rtparty
Raise The Reef!
Maybe change one but changing both will really whiten the tank up.
The T5 Q&a Thread
- Thread starter JohnL
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Maybe change one but changing both will really whiten the tank up.
rocke_reef
New member
Hey Grim,
I have a little problem. I have ATI PM 8 x 54. I wanted to know what would be a good combination for SPS growth and color. Please help!
Thanks.
I have a little problem. I have ATI PM 8 x 54. I wanted to know what would be a good combination for SPS growth and color. Please help!
Thanks.
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
Same as others mentioned in the last couple pages would work out well for you.
5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and 1 GE6500k.
Set the fans up to at least 7.5v. 9v is usually a little better though.
michelo
New member
Hey Grim..
what about this?:
tank is 35x27x15 inchs. i will keep sps and zoas
i run sunpower 8x39w or 8x24w? with:
Bulb Combo, front to back:
ATI Blue plus
ATI Blue Special
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue Plus
i like blue with pink and red tones...
Thanks.
what about this?:
tank is 35x27x15 inchs. i will keep sps and zoas
i run sunpower 8x39w or 8x24w? with:
Bulb Combo, front to back:
ATI Blue plus
ATI Blue Special
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue Plus
i like blue with pink and red tones...
Thanks.
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
I would probably go with either 5 ati blue plus and 3 purple plus or 5 blue plus, 2 purple plus and 1 ge6500k.
If you want zoas I would get the 8x24w
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
The t5 setup but I would go with an ati sunpower over the tek if you can.
Bleached corals are a sign of water issues more than lighting issues. Brown corals tend to be light issues.
I would bet your water chemistry is off a little bit.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I'd do the 39 so if you ever decide to move to a larger tank it will handle it.
Mix looks good.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
best bulb combo for ATI /kz tubes in a 8x24w PM SPS reef.
5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and a ATI Aquablue.
MadBeach79
New member
Will this work?
Will this work?
Grim,
So my personal tank is an peninsula style oceanic 110g long, with dimensions 60x18x24, the tank is visible from 3 sides and is currently being used as a room divider. My current light set up is 2x250 SE Radium 20k MHs with 2x110 VHO Super Actinic R flourescents. I am very happy with this look, the growth and the color of my corals is great, but my power bill isn't, lol. Even though I'm getting away without using a chiller, cooling the house down just to keep the tank temperature decent is costing me an arm and a leg.
So,I'm looking into T5 lighting to lower my energy use.
I'm thinking of building a 5 lamp or maybe a 6 lamp retro inside my canopy. I have an ice cap 430 already and an ice cap 660 on it's way. I know it's probably not necessary to overdive the lamps with the ice caps, but I already have one and I got a really good deal on the other one. Anyways, my thinking is to run two 48" ATI Blue Plus bulbs with the IC430, use these for my dawn/dusk effect, and then run maybe a combination of three 48" lamps: (1) ATI Blue Plus, (1) ATI Purple Plus and (1) ATI Aquablue Special for my "daylight" photo period.
In your opinion, do you believe this will be enough lighting for my mixed reef? Do you think it would be okay to run the dusk/dawn lamps for a couple of hours before and after the "daylight" lamps kick on and then have them shut-off once they do? Will three overdriven 54w lamps give me enough light to sustain my corals? I am also open to suggestion on lamp combinations or anything else. Any help is truly appreciated. And I apologize in advance for bombarding you with all these questions.
Thanks,
Danny
Will this work?
Grim,
So my personal tank is an peninsula style oceanic 110g long, with dimensions 60x18x24, the tank is visible from 3 sides and is currently being used as a room divider. My current light set up is 2x250 SE Radium 20k MHs with 2x110 VHO Super Actinic R flourescents. I am very happy with this look, the growth and the color of my corals is great, but my power bill isn't, lol. Even though I'm getting away without using a chiller, cooling the house down just to keep the tank temperature decent is costing me an arm and a leg.
So,I'm looking into T5 lighting to lower my energy use.
I'm thinking of building a 5 lamp or maybe a 6 lamp retro inside my canopy. I have an ice cap 430 already and an ice cap 660 on it's way. I know it's probably not necessary to overdive the lamps with the ice caps, but I already have one and I got a really good deal on the other one. Anyways, my thinking is to run two 48" ATI Blue Plus bulbs with the IC430, use these for my dawn/dusk effect, and then run maybe a combination of three 48" lamps: (1) ATI Blue Plus, (1) ATI Purple Plus and (1) ATI Aquablue Special for my "daylight" photo period.
In your opinion, do you believe this will be enough lighting for my mixed reef? Do you think it would be okay to run the dusk/dawn lamps for a couple of hours before and after the "daylight" lamps kick on and then have them shut-off once they do? Will three overdriven 54w lamps give me enough light to sustain my corals? I am also open to suggestion on lamp combinations or anything else. Any help is truly appreciated. And I apologize in advance for bombarding you with all these questions.
Thanks,
Danny
Thanks. In the UK the KZ are £20 ($32.70) and the ATI are £19 ($31.07)! Just noticed on a few us sites that the blue plus is under $20!
Will go with the ATI then.
One last question. Ive just added a small frag tank. 24x 15 x 8 (LxWxD) Ive got 3x T5's above it. Which tubes would be best? I'm thinking a 2x GE6500 with 1x blue plus would be good?
Thanks again.
Chris
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
Just a quick note.
By overdriving the bulbs you are going to create a ton of heat still. Enough to mess with water temps? Possibly
By overdriving the T5 bulbs, you aren't saving that much electricity. Maybe 200 watts or so is all. With my electric rates, that wouldn't even save me $5/month. But if you can turn the AC off then that will help things out.
Not sure how often you are replacing your bulbs now but the overdriven T5's will need to be replaced about every 7 months. That may or may not eat right into your savings.
Totally my opinion here but I say sell the IceCap ballasts and use the money to buy some spec T5 ballasts. The 6x54w LET retro from Reefgeek is an awesome choice. You will be able to keep just about anything you want and by going with the shorter tubes, like you mentioned, will save you money as well.
For 6 bulbs I like running 4 ATI Blue Plus and 2 ATI Purple Plus.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Use the 60" 80 watt T5's instead. Simply because the Ice Cap ballasts kill the 48" lamps so quick. Reefgeek can throw you together a 5 lamp retro minus ballasts. The 60" lamps run well on the IC's because they aren't overdriven as hard. 3 lamps on the 660 and 2 on the 430.
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
Or do like RT suggests and do 6 48" lamps or standard ballasts
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
MadBeach79
New member
Thanks guys! I truly appreciate the advice.
RTparty, what ballasts do you recommend in order to not overdrive the bulbs?
RTparty, what ballasts do you recommend in order to not overdrive the bulbs?
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
Whatever Reefgeek has right now. They usually have AccuStart, Triad, Advance, Vossloh Schwabe, etc.
Just call or email them and they will take care of you.
Grim's suggestion was a good one as well. It is up to you really.
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