The T5 Q&a Thread

[Txcowboy22]

Hey grim,

So I finally decided to just stick with my icecap 660's and go 39 Wx10 bulbs. Since I am getting new bulbs I was wondering if you could help me out. I have all ATI's blue plus & special now and one uvl atn. white. What should I do with the new set up? I am looking for a little more growth and maybe some different colors. Also any help with the fans for these?

 

[KCMO Reefer]

Hi folks,

Thought I'd post this on the lighting forum for Grim and everyone to take a look at...

I have an 8 bulb Powermodule and it's time for new lamps. The fixture hangs about 5 1/4 inches above the water line. I'm looking to get the best colors out of my corals, but since many are small frags, would like some growth too. Any ideas on bulb config front-to-back to reach my goal? I really want those colors to shine!

The tank is 4x24x24 120g. Also, should I consider adjusting the height on the fixture? To high, to low???

Thanks!
L3

Try 5 ATI Blue Plus which have very high PAR, 1 GE 6500K Daylight and 2 UVL Actinic White which both also have a lot of PAR.

Grim,

Since this question and your response to it is right along the lines of what I'm trying to do, is there a particular order you would recommend these bulbs be installed?

Thanks for the great thread and advice! :beer:

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey grim,

So I finally decided to just stick with my icecap 660's and go 39 Wx10 bulbs. Since I am getting new bulbs I was wondering if you could help me out. I have all ATI's blue plus & special now and one uvl atn. white. What should I do with the new set up? I am looking for a little more growth and maybe some different colors. Also any help with the fans for these?

Place a fan at each end blowing in from the back to cool the endcaps.

I would run 2 Aquablue, 2 Actinic white and the rest Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim,

Since this question and your response to it is right along the lines of what I'm trying to do, is there a particular order you would recommend these bulbs be installed?

Thanks for the great thread and advice! :beer:

Front
Blue Plus
Actinic White
Blue Plus
GE Daylight
Blue Plus
Actinic White
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

 

[GrampaDon]

Grim
I'm running your previous suggestion now over my 60x24x17 tank [which looks great]
But still love my MH ,so i picked up two 150w to add sparkle and par.

If I use 4 54w bulbs along with the 1400K MH what would be your suggestion here.?

Have a great vacation.
Don

 

[monkeybiz]

I would want at least 6 lamps but it should be OK if you are careful where you place high light critters.

2 Actinic Plus, 1 Aquablue and 1 Midday

hey grim, took your advice and bought those bulbs from the going out of business sale diyreef.com was having. but they sent me two pure actinic instead of 2 actinic plus. not sure if it's worth the trouble trying to return it to them as theyre closed now. should i sell them and buy the actinic plus?

thanks
-tj

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim
I'm running your previous suggestion now over my 60x24x17 tank [which looks great]
But still love my MH ,so i picked up two 150w to add sparkle and par.

If I use 4 54w bulbs along with the 1400K MH what would be your suggestion here.?

Have a great vacation.
Don

Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
Halide
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

hey grim, took your advice and bought those bulbs from the going out of business sale diyreef.com was having. but they sent me two pure actinic instead of 2 actinic plus. not sure if it's worth the trouble trying to return it to them as theyre closed now. should i sell them and buy the actinic plus?

thanks
-tj

Yes, they don't have enough Blue light or PAR.

 

[darb85]

I want to do an 8 bulb 54w 48" over my 120(48x24x24) SPS system


is this enough light? or do i need to go with 80w?

What Bulbs should I do? Id like to be able to do a sunrise/sunset set up so keep that in mind.

I want to be able to have at least an 8 hour photo period with out bleaching things.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I want to do an 8 bulb 54w 48" over my 120(48x24x24) SPS system


is this enough light? or do i need to go with 80w?

What Bulbs should I do? Id like to be able to do a sunrise/sunset set up so keep that in mind.

I want to be able to have at least an 8 hour photo period with out bleaching things.

