The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[vega77]

lifetime of t5's

lifetime of t5's

A long thread to read....
Anyone have any views on the lifetime of t5 bulbs ?
I have a lux meter so i can compare intensity but not the spectrum.
Is it a hype created by shops to change every 9-12 months ?
Anyone with experience based on other than recommandations by shops or aquarium manufactorer ?

 

[TropTrea]

A long thread to read....
Anyone have any views on the lifetime of t5 bulbs ?
I have a lux meter so i can compare intensity but not the spectrum.
Is it a hype created by shops to change every 9-12 months ?
Anyone with experience based on other than recommandations by shops or aquarium manufactorer ?

Yes it has been proven that the 9 to 12 month range is where you start getting bulb deterioration however there are a lot variable that can that rang to 6 month to 12months easily.

Some general notes is that every bulb needs a break in period where they produce a better spectrum and more intensity after the break in period. Depending on the individual Phosphate mix of the bulb this break in period could be as short as 20 hours or as long as 100 hours.

From continuous usage 24/7 there is a rang of between 3,000 hours and 5,000 hours that the level of deterioration is basically unmeasurable. Then when it begins what usually happens is you start getting more light in the red end of the spectrum first. As this red light increases the phosphates that were emitting the blue light start to deteriorate. And eventually the amount of Blue light emitted starts decreasing.

Now all this is generalized terms as there loads of variables. Depending on the starting circuit each time you turn the light on and off can be the equivalent of an extra hour to two hours of burning time as far as wear on the bulb goes.

How well the bulb is cooled can also create considerable changes. Taking the same bulb and putting in free air space without any shielding or reflectors is where a lot of the base numbers are derived from. But now you put a shield around it or reflector over it and its starts trapping the warm air around the bulb which can cause the deterioration to occur twice as fast even. Add a plastic shield to protect the bulbs from splatter and you limiting the air exchange even more. On the other end of the cooling you can add some fans to blow cool air on the bulbs especially on the ends and you can extend the life of the bulb. However every bulb is designed to operate most efficiently at a set temperature so excessive cooling may not shorten its life but it can make the bulb less efficient.

Then you have your ballasts again. These should be standard however some ballasts do try to push the bulbs to run slightly brighter. Each bub is designed to run most efficiently at it designed power ratings. Exceed these power rating and you will drastically shorten the life of the bulb. Run it at a lower power setting and you will find the efficiency drops of considerably, while bulb life is increased very marginally.

This is information I got while I worked in Quality Control as well as Research and Development for a lighting manufacturer.

Also keep in mind that the light bulb life expectancy of the manufacturers is much longer than what we view it. In 99% of applications minor spectrum shifts or changes in LUMs is not a concern. The T-5 bulb you discard could very easily be used for 2 or 3 years lighting up your garage if you could tolerate the light spectrum.

 

[TropTrea]

Hello All.....

I have a quick question as it relates to lighting my 45-gl frag tank.

I have a Tek Elite 8-bulb fixture hanging over my frag tank and I need to replace all the bulbs since they are 12+ months old. Currently, I am running a mix of Blue+, Purple+, Coral+ and I believe 1-Actinic.

To that end, the colors look washed out and I am looking for color, NOT growth. I am not pushing these frags to sell and only trade or sell frags infrequently. So color is of the utmost importance.

I have an ATI t% fixture running on my 60-gl Cube and got a handle on bulb combination on that tank. So any, and all, info that you can provide for a bulb combination for my frag tank would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance........

As RT said if you like what is in your 60 cube then it is good starting point. However simply swapping them over it there is difference in bulb count will not work and give you the same spectrum by adding more blue bulbs will simply make it more bluer looking.

If you give us an idea of what you like in your 60 gallon cube then we might be able to convert that for your 8 bulb fixture. But what you want to do is add more "white" light as well as blue in as close to the same ratio as possible to what your other tank is.

 

[tegee]

If you like the color on the ATI tank then copy that. For the 2 extra bulbs I would use 2 ATI Blue plus to help with color.

I'm currently running: 3-Blue+, 2-Coral+ and 1-Purple+ on the 60-gl Cube. I am planning on running: 3-Blue+ and 3-Coral+ on the Cube when I switch the bulbs next week.

