The T5 Q&a Thread

[TropTrea]

Lighting is not a real simple thing and what works for one coral may not necessarly work for all corals. Coral placement is also important with the corals that need a lot of light needing to be closer to the lights and those requiring less light further away. Besides that you have diferent wave lengt of light used by different corals so then you that importance of balancing the different wave lenghts for various corals.

Any 4 tube T-5 will not work on a 90 gallon tank do to the height unless your picking all your corals that need very little light. On my 120 gallon I'm using a 8 bulb fixture however there are good 6 bulb fixtures out there that can make your needs. I perfer the 8 bulb because it gives me an evener distribution of the light as well as more options for bulb selection. Probably the biggest thing to look at in lighting fiztures is the quality of the reflector.

Going to your present dissatisfaction perhaps you can give us more info like which exact bulbs are you using?

I cant say im overly happy with the growth of corals in my tank. My caps are doing fairly well, gsp are taking off, leathers okay but my frogspawn, torch, and candies arent really "growing".

I was looking over my lights and remembered the ballast brand and they are glo 4x54 48".

I have geismann bulbs in them. Are my bulbs too much for my cheapo ballasts? I bought the glos used... Didnt realize how cheap they could have been had for brand new. Bulbs are only 3 months old.

Ill be upgrading my tank from a 55 to a 90 in a few months. I assume i should plan on getting a better T5 system?

Any info would be great.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I cant say im overly happy with the growth of corals in my tank. My caps are doing fairly well, gsp are taking off, leathers okay but my frogspawn, torch, and candies arent really "growing".

I was looking over my lights and remembered the ballast brand and they are glo 4x54 48".

I have geismann bulbs in them. Are my bulbs too much for my cheapo ballasts? I bought the glos used... Didnt realize how cheap they could have been had for brand new. Bulbs are only 3 months old.

Ill be upgrading my tank from a 55 to a 90 in a few months. I assume i should plan on getting a better T5 system?

Any info would be great.

If they are actual T5 HO ballasts they should be OK at least. Make sure the listed wattage on them match your lamps., Good reflectors are a must. Tek's at least.

 

[Mzulu]

Would lighting for a frag tank be different than what you usually recommend? I know a 4 lamp fixture should be two Blue Plus, one Aquablue, and one purple. I did some research and have heard things like three Blue Plus and one GE 6500K or two Blue Plus and two aquables. What are your thoughts on these and which would give the best growth even if not aesthetically pleasing?

 

[a.browning]

You'd just have to move the corals into more appropriate locations. Frogspawn would probably like to stay up high but brains and such won't want that much light. Good upgrade though.

Unfortunately, my tank is completely full and I would really have no spots to move corals. I feel like my frogspawn is going to kill its own heads because it's growing so big and drowning out light from the lower heads on the same colony, due to the small spread of my current light. However, I don't want to give too much light to other corals that are up high. What would you do in my situation?

The corals in the top 1/4th of my tank are Torch, GSP, St. Thomas Ricordea, Frogspawn (in avatar), Yellow Polyps, Xenia, Ricordea Yuma and Porites.

I would just hate to upgrade my light only to have my corals do worse than before due to too much light or other factors.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Would lighting for a frag tank be different than what you usually recommend? I know a 4 lamp fixture should be two Blue Plus, one Aquablue, and one purple. I did some research and have heard things like three Blue Plus and one GE 6500K or two Blue Plus and two aquables. What are your thoughts on these and which would give the best growth even if not aesthetically pleasing?

3 blues with the 6500 is what I'd do. 2 + 2 would work too but 6500K's instead of Aquablues.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Unfortunately, my tank is completely full and I would really have no spots to move corals. I feel like my frogspawn is going to kill its own heads because it's growing so big and drowning out light from the lower heads on the same colony, due to the small spread of my current light. However, I don't want to give too much light to other corals that are up high. What would you do in my situation?

The corals in the top 1/4th of my tank are Torch, GSP, St. Thomas Ricordea, Frogspawn (in avatar), Yellow Polyps, Xenia, Ricordea Yuma and Porites.

I would just hate to upgrade my light only to have my corals do worse than before due to too much light or other factors.

Might be time to frag the spawn. You could throw an actinic into the mix if you go with a 4 lamp fixture to lessen the PAR increase.

 

[Luwe2008]

Hey Grim, I have a couple questions.
My tank is 63x 31.5 x23.5 and I want to keep SPS/LPS Clams.

