The T5 Q&a Thread

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beckerjm said:
Hey Grim,

So I've got a 75 g tank. I upgraded from a 4 bulb PC light set-up in early July to the 48" 6 bulb NEP set-up with standard bulbs. Until the upgrade I had mainly softies with a few LPS. After getting the NEP, I added a few SPS - to the upper part of the tank. I expected to see growth, but don't seem to be seeing any growth with the SPS - and their colors are fading.

I planned to eventually change out the lamps, but had hoped not too do it so soon. I've read thru the thread and know the recommendation for replacing all the bulbs - 4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 GE 6500 K Daylight, and 1 UVL Actinic White.

What would be your recommendation if I wanted to change only 2 or 3 of the bulbs now, and do the remaining bulbs in another 3-6 months?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Change out your Blues for ATI Blue Plus, that will give you the biggest PAR gains/
 
Wow - great thread. Not to be lazy but I gave up tryin to read the whole thread after it took me 10 mins of clicking "this thread has been split to to performance reasons...". I gave up trying to find the beginning of this monster!!!

So, I'm gonna have to bring up a topic thay may have been discussed already....

I read a great sticky on T5s from Anthony Calfo (I think) about keeping T5s cool. I've had a T5 retro set on my 220g setup since 2005 and have never thought about temp issues. As a result, I'm sure its totally killed the effectiveness of my entire setup ( and another lesson learned!).

Anyway, is there some sort of "ambient temp" rule of thumb to shoot for as far as the temperature near the bulbs? I'm going to get some fans to keep air circulating but I have no idea if I'm keeping it cool enough?

PS - I have an 8x80w 60' setup run by two icecap 660s and one 430.
 
bheron said:
Wow - great thread. Not to be lazy but I gave up tryin to read the whole thread after it took me 10 mins of clicking "this thread has been split to to performance reasons...". I gave up trying to find the beginning of this monster!!!

So, I'm gonna have to bring up a topic thay may have been discussed already....

I read a great sticky on T5s from Anthony Calfo (I think) about keeping T5s cool. I've had a T5 retro set on my 220g setup since 2005 and have never thought about temp issues. As a result, I'm sure its totally killed the effectiveness of my entire setup ( and another lesson learned!).

Anyway, is there some sort of "ambient temp" rule of thumb to shoot for as far as the temperature near the bulbs? I'm going to get some fans to keep air circulating but I have no idea if I'm keeping it cool enough?

PS - I have an 8x80w 60' setup run by two icecap 660s and one 430.
Click to expand...

Yeah, change your lamps and add a fan blowing in from the back cooling the lamp ends/endcaps on one side and make sure the labels on the lamps are at that end.
 
The Grim Reefer said:
Yeah, change your lamps and add a fan blowing in from the back cooling the lamp ends/endcaps on one side and make sure the labels on the lamps are at that end.
Click to expand...

Really? so its not as much about the overall temp around the entire lamp but more on one area? aroun the endcaps? and only on one side? i didnt even think about what end the labels are either. sorry, not quite following - it sounds interesting though :fun4: this is all news to me!~
 
bheron said:
Really? so its not as much about the overall temp around the entire lamp but more on one area? aroun the endcaps? and only on one side? i didnt even think about what end the labels are either. sorry, not quite following - it sounds interesting though :fun4: this is all news to me!~
Click to expand...

Yep, they do better just cooling the one end. Too much cooling will lower the output more than not enough.
 
JTL said:
Are they really all the same quality and size? Also what do you know about Wave Point lamps?
Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...

The Aquactinics are narrower but they all have similar performance, Aqua Illumination are best, then Aquactinics, then Ice Cap.
 
The Grim Reefer said:
Yep, they do better just cooling the one end. Too much cooling will lower the output more than not enough.
Click to expand...

Wow. I was about to install a bunch of fans to circulate are underneath my lights. this is a different approach. So, just to recap:

1) install my bulbs to that they're all installed the same - with the labels on the same side.

2) install some fans (in my case some PC case fans) to blow air from outside of the canopy directed only at the endcaps on the same sidie of the labels.

- Would it be a good idea to have a few fans pulling air out of the canopy in another location? I've heard this can result in extra salt creep?
 
bheron said:
Wow. I was about to install a bunch of fans to circulate are underneath my lights. this is a different approach. So, just to recap:

1) install my bulbs to that they're all installed the same - with the labels on the same side.

2) install some fans (in my case some PC case fans) to blow air from outside of the canopy directed only at the endcaps on the same sidie of the labels.

- Would it be a good idea to have a few fans pulling air out of the canopy in another location? I've heard this can result in extra salt creep?
Click to expand...

You could place a fan pulling air out at the other end in the same position just for giggles, it might make a little difference. Couldn't hurt.
 
Well, I have a bunch of low powered 12v Dc fans to use.

I have two areas of open air behind my tank where the canopy is. I was going to place fans all around, but based on this new approach, this is what I was thinking:

TanksCanopyFans1.jpg



So, do I have this right? :hmm5:
 
bheron said:
Well, I have a bunch of low powered 12v Dc fans to use.

I have two areas of open air behind my tank where the canopy is. I was going to place fans all around, but based on this new approach, this is what I was thinking:

TanksCanopyFans1.jpg



So, do I have this right? :hmm5:
Click to expand...

That would probably work fine.
 
Thanks so much grim. Every time I think I know alot -- I dont! This will save me a ton. I read A. Calfo's article on keeping the lights cool, esp if you're overdriving them. then I came acros this thread. awesome.

It also sounds like you can keep them too cool, right?

As a final note, I have something that would be good to add to this thread that I'll put into a seperate post about "over fanning".
 
Hey Guys,

I am going to be running two 250W 20k radiums on a pfo hqi ballast. But I am supplementing that with four 24watt tek t5s. Which t5 bulbs would give me the best effect? I am looking for best brand and type actinic, blue+ etc. All of your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 
Grim - I checked out your homepage. It looks like the KZ Coral Light bulb ranks #3 as far as PAR. It seems like you would recommended it more often. I can't find much info on it. Premium Aquatics has it described as a "50/50" bulb. I have seen it other places being described as a "10,000k" bulb. Seems like it might be a good supplement to the ATI aquablue +. Maybe a good bulb for someone that is looking or something that falls between the GE 6500k and the ATI aquablue special. What color of corals look good under this light. Maybe nothing looks particularly great under the light so that's why you don't recommend it. Your thoughts on this bulb?
 
I posted this in its own thread but didn't get a response.

I saw a post on here about a 36" ATI PM over a 48" tank. I really like that idea. I think it would look better and I do plan on having open space on the sides on the tank. The tank is also euro braced. I would like to have 2 large islands near the back and small one in the front. Kinda like a triangle. Do you think a 36" PM 8 bulb should be ok for this?

Thanks for any help.
 
alpine75 said:
I posted this in its own thread but didn't get a response.

I saw a post on here about a 36" ATI PM over a 48" tank. I really like that idea. I think it would look better and I do plan on having open space on the sides on the tank. The tank is also euro braced. I would like to have 2 large islands near the back and small one in the front. Kinda like a triangle. Do you think a 36" PM 8 bulb should be ok for this?

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

I would not do that if you are planning on SPS for your tank and if PAR is important to you. For some reason, the 36" ATI PM does not put out as much PAR as the 48". I found this info in the threads recently. Forget which one, maybe Grim can explain.
 
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