The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[rtparty]

I've read a lot of good about the coral +. I'm going for a 14-16k look . Thanks

2 blue and 2 coral then.

 

[rtparty]

Hello!

I am changing my bulb and have ordered 2 ATI Aquablue, 2 ATI BLue +, 1 ATI Purple + and one KZ New Gen.

On my tank right now is 3 Blue + and a Purple plus and would like to try something else, maybe a little less blue... And would like the colours to pop

Any suggestion?

Thx!

Blue
Purple
New gen
Blue

May have to tweak slightly for dusk dawn

 

[TropTrea]

It's a DIY system. 24 white 24 blue on 4 700ma mean wells. The emitters are soel semiconductor .. I get growth with them but they are a weird blue and my corals look awful under them. I've had them 2 years. I had optics but I removed them as I melted some shrooms

All Royal Blues or all True Blues will do that for you. The Royal Blues will give you a blue violet hue, and the true blues will give a hard ice blue look. Then depending if you are using cool Whites there is no appreciable red in the spectrum. With neutral Whites the colors belend much better and less whites are required for a simular look.

 

[TropTrea]

Thanks! The 2x Blue+ looks great for the dusk/dawn.
I've never used the actinic T5 before. Will they provide more color pop?

this will vary by what corals your keeping. If you have corals that are rich in florescense3 then they will give them even more pop. But for corals with reflectivecolor in them they will not show any of the reflective color.

Also when going with Atinics remember that they have an extremly low PAR rating compared to any other bulb. Therefore you will need more bulbs to get decient coral growth.

 

[TropTrea]

Not sure if i should post this here or not, I;ve read down quite a few ways and am still not settle on what combo i want to try.

I'm about to ditch my LEDs and go to T5's. I plan on using a 4x39 bulb retrofit hood over a 65g mixed (lps/softie) tank, driven by a 2 advance ballasts, I also have a IC660 from my VHO days if i want to overdrive. I'm ditching the leds because i never have been able to get the color i had when i ran vho's. I wasn't happy with the leds since day one.

I was thinking front to back all ati lamp, blue+, purple +, aqua blue,Blue plus. Would this be a good combo or should i ditch the purple+ for another blue?

Russel I have gone from hides to T-t''s to all LED's and I know exactly what your talkin about. There are advantages and disadvantaged to both LED's and T-5's. But I have have now found that combining them can give you the best of both worlds.

My suggestion is to keep your LED's but add two ATI Blue Plus Bulbs and you will see a big improvement in both color and growth.

 

[boxorocks]

What can I grow in a 23" tall tank with lights 6 3/4 above the water using 4 80w bulbs? Will 4 blue+ be good enough? I do not care about color because I plan to use LED for supplementation of final color adjustment. The T5's will be the growers.

 

[rtparty]

What can I grow in a 23" tall tank with lights 6 3/4 above the water using 4 80w bulbs? Will 4 blue+ be good enough? I do not care about color because I plan to use LED for supplementation of final color adjustment. The T5's will be the growers.

What size tank? How wide is the tank front to back? What reflectors and ballasts? Cooled or non cooled?

If you want growth from the t5s, you'll want more than just blues from the t5s. I'd personally go with 2 blue plus and 2 coral plus.

 

[Tron_954]

Just ordered my Ati 4x24W to replace my Radion... Should I run 10 hours total with 1 hours blues 8 hours all bulbs then 1 hour blues?

14" depth. Light will be at 10", sps and Zoas

 

[boxorocks]

What size tank? How wide is the tank front to back? What reflectors and ballasts? Cooled or non cooled?

If you want growth from the t5s, you'll want more than just blues from the t5s. I'd personally go with 2 blue plus and 2 coral plus.

Sorry...

6 ft long 18 wide tank, ice cap reflectors will be used basic "Century" type ballasts and if needed to be cooled, not a problem, its cooled .

I dont mind going 4 coral plus. I will have blue LED to make blue, so, whatever grows the coral is the most important.

 

[zzl630]

Any one have experience with Maxspect Razor withT5 supplement?

 

[rtparty]

Just ordered my Ati 4x24W to replace my Radion... Should I run 10 hours total with 1 hours blues 8 hours all bulbs then 1 hour blues?

14" depth. Light will be at 10", sps and Zoas

I'd start at like 5 hours max. Going from LEDs to T5 is a huge change. Your corals will be receiving much more light overall and need to adjust for 4-6 weeks.

Sorry...

6 ft long 18 wide tank, ice cap reflectors will be used basic "Century" type ballasts and if needed to be cooled, not a problem, its cooled .

