The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

How high above my tank should I place my ATI Sun Power unit? The tank is 24 deep and 18 wide.

Anywhere from right on the tank to about 8" above should be fine.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I'm building a four lamp Aquaillumination retrofit,with 12 three watt white 6500K led lights down the center. The tank is a 40gal breader mix reef. what light combination would look best?

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
LED
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

Post pictures once you do it.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I am new to the T5 club can someone tell me how to get reds to look red,Greens to look Green,Yellows to look Yellow,Blues to look Blue,Oranges to look orange,etc,etc.It seems that if you want blue then you have to sacrifice yellow and so on.Is it possible to really get true colors??????

You really just need one or two wide spectrum lamps in the mix of blues to make that happen, more if you prefer a more warm, shallow water mix. Any of the pink UVL lamps or the Fiji Purple will help. I like one of those with a GE Daylight which is ivory colored and does well with bright green and yellow.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim,

Right now I have two 250 XM 20k DE bulbs, with two 12k Aquablue Specials. It's time for me to replace the T5s; I'd like to keep the same white-ish look on the tank (rather than blue), just wondering if there are any T5s that are better for coral growth (with keeping the same or a similar amount of white in the tank).

Thanks!

Not really. You might try using a Fiji Purple behind the Aquablue to boost your reds if you would like to being out pink or purple colors better.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grimm,
this is what im running. It looks cool... What temperature look would this be?

blue+
blue +
fiji purple
aquablue
blu3+
blue+

thanks alot for the help.... it really looks great

18 to 20K

 

[somethingphishy]

how high off the tank should the lights be for....
a 6 bulb t5 in a 40g 36x18x16 sps tank
a 6 bulb t5 in a 50g 36x18x19 sps tank
a 6 bulb t5 in a 65g 36x18x24 sps tank

with a six bulb will you have good rates if acros are placed near the bottom in any of these tanks?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

how high off the tank should the lights be for....
a 6 bulb t5 in a 40g 36x18x16 sps tank
a 6 bulb t5 in a 50g 36x18x19 sps tank
a 6 bulb t5 in a 65g 36x18x24 sps tank

with a six bulb will you have good rates if acros are placed near the bottom in any of these tanks?

I would go over 4" above on the 24" tall tank, 6" on the other 2. Depending on the setup I wouldn't place high light corals much below 2/3rd of the way down the 24" tank.

 

[dh350twin]

Thanks Grim, by the way out of curiosity i tried the hagens marine glo and i gotta say it really impressed me,it put off a really crisp blue color.

 

[STEELERFAN747]

hEY

Hey Grimm, I am new to the t-5 scene but am currently contemplating a 20" Nova extreme pro for a 22" cube I am working on. The only 18" bulbs I have been able to find are made by current and include 10k, 6700k,420nm & 460nm and the fixture holds 6 bulbs. What kind of combo would you recommend and do you know of anywhere else I could find different 18" bulbs?
Thanks for your help.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

hEY

Hey Grimm, I am new to the t-5 scene but am currently contemplating a 20" Nova extreme pro for a 22" cube I am working on. The only 18" bulbs I have been able to find are made by current and include 10k, 6700k,420nm & 460nm and the fixture holds 6 bulbs. What kind of combo would you recommend and do you know of anywhere else I could find different 18" bulbs?
Thanks for your help.

Front
460
10K
460
6700
460
460

 

[STEELERFAN747]

Front
460
10K
460
6700
460
460

Thank you. I will give that a try. By the way, do you think that 108 watts will be enough for it? 22" perfect cube with a 2" sand bed.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Thank you. I will give that a try. By the way, do you think that 108 watts will be enough for it? 22" perfect cube with a 2" sand bed.

Should be

 

[advaquatics]

What you have would be OK for growth but for growth and looks

6 ATI Blue Plus or Giesemann Actinic Plus
2 ATI or Giesemann Aquablue
2 KZ Fiji Purple or UVL Actinic White

how would you configure these bulbs?

front
next
next
last

 

[The Grim Reefer]

how would you configure these bulbs?

front
next
next
last

Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Aquablue
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

 

[revclyburn]

Hey Grim,

just had one of my endcaps go, starting smoking. Could have been from a salt build up issue. I just neglected my tank, and paying for it i guess. Anyway, i'm trying to get it together. I need to replace one of the endcaps. Can I buy endcaps for the tek, and how hard is it to do? I know, dumb questions but i thought I would just ask before I did something I would regret.

Rev

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim,

just had one of my endcaps go, starting smoking. Could have been from a salt build up issue. I just neglected my tank, and paying for it i guess. Anyway, i'm trying to get it together. I need to replace one of the endcaps. Can I buy endcaps for the tek, and how hard is it to do? I know, dumb questions but i thought I would just ask before I did something I would regret.

Rev

Yeah, they look like the twist lock reefgeek sells. You just have to use a needle on pin to pry the jaws open so the wires in the endcap will release then pull the cap

 

[revclyburn]

Thanks Grim,

will order them today. They have waterproof ones, will they work as well? Gonna nip this shorting out stuff in the bud before hand, lol

Rev

 

[ben&bobbi]

Me again! 180g questions

Me again! 180g questions

mainly SPS tank, standard 180, dual overflows. thinking of replacing MH's / VHO with all T5

i tried to search, but seems 180 and T5 find NOTHING!

this will be DIY, so here i go

1) which ballasts? seems icecap 660 will only drive 3 60" bulbs

2) light layout / qty recommended?

again, thank for for your advice!

 

[Canadian]

Hi Grim.

I was wondering if you could save me the trial and error of ordering the following bulbs I have? The combination of bulbs is the best I've come up with over the last two years for my ideal overall tank coloration. But I was hoping you could recommend an order for even blending of color as right now I feel like the front is definitely more blue and the back more white/yellow.

Here's what I have on a 6 x 24W ATI Sunpower. The 2nd and 5th bulbs are the dawn/dusk ones:

FRONT
1 - ATI Blue Plus
2 - Giesemann Pure Actinic
3 - ATI Blue Plus
4 - Giesemann Midday 6000K
5 - Giesemann Actinic+
6 - ATI Aquablue Spezial

What order would you suggest?

I have lots of other bulbs sitting here including more ATI Blue Plus' and ATI Aquablue Spezials as well as a KZ Fiji Purple but as I said above I really like the overall color with the combination I have above. I actually like the Giesemann Midday as my "red" spectrum bulb over a KZ Fiji Purple. And I would have chosen a UVL Super Actinic over the Giesemann Pure Actinic but the UVL isn't readily available locally.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Thanks Grim,

will order them today. They have waterproof ones, will they work as well? Gonna nip this shorting out stuff in the bud before hand, lol

Rev

No, they wont fit