1. Should I go with 48" or 60" fixture?

2. Should I go with 10 bulb or 8 bulb?

3. Should I go with Sunpower or Powermodule?

Thanks Grimm!

 

[a.browning]

Might be time to frag the spawn. You could throw an actinic into the mix if you go with a 4 lamp fixture to lessen the PAR increase.

Thanks for your help Grim. Would you upgrade? Or would you go with "if it's not broken, don't fix it"?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim, I have a couple questions.
My tank is 63x 31.5 x23.5 and I want to keep SPS/LPS Clams.

1. Should I go with 48" or 60" fixture?

2. Should I go with 10 bulb or 8 bulb?

3. Should I go with Sunpower or Powermodule?

Thanks Grimm!

10 lamp powermodule. The length depends on how you are planning to stock the tank. With a 48" fixture you can't stock high light critters beyond the ends of the fixture.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Thanks for your help Grim. Would you upgrade? Or would you go with "if it's not broken, don't fix it"?

Hard to get a good look with just 2 lamps. I'd grab a 4 lamp Tek if you are happy with your growth now.

 

[a.browning]

Hard to get a good look with just 2 lamps. I'd grab a 4 lamp Tek if you are happy with your growth now.

I've found a 4-bulb aquaticlife for $200 on craigslist.. I'm pretty tempted. Is Tek better than aquaticlife?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

That one is fine for that price

 

[Jason B]

Hey guys, Quick question.

I am putting in a new 6 lamp t5 fixture. What is the best lamp combination to get maximum coral growth with the blue that makes the colors on the corals really stand out?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Jason B]

Nada?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Same as listed hundreds of times throughout the thread, 4 blue plus 1 purple plus and depending on personal taste a KZ new gen for a more 20K blue look or a GE 6500K for a more 15K look

 

[Jason B]

Thanks Grim. I looked through a bunch of pages but had a tough time finding a 6 lamp layout.

Would be a huge help if one of the mods could make a sticky thread of a list of different lamp combos for different needs of a tank? I know it would be a good bit of work but it would save you guys a bunch of time answering easy questions from newbies like me.

 

[PotRoast]

Hi there. I currently have this setup

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

I want to replace my Aquasun bulb because it is out of stock. I am having a hard time finding a replacement. Do you have a recommendation for a bulb to replace the Aquasun? Something with a similar light spectrum.....or any suggestion you may have. Thanks.

 

[FSU3NOLES28]

Lighting is not a real simple thing and what works for one coral may not necessarly work for all corals. Coral placement is also important with the corals that need a lot of light needing to be closer to the lights and those requiring less light further away. Besides that you have diferent wave lengt of light used by different corals so then you that importance of balancing the different wave lenghts for various corals.

Any 4 tube T-5 will not work on a 90 gallon tank do to the height unless your picking all your corals that need very little light. On my 120 gallon I'm using a 8 bulb fixture however there are good 6 bulb fixtures out there that can make your needs. I perfer the 8 bulb because it gives me an evener distribution of the light as well as more options for bulb selection. Probably the biggest thing to look at in lighting fiztures is the quality of the reflector.

Going to your present dissatisfaction perhaps you can give us more info like which exact bulbs are you using?

This is a light fixture i am contemplating picking up:
http://www.marineandreef.com/Nova_Extreme_Pro_T5_48_inch_Current_USA_p/rcu01081.htm

This is what i currently have (4 total lights). i have 4 Geissmann bulbs in them.
http://www.fishsupply.com/shg-a1558.html

Besides 1 being a fixtfure and the other being mountable ballasts... What is the difference?

 

[layer3switchguy]

Folks,

I'm looking to replace the bulbs in my 8x54w ATI Powermodule, and was looking for some suggestions on a really good combination for color and pop on my SPS tank. Also, should I be looking at KZ or ATI bulbs?

I was thinking about the following:

Front to Back:

Blue+
Fiji Purple
Blue +
Blue+
Aqua Blue Special
Blue +
Aqua Blue Special
Blue+

Thanks very much in advance for any advice!

L3

 

[Akrite]

Grim,
I upgraded to a 250 gallon Marineland Deep Dimension (60x36x27) and run a 8x54w ATI Powermodule that was perfect on my 120 gallon (48x24x24). But now I have shade on front and back of the tank. Is it worth the upgrade to a 10x80w ATI Powermodule or should I change my bulbs combo? If so what bulb combo do you recommend and if notwhat bulb combo do you recommend? I currently run 5Blue+, 2GE 6500K (previously Aqua Blue Special) and 1 Fiji Purple.