The T5 Q&a Thread

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rick12 said:
setting up a new system. 40g. 24wide x 24long x 18"deep
i have a four bulb fixture and want to keep only sps.
thanks
Click to expand...

You have several options. My first choice would be two 4 X 24" fixture. with a second option of an 8 X 24" fixture. The least I'd go with would be a 6 X 24" fixture.

With the 4 X 24" Fixture I would set it up under three seperate timers
Dawn to Dusk (for 14 hours) with one Atinic 420nm and one Blue Plus Bulb.
Transition (for 12 hours) Blue Plus Bulbs and one Purple Plus
Mid Day (for 10 hours) two more Blue Plus plus one AquaBlueSpecial and one Purple Plus Bulb.

If you go with the 6 bulbs fixture than I'd go with
Dawn to Dusk 2 Blue Plus Bulbs and a pure Atinic 420 nm.
Mid Day would be one Aqua Blue, one Purple Plus, and one Blue Plus.

Dennis
 
Just a note to throw out here...I decided to go with T5's when i first setup my tank in 2005 and now, 6 years later, I'm starting to wish I never did. I started with a retrofit, 8 x 80w bulbs, 60" long. Powered by 2 icecap 660s and one 430. After about 3 years I started having ongoing trouble with my ballasts. Must have sent them back for repair 6 or 7 times in total and am still left with one working ballast and 3 bulbs. Now my endcaps need to be replaced. Dont get me wrong, I love how they look. And Im sure I had a hand in their demise somehow. But with all of this trouble and money spent, now 6 years later, I've decided not to put another cent or minute into them and am re-evaluating my lighting options. Maybe even the hobby altogether.
 
bheron said:
Just a note to throw out here...I decided to go with T5's when i first setup my tank in 2005 and now, 6 years later, I'm starting to wish I never did. I started with a retrofit, 8 x 80w bulbs, 60" long. Powered by 2 icecap 660s and one 430. After about 3 years I started having ongoing trouble with my ballasts. Must have sent them back for repair 6 or 7 times in total and am still left with one working ballast and 3 bulbs. Now my endcaps need to be replaced. Dont get me wrong, I love how they look. And Im sure I had a hand in their demise somehow. But with all of this trouble and money spent, now 6 years later, I've decided not to put another cent or minute into them and am re-evaluating my lighting options. Maybe even the hobby altogether.
Click to expand...

I had good luck with my 80 watt system and up until a couple years ago knew the guy that has them know and they were still going strong. Never had but one ballast issue when I first put the system together in 2003. I could see needing to change endcaps after 6 years but the ballast issues seem weird.
 
yea, like i said, im sure i had something to do with it. once, for sure, i was blowing too much air over the bulbs and extra condensation caused one of the ballasts to get water in it. and it wasnt anything like blown fuses. I usually troubleshooted the problem with the vendor before sending it back in. Great thing is that most times they fixed it for free. Id say, between 3 ballasts, I sent them back a total of 10+ times.

Thanks for that feedback on the endcaps. Makes me feel better!~
 
Setting up a standard 90 - 48l x 18d x 24h. Was going to go w/LED's but I am looking at ~$1000,- setup for that (unless I do it myself of course). So decided take a 2nd look at T5s. Looks like I can have a 6x54 (e.g. 48" AquaticLife 6x54 T5 HO + 4 led) fixture for somewhere between mi $400 and $600,-. I see that everyone is exalting ATI fixtures. Trouble is they are all silver... and I need black. So... questions:

1) Can I do 48" 6x54 or should I go 8x54? I'd like to not be limited to what I can keep. IOW, I will start w/softies but definitely want to has couple of clams and SPS in not too distant future. Is 6x54 good enough or need more power? Would adding say stunner LED strips help? Or it would only add shimmer?

2) What are the best (black) fixtures out there? I like the AquaticLife fixtures because they seem to look the best from all the ones I've seen. But...

Grateful for your esteemed insight!

Spacey :D
 
How about this for a T-5 build?

How about this for a T-5 build?

Hey there Grim,

Would this work for a T-5 buildup for my tank?

* Tank - 110g - 60"L x 18"W x 24"D
* Canopy - Inside roof of canopy stands 4" above the top of the tank
* Wildlife - Hoping to have fish, live rock, some softies and hopefully some LPS/SPS corals. Nothing too hard to keep, I hope.

I'm planning on mounting a T-5 retro kit with individual reflectors (the type you build yourself) to the top of the canopy. Each reflector is 60"L x 3"W x 1"D. They should hang down maybe 2" from the top of the canopy, so 2" off of the top of the tank. I'm also going to be running a 50"L x 4"W x 5"D "internal" coast to coast overflow (c2c) w/a BeanAnimal drain system on it.

I'd like to run a 4 bulb T-5 setup; each 60" - 80 watts each (I just found out they make them in 60", I thought they stopped at 48"). I was thinking of including the following bulbs:

Geismann Midday (6000K)
Geismann Aquablue Plus (15000K - 60/40 mix of 6000K & 22000K)
Geismann Actinic Plus (22000K)
Geismann Pure Actinic (421nm)

I'm figuring that, with the individual reflectors, the lighting setup should be 12" wide (if I put the reflectors touching each other). However, I may put two T-5's together and then put a small 2" space between them to hang the lunar lights there and then put the other two T-5's next to them. So, maybe the entire setup will be approximately 14" wide.

Would something like that work for what I need? I was originally thinking 6 bulbs, but then that is 18" wide (with no space left over for the lunar lights in the middle) and would cover the entire top of the tank/canopy. Plus, I figured that would also cause the c2c overflow to shadow the tank.

