The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TimeConsumer]

How does the t5 bulbs react to being dimmed 75%? Do they still last as long? Does it screw up the bulb not running them full on?

No, it won't negatively affect them at all. You will find some anecdotal accounts of it, but that was due to a ballast issue at the time and it has since been corrected. I would still run them at 100% most of the time, but ramping up and down for a few hours a day isn't a problem.

 

[1SlickFish]

Thats good to know, though, at $550 just for a basic fixture, I think I may stick with what I have and retro fit something, lol, yikes!! I am not gonna chop up any of the original parts, so, I may try to find a fixture that can hold 6 icecap reflectors, put the other one back together and call it a day.


TropTrea:

Just some trivia, but, I did think the 20k purple/blue hue halide bulbs were cool and all, but, not what I wanted on a tank 24/7

 

[Topsecret]

Hi all reef experts,

I have a quick question. I just started with a 100g tank (40"x 20x28.5") i just pick up a 4x39w used t5 housing just to get started, eventually i will upgrade to LEDs with enough par to grow sps. now what type of bulb i should be just enough to get a fish and few beginner's corals and slowly transform to a reef tank once i get around the LED

thx all

 

[TropTrea]

Hi all reef experts,

I have a quick question. I just started with a 100g tank (40"x 20x28.5") i just pick up a 4x39w used t5 housing just to get started, eventually i will upgrade to LEDs with enough par to grow sps. now what type of bulb i should be just enough to get a fish and few beginner's corals and slowly transform to a reef tank once i get around the LED

thx all

With a combination lighting your going to have I depend on my T-5's to handle strictly a good precentage of the extremes of the Blue range. For starters before you get your leds I would run 1 Atinic, 2 Blue Plus and 1 Coral Plus. Then when you add your midday LED's (50/50 royal blue and neutral whites) you can swap the coral plus for another atinic or blue plus T-5.

 

[TropTrea]

TropTrea:

Yea, I was thinking of incorporating some LEDs. I would have about 1/2-1" space between the reflectors I could shove some LEDs into. Question is, do I go with white LEDs and blue bulbs or blue LEDs and white-ish bulbs??? .

Please post to this thread and we can keep both threads on subject. This is mainly a T05 thread and I do not mind touching the LED subject here a little but if we go into any debt on LED's it woul realy start getting overly off topic.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2275561

Yea, cryptic is exactly that, lol. I got really excited when I saw he used 80w bulbs, but, he is quiet about his setup. I see Grim still posts but I didint want to bother him. There is a reason he stopped posting in the T5 section, but, I am curious what he is up to. He knows T5's so I am sure he is on a quest to match LED's to the T5's he was so fond of using. I am curious what he thinks of this new fangled technology and what lights he fancy's.
.

As far a as Grim goes I know he switched to completly LED lighting about 3 years ago. When he was posting regularly and just into T-5's he was getting some free suport from manufacturers to test there bulbs and compare them here. But when they found out he was also using LED's they reduced his support.

Grim does post on other threads ocassionaly though not nearly as much as he used to in the past.

 

[Topsecret]

Thx Trop!! Great info and i will have a crack at ur suggestion over the weekend. As a newbie reefer, i know for a fact that the lighting is as important as the water condition in order to have a success with SPS. Now i m just saving and researching on the best possible LEDs that i can afford. With that currently i m lookng at Vertex SR and AI SOL

 

[DiscusHeckel]

ATI Aquablue special v ATI Coral Plus

ATI Aquablue special v ATI Coral Plus

The main photosynthetic compounds found in corals are:
Chlorophyll a
Major absorption peak = 417 nm
Secondary absorption Peak = 655 nm
Chlorophyll b
Major Absorption peak = 436nm
Secondary Absorption Peak = 625 nm
B carorene
Major Absorption peak = 447nm
Secondary Absorption Peak = 475 nm
violaxanthin
Major Absorption peak = 445nm
Secondary Absorption Peak = 475 nm
Additional Significant peak = 425nm
lutein
Major Absorption peak = 452nm
Secondary Absorption Peak = 485 nm
Phycoerythrin
Single Absorbtion = 590 nm
Phycocynanin
Single Absorbtion = 625 nm

Thanks for the above. Given these numbers, in your opinion, which tube would produce more PUR (photosynthetically Usable Ration) as opposed to PAR (ATI aquablue special or ATI coral plus)?

Cheers

 

[jdraider75]

I finally got my 48 in. 8 bulb ati sunpower. All I can say is this nthing is a beast. It is way more intense than my 8 bulb nova extreme. I hung it 10 in from water surface Do you think that will be high enough? I also shortened the 6 daylight bulbs to 6 hrs from 7 but dusk dawn bulbs run 10 just like before.
Also tank is sps dominate my bulb combo is:
Blue plus
purple plus
blue plus
blue plus
GE 6500k
blue plus
coral plus
blue plus
What do you think of that combo I think I like it its a lot less blue than I had before.