I was thinking on the frag tank: 5-Blue+, 2-Coral+ and 1-Purple+. As mentioned, I am looking to get great color and not overly concerned with growth. The frag tank is in my basement and the lights run while I am at work, so I am not concerned about how it looks to the eye......my goal is great color for the frags.

Many thx again...........

 

[rtparty]

I'm currently running: 3-Blue+, 2-Coral+ and 1-Purple+ on the 60-gl Cube. I am planning on running: 3-Blue+ and 3-Coral+ on the Cube when I switch the bulbs next week.

I was thinking on the frag tank: 5-Blue+, 2-Coral+ and 1-Purple+. As mentioned, I am looking to get great color and not overly concerned with growth. The frag tank is in my basement and the lights run while I am at work, so I am not concerned about how it looks to the eye......my goal is great color for the frags.

Many thx again...........

That's a great starting place. If you don't need the PAR then a couple actinics may really highlight your stuff as well. They fluoresce a little more than the Blue Plus does.

Might be a good way to go as well.

 

[rogergolf66]

Ok I have asked a few questions on this thread. U r all very helpfull thx.

I have and ati 8x54 over a 120 frag tank. Currently running 5 blue plus 2 coral plus 1 purple plus.

The sps are loving it color and growth is great. The zoa ans paly are also loving it for growth and even seem to have good color but they don't open fully anymore. To much light is my guess. I do also have 2 30w led strips on this tank.

I am running the 2 led strips for 12 hours, 2 blue plus bulbs for 11 hours, the 6 remaining bulbs for 4 1/2 hours.

I have been thinking about different things to lower the intensity. Maybe turn down the duration on the 2 blue plus bulbs to 8 hours and the LEDs down to 10 hours?

Or

Add 2 actinic bulbs to the 2 bulb slot?

Or turn off the 2 bulb slot all together since I have the 2 led strips?

Raising the light any higher is not an option

Any suggestions?

I even thought of adding a shade rack on top of the zoa and paly frag rack?

I know I'm all over the place just brain storming.

Thx
Roger

 

[TropTrea]

Ok I have asked a few questions on this thread. U r all very helpfull thx.

I have and ati 8x54 over a 120 frag tank. Currently running 5 blue plus 2 coral plus 1 purple plus.

The sps are loving it color and growth is great. The zoa ans paly are also loving it for growth and even seem to have good color but they don't open fully anymore. To much light is my guess. I do also have 2 30w led strips on this tank.

Some corals are very sensitive to red light. Some varieties of zoos and Acans are in this group dependent upon there protein pigments. Excessive red light will cause them to either close down or not open fully to protect themselves from they are suspecting is excessive light. This is noe of many cases where to much light is just as much of an issue as insufficient light.

The issue could be corrected by either swapping out the Purple plus for another Coral Plus for a minor reduction in the red spectrum. You cul;d also replace it with a Blue plus for a little more drastic reduction in the red spectrum. Another method would be swapping out one of the coral plus bulbs for another blue plus. But be aware that any of these changes will also change the over color look of your tank.

I am running the 2 led strips for 12 hours, 2 blue plus bulbs for 11 hours, the 6 remaining bulbs for 4 1/2 hours.

I have been thinking about different things to lower the intensity. Maybe turn down the duration on the 2 blue plus bulbs to 8 hours and the LEDs down to 10 hours?

Or

Add 2 actinic bulbs to the 2 bulb slot?

Or turn off the 2 bulb slot all together since I have the 2 led strips?

Raising the light any higher is not an option

Any suggestions?

First off running a 8 bulb ATI fixture on a 120 gallon tank will bring your par numbers to close to the max for virtually even the most light demanding corals out there. Now your also boosting that with LED's. So my first uestion would be for details on your two LED strips. they could be almost as powerful as your T-5's or as weak as not being an issue dependt on what they are on how they set up?

Note I'm usning 8 T-5's over a 120 with LED's but my fixture is a modified hybrid and not quite as powerful as the ATI fixture. Yet I had to move some corals mainly Zoos into shaded areas. For some reason green Zoos grow like wild for me, but those with a lot of red of red in them will only grow in more shaded areas.

Also to give you an idea of my timing right now,
LED strips all blue light = 11:00 AM to 12":00 PM 13 hours.
2 ATI Blue Plus bulbs = 1:00 PM to to 11:00 PM 9 hours.
6 ATI bulbs, 1 GE 6,500K, 2 Purple Plus, 3 Blue Plus 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM 6 hours.

