The T5 Q&a Thread

[dudley moray]

thank you !

 

[thetonyage]

Still you are going to have a 12" bar of mediocre light in the center. I would go with an 8 lamp retro when you throw the SPS in there.

sorry, i just dont understand this. how would the 6 t5's in the middle be "mediocre light" but the t5's on either side wouldnt be? wouldnt a t5ho be a t5ho whether its in the current fixture or retrofitted?

P.S.: i do appreciate the help

 

[NCNBilly]

Hey Grim,

Really happy with the 4 T5s you suggested over my 75G. Now I'm thinking about going all T5 or T5/LED. I currently am running the 2 Blue+, Aquablue Special, and Actinic white on a Workhorse 7 and individual parabolic reflectors (I'm a DIY/retrofit kinda guy).

Should I attempt to squeeze another 4 bulbs (thinking 2 more Blue+, a Fiji purple, and a GE6500) or go with a 2x54W (need bulb recommendations here) and have room to place some LEDs between the reflectors?

Also - good (cheap) alternative to the Workhorse 7 for powering 4x54w?

 

[biecacka]

thanks grim! where are some good web sites for that fixture. is that 8 buln 54wt or what wattage

 

[Salty Scott]

this is my first post on rc,im from another forum and heard there is like a t-5 bulb guru somewhere on here. so im running a 75g tank (48x18x22) and i want to have a pretty well mixed reef including sps and clams. im looking into ordering the tek elite light 8 bulb fixture and was wondering what bulbs i should get for it.

 

[biecacka]

you are in the right forum salty scott!!
welcome aboard!
corey

 

[smokey30]

Hey Grim what would be better for a 50 gallon 18inch tall tank the Aquatinics TX5 or the 4x39 ATI Sunpower..what bulb configuration would you suggest? Gonna be a mixed reef little bit of everything

 

[The Grim Reefer]

sorry, i just dont understand this. how would the 6 t5's in the middle be "mediocre light" but the t5's on either side wouldnt be? wouldnt a t5ho be a t5ho whether its in the current fixture or retrofitted?

P.S.: i do appreciate the help

T5's only produce the light they do because of the reflectors. The Nova Pro has a simple stamped reflector that doesn't produce the kind if results the better units can. A 30" tall tank is even pushing the limits for a Powermodule and trust me, the nova isn't a powermodule. Not only would I use an 8 lamp retro, I would over drive half of the lamps with an Ice Cap ballast.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim,

Really happy with the 4 T5s you suggested over my 75G. Now I'm thinking about going all T5 or T5/LED. I currently am running the 2 Blue+, Aquablue Special, and Actinic white on a Workhorse 7 and individual parabolic reflectors (I'm a DIY/retrofit kinda guy).

Should I attempt to squeeze another 4 bulbs (thinking 2 more Blue+, a Fiji purple, and a GE6500) or go with a 2x54W (need bulb recommendations here) and have room to place some LEDs between the reflectors?

Also - good (cheap) alternative to the Workhorse 7 for powering 4x54w?

Good and cheap don't go hand in hand. The Workhorse is the cheap alternative.

If you are going to add LED's anyway rather than adding more T5's I would go with 3 watt LED's instead. 2 rows of 12 Royal Blue Cree 3 watt LEDs with 80 degree optics would give you a nice boost in PAR and LOOK REALLY COOL.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

thanks grim! where are some good web sites for that fixture. is that 8 buln 54wt or what wattage

Reefgeek has really good prices on them right now.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

this is my first post on rc,im from another forum and heard there is like a t-5 bulb guru somewhere on here. so im running a 75g tank (48x18x22) and i want to have a pretty well mixed reef including sps and clams. im looking into ordering the tek elite light 8 bulb fixture and was wondering what bulbs i should get for it.

6 lamps will be plenty over that tank.

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

If ya just gotta do 8

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Aquablue
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim what would be better for a 50 gallon 18inch tall tank the Aquatinics TX5 or the 4x39 ATI Sunpower..what bulb configuration would you suggest? Gonna be a mixed reef little bit of everything

Aquactinics would be my choice there

Front
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

 

[pmoneyt]

grim I am trying to get a deep sea blue look for my reef setup. What bulbs do I need to get this, I am running a 12 bulb setup. As I stated i am running a reef so i will have to concider my coral as well. What do you think is best and what will get me to a 20K MH bulb.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

grim I am trying to get a deep sea blue look for my reef setup. What bulbs do I need to get this, I am running a 12 bulb setup. As I stated i am running a reef so i will have to concider my coral as well. What do you think is best and what will get me to a 20K MH bulb.

8 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Aquablue and 2 UVL 75/25 should look cool.

If your system is 6 rows of lamps side by side place the 75/25 in the 2nd or 3rd row and the Aquablues 5th row.

If it is 12 rows place a Aquablue and 75/25 front of center and rear of center separated by a blue plus or two.

 

[pmoneyt]

grim its 12 rows i am using 2 sunpower 6 bulbs so 2, 5, 8,13 are the dust and dawn.

blue+
aquablue
blue+
blue+
75/25
blue+
blue+
75/25
blue+
blue+
aquablue
blue+

or should i swap the placement and hve the aquablues more to the middle

 

[The Grim Reefer]

grim its 12 rows i am using 2 sunpower 6 bulbs so 2, 5, 8,13 are the dust and dawn.

blue+
aquablue
blue+
blue+
75/25
blue+
blue+
75/25
blue+
blue+
aquablue
blue+

or should i swap the placement and hve the aquablues more to the middle

I might move each Aquablue one position closer to the center but that should be about there.

 

[dg3147]

Single reflector on T5x4

Single reflector on T5x4

My 75g is 20" wide and 18" deep (shallow tank). I currently am running this combo:
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
with an Icecap ballast.

But, it's with a SINGLE reflector. It seems like my clams do well, but I am struggling with my SPS colors a bit --even though many SPS are located 6-8" from the surface.

Here's the question: is this bulb set-up ok? If not, what is best way to handle it.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

My 75g is 20" wide and 18" deep (shallow tank). I currently am running this combo:
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
with an Icecap ballast.

But, it's with a SINGLE reflector. It seems like my clams do well, but I am struggling with my SPS colors a bit --even though many SPS are located 6-8" from the surface.

Here's the question: is this bulb set-up ok? If not, what is best way to handle it.

Using an Ice Cap ballast for lamps with a single reflector unit is like putting bicycle tires on a Corvette.

On an 18 inch tall tank I can't imagine you don't have enough light. You could try changing the Aquablue for another Blue Plus and see what that does for you.

 

[rtparty]

My 75g is 20" wide and 18" deep (shallow tank). I currently am running this combo:
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
with an Icecap ballast.

But, it's with a SINGLE reflector. It seems like my clams do well, but I am struggling with my SPS colors a bit --even though many SPS are located 6-8" from the surface.

Here's the question: is this bulb set-up ok? If not, what is best way to handle it.

If it were my tank I would sell the IceCap ballast and get 3 standard HO ballasts. I would add 2 more bulbs and individual reflectors to the setup. That way you can have 3 stage lighting. That is just my opinion.

Now if you want to work with what you have then switching out the Aquablue for another Blue Plus might help. The blue Plus bulbs burn whiter when overdriven. I also don't think the single reflector is helping out your cause. A T5 bulb is only as good as the reflector it is wrapped in. Take away the reflectors and T5's are useless.

 

[rtparty]

Using an Ice Cap ballast for lamps with a single reflector unit is like putting bicycle tires on a Corvette.

:lolspin: :lol2:


That is just about the greatest analogy I have ever heard!

You crack me up, Grim.