 

[TropTrea]

I finally got my 48 in. 8 bulb ati sunpower. All I can say is this nthing is a beast. It is way more intense than my 8 bulb nova extreme. I hung it 10 in from water surface Do you think that will be high enough? I also shortened the 6 daylight bulbs to 6 hrs from 7 but dusk dawn bulbs run 10 just like before.
Also tank is sps dominate my bulb combo is:
Blue plus
purple plus
blue plus
blue plus
GE 6500k
blue plus
coral plus
blue plus
What do you think of that combo I think I like it its a lot less blue than I had before.

As far as pleasing your corals it could not be a problem at all. But as far as how it looks is completly up to you, some would say this combination looks to blue for them others would say it is not blue enough. The only difference between what I'm running on my 120 is that I have a purple plus where you have a coral plus. That means yours is slightly brighter and mine is slightly more red. But most people would not nootice the color difference it is so minor.

The brightness change you can atrribute to both new bulbs and the better focusing reflector of the ATI fixture. Dawn to dusk should not need any changes from you used to light light your tank. But the midday cycle I would reduce to 70% of the time for the first two weeks than add 10% back every other week till it is the same as before.

So if you were at 8 hours I'd for to 5 1.2 hours the first two weeks, then 6.5 hours the next two, and 7 hours the last two weeks before going to the full 8 hours.

 

[TropTrea]

Thanks for the above. Given these numbers, in your opinion, which tube would produce more PUR (photosynthetically Usable Ration) as opposed to PAR (ATI aquablue special or ATI coral plus)?

Cheers

The aqua blue special would give a little higher PUR considering that corals need very little red light which is a strong element of the Purple plus and coral plus. However from a viewing prospective the purple plus would bring out any reflective red in the corals that dark be dark and dull with the aqua blue special.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

The aqua blue special would give a little higher PUR considering that corals need very little red light which is a strong element of the Purple plus and coral plus. However from a viewing prospective the purple plus would bring out any reflective red in the corals that dark be dark and dull with the aqua blue special.

Thanks very much for your reply.

Does it there follow that Aquablue special is a better growth lamp than GE 6500K?

When I swapped my Sylvania 6500 tube with an Aquablue special tube, the coral growth accelerated noticeably. The colouration of my corals also improved. Before the swap, I hypothesised that a 6500K tube (especially in my case because I have a shallow tank) encourages zooxanthellate a lot more than a white tube and therefore makes corals look browner. It turned out that I was right.

:beer:

 

[Pdm2476]

Hi guys I was wondering if someone could answer this question.

I recently purchased an almost brand new 36 inch T5HO fixture for a newer 30 gallon mixed reef tank I have. There are some LPS lots of Zoas and a few pieces of SPS. The fixture came with 4 brand new Giesemann bulbs he had them installed as follows.

Front
Powerchrome Midday T5 Fluorescent
Powerchrome Actinic+ T5 Fluorescent
Powerchrome Aquablue+ T5 Fluorescent
Powerchrome Pure Actinic T5 Fluorescent

Im wondering if this order is the best and if the bulbs are ok? I have used ATI in the past but not Giesemann also wondering if the combination is ok or if i should look to add something else?

Thanks for the help!

 

[TropTrea]

Thanks very much for your reply.

Does it there follow that Aquablue special is a better growth lamp than GE 6500K?

When I swapped my Sylvania 6500 tube with an Aquablue special tube, the coral growth accelerated noticeably. The colouration of my corals also improved. Before the swap, I hypothesised that a 6500K tube (especially in my case because I have a shallow tank) encourages zooxanthellate a lot more than a white tube and therefore makes corals look browner. It turned out that I was right.

:beer:

A 6,500K bulb is realy a blueish bulb but when compared to a Blue bulb will look more yellow because of the comparison of color between your eye and your brain. If you were to put the 6.500K bulb next to a lower K bulb it would look nlue compared to the other bulb.

As far as growth and clor goes it depends a lot on what corals your keeping and the overall ratio of the blues to white lighting is. In a 4 bulb fixture the 6,500K would not help the browth as much as say in a 8 bulb fixture with a higher ratio of blues. For appeatance the color you see from your corals are both reflective and florescent. The 6,500K will bring out the reflective colors much better however it will do little for the florescent colors.

Growth wise again it will vary buy the individual coral. In deeper water corals through generations corals ave addapted to living on mostly blue light that penatrates the ocean. However the shallow water corals do get a considerable amount of full spectrum light in nature and have addapted to it. An interesting thing is you will find many species of coral that grow in both deep and shallow ater but have considerably different growth paterns and color do to the way they have addapted to the light available for them.