Any suggestions would be truly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Mat
 
I have an 8 bulb fixture on my 120 gallon. simular to yours but 24d instead of 18d. I wish it were 30" deep.

I like the 8 bulbs because it gives me more flexability bertween balancing the best PAR and what you like to see visualy. If I were getting a new fixture today I might even consider a 10 bulb fixture.


5pacey said:
Setting up a standard 90 - 48l x 18d x 24h. Was going to go w/LED's but I am looking at ~$1000,- setup for that (unless I do it myself of course). So decided take a 2nd look at T5s. Looks like I can have a 6x54 (e.g. 48" AquaticLife 6x54 T5 HO + 4 led) fixture for somewhere between mi $400 and $600,-. I see that everyone is exalting ATI fixtures. Trouble is they are all silver... and I need black. So... questions:

1) Can I do 48" 6x54 or should I go 8x54? I'd like to not be limited to what I can keep. IOW, I will start w/softies but definitely want to has couple of clams and SPS in not too distant future. Is 6x54 good enough or need more power? Would adding say stunner LED strips help? Or it would only add shimmer?

2) What are the best (black) fixtures out there? I like the AquaticLife fixtures because they seem to look the best from all the ones I've seen. But...

Grateful for your esteemed insight!

Spacey :D
Click to expand...
 
5pacey said:
Setting up a standard 90 - 48l x 18d x 24h. Was going to go w/LED's but I am looking at ~$1000,- setup for that (unless I do it myself of course). So decided take a 2nd look at T5s. Looks like I can have a 6x54 (e.g. 48" AquaticLife 6x54 T5 HO + 4 led) fixture for somewhere between mi $400 and $600,-. I see that everyone is exalting ATI fixtures. Trouble is they are all silver... and I need black. So... questions:

1) Can I do 48" 6x54 or should I go 8x54? I'd like to not be limited to what I can keep. IOW, I will start w/softies but definitely want to has couple of clams and SPS in not too distant future. Is 6x54 good enough or need more power? Would adding say stunner LED strips help? Or it would only add shimmer?

2) What are the best (black) fixtures out there? I like the AquaticLife fixtures because they seem to look the best from all the ones I've seen. But...

Grateful for your esteemed insight!

Spacey :D
Click to expand...

The Aquariclife will work but make sure you place the corals correctly. SPS halfway up the rocks.
 
SouthBayPhoto said:
Hey there Grim,

Would this work for a T-5 buildup for my tank?

* Tank - 110g - 60"L x 18"W x 24"D
* Canopy - Inside roof of canopy stands 4" above the top of the tank
* Wildlife - Hoping to have fish, live rock, some softies and hopefully some LPS/SPS corals. Nothing too hard to keep, I hope.

I'm planning on mounting a T-5 retro kit with individual reflectors (the type you build yourself) to the top of the canopy. Each reflector is 60"L x 3"W x 1"D. They should hang down maybe 2" from the top of the canopy, so 2" off of the top of the tank. I'm also going to be running a 50"L x 4"W x 5"D "internal" coast to coast overflow (c2c) w/a BeanAnimal drain system on it.

I'd like to run a 4 bulb T-5 setup; each 60" - 80 watts each (I just found out they make them in 60", I thought they stopped at 48"). I was thinking of including the following bulbs:

Geismann Midday (6000K)
Geismann Aquablue Plus (15000K - 60/40 mix of 6000K & 22000K)
Geismann Actinic Plus (22000K)
Geismann Pure Actinic (421nm)

I'm figuring that, with the individual reflectors, the lighting setup should be 12" wide (if I put the reflectors touching each other). However, I may put two T-5's together and then put a small 2" space between them to hang the lunar lights there and then put the other two T-5's next to them. So, maybe the entire setup will be approximately 14" wide.

Would something like that work for what I need? I was originally thinking 6 bulbs, but then that is 18" wide (with no space left over for the lunar lights in the middle) and would cover the entire top of the tank/canopy. Plus, I figured that would also cause the c2c overflow to shadow the tank.

Any suggestions would be truly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Mat
Click to expand...

Get LET reflectors. In fact I would use 48 inch lamps instead of 60". They light up a 60 inch tank just fine and those reflectors are only 2.5 inches so you can do 6 lamps. The only thing is the last 6" on each end can only have lower light corals in them, big deal....
 
TropTrea said:
I have an 8 bulb fixture on my 120 gallon. simular to yours but 24d instead of 18d. I wish it were 30" deep.

I like the 8 bulbs because it gives me more flexability bertween balancing the best PAR and what you like to see visualy. If I were getting a new fixture today I might even consider a 10 bulb fixture.
Click to expand...
Hmm... right... but then you are really running the same wattage as Halides no?

Spacey :D
 
hey grim

I have a 65 gallon tank and i would like to add more LPS, soft coral, SPS and other creatures in that nature to my tank.
as of right now I have a HO T5 2 lamp set up with, one 10,000k ocean sun and one actinic 420 coral sun. "what some would say the bare for a tank!"

what could i use that would give me a nice shade of blue?
how many lights will i need to go with for set up?

thanks eman
 
Eman10 said:
hey grim

I have a 65 gallon tank and i would like to add more LPS, soft coral, SPS and other creatures in that nature to my tank.
as of right now I have a HO T5 2 lamp set up with, one 10,000k ocean sun and one actinic 420 coral sun. "what some would say the bare for a tank!"

what could i use that would give me a nice shade of blue?
how many lights will i need to go with for set up?

thanks eman
Click to expand...

Change the 10K for a ATI Blue Plus but only low lite corals with just 2 lamps.
 
Does the front to back order of bulbs matter other than which bulbs stand out more? I have 2 blue +, a purple + and aquablue special.
 
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