Every couple weeks I'll switch the midday lights off for a couple days to reduce the light occasionally.

I even thought of adding a shade rack on top of the zoa and paly frag rack?

I know I'm all over the place just brain storming.

Thx
Roger

Thje shade rack is a touchy situation. Excessive shade could hurt you as well. Any chance of moving the Zoos to lower point in the tank? Aslo if the reduction in the red light is not helping you can try some atinics in place of the vlue plus but try them one at a time. The difference between a Blue Plus and an atinic is usually greater than most people think it is.

 

[TropTrea]

I'm currently running: 3-Blue+, 2-Coral+ and 1-Purple+ on the 60-gl Cube. I am planning on running: 3-Blue+ and 3-Coral+ on the Cube when I switch the bulbs next week.

I was thinking on the frag tank: 5-Blue+, 2-Coral+ and 1-Purple+. As mentioned, I am looking to get great color and not overly concerned with growth. The frag tank is in my basement and the lights run while I am at work, so I am not concerned about how it looks to the eye......my goal is great color for the frags.

Many thx again...........

An ATI 8 bulb fixture is lot of light for a frag tank. I like your combination idea with 2 or 3 Coral plus and rest being blue plus. But to cut the light output slightly you can substitute some of the Blue plus bulbs with atinics. This will reduce PAR and growth, but also give you a little extra boost in the florescent coloring. Depending on the specific corals more color can be gotten through atinic in the florescent or full spectrum for reflected color.

 

[rogergolf66]

Thanks for all the responces. Before I left this morning I turned off 1 off the led strips they current pro plus blue led strips by the way. I did notice before I left the candy apple reds opened more then they were before so I will start with that. I db that dosnt do it I will swap the purple plus for a coral plus. If that dosnt do it I will try an actinic for 1 of the blue pluses. And if all else failes I will either remove both led strios or I will keep the 2 bulb t5 switch off

 

[vega77]

Yes it has been proven that the 9 to 12 month range is where you start getting bulb deterioration however there are a lot variable that can that rang to 6 month to 12months easily.

Thanks for a good answer based on knowledge.
Just what i hoped for

 

[tegee]

An ATI 8 bulb fixture is lot of light for a frag tank. I like your combination idea with 2 or 3 Coral plus and rest being blue plus. But to cut the light output slightly you can substitute some of the Blue plus bulbs with atinics. This will reduce PAR and growth, but also give you a little extra boost in the florescent coloring. Depending on the specific corals more color can be gotten through atinic in the florescent or full spectrum for reflected color.

Yea....It is a Tek Elite fixture I bought used at a great price and you are absolutely correct, it is a ton of light for a frag tank. I only run the 4-middle bulbs 5-hrs and the 2-bulbs on each outside for 2-hrs. It has two separate plugs for running dawn-to-dusk cycles, but I use it t monitor the amount of light over the frag tank.

I am going to run: 2-Blue+ and 2-Coral+ on the four middle bulbs and install used Purple+ and Actinic on the four outside bulbs and see how that works?

Many thx again

 

[TropTrea]

Yea....It is a Tek Elite fixture I bought used at a great price and you are absolutely correct, it is a ton of light for a frag tank. I only run the 4-middle bulbs 5-hrs and the 2-bulbs on each outside for 2-hrs. It has two separate plugs for running dawn-to-dusk cycles, but I use it t monitor the amount of light over the frag tank.

I am going to run: 2-Blue+ and 2-Coral+ on the four middle bulbs and install used Purple+ and Actinic on the four outside bulbs and see how that works?

Many thx again

If you put the outside bulbs on by themselves it should be deep purple look. With everything on I would be keep an eye on the color it could be to pink.

 

[dunc101]

Hi all,
I have a a standard 55 gallon frag tank (48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 21) that I want to place an ATI Sunpower 6 x 54 watt over but I am wondering how much over spill issues I might have and what a good recommended hanging height would be to hopefully prevent as much over spill without frying my SPS frags.

I also need to build a frag rack and was wondering what a good height would be. This will be an all SPS frag tank.
I would prefer the 6 over the 4 due to bulb combinations:

Bulb plan:
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+

I would've gone with a wider tank, however my frag tank room is very narrow, hence the narrow 55 gallon.
Thanks for any input!

