The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

I dont like the reddish look or too blue. Will 2 purple lamps be too much?

Be less red than the Pro Colors.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

Don't see why not. If hanging would be easier you can make hangers that are pipes connected to the rear of the stand or wall and come up over the top of the tank. You either bend the pipe or just use elbows for the bend then hang the fixture from it.

Cool thanks bunches!!

 

[Mavrk]

I;d use 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Aquablue and a KZ Fiji Purple in each fixture. SPS on the top of the rocks under the lamps, LPS below the lamps at any level and softies out front on the sand.

What is the best order to put those bulbs. I have that combo in my 90g and went with
Front:
B+
B+
Fiji
Aquablue

Should the fiji be between the 2 B+?

 

[Mavrk]

Thank you for the quick reply.

Do you think the elite is worth the extra 30 bucks? Also, do you think it is better to get the brackets or the cable kit? Do I need the extra adjustability of the cable? Or will the brackets be good enough for that? Of course the brackets also cost more, but would be easier to position.

What bulbs would you recommend for this? I figure I will keep clams, BTAs, macro algae, plus a few small fish.

Finally, even though I am not planning on SPS, if I ever decided to do so, how deep could I put them with this fixture? And would it be too strong for LPS?

Okay, so I answered my own question about the tek elite. I just noticed that the regular tek doesn't come with an acrylic shield. The shield is 20 bucks, so for 10 dollars the elite adds active cooling and better reflectors. Seems like a no brainer. Also, the legs seem easier for now.

As to the bulbs, I was thinking 4 Blue+, 1 Aquablue, 1 ATI Pro Purple (since it is coming out next week). Does that sound right? I just don't know in what order.

I am still wondering if the light will be too much for LPS or BTAs in a 40 breeder (especially if I put a DSB). The BTA should be fine I imagine, but I know my open brain is really low in my 90g.

 

[RayRay1983]

german 220v conversion??

german 220v conversion??

So the ATI PM 6x54w I was looking at buying turns out to be a german 220v fixture Is it possible to convert these over to north american standards and run on a apex controller with out burning down my house or causing any serious problems with the fixture?? Need your help!!! good deal or should I walk away?

Cheers
Ray

 

[rzlinux]

Grim do you think an aquaplanet 2 6 bulb 39 watt 36inch fixture will be suffucient for SPS in most places on an elos 120? Tank measures 20 inches tall by 22.5inches wide by 47 inches long? Or do you think I should just go for the powermoduel 8 bulb 36incher.

 

[Mavrk]

Sorry... meant to say ATI Purple Plus, not Pro...

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Okay, so I answered my own question about the tek elite. I just noticed that the regular tek doesn't come with an acrylic shield. The shield is 20 bucks, so for 10 dollars the elite adds active cooling and better reflectors. Seems like a no brainer. Also, the legs seem easier for now.

As to the bulbs, I was thinking 4 Blue+, 1 Aquablue, 1 ATI Pro Purple (since it is coming out next week). Does that sound right? I just don't know in what order.

I am still wondering if the light will be too much for LPS or BTAs in a 40 breeder (especially if I put a DSB). The BTA should be fine I imagine, but I know my open brain is really low in my 90g.

Lamps sound good. Might want to use a actinic instead of a blue plus for the front lamp and keep the open brains under it, they get a little ****y under the good T5 fixtures.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

So the ATI PM 6x54w I was looking at buying turns out to be a german 220v fixture Is it possible to convert these over to north american standards and run on a apex controller with out burning down my house or causing any serious problems with the fixture?? Need your help!!! good deal or should I walk away?

Cheers
Ray

Sure. They make converter transformers that will work.

http://www.amazon.com/Goldsource®-V...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1284095835&sr=8-1

You would need 2 to have dusk/dawn control, just plug the transformers into your controller.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim do you think an aquaplanet 2 6 bulb 39 watt 36inch fixture will be suffucient for SPS in most places on an elos 120? Tank measures 20 inches tall by 22.5inches wide by 47 inches long? Or do you think I should just go for the powermoduel 8 bulb 36incher.

Never heard of it. Actually a 8x54 watt Tek light will probably do the job a lot cheaper. 20 inches isn't that tall. If the fixture is too long (Keep in mind the lamps are only about 46") get a 6 lamp, 39 watt Powermodule and just raise it up a little higher so the light can spread to all the tank.

 

[Vicarious Cynic]

I've got a bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir in me, its midnight and I have to be up at 6:30. I can afford six pieces of sushi - what should I eat?

 

[JeF4y]

Update!

Desire was to bring out more reds (planning to add) and deepen the greens (adding more as well) additionally to whiten the tank up a bit.

