The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

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.

I'd do a GE 6500K and replace the Super Actinic in front of it with another Purple Plus.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

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?

Most important part of ANY T5 lighting system is good reflectors. Tek, Aquactinics, Ice Cap and LET have good retrofit kit reflectors. ATI, Tek, Aquaticlife and Aquactinics make good fixtures for taller tanks, in about that order of effectiveness.

If you have a retro now your best bet is to buy good reflectors and a couple more lamps so you are running 6 lamps. Also a single fan directed down a row of endcaps on one side or another from the rear of the canopy will boost PAR very well.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

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

Swap out that Aquablue near the back for a second Fiji Purple or ATI Purple Plus.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

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.

Check out some of the LED strips available. You could add one in front and one behind your current fixture, use royal blue if you do it, pops things sweet.

Otherwise go to 10 lamps.

 

[TropTrea]

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

This will also dep[end on how blue you want your dawn to dusk period looking. I personaly prefer pure atinics in that time period however if you have only 6 bulbs getting a balance in the mid day period gets harder with only three additional bulbs

I would personaly use 2 atinics and 1 Blue plus on the dawn to dusk circuit then an additional blue plus on the mid day period with either a purple plus or KZ new generation. Then add the aqua plus or a 10,000K bulb.

 

[PHensley]

Hi everybody,

I think that I am going to bite the bullet and redo my junky 48" perfecto hood. I currently have a TEK two bulb fixture over my 55g and I am going to buy a LET retrofit to augment this setup. I have 10.5 inches front to back inside the hood to work with which means that I will replace the overly large TEK reflectors with LET ones from reefgeek (aren't these better reflectors anyway?). This will be a tight fit which concerns me a little but it is open at the top and back for heat dissipation. Do these fixtures produce enough heat to be a hazard in relatively tight confines with the lamps about 3 inches above my tank's glass covers?

I plan on adding a fan or two for ventilation and there should be about a half inch between the front fixture and the inside wall of hood to allow air to escape out the top and there is plenty of room on the sides. I will position fans on the back of the hood to blow air across the ends. Do I need to ventilate both ends or just one? Also, what computer fans do people recommend for this task?

Finally, I will probably buy two ATI bulbs to augment my recently bought Giesmann bulbs. I thinking about this arrangement:

ATI Blue PLUS
ATI Purple
Giesmann Midday
Giesmann Actinic Plus

Finally, I am confused about which fixtures to connect to the two ballasts. Should the center two bulbs be connected to one ballast while the outer two are connected to the second? What is the preferred setup? I really appreciate the advice and I apologize for the lengthy questions.

 

[timmcq]

Thanks

Thanks

Grim,

Tank is coming back strong. I used the bulb config that you suggested and it looks great. New corals, mostly frags, seem to be doing really well.

Thanks for your time and expertise!

Tim

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hi everybody,

I think that I am going to bite the bullet and redo my junky 48" perfecto hood. I currently have a TEK two bulb fixture over my 55g and I am going to buy a LET retrofit to augment this setup. I have 10.5 inches front to back inside the hood to work with which means that I will replace the overly large TEK reflectors with LET ones from reefgeek (aren't these better reflectors anyway?). This will be a tight fit which concerns me a little but it is open at the top and back for heat dissipation. Do these fixtures produce enough heat to be a hazard in relatively tight confines with the lamps about 3 inches above my tank's glass covers?

I plan on adding a fan or two for ventilation and there should be about a half inch between the front fixture and the inside wall of hood to allow air to escape out the top and there is plenty of room on the sides. I will position fans on the back of the hood to blow air across the ends. Do I need to ventilate both ends or just one? Also, what computer fans do people recommend for this task?

Finally, I will probably buy two ATI bulbs to augment my recently bought Giesmann bulbs. I thinking about this arrangement:

ATI Blue PLUS
ATI Purple
Giesmann Midday
Giesmann Actinic Plus

Finally, I am confused about which fixtures to connect to the two ballasts. Should the center two bulbs be connected to one ballast while the outer two are connected to the second? What is the preferred setup? I really appreciate the advice and I apologize for the lengthy questions.

First and last lamp as duck/dawn. I'd do a 2nd Blue Plus instead of the Purple as long as you have the daylight lamp in the mix. Otherwise its going to be too much red spectrum. The LET reflectors are better. one fan cooling one end of the lamps works best. Not sure how you pull that off in a hood but make sure you don't blow air on the center section of the lamps, just the end.

