The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TropTrea]

What is a good substitute daylight buib for the GE6500K? Premium Aquatics does not carry this one and I already have a fairly large order in the cart that I'd like to place. Do you reccomend a Geissman Midday, a ATI Coral Plus (although it really lacks in the yellows and reds). Need some opinions as I don't really want to have to place another order elsewhere. BUT, I will if need be. I"ve run the GE bulb for years and its hard to give up but so is making change. Thanks guys.
Fixture is an 8 Bulb dimmable powermodule. 24''
5 Blue Plus
2 Purple Plus
Just need to figure out my daylight bulb

Finding a direct conversion is difficult, But Some aproximate converions would be

4 Blue plus
2 Aqua Blue Specials
2 Purple Plus.

Or
4 Blue Plus
4 Coral Plus
but this might look a little more purplish than the GE.

Neither of the combination though will match the yellow spectrum in the GE bulb though. So they both might look a little dull in the reflective colors you get from fish like yellow tags, or fox face.

 

[cFloor]

I got some great help in here a couple months ago, and I'm looking for one more piece of advice before buying my ATI unit. I have a 36x36x20" cube and I'm going back and fourth between two 6 bulb sunpowers or one 10 bulb powermodule. My tank is all sps and I'm looking for complete coverage. thank you

 

[h0bite]

I got some great help in here a couple months ago, and I'm looking for one more piece of advice before buying my ATI unit. I have a 36x36x20" cube and I'm going back and fourth between two 6 bulb sunpowers or one 10 bulb powermodule. My tank is all sps and I'm looking for complete coverage. thank you

The Powermodule hybrid with 8x39w and 2x75w led seem to be the perfect choice !

 

[cFloor]

h0bite- thank you for the reply. I have indeed been looking at that fixture as well. I still need to do more research on it. It is $600 more than the 10 bulb power module, is the price justified? My main goal is to have a cube full of growing and colorful corals. I'm not sure, because I haven't done enough reading on it, if the added LEDs assists in this, or simply gives me more to tinker with. I don't need or even necessarily want all the bells and whistles, but if it actually helps with the growth and coloration of corals, that will be the fixture I will buy.

 

[ReefNate]

Hello everyone I am setting up a shallow frag tank and will be using a 4 bulb t5 fixture over it. could you guys recommend 4 ATI bulbs I should run. I will be growing mostly softies and a few sps.

 

[BrianO]

I am trying to decide which fixture to use on my standard 90 gallon. I have both a 6x54 tek and 8x54 tek light. The fixture will hang about 4-5 inches above the water. Do you think the 8x54 will be too much?

I was thinking about using mainly Blue plus, purple plus, and a ge 6500. What kinda of configurations would you suggest for good color and growth?

 

[sahin]

h0bite- thank you for the reply. I have indeed been looking at that fixture as well. I still need to do more research on it. It is $600 more than the 10 bulb power module, is the price justified? My main goal is to have a cube full of growing and colorful corals. I'm not sure, because I haven't done enough reading on it, if the added LEDs assists in this, or simply gives me more to tinker with. I don't need or even necessarily want all the bells and whistles, but if it actually helps with the growth and coloration of corals, that will be the fixture I will buy.

If you can afford the extra $600, then it is worth. An 8 tube unit with LED is equivalent or more than a 10tube unit. Plus you get the pop of the Royal Blue LED's. You also the White LED's to add a bit of shimmer.

Best of both technologies.

 

[TropTrea]

I am trying to decide which fixture to use on my standard 90 gallon. I have both a 6x54 tek and 8x54 tek light. The fixture will hang about 4-5 inches above the water. Do you think the 8x54 will be too much?

I was thinking about using mainly Blue plus, purple plus, and a ge 6500. What kinda of configurations would you suggest for good color and growth?

I would go with the 8 bulb.

Front
1 Blue Plus
2. Blue Plus or Purple Plus
3 Blue Plus
4 GE 6,500K
5 Blue Plus
6 Purple Plus
7 Blue Plus
8 Blue Plus

 

[rtparty]

I believe the 8 bulb tek fixtures are around 21" wide. A 90 gallon tank is usually 18" front to back. A 6 bulb tek is plenty.

 

[BrianO]

I believe the 8 bulb tek fixtures are around 21" wide. A 90 gallon tank is usually 18" front to back. A 6 bulb tek is plenty.

The dimensions of the fixture are: 48"L x 19"W x 2.5"H
But a good 2-3 inches on each side is the case.

 

[rtparty]

That would make the reflectors under 2" each. Is that correct?

 

[BrianO]

Yeah I have an 8x54 tek on my 150 gallon and ran into the same problem, just gotta modify the canopy abit. lol

I may just leave it with the 6 bulb but like the options of the 8 bulb. However I do not want to bleach anything out. I am just starting out with corals in the 90 gallon.

 

[acabgd]

6x39W Sunpower unit - should I run fans at 9 or 12V and what is the difference?

