The T5 Q&a Thread

[rtparty]

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.

Performance wise you won't have much of a change. By going to 3 blue plus and 1 new gen you will get a much colder feel to the tank and will lose some colors in corals when you add them.

Change the New Gen to another Blue Plus and see what you think.

 

[SSpiro]

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.

Well, it's a 6 foot tank. I'm 4 bulbs on each side.. 8 x 39w/3FT lamps

So should I go:

Reading front to back
1 - ATI Blue+
1 - ATI Purple+
1 - ATI Blue+
1 - ATI Aquablue

For each side, in that order?

 

[rtparty]

Well, it's a 6 foot tank. I'm 4 bulbs on each side.. 8 x 39w/3FT lamps

So should I go:

Reading front to back
1 - ATI Blue+
1 - ATI Purple+
1 - ATI Blue+
1 - ATI Aquablue

For each side, in that order?

How deep is the tank front to back?

If it were my tank, I would get 60" 80w T5 lamps and run 3 on each IC660. You will get better life and coverage will still be good.

 

[drewfish]

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.

Great, thanks. I'll most likely go with the ATI though it would hang over each side an inch but that is ok I guess.

 

[marinehrnt]

Performance wise you won't have much of a change. By going to 3 blue plus and 1 new gen you will get a much colder feel to the tank and will lose some colors in corals when you add them.

Change the New Gen to another Blue Plus and see what you think.

Thanks, I will give this a try and see how it looks.

 

[SSpiro]

How deep is the tank front to back?

If it were my tank, I would get 60" 80w T5 lamps and run 3 on each IC660. You will get better life and coverage will still be good.

Coverage will be just as good as it is now? Assuming staggering these and leaving 12" of dead space every other bulb on each side..

Assuming I stayed with the 39w's for now (which is probably what ill do for now just because of time/money, etc), would the light combo setup I posted based on your recommendation work best? Or would you lay out differently?

 

[rtparty]

Coverage will be just as good as it is now? Assuming staggering these and leaving 12" of dead space every other bulb on each side..

Assuming I stayed with the 39w's for now (which is probably what ill do for now just because of time/money, etc), would the light combo setup I posted based on your recommendation work best? Or would you lay out differently?

Nope, no staggering needed. Many, many people run 60" bulbs over a 72" tank.

I personally ran a 24" fixture over a 36" tank for about 8 months and loved it! I don't think I will ever go 1:1 again i.e. a 36" fixture over a 36" tank. I tried that for the last month or so on my old tank and hated it. I went from a 24" ATI Sunpower to a 36" Aquactinics TX5. The fixture just got in the way of everything.

If you stay with what you have, your combo looked good. I would probably run it like this though

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus

I really liked a Purple and Blue for dusk/dawn compared to just 2 blues. Play around though and find what you like.

 

[brob22]

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.

thanks, u are the man!!!

one last thing though, if i run both actinics im alittle woried the tank is gonna look to blue. it already looks to blue for my tast as iis. will the actinics change the color that much. and if they do would i be ruin the whole combo of color if i added one daylight vho bulb.

thanks i really need and apprciate the help
sincerley

 

[drewfish]

Ok, after much deliberation, research and talk with the boss (wife), I decided (and ordered) the ATI 24'' 6x24w Dimmable Sunpower w/ Controller. I'm think I'll be happy with this setup and think I want to go with this bulb setup. Let me know if this order is good for the setup as well.

ATI BLUE PLUS
ATI PURPLE PLUS
KZ NEW GEN
ATI BLUE PLUS
GE 6500K
ATI BLUE PLUS

Again the tank is 22.5''x19.7x19.1 (36gal Elos Midi). Decided on 6 bulb for sps down the road and clams.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

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.

You want LED's, your wallet will want T5's

I KILL ME

If you can DIY go LED's, hit the DIY forums for a ton of info. For T5's your plan will be fine, make sure you get at least a Tek fixture and if you are serious about clams get a ATI Sunpower, your clams will thank you.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Ok, after much deliberation, research and talk with the boss (wife), I decided (and ordered) the ATI 24'' 6x24w Dimmable Sunpower w/ Controller. I'm think I'll be happy with this setup and think I want to go with this bulb setup. Let me know if this order is good for the setup as well.

ATI BLUE PLUS
ATI PURPLE PLUS
KZ NEW GEN
ATI BLUE PLUS
GE 6500K
ATI BLUE PLUS

Again the tank is 22.5''x19.7x19.1 (36gal Elos Midi). Decided on 6 bulb for sps down the road and clams.

Swap positions of the GE and the Blue Plus in front of it so you get the purple plus and a Blue Plus as dusk/dawn. If you don't like that duskdawn look do this

New Gen
BP
PP
GE
BP
BP

 

[The Grim Reefer]

For the record not all lamps have a dedicated cold spot, last I checked the ATI's didn't, the Giesemanns did. It's just a good habit to get used to cooling the label end of the lamps as that is where those with dedicated cold spots are.

 

[drewfish]

Swap positions of the GE and the Blue Plus in front of it so you get the purple plus and a Blue Plus as dusk/dawn. If you don't like that duskdawn look do this

New Gen
BP
PP
GE
BP
BP

Thanks Grim for the quick reply. I'll tinker around with the layout during the cycle to see what I like between both of your recommendations. I'm just glad I finally decided on some lighting. :crazy1:

 

[SSpiro]

Nope, no staggering needed. Many, many people run 60" bulbs over a 72" tank.

I personally ran a 24" fixture over a 36" tank for about 8 months and loved it! I don't think I will ever go 1:1 again i.e. a 36" fixture over a 36" tank. I tried that for the last month or so on my old tank and hated it. I went from a 24" ATI Sunpower to a 36" Aquactinics TX5. The fixture just got in the way of everything.

If you stay with what you have, your combo looked good. I would probably run it like this though

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus

I really liked a Purple and Blue for dusk/dawn compared to just 2 blues. Play around though and find what you like.

Awesome, you the man. I'll get these on order ASAP. Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[kmacartney]

What uses more electricity, Tek 6x54 or 4x54 bulbs on an Ice Cap 660?

 

[Amoore311]

The loss in wattage of the individual bulbs doesn't affect anything rtparty? I would think a 6x39 watt fixture would put out more par than a 6x24watt fixture of the same brand.

 

[rtparty]

What uses more electricity, Tek 6x54 or 4x54 bulbs on an Ice Cap 660?

About equal. The 54w bulbs are over driven to about 80 watts each.

With the overdriven system you will have more bulb replacements.

 

[rtparty]

The loss in wattage of the individual bulbs doesn't affect anything rtparty? I would think a 6x39 watt fixture would put out more par than a 6x24watt fixture of the same brand.

For arguments sake, they will be pretty close but usually the 36" T5s are the worst performers. The 60" T5s seem to be the best but from all my testing and research, all lengths are within 10% of each other. (Assuming the same brand and bulbs are used. There can be a lot of little differences that come into effect but we wont worry about that here.)

 

[TruespeedEM1]

Just ordered a 265 gallon tank (7'x2'x30") Are T5's feasible to use on something this deep? how many and what setup would you guys run?

I want to be able to keep anything I want

 

[georgiadawg]

On the ati fixture do you run it with the acrylic shield on or off?