The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

Thanks Grim I have them on order. And yes I think they are the same deal you're thinking of. It was a drive but well worth it.
No reflectors, what do you recommend?

If you lived closer and are doing 4 footers I could set you up with something. The Aquailluminations are good. Ice Cap too. Go with whatever you think will have the best resale.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Well I can make a trip back down to Aurora, driving isn't a problem for me. I work out in Sidney Nebraska so Aurora is close in comparison.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Well I can make a trip back down to Aurora, driving isn't a problem for me. I work out in Sidney Nebraska so Aurora is close in comparison.

Let me check my stash tomorrow. If you have occasion to be down this way I can save you a few bucks if I have lamp clips.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Let me know and I will plan a trip.

 

[alexsreef]

Need your Help!!

Need your Help!!

Been looking over the forum for about a week now and was looking to see if you could please answer my questions?

First, I am running a 75 gallon sps dominated tank and I am looking for more growth than color. I do believe that I have a cheap 4 bulb t5 fixture and an 8 bulb fixture and I was looking to upgrade. On the cheaper side since I am a college student what fixtures would be the best for my tank and also what bulb layout?

Thanks

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Been looking over the forum for about a week now and was looking to see if you could please answer my questions?

First, I am running a 75 gallon sps dominated tank and I am looking for more growth than color. I do believe that I have a cheap 4 bulb t5 fixture and an 8 bulb fixture and I was looking to upgrade. On the cheaper side since I am a college student what fixtures would be the best for my tank and also what bulb layout?

Thanks

About the cheapest way to go would be a 6 lamp Tek with a external fan blowing against the rear edge of the fixture from the rear. It will jack up the output a good 20 percent or so. The Azoo 2 fan clamp on arrays work good. You just don't want it blowing directly on the lamps.

For lamps
Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

 

[eyebedam]

Hey Grim Im about to purchase in the next few days. Heres what I asked awhile back & what you recommended.
Originally Posted by eyebedam
I currently have a outer orbit 72 in 3x250 mh & 8 39 watt t5 bulbs fixture. I'm replacing the mh with 14k Phoenix bulbs but was wondering what replacement bulbs to buy for the t5s. In wanting a crisp but deep bluish purple look. Thanks in advance.

I would do 6 ATI Blue Plus and 2 UVL Actinic White. It should be just what you are looking for.

Now if I wanted a more purplish look what would you recommend? Also any place you would recommend on where to purchase? Im so broke right now after Xmas with 3 daughters but early tonight 1 of my T5s started blinking, the bulbs are old so I know they need to be replaced but I was hoping I could make it till atleast March.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim Im about to purchase in the next few days. Heres what I asked awhile back & what you recommended.
Originally Posted by eyebedam
I currently have a outer orbit 72 in 3x250 mh & 8 39 watt t5 bulbs fixture. I'm replacing the mh with 14k Phoenix bulbs but was wondering what replacement bulbs to buy for the t5s. In wanting a crisp but deep bluish purple look. Thanks in advance.

I would do 6 ATI Blue Plus and 2 UVL Actinic White. It should be just what you are looking for.

Now if I wanted a more purplish look what would you recommend? Also any place you would recommend on where to purchase? Im so broke right now after Xmas with 3 daughters but early tonight 1 of my T5s started blinking, the bulbs are old so I know they need to be replaced but I was hoping I could make it till atleast March.

You could do 2 rows of actinic whites or instead use 2 Blue Plus, 1 UVL 75/25 and 1 Actinic White.

Perhaps your safest bet would be

Front
Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
Halide
Actinic White
Blue Plus

Most people seem to think the actinics look purplish even though they are violet. I think that might be more the look you are after.

This is what a 50/50 mix of blue plus and the UVL 75/25 looks like which is less pink than the Actinic white looks like, one of each

I am afraid a equal mix of the blue plus and actinic white is going to look too pink during dusk/dawn but with the halide running it could look sweet.

 

[goreefers]

Hey Grim, I am looking for help for my lighting setup. I Keep mostly SPS in a standard 90 gal AGA tank with a 6 bulbs tek fixture. what bulbs selections and arrangement would you recommend (front to back please). I also want to get a Azoo fan for my fixture, but I am not sure how to mount this fan because my tank is NOT rimless and where is the best place to mount it in order to get the most out of my light. Does anyone have a picture of this?
TIA

 

[saltydog64]

Aquaticlife T5 48" fixture

Aquaticlife T5 48" fixture

Hey everyone !!!