I dont mind going 4 coral plus. I will have blue LED to make blue, so, whatever grows the coral is the most important.

2 blue and 2 coral plus. SPS on the rocks under the bulbs and LPS should be fine down lower.

 

[Tron_954]

5 hours, wow. Less than I expected...

 

[rtparty]

5 hours, wow. Less than I expected...

When dealing with lighting changes, always err on the side of caution. T5 light is different than LED light.

 

[kevensquint]

Hi, I use 6 -T5's over a 24" SPS cube to run a few hours before and after my 250w MH. The goal is to still have an extra growth period while enjoying great colors.
I use : blue plus/KZ new gen 14k/super blue/super blue/fiji purple/blue plus.
Would my colors look best as-is or by changing out the KZ new gen for a GE 6500k?

 

[Tron_954]

6500k will make it look yellowish : /

 

[TropTrea]

I'd start at like 5 hours max. Going from LEDs to T5 is a huge change. Your corals will be receiving much more light overall and need to adjust for 4-6 weeks.

2 blue and 2 coral plus. SPS on the rocks under the bulbs and LPS should be fine down lower.

I agree whith running only 5 hour initialy for your mid day bulbs but the dawn to dusk can be run considerably longer like 7 to 9 hours.

I disagree that your corals will getting more light. The light will be different and wider spectrumed but it will not necessarly be more light. Not knowing the wattage you had on the LED's it does take roughly 50% more wattage of T-5's to produce the same amount of light. With some now LED's comming out the effeciency is getting even close better with 100 lumn per watt now becoming the LED standard form the old 70.

 

[Tron_954]

The Radion.. So around 90 watts I think? From 1030am-1130am with lots of ramp times and only 3 hours of 100%

So example:
Noon blues on channel 1
2pm all bulbs
7pm day bulbs off
9pm blues off

 

[TropTrea]

Hi, I use 6 -T5's over a 24" SPS cube to run a few hours before and after my 250w MH. The goal is to still have an extra growth period while enjoying great colors.
I use : blue plus/KZ new gen 14k/super blue/super blue/fiji purple/blue plus.
Would my colors look best as-is or by changing out the KZ new gen for a GE 6500k?

If your running a MH for mid day I would keep the T-5's more on the Blue Side. The GE is often used to replace the white light that a MH would produce. Not knowing what the K rating is on your MH, I would stick mainly with all Blue Plus bulbs in the T'5's with posibily one Coral Plus if you wanted to brighten things up slightly on your dawn to dusk period.

Noyte the Blue Plus will do more for Coral Growth than any other one bulb.

 

[rtparty]

I agree whith running only 5 hour initialy for your mid day bulbs but the dawn to dusk can be run considerably longer like 7 to 9 hours.

I disagree that your corals will getting more light. The light will be different and wider spectrumed but it will not necessarly be more light. Not knowing the wattage you had on the LED's it does take roughly 50% more wattage of T-5's to produce the same amount of light. With some now LED's comming out the effeciency is getting even close better with 100 lumn per watt now becoming the LED standard form the old 70.

It's the difference between spotlights and flood lights. LEDs are little spotlights that have hot spots. That's just the science behind them. It isn't good or bad.

T5s are a diffused light that lay down a "blanket" of light. Therefore, your corals receive a more even, spread out type of light. The bottoms of corals get hit with way more light from t5s then they do with LEDs.

So, the corals will be receiving more light overall. The peak PAR may be lower but not the overall light.

I've ran a Radion and now run an ATI. There is no comparison on which is better in my mind. My corals say the same. (BTW I'm not bashing the Radion or LEDs. They each have their place.)

 

[TropTrea]

It's the difference between spotlights and flood lights. LEDs are little spotlights that have hot spots. That's just the science behind them. It isn't good or bad.

T5s are a diffused light that lay down a "blanket" of light. Therefore, your corals receive a more even, spread out type of light. The bottoms of corals get hit with way more light from t5s then they do with LEDs.

So, the corals will be receiving more light overall. The peak PAR may be lower but not the overall light.

I've ran a Radion and now run an ATI. There is no comparison on which is better in my mind. My corals say the same. (BTW I'm not bashing the Radion or LEDs. They each have their place.)

There are loads of variables here. But what your refereing to a LED fixtures utilize a lens on each LED. I found I get very even lighting from LED's without them. Sure you loose a little on PAR but the lass is still not even close to the difference between the two light sources.

Now if your refering to the old 1 Watt LED's that some mafg'x are still using then yes they are not that much better.