Inital bulb setup in ATI PM 8X24.
Front
B+
B+
Fiji Purple
B+
GE 6500k daylight
12000k Aquablue Sp
12000k Actinic White
B+


Grim Reefer recommended the following configuration:
Front
Aquablue
Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
Actinic White
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Blue Plus


Unedited/uncompensated pictures:

Front view before change

Front view after change

Side view before change

Side view after change

It's interesting how much whiter the tank became just by moving the bulbs around. The back of the tank is now much more blue which is fine as it highlights the coraline on the back wall. Will let this run for a few days to see how much we like it, but my initial impressions are that I'm very happy.

It's not possible to tell in the pics, but I have a few ricordea on the side that became so incredibly vivid once the change was made, and my nem's look brighter, etc.

Thanks Grim!

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Update!

Desire was to bring out more reds (planning to add) and deepen the greens (adding more as well) additionally to whiten the tank up a bit.

Inital bulb setup in ATI PM 8X24.
Front
B+
B+
Fiji Purple
B+
GE 6500k daylight
12000k Aquablue Sp
12000k Actinic White
B+


Grim Reefer recommended the following configuration:
Front
Aquablue
Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
Actinic White
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Blue Plus


Unedited/uncompensated pictures:

Front view before change

Front view after change

Side view before change

Side view after change

It's interesting how much whiter the tank became just by moving the bulbs around. The back of the tank is now much more blue which is fine as it highlights the coraline on the back wall. Will let this run for a few days to see how much we like it, but my initial impressions are that I'm very happy.

It's not possible to tell in the pics, but I have a few ricordea on the side that became so incredibly vivid once the change was made, and my nem's look brighter, etc.

Thanks Grim!

Thanks for posting up the pictures. When you get into deeper tanks like cubes with a lot of lamps you'd be amazed what you can do with lamp positioning

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I've got a bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir in me, its midnight and I have to be up at 6:30. I can afford six pieces of sushi - what should I eat?

Save your cash and raid the neighbor's koi pond

 

[Tank2379]

Hey Grim just found this on Current-USA Website - Do you have any info or updated on these particular T-5 bulbs Actinic Purple sounds pretty cool just wondering if this is the same as the Purple Plus that's out now? Also they have a Power White and Blue Actinic 460nm Which I believe may be the same as the Slimpaq 460NM?

http://www.current-usa.com/truelument5ho.html

Thanks
Frankie

 

[thebanker]

Reposted from the wavepoint bulb thread... I bought the bulb yesterday because it was at my LFS and it has been relatively untested.

Curiosity and convenience got the best of me. I bought a Wave Point Coral Wave bulb for my fixture. Wow, it is very very purple. It looks like a combination of violet (420nm) and red (630-something nm). Not sure about PAR but it looks phenomenal on my tank. Wow! It really looks cool. Anyone else have this one?

I'll see how it affects my SPS colors within the next 1-2 weeks.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim just found this on Current-USA Website - Do you have any info or updated on these particular T-5 bulbs Actinic Purple sounds pretty cool just wondering if this is the same as the Purple Plus that's out now? Also they have a Power White and Blue Actinic 460nm Which I believe may be the same as the Slimpaq 460NM?

http://www.current-usa.com/truelument5ho.html

Thanks
Frankie

Actinic purple may or may not be a standard actinic. Lot of people mistakenly call the violet actinic lamps purple. Anyway see what the price of the lamps are. If there are cheap I'd pass.

The thing is there isn't a whole lot of marketing costs in the reef market so when someone claims they can make a better product 5 bux cheaper than anyone else it's a load. They all have the same manufacturing costs and other overhead. I can see under cutting by maybe a couple bux or so. Only real exception is the mass produced GE Daylight.

Now that doesn't mean the current lamp is bad. Just means unless it's a matter of convenience I wouldn't rush to be first in line to try their new lamps

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Reposted from the wavepoint bulb thread... I bought the bulb yesterday because it was at my LFS and it has been relatively untested.

If the spectrum chart is accurate which is a long shot the red wave is really close to a Fiji Purple. I gotta find a local using those things so I can see them and get some numbers.

As opposed to paying the premium for the Fiji I'd say that red wave would be a good bet.

 

[thebanker]

I have a Red Wave and ran it for about 2 months. Good growth, but it seemed to brown my SPS just a tad. It is VERY VERY pink-white and looks like a FW "Roseate" bulb, like the Coralife Colormax that is often the norm on LFS planted tanks. I couldn't stand the look of it after a while and swapped in a spare Current 460. Last night I took out the 460 and installed the Coral Wave.

I really doubt that the Coral Wave puts up good numbers, but it looks unlike anything I've ever seen before. I can't wait to get home to check it out some more. For $18, it's worth experimenting. Should I post tank pics?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Could be the coral wave would be closer to the fiji. If you've ever seen an ati aquablue the fiji purple looks like one of those except instead of a blue tint it's puplish.

Funny thing is based on those graphs the reef wave would have better PAR than the coral wave that they call a growth accelerator.

AND PICTURES ARE ALWAYS GOOD.