 

[TropTrea]

Hi guys I was wondering if someone could answer this question.

I recently purchased an almost brand new 36 inch T5HO fixture for a newer 30 gallon mixed reef tank I have. There are some LPS lots of Zoas and a few pieces of SPS. The fixture came with 4 brand new Giesemann bulbs he had them installed as follows.

Front
Powerchrome Midday T5 Fluorescent
Powerchrome Actinic+ T5 Fluorescent
Powerchrome Aquablue+ T5 Fluorescent
Powerchrome Pure Actinic T5 Fluorescent

Im wondering if this order is the best and if the bulbs are ok? I have used ATI in the past but not Giesemann also wondering if the combination is ok or if i should look to add something else?

Thanks for the help!

With bother a mid day and an atinic plus you have a very large precentage of "white light" With it being only a 4 bulb fixture the Atinic + will probably give you enough white for your corals.

The use of Atinic bulbs is very debatable most of us believe the blue bulbs will provide enough atinic light and others want to boast it higher. But with only 4 bulbs I would replace the Mid day with a strong Blue bulb as well as the Pure Atinic.

For bulb placement I like to put the white bulb in the position that is just in front of center of the lighting fixture.

 

[cr2jones]

Wiring help before I ask about bulbs

Wiring help before I ask about bulbs

I am changing my leds DIY to T5s, just for simplicity. I need more time to work on the LEDs and get them stable (having fuse and wiring issues). My question is are there any references to read on wiring a DIY hood? I will have 6 bulbs over my 75 gallon specific to SPS with a few LPS. I have the hood made, it is 25 years old, LOL, and was fitted with the huge VHOs at one time. I have the Fulhum workhorse 7 and 5 for ballast. How are you guys wiring both pins on each side of the bulb?

Thanks for any help.

 

[TimeConsumer]

I am changing my leds DIY to T5s, just for simplicity. I need more time to work on the LEDs and get them stable (having fuse and wiring issues). My question is are there any references to read on wiring a DIY hood? I will have 6 bulbs over my 75 gallon specific to SPS with a few LPS. I have the hood made, it is 25 years old, LOL, and was fitted with the huge VHOs at one time. I have the Fulhum workhorse 7 and 5 for ballast. How are you guys wiring both pins on each side of the bulb?

Thanks for any help.

Workhorse 7 diagram:

Workhorse 5:

 

[cr2jones]

Thanks Steve, I see that you can use a jumper on the end cap. Is that how everone is wiring their hood? How are you taking the 4 yellow wire down to the one coming out of the ballast? That is one big wire nut! Also what size wire should I use? the wire on the ballast looks like it is 16 or 19 ga.

 

[wcharon]

Good Morning Guys...

I need some advise... My Hammers are having pale colors mostly on the top and i will like recommendations on bulb combination and height.

I have a 125 gallon (72*18*21) with a Sunpower 6*80 watt. Thay are at 8" above water surface. Actual bulb combination is 4 B+, 1 Coral + and 1 Purple + running for 8 hours. Dawn and dusk are the Purple and Blue combination which i like.

Water paremeters is CA 400, MG 1500, ALK 7.5 -8.5 Salinity 102.5. By the way i have Mushrooms, Bubble, Leathers, Carnation, Brains Montipora and all looks OK except the Hammers.

Should i upper the lights or change bulb combination????

Thanks in advance...

 

[TimeConsumer]

Thanks Steve, I see that you can use a jumper on the end cap. Is that how everone is wiring their hood? How are you taking the 4 yellow wire down to the one coming out of the ballast? That is one big wire nut! Also what size wire should I use? the wire on the ballast looks like it is 16 or 19 ga.

For the yellow wire you could do one big wire nut, or you could use 4 of them to join two wires along the route. If that makes sense. For the wire I think 18 gauge is sufficient, there aren't many amps involved. With the Workhorse ballast you should be using the jumper.

 

[TimeConsumer]

Good Morning Guys...

I need some advise... My Hammers are having pale colors mostly on the top and i will like recommendations on bulb combination and height.

I have a 125 gallon (72*18*21) with a Sunpower 6*80 watt. Thay are at 8" above water surface. Actual bulb combination is 4 B+, 1 Coral + and 1 Purple + running for 8 hours. Dawn and dusk are the Purple and Blue combination which i like.

Water paremeters is CA 400, MG 1500, ALK 7.5 -8.5 Salinity 102.5. By the way i have Mushrooms, Bubble, Leathers, Carnation, Brains Montipora and all looks OK except the Hammers.

Should i upper the lights or change bulb combination????

Thanks in advance...

Are the hammers higher up or in an area of more light intensity than the other corals mentioned? What about the polyp extension, are they staying slightly retracted?