The T5 Q&a Thread

[gorey]

Hey Grim, I have a 2 bulb HO fixture and a 2 bulb NO fixture. What kind of bulb combo should i go with? And in what fixtures? Thanks!!!!

 

[sirreal63]

I am going to add a couple of 24" T5's to supplement a 150 watt Radium...what single bulb is closest to the Radium look? Not looking for par, just an equivalent color, or one that won't wash out the Radium too much.

 

[dfixallman]

Ok, Im thinking of changing the 3 VHO's to T5's . So I will have 8 T5's . What colors would you recomend I put in thier place ?

1st - ATI Blue Plus
2nd -ATI Blue Plus
3rd - GE 600K Daylight
4th - Super Acinic VHO
5th - Acinic White VHO
6th - Super Acinic VHO
7th - ATI Blue Plus

If you can't get ATI Lamps use Gmann Actinic Plus in place of Blue Plus and Midday in place of the GE if you can't get that.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey guys, I have an 18" high tank. Lit by a ATI PM 8x39. bulb combo from front to back:

blue+
blue+
blue+
Blue special
fiji purple
blue+
blue+
blue+

I love how my tank looks when its just the 2 blue+ on for dawn/dusk. When all the bulbs are on, it still looks nice to me. But I have noticed that all my z&p, acans, montis and and my war coral looks really pale.

My war coral is sitting on this rock, the top of the war coral looks really pale but when I turned it around and looked at the otherside of the rock I couldn't see before. The color on the war coral was a nice deep red. Which leads me to believe I have wayyyy too much light causing my corals to look pale..

My bulbs are 10 months old and needs to be replaced. What bulb combos can you guys recommend that will reduce the intensity of the light but give me a blue color and maybe even some more pop to the colors. I think I can do with maybe 4-5 blue+ this time and the rest for color pop. Maybe even 4 blue+ and a daylight bulb for growth?

TIA

Drop the Aquablue for another Blue Plus and replace a couple blue plus with actinics.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim, I have a 2 bulb HO fixture and a 2 bulb NO fixture. What kind of bulb combo should i go with? And in what fixtures? Thanks!!!!

HO 2 Blue Plus NO Do a Daylight and another Blue of some kind.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I am going to add a couple of 24" T5's to supplement a 150 watt Radium...what single bulb is closest to the Radium look? Not looking for par, just an equivalent color, or one that won't wash out the Radium too much.

I'd use Blue Pluses.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Ok, Im thinking of changing the 3 VHO's to T5's . So I will have 8 T5's . What colors would you recomend I put in thier place ?

2 Blue Plus and a ATI Purple Plus

 

[sirreal63]

I'd use Blue Pluses.

I had a feeling you would say that, it was my original thought too. Thanks for the confirmation. There are so many new bulb choices on the market, I needed to defer to the expert.

 

[JG1]

Grim,

What do you think of a 50/50 mix of FP and Blues?

I love the way my dawn dusk looks with a FP in the rear and a UVL actinic in the front. Trying to replicate this look for 8 bulbs while still getting good par. I like how the tank looks with a couple actinics in place of the B+'s.

How do you think this would look?

Blue+
FP
UVL actinic
FP
Blue+
FP
UVL actinic
FP

 

[gorey]

Originally Posted by gorey
Hey Grim, I have a 2 bulb HO fixture and a 2 bulb NO fixture. What kind of bulb combo should i go with? And in what fixtures? Thanks!!!!


"HO 2 Blue Plus NO Do a Daylight and another Blue of some kind".

In the NO would a special blue work? Also what kind of daylight?

Jeff

 

[dfixallman]

Sorry to Bother u Grimm. Here is what im ordering so far. Let me know what order they should be in and what for the 6th bulb. All T5's. First i want the most coral growth and then I want a bluer look than I had before. Here is what I had before and then the list you recomended so far. Im getting ready to order them today. Thanks Grim !
What I have Now :
1st - 54w Acinic + Giasemann.
2nd - 54w Aqua Blue +
3rd - 54w Aqua blue +
4th - Super Acinic VHO
5th - Acinic White VHO
6th - Super Acinic VHO
7th - 54W Acinic +

Changing out 3 VHO's for 4 T5's and what you recomended so far:

1st - ATI Blue Plus
2nd -ATI Blue Plus
3rd - GE 600K Daylight or Gmann Midday
4th - ATI Blue Plus
5th - ATI Purple Plus
6th -
7th - ATI Blue Plus
8th - ATI Blue Plus

 

[palmer373]

another person asking for help grim. i got an 8 bulb fixture for my 75 mixed reef. currently i run front to back:
420nm
10k
blue plus
fiji purple
blue plus
blue plus
10k
420nm

the tank feels to have a slight blue tint to it but id like it bluer. what would you recommend to replace the current bulbs?

thanks for the help.