 

[Fryman]

Where do people get the GE 6500 bulbs? Can you just get them from a hardware store like home depot?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Where do people get the GE 6500 bulbs? Can you just get them from a hardware store like home depot?

You might find one there. If not reefgeek has them.

 

[Jamesus]

How do you know when its time to replace the bulbs? Just time or what?

Ive had my current bulbs for close to a year and I replaced one of them with a new one and they all looked just as bright as the new one. So now I don't know if its time to replace them or not.

 

[yaktop]

Not sure of anything

Not sure of anything

Grim, great thread. I have a 270 that was a sps tank with vho and 400 mh. Got distracted downgraded to a fowlr with only vho. Now want to get back into he game with a mixed reef. I have my eyes on a

ATI 60" 10x80W Powermodule T5 High-Output Fixture

But have no clue what bulbs u should use on this fixture. A few corals have survived but"....... What would you suggest as I venture back in....slowly I might add.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TropTrea]

Grim, great thread. I have a 270 that was a sps tank with vho and 400 mh. Got distracted downgraded to a fowlr with only vho. Now want to get back into he game with a mixed reef. I have my eyes on a

ATI 60" 10x80W Powermodule T5 High-Output Fixture

But have no clue what bulbs u should use on this fixture. A few corals have survived but"....... What would you suggest as I venture back in....slowly I might add.

Thanks in advance.

Dawn to Dusk Circuit
Pure Atinic
Blue Plus
Pure Atinic
Blue Plus
Pure Atinic
Mid Day Sun Circuit
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Aqua Plus,10,000K, or 6,500K depends a lot on the coloring you want.
Blue Plus
Pirple Plus

 

[TropTrea]

How do you know when its time to replace the bulbs? Just time or what?

Ive had my current bulbs for close to a year and I replaced one of them with a new one and they all looked just as bright as the new one. So now I don't know if its time to replace them or not.

I try to change 1/2 of my bulbs every 9 months. Rotating the ones that I had changed. This means my oldest bulbs would be a year and half old when I replaced them.

Another good indication that they are loosing effeciency is when the ends of the tubes start turning darker.

 

[rtparty]

How do you know when its time to replace the bulbs? Just time or what?

Ive had my current bulbs for close to a year and I replaced one of them with a new one and they all looked just as bright as the new one. So now I don't know if its time to replace them or not.

Non cooled and overdriven T5s need to be replaced every 6 months.

Semi-cooled T5s should be replaced every 9 months at the most.

Properly cooled T5s should be replaced every 12 months at the very longest.

By 12 months in, the bulbs will have lost quite a bit of PAR and the spectrum will have had a major shift.

 

[rtparty]

Grim, great thread. I have a 270 that was a sps tank with vho and 400 mh. Got distracted downgraded to a fowlr with only vho. Now want to get back into he game with a mixed reef. I have my eyes on a

ATI 60" 10x80W Powermodule T5 High-Output Fixture

But have no clue what bulbs u should use on this fixture. A few corals have survived but"....... What would you suggest as I venture back in....slowly I might add.

Thanks in advance.

6 ATi Blue Plus, 2 ATI Purple Plus and 2 GE 6500k.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

^^^^ That is what I'd do.

 

[Jamesus]

Non cooled and overdriven T5s need to be replaced every 6 months.

Semi-cooled T5s should be replaced every 9 months at the most.

Properly cooled T5s should be replaced every 12 months at the very longest.

By 12 months in, the bulbs will have lost quite a bit of PAR and the spectrum will have had a major shift.

Thanks for the info.

I use two ATI bulbs to supplement my LEDs so the T5s only run about 4 hours a day and are not cooled. So how long would you guess those would be good for?

 

[LISound]

Ive been searching and reading...what's the best way to fit a sunpower in an open top hood (canopy)? can't seem to find much info specific to that light. it's a 24" light going over a 30" long tank. so I will have air flow on either side and the open top.

 

[rtparty]

Thanks for the info.

I use two ATI bulbs to supplement my LEDs so the T5s only run about 4 hours a day and are not cooled. So how long would you guess those would be good for?

I still wouldn't go over 7-8 months. You really should have a fan blowing on the end caps of the bulbs. You have to worry about spectral change with bulbs. Heat is the fastest way to ruin a bulb.