The T5 Q&a Thread

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wasian8 said:
Hi grim,

I have a 6 bulb 60" retrofit tek fixture. wondering what the best light combo is + which bulbs to run for my dusk/dawn.Tank is 25'' deep and lights are about 5-6" above the water. Thanks for your input!
Click to expand...

Same mix recoed 826 times already, 4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and 1 GE 6500K Daylight with 2 Blue Plus in dusk/dawn or one blue and one purple plus
 
DerrickH said:
rtparty or Grim

Hoping you gents can help me with this. I purchased 4 new ATI bulbs based off of the bazzilion of recomendations on here that were pretty similar to my setup. 2 blue+, one purple+, and one aquablue spl. I have 2 seperate fixtures, both 36" over my 40g acrylic tank(with stupid euro bracing on top covering the back half of the tank). Ive played around with placement a bit but cant seem to find something I like. I also want to run the fixtures independent. One for morning, then both for midday, then one for late afternoon. Whats your recommendations for bulb placement?

Current setup that looks ok but would like your opinion
Front
Purp+
Aquaspl
blue+
blue+
back
Click to expand...

Front
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Use the above for dusk/dawn
Blue Plus
Aquablue
 
Can anyone estimate what par im getting with a stock t5 tek 6 bulb 36".

With

UVI 75.25
UVI Actinic white
UVI actinic white
UVI aquasun
UVI aquasun
UVI Actinic

@

an 18" deep tank, light is <4" from rim of the tank.

Im trying to grow sps at the sandbed and maybe 3" up from the sandbed.

Is this possible?
 
I'm back again! Really thinking over this lighting thing over my new rimless tank (SPS only).
Dimensions are 36" x 37" x 18"

I was originally suggested an 8 bulb ATI, which would leave very minor shadowing at the front/back of the tank. 10 Bulb power module would cover the whole thing fine.

What I'm thinking now...... How about 2 fixtures? Would (2) 4 Bulb ATI Fixtures light up the tank for effectively than (1) 8 bulb?

How about (2) 6 bulb fixtures, or maybe an 8 bulb + a 4 bulb?


Keep in mind the tank is only 18" tall.


How are Tek Elite fixtures compared to ATI sunpower fixture? I originally eliminated the Tek fixture since I can't get a 36" 8 or 10 Bulb fixture. However, if they are comparable, I can go with (2) 6 bulb Tek Elite fixtures.
 
shiver905 said:
Can anyone estimate what par im getting with a stock t5 tek 6 bulb 36".

With

UVI 75.25
UVI Actinic white
UVI actinic white
UVI aquasun
UVI aquasun
UVI Actinic

@

an 18" deep tank, light is <4" from rim of the tank.

Im trying to grow sps at the sandbed and maybe 3" up from the sandbed.

Is this possible?
Click to expand...

Besides an incredibly ugly look you will get slow growth once the lamps have been in there a while. Throw good lamps in and you'll get OK growth from the stuff on the bottom.
 
Amoore311 said:
I'm back again! Really thinking over this lighting thing over my new rimless tank (SPS only).
Dimensions are 36" x 37" x 18"

I was originally suggested an 8 bulb ATI, which would leave very minor shadowing at the front/back of the tank. 10 Bulb power module would cover the whole thing fine.

What I'm thinking now...... How about 2 fixtures? Would (2) 4 Bulb ATI Fixtures light up the tank for effectively than (1) 8 bulb?

How about (2) 6 bulb fixtures, or maybe an 8 bulb + a 4 bulb?


Keep in mind the tank is only 18" tall.


How are Tek Elite fixtures compared to ATI sunpower fixture? I originally eliminated the Tek fixture since I can't get a 36" 8 or 10 Bulb fixture. However, if they are comparable, I can go with (2) 6 bulb Tek Elite fixtures.
Click to expand...

2 6 lamp elite fixtures would work but I would probably go with Sunpowers because for the extra money you are getting a whole lot more fixture
 
My MH ballasts have died and I want to switch to T5. We just had a baby so I need to keep it cheap. I have a 110 high, 48"x18"x30". Would 4 bulbs do it, 2 6500k GE and 2 Blue +? I will do a mixed reef, SPS at the top, or are 6 bulbs needed?
 
72 Inch 12x39 Watt AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture w/ 6 LEDs

What do you guys think of this for a 125 that's 23" tall? I'm trying to avoid halides but don't want to be limited down the road on what to put in the tank...

Thanks!
 
jacob.morgan78 said:
72 Inch 12x39 Watt AquaticLife T5 HO Light Fixture w/ 6 LEDs

What do you guys think of this for a 125 that's 23" tall? I'm trying to avoid halides but don't want to be limited down the road on what to put in the tank...

Thanks!
Click to expand...


If you truly don't want to be limited then get a 6 bulb ATI Sunpower in the 60" version.

The AquaticLife will limit you on some of the higher light stuff and bulb replacements will hurt the pocketbook. 12 bulbs is over $250 and the bulbs will need to be replaced about every 10 months or so.

6 bulbs is right $130 or so and with an ATI you can push the bulbs out to about 12 months before they need to be replaced.
 
Have a quick question about a bulb's cold side, I just saw this mentioned in another thread and first I am hearing about it. I have a tek 6x39w fixture with ati bulbs over my frag tank and don't remember seeing anything on the bulbs about a cold side? So I guess my question is does it matter how I install the bulbs into the fixture and if so what is the correct way of installing them?
Thanks in advance!
 
HighlandReef said:
Have a quick question about a bulb's cold side, I just saw this mentioned in another thread and first I am hearing about it. I have a tek 6x39w fixture with ati bulbs over my frag tank and don't remember seeing anything on the bulbs about a cold side? So I guess my question is does it matter how I install the bulbs into the fixture and if so what is the correct way of installing them?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

For a Tek it won't really matter unless you are using an external fan to cool things down.

The cold spot is the label end of the bulbs. There is a cathode (I think that is the name) that controls the internal pressure of the lamp. When that piece gets too hot, it doesn't allow the bulb to run as hard and produce as much light. The extra heat will also kill the bulbs' life and hurt output quite significantly (up to 50% loss of PAR).

For Teks it is always recommended to not use the acrylic shield and to get an external fan blowing on the fixture. You don't want the fan blowing directly on the bulbs or you will overcool them and hurt performance as well.
 
Jeremy Blaze said:
The cold side is news to me as well.
So I am assuming the cold side ( end with label ) should be opposite of the fans?
Click to expand...

No. You want cold air blowing on the cold spot. The cold spot regulates the temperature for the rest of the bulb. If it gets too hot it will lower performance of the system.

If you have an ATI unit the label ends need to be right below the vents.
 
For everyone's information...

In the SPS forum, the consensus is that the KZ New Generation is the go-to replacement for the Aquablue special. I'm not sure about PAR numbers, but KZ typically does well in that department.

According to several posters, the New Generation's 14k look washes out colors less than the ATI Aquablue Special, but still provides a nice cool white color to the mix. Gonna pick one up soon and give it a go!
 
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