This unit seems much better, fan not so loud, built in digital timers, one elect. cord vs three,..etc...than my Nova unit ( which has failed in one "slot" after only 15 months of usage :mad2::mad2

Anyone have any experience with this brand.....good or bad !!!

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim, I am looking for help for my lighting setup. I Keep mostly SPS in a standard 90 gal AGA tank with a 6 bulbs tek fixture. what bulbs selections and arrangement would you recommend (front to back please). I also want to get a Azoo fan for my fixture, but I am not sure how to mount this fan because my tank is NOT rimless and where is the best place to mount it in order to get the most out of my light. Does anyone have a picture of this?
TIA

You want the fan right in the middle or close to it on the rear of the tank, the fan should clamp to the trim. You ideally want the air to be directed so it doesn't strike the lamps directly, Having the fixture split the air over and under is best.

Front
Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

 

[peiloy3196]

Hi Grim,
I am about to place an order for new bulbs to go with my 2 250W Pheonix Halides.
My T5 setup is 4X54Watts.
So far I am looking at

Blue Plus
??????
Halides
UVL Super Actinic
Blue Plus

Where I have question marks I am not sure what bulb to use. My options are Fiji, Actinic White, 75/25. Which one out of these three bulbs do you think will give the most pop fos SPS and LPS?

Also for dawn dusk I will fire two of the bulbs for 15 mins followed by the other two bulbs for another 15 mins, then the halides. Which two bulbs do you think I should start my dawn/dusk effect with so that the aquarium looks good when the lights are coming on?

Thanks!

 

[jmart64]

And Still More T5 Questions...

And Still More T5 Questions...

I am new to the site and was kind of blown away by the length of this thread...it seems like a pretty exhausted topic, but I have some questions about my T5 setup and need some expert advice. I have a standard 125 gallon (20" tall) with a 6X80 T5 retro in the canopy. I am over driving with the Icecap ballasts and the bulbs sit about 4.5" off the water with fans blowing across the ends of the bulbs. I was running my lights in the following configuration with one set of 3 bulbs for 8 hours and the second set for 4 hours

Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Aqua Blue
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

I have been having some trouble with cyano and some die off of my coraline. I had a consultation done and and was told that I may have too much light. I only have a handful of corals at this point but am trying to move more from fish to corals. All of my water parameters are great, so I assume it is a light issue. I have considered replacing 2 of the Blue Plus with Actinics to reduce the PAR. But after reading some of the configurations on here I am questioning that...

Can someone help here?

Thanks!

Joe

 

[Roc]

in a couple of days my 2nd fixture will be at my house. this will bring my lighting to 9 bulbs over a 120 gallon tank. I plan on running (in this order) 1st,3rd,5th,7th and 9th bulbs will run from 1:00PM - 7:00PM, 2nd,4th,6th, and 8th bulbs will run from 10:00AM - 7:30PM

1. Aquablue Special -ATI
2. Blue plus - ATI
3. Blue plus - ATI
4. Pure Actinic - ATI
5. 6500 k - GE
6. Blue plus -ATI
7. 10,000K - UVL
8. Pure Actinic - ATI
9. Aquablue special - ATI

I chose this combo and placement for these reasons:

I really like the color the blue Plus puts out, and I think it looks great with the 12000K of the aquablue special, however there is no red in that spectum at all, so I thought about adding the 6500K, since I am only gonna run 1 I thought it would be best placed in the middle of the tank so it wouldn't throw the color off when viewing the tank. I could run another aquablue special instaed of the 10000k but I have read that 10000k is the closest to the suns actual light, and now that I have more room to play with I thought I would give it a shot. It will be pretty close to the middle of the tank as well and should change the way the tank looks from the front that much.

Any thoughts on this combo?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hi Grim,
I am about to place an order for new bulbs to go with my 2 250W Pheonix Halides.
My T5 setup is 4X54Watts.
So far I am looking at

Blue Plus
??????
Halides
UVL Super Actinic
Blue Plus

Where I have question marks I am not sure what bulb to use. My options are Fiji, Actinic White, 75/25. Which one out of these three bulbs do you think will give the most pop fos SPS and LPS?

