The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[Deep Reef]

I've been reading alot in this post. I noticed that almost no one uses the ge 6500k anymore. Isn't it needed for growth?

My 2nd question...I have a 120dt, 48x24x24 high, I have a 6 bulb tek fixture. Is it adequate for stony corals or should be looking for an 8 bulb? I was also thinking led but some people are saying the growth with the is not as good, any thoughts?

 

[solitude127]

With Reefgeek going out of business and my ATI bulbs needed to be swapped out, I decided to give the new Giessmann bulbs a try. All I have to say is WOW…… With the ATI bulbs, I almost had to go with a 18k look to get the pop I was looking for out of my corals. With the new Giessmann bulbs, I’m able to get the 14k look I really like but still get the pop from the corals. My previous bulb config was
Front
B+
P+
B+
C+
B+
B+
C+
B+
This gave me about a 18k look. In my eyes, it looked too much like tidey bowl water.
With the Giessmann bulbs, I’m able to use

actinic blue (ATI Blue + equivalent)
super purple (ATI Purple + equivalent)
actinic blue
tropic (GE6500 equivalent)
aquablue-coral (ATI Coral + equivalent)
actinic blue
aquablue-azure (This is new colored bulb and I would have to say it’s in between a Coral + and Blue +)
actinic blue

Overall, I’d have to say, I really like these bulbs. I took some PAR readings of my 6 month old ATI bulbs and the new Giessmann bulbs and of course the Giessmann read higher because they’re newer. I would have to say the PAR is comparable to new ATI bulbs.

Here's my thread on them.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2448538

 

[mhucasey]

I love it, both Pacific Sun and Giesemann came out with new lineups of bulbs in the last year...the reports of everything but LED being "dead technology" have been greatly exaggerated!

 

[sepulvd]

Solitude what giessmann bulbs would you recommend for a 4 bulb setup

 

[sahin]

I love it, both Pacific Sun and Giesemann came out with new lineups of bulbs in the last year...the reports of everything but LED being "dead technology" have been greatly exaggerated!

+1

Plenty of people even reverting back to T5 etc.

The continuation of this long @$$ thread is a testament to the still popular T5 technology.

 

[CRAZY FISH1]

Hello all.

I'm going to use 2 ATI sun-power over my 5ft x 4ft reef I will have 14 tubes in total but what ATI tubes should I buy for best colour and as always growth.

I was thinking some thing like this!

1 blue+
2 actinic
3 blue+
4 coral+
5 blue+
6 purple+
7 blue+
8 actinic
9 coral+
10 blue+
11 purple+
12 blue+
13 coral+
14 blue+

 

[Deep Reef]

I've been reading alot in this post. I noticed that almost no one uses the ge 6500k anymore. Isn't it needed for growth?

My 2nd question...I have a 120dt, 48x24x24 high, I have a 6 bulb tek fixture. Is it adequate for stony corals or should be looking for an 8 bulb? I was also thinking led but some people are saying the growth with the is not as good, any thoughts?

Anyone?

 

[swk]

The T5 Q&a Thread - split

I don't think it's needed. I could certainly be wrong, but j hope not

I use a combo of blue+ and coral+ bulbs. I'm very happy with the color. It's too soon since I switched to comment on growth, but this is a tried and true combo from what I've read.

I was told one bulb for each 3" of tank width. In my standard 75 gal I'm using a 6 bulb sunpower. So personally, I would be looking at 8 bulb fixtures I would think

I'm a t5 noob. This is just based off the advice I have been given by others who've been successful.

 

[CRAZY FISH1]

We'll I bit the bullet today and added this over my tank.
All ATI tubes with a 6x54w at the front and a 8x54w at the back.

Front

Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
Purple+
Actinic
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Actinic+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+

Back

What's your thoughts? I think it looks quite nice but my greens don't pop any more compared to when I was using LEDs but my reds, blues and yellows seem a little stronger.

 

[jkubec]

Quick question... Any recommendations for adding two 54W T5 to my LEDs. I am looking for the best growth since I can change the color of the LEDs to find something that looks good to me. Thanks for the help.

 

[swk]

Maybe coral plus, or GE 6500k for pure growth?

 

[Erik2514]

I have a 4bulb t5 on a 40b I wanna run b+, lagoon blue, b+, b+.... Will that be a good combo to run the lagoon blue seems to have decent peaks in reds greens yellows but also a nice spike in blue... Just wanna kno if this is good and will it give good color and growth?

 

[wcharon]

Finally i decided to go with the following combo on my Sunpower:

Front to Back:
B+
B+ (Dawn/Dusk)
C+
B+
B+ (Dawn/Dusk)
P+

The truth is that i like to use the Dawn/Dusk feature and was a little exceptive to use the 2 B+ in that feature but after trying them for a day i noticed that you can see different colors of the corals that wasn't showing with other combinations. So far i am very pleased with the combination.

As you know in this hobby we want our tanks to look better so my question is:

Will a Royal Blue Reef Brite strip make color pop even more or should i stay with what i have???

Thanks in advance...

 

[TropTrea]

Finally i decided to go with the following combo on my Sunpower:

Front to Back:
B+
B+ (Dawn/Dusk)
C+
B+
B+ (Dawn/Dusk)
P+

The truth is that i like to use the Dawn/Dusk feature and was a little exceptive to use the 2 B+ in that feature but after trying them for a day i noticed that you can see different colors of the corals that wasn't showing with other combinations. So far i am very pleased with the combination.

As you know in this hobby we want our tanks to look better so my question is:

Will a Royal Blue Reef Brite strip make color pop even more or should i stay with what i have???

Thanks in advance...

the Royal Blue Reef Brite Strip will change the colors slightly for some corals this is a very positive thing but for others it might be barely noticeable.

