The T5 Q&a Thread

[rtparty]

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!

There are dozens of us that have been singing this song for quite a while. KZ will get some business for now but ATI will have a bulb to compete here in the near future. It will also cost $10/bulb less and probably put out more PAR.

 

[shiver905]

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.

So I take it that UVI isnt a good bulb maker?

 

[rtparty]

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?

You will need a good fixture for that deep of a tank. The only fixtures I have seen that penetrate that much water are the ATI's. Unfortunately they aren't cheap.

 

[rtparty]

So I take it that UVI isnt a good bulb maker?

They are decent but not great. Your combo was pretty weird too. You have no blue bulbs and the rest are pink. How does the tank look? For me it would look like someone dumped a bottle of Pepto Bismol in my tank.

I would go with 4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and 1 GE6500k.

 

[shiver905]

They are decent but not great. Your combo was pretty weird too. You have no blue bulbs and the rest are pink. How does the tank look? For me it would look like someone dumped a bottle of Pepto Bismol in my tank.

I would go with 4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and 1 GE6500k.

Im not running this combo,
I wanted to go this rout because whiter bulbs puts out more par.

Right now I have

Coral Life super blue
UVI aqua sun
Coral Live super blue
UVI 75.25
UVI Aquasun
Aquascience Blue.

I really like the look, Im not a fan of too much blue. This combo is very pleasing to my eyes but I dont think it has enough punch to grow any sps at the bottom of my tank,

I aranged my tank so most sps/clams are dirrectly under a UVI aqua sun.
I took out the tape measure.

All measurements are
from the bottom of my tek t5 fixture (not legs).

19" clams
18"-15" sps


I understand I could grow almost everything if i raised everything to the top. But thats not an option to me. I like how my rockwork layout is.
There is a way i can lower the whole fixture about 4" will that help at all?
Id rather switch to MH or Leds then raise everything.

 

[drewfish]

I'm having trouble figuring out if I want LED's or HO T5 set up. My tank is a 36 gal dimensions are 22.5 "x19.7"x19.1" and I mostly want to keep LPS some SPS and possibly a clam in the future. If I went T5 would 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 KZ New Gen and 1 ATI Purple Plus get the job done or is it too much or too little? I used halides in the past and really want to get away from them and this is an option I'm not too familiar with. Thanks in advance.

 

[Johnson7]

I have a tek 4 bulb fixture over a 75 softie tank. I'm going for the 14k look. Do you still recommend:

ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White or KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

Thanks!

 

[cboy]

Grim - I followed you suggestions on getting these 4 bulbs
2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and 1 KZ New Generation

what order should i run them in my Tek Elite Light i would like to do Dusk/Dawn and all on for mid day

The Switches control it like this.....

I currently have it as, should i change it??

FRONT
Switch 1 - B+
Switch 2 - KZ New Gen
Switch 2 - P+
Switch 1 B+

 

[rtparty]

Im not running this combo,
I wanted to go this rout because whiter bulbs puts out more par.

Right now I have

Coral Life super blue
UVI aqua sun
Coral Live super blue
UVI 75.25
UVI Aquasun
Aquascience Blue.

I really like the look, Im not a fan of too much blue. This combo is very pleasing to my eyes but I dont think it has enough punch to grow any sps at the bottom of my tank,

I aranged my tank so most sps/clams are dirrectly under a UVI aqua sun.
I took out the tape measure.

All measurements are
from the bottom of my tek t5 fixture (not legs).

19" clams
18"-15" sps


I understand I could grow almost everything if i raised everything to the top. But thats not an option to me. I like how my rockwork layout is.
There is a way i can lower the whole fixture about 4" will that help at all?
Id rather switch to MH or Leds then raise everything.

White bulbs don't put out more PAR, that is a myth. One big advantage to T5's is that the blue bulbs put out a TON of PAR. The ATI Blue Plus is the highest PAR bulb on the market.

For 6 bulbs I would run 3 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus, 1 KZ New Generation and 1 GE 6500k. That will be a little more on the white side.

I would keep your Tek about 6" off the water surface. Don't use the acrylic shield and get an external fan blowing on the fixture to help cool things down.

 

[rtparty]

I'm having trouble figuring out if I want LED's or HO T5 set up. My tank is a 36 gal dimensions are 22.5 "x19.7"x19.1" and I mostly want to keep LPS some SPS and possibly a clam in the future. If I went T5 would 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 KZ New Gen and 1 ATI Purple Plus get the job done or is it too much or too little? I used halides in the past and really want to get away from them and this is an option I'm not too familiar with. Thanks in advance.