Also for dawn dusk I will fire two of the bulbs for 15 mins followed by the other two bulbs for another 15 mins, then the halides. Which two bulbs do you think I should start my dawn/dusk effect with so that the aquarium looks good when the lights are coming on?

Thanks!

Fiji or 75/25. Flip a coin.

 

[briangsxr1000]

Hello all,
I have a 150 tall tank. 31" deep. I curreently am using a current outter orb it fixture with 2 150 watt mh and 2 96 watt pc.
I have mostly lps and softies in my tank. couple acans also.

Would the Nova 8 bulb t5 fixture be sufficient for this tank?
I would like to add a clam in future which need high lighting.....
Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I am new to the site and was kind of blown away by the length of this thread...it seems like a pretty exhausted topic, but I have some questions about my T5 setup and need some expert advice. I have a standard 125 gallon (20" tall) with a 6X80 T5 retro in the canopy. I am over driving with the Icecap ballasts and the bulbs sit about 4.5" off the water with fans blowing across the ends of the bulbs. I was running my lights in the following configuration with one set of 3 bulbs for 8 hours and the second set for 4 hours

Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Aqua Blue
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

I have been having some trouble with cyano and some die off of my coraline. I had a consultation done and and was told that I may have too much light. I only have a handful of corals at this point but am trying to move more from fish to corals. All of my water parameters are great, so I assume it is a light issue. I have considered replacing 2 of the Blue Plus with Actinics to reduce the PAR. But after reading some of the configurations on here I am questioning that...

Can someone help here?

Thanks!

Joe

Someone up here had a 125 with the 6x80 and I think 50/50 blue plus and Aquablue which is probably pretty close to your par and he was getting in the 24's on the sand with Tek II reflectors.

You could try cutting down on the "daylight" mode to like 4 hours and keep dusk/dawn 10 to 12 hours and see how the corals react. SPS shouldn't be getting too much light with the T5's unless it's a fairly new system or you just switched to T5's. .

 

[The Grim Reefer]

in a couple of days my 2nd fixture will be at my house. this will bring my lighting to 9 bulbs over a 120 gallon tank. I plan on running (in this order) 1st,3rd,5th,7th and 9th bulbs will run from 1:00PM - 7:00PM, 2nd,4th,6th, and 8th bulbs will run from 10:00AM - 7:30PM

1. Aquablue Special -ATI
2. Blue plus - ATI
3. Blue plus - ATI
4. Pure Actinic - ATI
5. 6500 k - GE
6. Blue plus -ATI
7. 10,000K - UVL
8. Pure Actinic - ATI
9. Aquablue special - ATI

I chose this combo and placement for these reasons:

I really like the color the blue Plus puts out, and I think it looks great with the 12000K of the aquablue special, however there is no red in that spectum at all, so I thought about adding the 6500K, since I am only gonna run 1 I thought it would be best placed in the middle of the tank so it wouldn't throw the color off when viewing the tank. I could run another aquablue special instaed of the 10000k but I have read that 10000k is the closest to the suns actual light, and now that I have more room to play with I thought I would give it a shot. It will be pretty close to the middle of the tank as well and should change the way the tank looks from the front that much.

Any thoughts on this combo?

Let us know. I prefer the Actinic WHite to the Aquasun because it also adds some actinic but both add red, more than the GE will. Running the GE with the red lamp will tend to wash out some of the pink tint you would normally see, a good thing.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hello all,
I have a 150 tall tank. 31" deep. I curreently am using a current outter orb it fixture with 2 150 watt mh and 2 96 watt pc.
I have mostly lps and softies in my tank. couple acans also.

Would the Nova 8 bulb t5 fixture be sufficient for this tank?
I would like to add a clam in future which need high lighting.....
Any advice would be appreciated!

I wouldn't even think of a clam in a 31" tall tank with anything but an 8 lamp ATI Powermodule. I wouldn't try anything but softies and maybe LPS on the rocks with anything less than the 8 lamp tek.

 

[Tofat]

Howdy grim, I have been reading this thread and can not find anything on 65 gallon set up. My tank is 36LX18Wx24D, I would like to try to keep almost all types of corals. Can you recommend a T5 set up for my tank please, and the full name of the company that makes the fixture please. I have been very frustrated in looking for the right light with great power. Your recomendation will most likely be my final descion on choice of light. Thank you for reading and you're advice. )