A While back I did some experimenting with LED's and was shocked with what I got. I lighted the tanks with only one type of LED's and the same coral glowed a different color with different LED's.

Turquise LED's = Bluish Glow
True Blue 470nm LED's = Blue green Glow
Royal Blue 455 nm = Green Glow
Near UV 430 nm = Lime Green Glow
Near UV 410 nm = Yellow Glow.

Other corals reacted differently with some only glowing under certain LED's. And often a slightly different color than another Coral under same lighting. Another interesting thing is a Chalice Coral that did not look very striking usually a dark maroon color but when I put the 470 nm LED's on it it popped as a Bright Red Orange, with the 455nm LED's it only glowed slightly a darker red color.

So dependent upon the Corals you have the results will vary. This is why I love DIY LED's as you can experiment with the spectrum to get the most pop for the corals you have.

 

[TropTrea]

Quick question... Any recommendations for adding two 54W T5 to my LEDs. I am looking for the best growth since I can change the color of the LEDs to find something that looks good to me. Thanks for the help.

I have done some combination fixtures between LED's and T-5's and have found that the Blue Plus bulbs of either Gman or ATI are ideal for these fixtures and give you better results than you get with either all LED's or all T-5's. Most LED fixtures especially commercial ones lack in the 480nm to 510 nm part of the spectrum. The Blue Plus bulbs do fill in this gap just enough create a near ideal combination.

Do not add a Purple bulb as with LED's you are getting enough red light from the so called white LED's to meet your needs.

 

[Av8bluewater]

Finally i decided to go with the following combo on my Sunpower:

Front to Back:
B+
B+ (Dawn/Dusk)
C+
B+
B+ (Dawn/Dusk)
P+

The truth is that i like to use the Dawn/Dusk feature and was a little exceptive to use the 2 B+ in that feature but after trying them for a day i noticed that you can see different colors of the corals that wasn't showing with other combinations. So far i am very pleased with the combination.

As you know in this hobby we want our tanks to look better so my question is:

Will a Royal Blue Reef Brite strip make color pop even more or should i stay with what i have???

Thanks in advance...

I got the BuildmyLED actinic strip to go on my 8 bulb sunpower.
With all daylights on it gives a very slight purple tinge that reminds me of radium bulbs.
WIth just my Dusk dawn(2 blue +) it for sure bumps up the pop.
WIth just the LED strip which I have the last & first hours of the day the fluorescence is insane. I have even split 405, 450 and 470nm.
Cheaper than reefbrite and more powerful. They will build whatever you want and now have 3 way controller.

 

[wcharon]

the Royal Blue Reef Brite Strip will change the colors slightly for some corals this is a very positive thing but for others it might be barely noticeable.

A While back I did some experimenting with LED's and was shocked with what I got. I lighted the tanks with only one type of LED's and the same coral glowed a different color with different LED's.

Turquise LED's = Bluish Glow
True Blue 470nm LED's = Blue green Glow
Royal Blue 455 nm = Green Glow
Near UV 430 nm = Lime Green Glow
Near UV 410 nm = Yellow Glow.

Other corals reacted differently with some only glowing under certain LED's. And often a slightly different color than another Coral under same lighting. Another interesting thing is a Chalice Coral that did not look very striking usually a dark maroon color but when I put the 470 nm LED's on it it popped as a Bright Red Orange, with the 455nm LED's it only glowed slightly a darker red color.

So dependent upon the Corals you have the results will vary. This is why I love DIY LED's as you can experiment with the spectrum to get the most pop for the corals you have.

Thanks TropTea... I got the idea.

What will be your recomendation if i want a slighty little more blue touch with all the lights that i have on???

 

[wcharon]

I got the BuildmyLED actinic strip to go on my 8 bulb sunpower.
With all daylights on it gives a very slight purple tinge that reminds me of radium bulbs.
WIth just my Dusk dawn(2 blue +) it for sure bumps up the pop.
WIth just the LED strip which I have the last & first hours of the day the fluorescence is insane. I have even split 405, 450 and 470nm.
Cheaper than reefbrite and more powerful. They will build whatever you want and now have 3 way controller.

Thanks Ac8bluewater...

I will take a look at your recommendation also.

What combination of actinic they made you?? For me it is very hard to order an equipment and when i put it in the tank i don't like it. I live in PR and the shipping to us is very expensive.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Scott07]

Please help with lighting schedule recommendations : )

Please help with lighting schedule recommendations : )

4 bulb T5 fixture over a 20gal. Long Tank

-2 ATI Blue Plus
-1 ATI Coral Plus
-1 ATI Purple Plus

SPS dominant, but have LPS, softies, and a clam as well

Current schedule: Blues on for 2 hours, whites (purple/coral plus) on in conjunction with blues for 7 hours, blues on for 3 hours, moon lights (leds) for 2 hours.

Issues/Reasoning for question: several of my SPS corals have picked up more blue coloration after addition to my tank (am I running my blues only for too long?) Also, my bulbs are relatively close to the surface of the water, and therefore the corals due to the shallow depth of my tank. Should my lighting cycle be modified to compensate for this? I have bleached SPS frags in the past with this lighting cycle... not sure if it is proximity to the bulbs, or poor accliamation on my part. Frags recover generally, but take many months to regain color and adjust to my lights in some cases.

What schedule changes or recommendations would you give? Thank you in advance for any responses!!

 

[clugo]

I'm strongly considering going just T5 by purchasing a 5ft ATI Sunpower 8x80 but I can help but wonder why more don't just go only T5.

-why spend the money in equipment and electricity that comes w going w MH?

-what are the benefits of MH w/T5 over going only w/T5?

I'm not trying to argue. I want to get what will be best for the corals that will be going into my system so I'm wrestling with this decision.

Any insight is appreciated.