 

[TropTrea]

Hi all,
I have a a standard 55 gallon frag tank (48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 21) that I want to place an ATI Sunpower 6 x 54 watt over but I am wondering how much over spill issues I might have and what a good recommended hanging height would be to hopefully prevent as much over spill without frying my SPS frags.

One tecquinic I tried that worlks is simply getting a bunch of 2 X 4's. Now start putting 2 of them stacked over the tank and put the light on top of it. Look at the light speread is ist equally covering the bottom and rear of the tank. if not andd another 2X4 and check again. Continue doing this till the light starts spilling over then back off a 2 X 4. This is then the max height without giving you excessive spill.

I also need to build a frag rack and was wondering what a good height would be. This will be an all SPS frag tank.

Since water attenuates light fast than air for a frag tank the shorter the better. If your keeping the corals on the bottom then simply look at the tallest coral you will want to keep in it and add an inch to make sure it is covered. I have seen frag tanks for Zoos that were only 4" tall. For SPS I would probably go in the 8" range to allow them to grow to about 5" tall.

I would prefer the 6 over the 4 due to bulb combinations:

Bulb plan:
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+

I would've gone with a wider tank, however my frag tank room is very narrow, hence the narrow 55 gallon.
Thanks for any input!

This will work as far as growth and getting good coloring on the corals. Personal color preference though varies and many of us would personally think it is too blue. If it looks to blue for you try a 3rd coral plus, or replace one of the coral plus bulbs with a Aqua Blue Special.

 

[Kieth71]

Going to change my tank back to my 6x54w sunpower. I am buying all new reflectors for the fixture as they are have some wear to them.I ran 4 blue + 1 coral plus and a purple + on my last combo.I keep mostly sps and from what i have read in the last 20 pages or so the best combo is 4 blue+ 2 coral +.I will admit my last combo was a bit blue for me but prefer growth to the look of the tank-Kieth

 

[rtparty]

Going to change my tank back to my 6x54w sunpower. I am buying all new reflectors for the fixture as they are have some wear to them.I ran 4 blue + 1 coral plus and a purple + on my last combo.I keep mostly sps and from what i have read in the last 20 pages or so the best combo is 4 blue+ 2 coral +.I will admit my last combo was a bit blue for me but prefer growth to the look of the tank-Kieth

Unless the reflectors are seriously stained, you won't see a ton of improvement in PAR actually. Not sure why but I've seen half a dozen people meause PAR before and after with very little change.

You might like 3 blue and 3 coral plus or even 4 blue, 1 purple plus and 1 GE 6500k. The GE will help with reflective colors from your SPS.

 

[Kieth71]

Unless the reflectors are seriously stained, you won't see a ton of improvement in PAR actually. Not sure why but I've seen half a dozen people meause PAR before and after with very little change.

You might like 3 blue and 3 coral plus or even 4 blue, 1 purple plus and 1 GE 6500k. The GE will help with reflective colors from your SPS.

Ya the reflectors got cleaned and look similer to a prior picture i saw of a powermodule in this thread.Alot of the silver got taken off as they got cleaned with vinegar and water solution.I was hoping to stick with all ati bulbs as the place i am getting them does not carry ge bulbs-Kieth

 

[rtparty]

Ya the reflectors got cleaned and look similer to a prior picture i saw of a powermodule in this thread.Alot of the silver got taken off as they got cleaned with vinegar and water solution.I was hoping to stick with all ati bulbs as the place i am getting them does not carry ge bulbs-Kieth

3 blue and 3 coral is a good combo if you don't want super blue.

 

[TropTrea]

Ya the reflectors got cleaned and look similer to a prior picture i saw of a powermodule in this thread.Alot of the silver got taken off as they got cleaned with vinegar and water solution.I was hoping to stick with all ati bulbs as the place i am getting them does not carry ge bulbs-Kieth

Brightest would be 1 Aqua 1 Purple and 4 Blue's (but bluer than using a GE)
Slightly Bluer 3 coral 3 Blue
Bluer 2 Coral 4 Blue
Bluest 1 Coral 5 Blue

 

[SDboatguy]

Checking in ....time for new bulbs

Checking in ....time for new bulbs

Just a quick question, I've been running ATI 3x B+,P+,C+, and a GE 6500. I grabbed an AB spec to replace the GE. Any opinions on the difference? My "midday" lights are only on 4hrs a day, so just wondering if it will change much. Also is there much difference between the ATI purple vs. any others?

Thanks in advance...