 

[TylerHaworth]

try 2 purple plus and 3 blue plus.

I fear this would make the color of my tank far too blue - If I'm worried about such...

3 Blue+, 1 Purple+, 1Aquablue Special

-OR-

2 Blue+, 2 Purple+, 1 Aquablue Special?

 

[jtmbtech]

i have a catalina aquatics 6x80w t5 fixture I am currently runnint 2 blue specials and the rest catalina 3 460nm actinics and 1 420atinic (junk bulbs i know). I was thinking of ordering 3 blue + and 1 purple + acording to your recomendations on bulb combos. I saw in one of your posts that air flow over the long bulbs can hurt par? I have my fixture resting on top of my hood with a couple fans blowing air through the hodd because I thought that would be better for the lights. should i remove the fans? I have not had any problems with water tem I just added them because I thought it would be better for the lights. thanks

 

[Thisseemsfishy]

I have some Softies now, as well as some shrooms and rics. I plan on getting into some sps corals, I have a standard 55g with Tek 4x54w. What SPS's do you recommend?

 

[Bubbaboy]

Ok so upgrading My 40 gallon breeder from power compacts to t5. I want sps towards top with polyps Acans soft/lps corals along bottom. What's best retrofits for my canopy? Dimensions 36"x11". Also if need be I had someone offer me a tek 6x39watt fixture and I'll store canopy off the tank but as last resort. Also if I went with a 6 or 8 bulb setup which bulbs should I use? My preference for viewing is some blue and purple tint to a bright aquarium. Thais guys!

 

[kurtkob]

Hi, im preparing my new 53g sps tank, and I've got a doubt about which ati powermodule should I buy... Im between a 4x39w or a 6x39w ... the measures of the tank are 100cm x 40 x 50cm height...

Can you help me please? And, which bulbs should I use????

Sorry for my english

 

[Mr.Mcgibblets]

Lighting Upgrade

Lighting Upgrade

Hi,

I am currently running a 4x54 t5 fixture over a 120g 48x24x24 tank. I want to add 2-4 more lights and was wondering the best way to do this. Is there was a way to gut my current fixture and use the ballast and endcaps while adding a 2 bulb retrofit kit? Is the only way to do this by mounting the lights inside a canopy or is there a place that sells empty fixtures?

 

[dfixallman]

Waiting on Grim to make order

Waiting on Grim to make order

Sorry to Bother u Grimm. Here is what im ordering so far. Let me know what order they should be in and what for the 6th bulb. All T5's. First i want the most coral growth and then I want a bluer look than I had before. Here is what I had before and then the list you recomended so far. Im getting ready to order them today. Thanks Grim !
What I have Now :
1st - 54w Acinic + Giasemann.
2nd - 54w Aqua Blue +
3rd - 54w Aqua blue +
4th - Super Acinic VHO
5th - Acinic White VHO
6th - Super Acinic VHO
7th - 54W Acinic +

Changing out 3 VHO's for 4 T5's and what you recomended so far:

1st - ATI Blue Plus
2nd -ATI Blue Plus
3rd - GE 600K Daylight or Gmann Midday
4th - ATI Blue Plus
5th - ATI Purple Plus
6th -
7th - ATI Blue Plus
8th - ATI Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim,

What do you think of a 50/50 mix of FP and Blues?

I love the way my dawn dusk looks with a FP in the rear and a UVL actinic in the front. Trying to replicate this look for 8 bulbs while still getting good par. I like how the tank looks with a couple actinics in place of the B+'s.

How do you think this would look?

Blue+
FP
UVL actinic
FP
Blue+
FP
UVL actinic
FP

Worth a shot, order some extra blue plus lamps just in case.