The T5 Q&a Thread

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ctniners said:
Hi guys....I believe that you get what you pay for but I want to double check with the experts...looking for new set up for a 40 gal breeder so the debate is either the

36 inch 6x39W Sunlight Supply Tek Light

or

ATI 36 Inch 6x39W SunPower T5 (for 200.00 more)

Is it that much of a difference?...with the difference I can buy the ATI bulbs and have money left......by the way the project is for an All SPS tank...so I need to be able to put corals on the bottom and on top....thanks guys...Grim thanks for all the help too
Click to expand...

I have a Tex light on my 40 breeder and with only 18" maximum penetration needed it is more than enough. Yes with the fixture being narrow there is front to back fall off however anything more would be realy over kill on a shallow tank like this. What I'm running for bulbs on it are 3 pure atinics, 2 blue plus bulbs and an aqua plus bulb. My dawn to dusk lights are all atinics.

Dennis
 
ctniners said:
Hi guys....I believe that you get what you pay for but I want to double check with the experts...looking for new set up for a 40 gal breeder so the debate is either the

36 inch 6x39W Sunlight Supply Tek Light

or

ATI 36 Inch 6x39W SunPower T5 (for 200.00 more)

Is it that much of a difference?...with the difference I can buy the ATI bulbs and have money left......by the way the project is for an All SPS tank...so I need to be able to put corals on the bottom and on top....thanks guys...Grim thanks for all the help too
Click to expand...


Either fixture will work to be honest. I would go with the Tek Elite if you are looking at Sunlight Supply stuff.

My vote is the ATI but I may look at the 6x24w version instead. The 6x39w ATI is a very powerful fixture and you may have some problems even with SPS. A couple actinics can lower the light output if needed.
 
Light duration is something that is very debatable but in realaty is indirectly proportionate to intensity, and also variable by the actual corals you have in your tank.

For me I go by the rule that plants (also corals) require a minimium period of 8 hours for resperation with little or no light. I personly run my mid day lights for 10 yours a day with the dawn to dusk bulbs on 1 hour prior till 3 hours after the mid day lights go out. This gives me a beep blue tank in the evening hours before I go to bed. Total time then is 10 hours for mid day lights, and 14 hours for dawn to dusk, and 10 hours of virtual darkness.

When I complet my moonlight add on I'll reduce the complet darkness period to 7 hours and the dawn to dusk period to 12 hours with the gap filled in with the moon lights. at that time I'll also be switching some of my pure atinics to Blue Plus bulbs on the Dawn to Dusk time period.

On your other question I would put the wider spectrum lights as close to the center as possible to give those frequencies that the other lights are not producing a better spread throughout your tank.

kyley said:
Dennis, Ryan, thanks for your help. I run my lights 9 hours per day - too much?

What order should I put the lights in considering the SPS are towards the back (should the KZ New Gen or GE 6500k be over them?) and LPS/softies more towards the front? Something like this (front to back)?
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
KZ New Gen or GE 6500k
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

Or maybe:
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
KZ New Gen or GE 6500k
Blue Plus

Or maybe:
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
KZ New Gen or GE 6500k
Blue Plus

Or?? Thoughts? Thanks,
--Kyle
Click to expand...
 
kyley said:
Hi All (and Grim, would love your thoughts),
I have a 65 gallon Red Sea Max mixed reef with 6 T5s a few inches above the water (covered tank). Many of my corals are a bit washed out / browned (SPS and LPS). I've noticed corals slightly shaded have better color in many cases. Are my lights too strong / close? Should I consider only running 4 bulbs, just changing the bulbs I'm using, or perhaps it doesn't have much to do with the light? I'm using (front to back):
ATI Blue Plus
ATI AquaBlue Special
ATI Purple Plus
ATI AquaBlue Special
ATI Blue Plus
ATI AquaBlue Special

From reading here, I may be overdoing it on the AquaBlue Special. I think I'll try 4 Blue Plus going forward, 1 Purple Plus, and not sure on the third bulb. Grim mentions KZ New Gen (14k) or GE 6500k, and I was considering sticking with AquaBlue Special as well. What differences might I expect in look (less blue with the GE?), coral color, and growth between those three? The KZ bulb looks pretty similar to the AquaBlue Special?