It isn't about bulb combo really. It is about a good fixture when you are talking about SPS and clams.

A Tek is the absolute minimum I would run over that tank but I like the ATI for clams. Your bulb combo is a good combo though.

 

[rtparty]

I have a tek 4 bulb fixture over a 75 softie tank. I'm going for the 14k look. Do you still recommend:

ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White or KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

Thanks!

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
KZ New Generation
ATI Blue Plus

 

[rtparty]

Grim - I followed you suggestions on getting these 4 bulbs
2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and 1 KZ New Generation

what order should i run them in my Tek Elite Light i would like to do Dusk/Dawn and all on for mid day

The Switches control it like this.....

I currently have it as, should i change it??

FRONT
Switch 1 - B+
Switch 2 - KZ New Gen
Switch 2 - P+
Switch 1 B+

That will work or you can try this

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
New Gen

That way the Purple bulb strikes the viewing side of the corals.

 

[Asureef]

White bulbs don't put out more PAR, that is a myth. One big advantage to T5's is that the blue bulbs put out a TON of PAR. The ATI Blue Plus is the highest PAR bulb on the market.

Why do I get more par readings from my special than blue plus?

I'm running a 24" 6x24w ati SP on a 40g. how high would you recommend hanging the fixture from the waters surface? Right now it's at 4 1/2", which I find to be the min. To reach 200 par on the sandbed. Bulb combo is ati special, bp, pp, bp, bp, special.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cboy]

That will work or you can try this

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
New Gen

That way the Purple bulb strikes the viewing side of the corals.

so 2 Blue Plus on Dawn/Dusk is what im supposed to be doing?

 

[rtparty]

Why do I get more par readings from my special than blue plus?

I'm running a 24" 6x24w ati SP on a 40g. how high would you recommend hanging the fixture from the waters surface? Right now it's at 4 1/2", which I find to be the min. To reach 200 par on the sandbed. Bulb combo is ati special, bp, pp, bp, bp, special.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Because your PAR meter will under read the blue in a blue plus and over read the red in the aquablue. Sanjay Joshi used a hella expensive light meter when he tested his bulbs and found the blue plus was the highest PAR. A guy posted the info about it but it was like 10 splits ago at this point!

On my 40g breeder I was above 300 PAR on the sand. Are your fans set to the correct speed? Should be set at either 7.5v or 9v and all label ends of the bulbs should be on the cord side of the fixture. I had to keep my fixture at least 8" off the surface.

 

[brob22]

i used the
blue
purple
blue
ge6500
blue
blue
combo and i have room for two vho bulbs on the end and was wonderin which bulbs i should run to compliment the t5s
also i didnt know the labels of the bulbs were supposed to go on the cord side. by not doing this am i ruining my bulbs
thanks
and last question are the labels supposed to be pointed up or down in the fixture

 

[SSpiro]

Guys, I need to replace my Gmann lamps.

4 x 39w Aqua Blue +
4 x 39w Actinic+

Thinking about ATI. Which bulbs would be the direct replacements?

 

[marinehrnt]

I'm currently using:
2 ATI Blue Plus
1 KZ New Generation
1 ATI Purple Plus

I'm thinking about replacing the purple with another ATI Blue Plus because I'm looking for a little more blue. The tank is only two months old so no corals yet but curious if 3 blue plus with KZ New Gen will be suitable for most softies and LPS? Running a TEK Elite fixture. I'm new to t-5 and not sure if the purple is doing anything for me other than adding color, would trading this for a blue make any difference in overall performance? Thanks much.

 

[rtparty]

i used the
blue
purple
blue
ge6500
blue
blue
combo and i have room for two vho bulbs on the end and was wonderin which bulbs i should run to compliment the t5s
also i didnt know the labels of the bulbs were supposed to go on the cord side. by not doing this am i ruining my bulbs
thanks
and last question are the labels supposed to be pointed up or down in the fixture

I would run both VHO's with actinic bulbs. Your colors will look great with that setup.

If you are running an ATI fixture, then yes change your bulbs so the labels are right under the vents in the fixture. It doesn't matter if they face up or down.

 

[rtparty]

Guys, I need to replace my Gmann lamps.

4 x 39w Aqua Blue +
4 x 39w Actinic+

Thinking about ATI. Which bulbs would be the direct replacements?

If you want direct replacements then it would be the ATI Blue Plus for the Actinic Plus and the Aquablue Special for the Aqua Blue +.

However, you will get better color IMO if you switch out to 5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and 1 ATI Aquablue.