 

[mhucasey]

9v is the best voltage for longevity and PAR output. Per user Kangym's testing, 7.5 volts shortened usable life, 12V cooled the bulbs too much and reduced PAR

 

[rtparty]

9v is the best voltage for longevity and PAR output. Per user Kangym's testing, 7.5 volts shortened usable life, 12V cooled the bulbs too much and reduced PAR

This all depends on ambient room temperature. A room with an ambient temp of 68F is much different than a room with a 80F ambient temp.

9v is usually the highest to run them but one summer I lived in an apartment with no AC and it was 100F or higher for days. My apartment was scorching hot and I had to run the fans at 12v. Compare that to my setup in a basement where it was about 64F and I ran the fans at 6v but even 4.5v worked well.

 

[sahin]

This all depends on ambient room temperature. A room with an ambient temp of 68F is much different than a room with a 80F ambient temp.

9v is usually the highest to run them but one summer I lived in an apartment with no AC and it was 100F or higher for days. My apartment was scorching hot and I had to run the fans at 12v. Compare that to my setup in a basement where it was about 64F and I ran the fans at 6v but even 4.5v worked well.

+1

It all depends on the ambient temp. This is were having a PAR meter really helps...you can adjust the fan speed via the voltage until you get the maximum PAR.

 

[TropTrea]

I believe the 8 bulb tek fixtures are around 21" wide. A 90 gallon tank is usually 18" front to back. A 6 bulb tek is plenty.

Actual numbers
TeK 4 Bulb = 12"
Tek 6 Bulb = 16" $315
Tek 8 bulb = 19.5 $380

Sunpower by ATI
6 Bulb = 13.4" $520
8 Bulb = 17.5" $620

Power Module by ATI
4 Bulb =2" $1,785
8 Bulb = 20.4"

Yes your tank is 18" but 3/4" overhang front and back will not give you issues unless your running a full canopy. I If your running a TeK fixture it does not have the same light output as an ATI fixture with the same number of bulbs. So if your running SPS corals that require a lot of Light I would not go with a 6 bulb TeK but either the 8 Bulb TeK or a 6 bulb ATI Fixture minimum.

 

[TropTrea]

9v is the best voltage for longevity and PAR output. Per user Kangym's testing, 7.5 volts shortened usable life, 12V cooled the bulbs too much and reduced PAR

My question on this is how much did the excessive cooling reduce PAR? And how much did it increase the or decrease the bulb life. Most bulbs we tested years ago did not see a shortening in bulb life from excessive cooling but an actual increase in bulb life.

Personally unless your pushing the minimum lighting requirements I would opt for longer bulb life over even a 5% loss in PAR. What we are talking about here is a balance point between bulb life and PAR output. When your increase either your decreasing the other. This balance can be controled by the manufacturers design with the ballast or with adjusting the cooling.

RTParty may I ask how you kept your tank going with room temperatures of 100 degrees? Did you have a super chiller?

 

[rtparty]

My question on this is how much did the excessive cooling reduce PAR? And how much did it increase the or decrease the bulb life. Most bulbs we tested years ago did not see a shortening in bulb life from excessive cooling but an actual increase in bulb life.

Personally unless your pushing the minimum lighting requirements I would opt for longer bulb life over even a 5% loss in PAR. What we are talking about here is a balance point between bulb life and PAR output. When your increase either your decreasing the other. This balance can be controled by the manufacturers design with the ballast or with adjusting the cooling.

RTParty may I ask how you kept your tank going with room temperatures of 100 degrees? Did you have a super chiller?

The room wasn't 100F. Outside it was. We were on the bottom floor of a complex and it was half underground. The apartment was in the 80s and I had to use a giant fan blowing on the tank and a lot of evaporation. At night I would hook up a window ac unit and get it to cool the room down for the night. I never used a chiller and the tank stayed around 78-82 for the entire time.

As to the excessive cooling question, there was a member on here that saw well over a 50% drop in PAR and his bulbs were dying left and right. We tried to figure out the issue for months and thought it was a bad ballast. His tank was in the garage and temps were low. After talking to ATI, we found that over cooling was the issue and when he dropped his fan speed the issues went away. Can't remember his name right now unfortunately.

 

[TropTrea]

As to the excessive cooling question, there was a member on here that saw well over a 50% drop in PAR and his bulbs were dying left and right. We tried to figure out the issue for months and thought it was a bad ballast. His tank was in the garage and temps were low. After talking to ATI, we found that over cooling was the issue and when he dropped his fan speed the issues went away. Can't remember his name right now unfortunately.

This is very interesting. When we tested bulbs we would run them under cold conditions to simulate outdoor fixtures in cold climates. Yes at -10 C there was a drop off of output that could reach 50% of normal output, however it was only momentary and within a five minutes of the bulb warming up it was in the 90% range. At 25C on normal operation testing there was also an initial low point but it was usually between 5% and 15% loss dependent on the particular bulb and only lasted or about 2 minutes.

Now you have me thinking? If the ATI bulbs are designed to be run hot for more output. It would explain the shorter life span if they get too hot as well as the longer warm up cycle from a cold start. Would also be interesting testing each individual bulbs on to see if the differences between them? We may be changing some bulbs before they start deteriorating and others not soon enough?