1 year long and never have any big lighting change when I do change out a T-5 bulb. but keep in mind that as a T-5 bulb ages in not only emitts less total light energy but the spectrum it emits gradualy changes as well. Therefore I would not use your frag tank as a home for your old bulbs. If it has 4 bulbs in it simply replace one every 3 months. If you want to change your light balance slightly this is also a good way to do it gradualy. Like changing out a Blue Plus for a Coral Plus if you want things slightly brighter.

 

[125mph]

My ATI 8x54w powermodule came and I installed it.. using this configuration:

1 Blue Plus
2 Purple Plus
3 Blue Plus
4 giesemann Midday (6000K)
5 Blue Plus
6 Purple Plus
7 Blue Plus
8 Blue Plus

Got my dusk/dawn on 2 and 4.

Schedule is dusk/dawn on at 10am and off at 10pm. All other bulbs on at 12pm and off at 7pm.

Everything look good? I wanted to get the GE6500 but I cant find where you buy it... where do you all get the GE 6500?

 

[rtparty]

Here are my latest thoughts on bulb choice and layout. I want to move away from the overly blue look, so what do you think of this?

[------ATI Coral Plus-----][------ATI Coral Plus-----]
[-----ATI Purple Plus-----][------ATI Blue Plus------]

{Phoenix 150w} {Phoenix 150w} {Phoenix 150w}

[------ATI Blue Plus------][-----ATI Purple Plus-----]
[------ATI Coral Plus-----][------ATI Coral Plus-----]

I'd use the same combo on both sides and you may enjoy the aquablue more than the coral plus if you are trying to get away from overly blue.

So i've got a 75g and I think I"ll eventually have mostly LPS in it. I have a T5x6 Light with a timer for the front 3 and a timer on the back 3. I am hoping for good color but not too much blue and I want good growth. what about this? This fixture came with 3 actinics so thought i would use 2 of them but would that be bad?

front
actinic
purple+
actinic
6500
blue+
coral+
back

Looks good. Try it and see what you think.

My ATI 8x54w powermodule came and I installed it.. using this configuration:

1 Blue Plus
2 Purple Plus
3 Blue Plus
4 giesemann Midday (6000K)
5 Blue Plus
6 Purple Plus
7 Blue Plus
8 Blue Plus

Got my dusk/dawn on 2 and 4.

Schedule is dusk/dawn on at 10am and off at 10pm. All other bulbs on at 12pm and off at 7pm.

Everything look good? I wanted to get the GE6500 but I cant find where you buy it... where do you all get the GE 6500?

Looks good and reefgeek for bulbs.

 

[csauer52]

Sorry didn't read your post thoroughly

Front to back
Blue + Blue +
Actinic Actinic
MH. MH.
Actinic Actinic
Blue + Blue +

So I finally got my ATI bulbs and installed them yesterday. WOW WOW WOW! I can't believe I haven't used these before. Since I've had this unit I've used nothing but the Current USA T5's. My rationale was that Current USA makes the fixture so their bulbs should be tailor made for it.

I can now see those Current bulbs are GARBAGE! After one lighting period with these new bulbs I can already see colors coming in. Several corals were washed out and are clearly changing to what they *should look like*.

Soooooo glad I stumbled on to this thread. THANKS GUYS!!!!

BTW, installed config as follows:

[-----ATI Blue Plus -----][------ATI Actinic -----]
[-----ATI Actinic -----][------ATI Blue Plus------]

{Ushio 250w 20k}{Ushio 250w 20k}{Ushio 250w 20k}

[-----ATI Blue Plus------][----- ATI Actinic -----]
[-----ATI Actinic -----][------ATI Blue Plus -----]

 

[GSMguy]

My ATI 8x54w powermodule came and I installed it.. using this configuration:

1 Blue Plus
2 Purple Plus
3 Blue Plus
4 giesemann Midday (6000K)
5 Blue Plus
6 Purple Plus
7 Blue Plus
8 Blue Plus

Got my dusk/dawn on 2 and 4.

Schedule is dusk/dawn on at 10am and off at 10pm. All other bulbs on at 12pm and off at 7pm.

Everything look good? I wanted to get the GE6500 but I cant find where you buy it... where do you all get the GE 6500?

So you run the 2 daylight bulbs on the dawn dusk?
That's an interesting choice. I would have used the blue+ for the dawn\dusk.

 

[GSMguy]

this thread. THANKS GUYS!!!!

BTW, installed config as follows:

[-----ATI Blue Plus -----][------ATI Actinic -----]
[-----ATI Actinic -----][------ATI Blue Plus------]

{Ushio 250w 20k}{Ushio 250w 20k}{Ushio 250w 20k}

[-----ATI Blue Plus------][----- ATI Actinic -----]
[-----ATI Actinic -----][------ATI Blue Plus -----]

That combo must look incredible.

 

[125mph]

So you run the 2 daylight bulbs on the dawn dusk?
That's an interesting choice. I would have used the blue+ for the dawn\dusk.

Opps, I mean the #3 and #6 are the dusk/dawn cycles (blue+ and purple+) hehe..

 

[GSMguy]

The purple is mostly a white light, that's why I would use 2 blue+ for dawn dusk.

Maybe try switching 6 and 7 and see what you like more.

 

[csauer52]

That combo must look incredible.

It looks insane! I must admit though, I think I need to adjust because I actually got a headache yesterday. It's REALLY blue and I've had issues with blue light since I had lasik surgery years ago. I hope it doesn't take long

 

[125mph]

The purple is mostly a white light, that's why I would use 2 blue+ for dawn dusk.

Maybe try switching 6 and 7 and see what you like more.

Thanks! I'll give that a try.

When you guys switch the lights out, do you leave the fixture hanging or do you take it down? Its quite a task to take mine down cause it weights a lot and its big lol.. But I'm not sure how well I can switch bulbs with the fixture hanging either