Considering most of my SPS is near the back of the tank and LPS and softies more towards the front, what bulb layout should I use?

I'm also interested in skyshrimp's question - will more Blue Plus slow growth? Although personally I'm more concerned with color and health than growth (most are decent size already!). Thanks so much for your thoughts,
--Kyle
Click to expand...

I am a firm believer in the GE 6500K but using a new gen gets good reviews too. Whatever you decide have the Purple lamp front of center and the other odd lamp rear of center.

Shouldn't notice much of a change in growth, especially if you think they are getting too much light now. I try to go 12 to 13 hours dusk/dawn but a lot less for daylights, 6 or 8 hours depending. I hit mine with two "storm modes" where I ramp down the light for a couple hours during the day. Still too soon to say for sure but the corals seem to like it.
 
Thanks guys. I ordered the KZ New Gen and GE 6500k both and will see how each looks. Think there's any difference between the two (or 3 if I consider the Purple Plus) in terms of coral health and coloration?

My tank has one timer for all lights, so it's all on for 9 hours. At MACNA I was given a nice submersible LED strip (by Marineland). I may add that to the tank hood and run it alone in the morning / evening for an hour or so. It won't be a whole lot of light but will give a bit more of a transition...

Sounds good on the ordering - I guess I'll go with my initial thought:
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
KZ New Gen or GE 6500k
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

For grins I'll try with my older Purple Plus (two Purple Plus) in the middle and see what that looks like too. :) Thanks!
--Kyle
 
Riblet said:
Hi,

I am building a 36"x36"x18"deep tank with an overflow on the back wall in the center. It will be an mixed reef tank, I am looking at an ATI sunpower 36" 8-bulb would this be enough light? The reef structure would be no wider then 30" And what would be a good bulb mix?

THXs
Click to expand...

Grim what do you think?
 
kyley said:
Sounds good on the ordering - I guess I'll go with my initial thought:
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
KZ New Gen or GE 6500k
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Click to expand...
If I may butt in here :)... I personally really like the color that the GE bulb gives my tank, but IME it also accelerates algae growth. You may want to consider the KZ Coral Light instead of the New Gen or GE. It's a crisp white 10k bulb, so it falls right between the other two. I tried a GE bulb in my fixture, but replaced it with a Coral Light. Now I use a combination of Blue+, Purple+, New Gen and Coral Light.
 
Hey Grim...

Putting together my 6x54w setup. I'm planning the following configuration... and which lamps would you suggest for dawn/dusk? Thanks!

Front:
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+
GE 6500k
Blue+
Blue+
 
hello reef central T-5 experts.

i am in the process of setting up a 48x24x12 frag tank.

on the lookout for a T-5 fixture but have a few questions:


1. how many bulbs should i have over this tank? 6?

2. i have seen a grosite t5 fixture being sold by custom aquatic for $200, it comes with no name bulbs. anyone have any experience with bulbs like this (i.e. if i got this fixture, should i trash these bulbs and get the usual ones i see like Ati, wavepoint, etc...or should i just use them until they burn out?)

see link below:
http://www.customaquatic.com/estore/control/product/~product=LT-GRT548-8-SW
 
I was wondering what the difference is between GE 6500K Daylight and ATI aquablue special? Where do you buy ge? from any store or does ge stand for Giesemann?
 
I'm going to buy a new T5 fixture for my 56g column tank (30Lx18Wx24H) I've been looking at the ATI sunpower fixtures and trying to decide if I should go with 24x6 or 24x8 fixture and advice would be appreciated.
 
Playerdrm said:
I'm going to buy a new T5 fixture for my 56g column tank (30Lx18Wx24H) I've been looking at the ATI sunpower fixtures and trying to decide if I should go with 24x6 or 24x8 fixture and advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
What do you plan on keeping in the tank? IMO you should be able to keep just about anything with the 6 bulb with a good set of bulbs. Plus the 8 bulb fixture is just as wide as your tank, and you'll probably have a lot of light spilling over the sides.
 
I am in the process of setting up a new 75 gallon 48" x 18" tank and will be putting some soft corals and other easy corals in it. I need help selecting a good retrofit kit for the flip top canopy. Any good suggestions on kits and bulbs? Also, don't I also have to install Moonlight LED's?

Thanks
 
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