Get an 8 x 54 watt retro. Run 5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 UVL Actinic White and a GE 6500K Daylight lamp. Use 2 of the Blue Plus for Dusk/dawn 10~12 hours a day. You can do a couple more for a 2nd stage of Dusk/dawn 8 to 10 hours and run the rest of the lamps 4 to 8 hours.

 

[ricde]

I got word back from the vendor about those dual t5 end caps they are 3'' from center of each end cap, so they would appear to be a cost effective retrofit component. Not sure the quality of course ?

I got my quote back from Reefgeek and it is unbeatable think I will pull the trigger this weekend

I'm running these endcaps in my retrofit. They work pretty well, I'm using a mix of IC and aquatinic reflectors and the caps are spaced out just enough for the reflectors to fit.

The only problem involves the wiring, it's a real pain to push the wires from an IC 660 into the encaps. I had to add some hard wires (like used in house wiring) and then link it to the IC wiring harness. There's also not a lot of room for the 4 wires to come out the bottom of the standoffs.

In all honesty, the little bit saved by using these doesn't make up for the hassle of installing them. Now that I finally got them installed though, they're fine

 

[darb85]

Get an 8 x 54 watt retro. Run 5 ATI Blue Plus, 2 UVL Actinic White and a GE 6500K Daylight lamp. Use 2 of the Blue Plus for Dusk/dawn 10~12 hours a day. You can do a couple more for a 2nd stage of Dusk/dawn 8 to 10 hours and run the rest of the lamps 4 to 8 hours.

Thanks Much!

 

[Iplantz]

I have a 4x24w retrofit, and am wondering what combos I can tryout with the bulbs I have:

2xBlue plus
1xAquablue special
1x fiji purple
1x actinic white

Please list from front to back order, am Im interested in trying several combos, Thanks, Ian

 

[jmski333]

Grim i took your advice and switched the bulbs around. how do you feel about this?

Blue Plus
Aquablue (1100k)
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
Aquablue (1100k)
Blue Plus

I like the white look more than blue but my tank is 24 inches deep so i want to make sure the light reaches the bottom with some intensity. If you have a totally different arrangement let me know, i trust your judgment. Im going to be using an ati sunpower 6x54.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I have a 4x24w retrofit, and am wondering what combos I can tryout with the bulbs I have:

2xBlue plus
1xAquablue special
1x fiji purple
1x actinic white

Please list from front to back order, am Im interested in trying several combos, Thanks, Ian

Blue Plus
Actinic White or Fiji Purple
Aquablue
Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim i took your advice and switched the bulbs around. how do you feel about this?

Blue Plus
Aquablue (1100k)
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
Aquablue (1100k)
Blue Plus

I like the white look more than blue but my tank is 24 inches deep so i want to make sure the light reaches the bottom with some intensity. If you have a totally different arrangement let me know, i trust your judgment. Im going to be using an ati sunpower 6x54.

Should be fine.

 

[sassyfrassy]

Grim - can't tell you how much help you've been to me. Read A LOT! so here's a dumb question: My furniture gets dusty - won't all that dust, any chemicals in air, etc. get in my tank if it's open? I can build a hood & retro or buy a fixture for my 24"H 65g. Is the difference only esthetic or are there pros & cons to each?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim - can't tell you how much help you've been to me. Read A LOT! so here's a dumb question: My furniture gets dusty - won't all that dust, any chemicals in air, etc. get in my tank if it's open? I can build a hood & retro or buy a fixture for my 24"H 65g. Is the difference only esthetic or are there pros & cons to each?

Most of the dust breaks down, nothing to really lose any sleep over unless you live on a dirt road

 

[sassyfrassy]

What are the pros & cons to either hood w/retro or ready made fixture?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

What are the pros & cons to either hood w/retro or ready made fixture?

A little harder for fish to jump out with a canopy. With the good fixtures with active cooling you get more PAR because the fixture can be place close to the top of the tank