The T5 Q&a Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
Nice change to your tank. Why is one stand white and the other light oak?

The stand is actually white and I haven't changed the appearance of it at all.

The difference in the pictures is due to the use of a flash in one of the photos.

As I stated earlier, I need to do some experimenting with my camera settings to capture an accurate representation of the tank.

In short: it's bright, it's blue and I like it!
 
Hey Grim, it's time again I switch my bulbs. I'll need 16 new total bulbs (8 pairs). Below is my current set up. It gives a nice even look, but I'm looking for something to make the corals pop more. I like the pop from the UVL Super Actinic bulb, but I'm not sure what sequence to put them in. Any suggestions for a new look?

Note that the bulbs go lateral left to right (one side of bulb at the front of tank, other side of bulb at the back of tank)

Outside:
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
Inside

Center:
400 Watt 20K Radium Halide

Inside
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue
Outside:

Thanks!
 
Can someone recommend a place to get replacement T5's? Is there any place that is better, more reliable, cheaper...than any of the others?
 
Hey Grim, it's time again I switch my bulbs. I'll need 16 new total bulbs (8 pairs). Below is my current set up. It gives a nice even look, but I'm looking for something to make the corals pop more. I like the pop from the UVL Super Actinic bulb, but I'm not sure what sequence to put them in. Any suggestions for a new look?

Note that the bulbs go lateral left to right (one side of bulb at the front of tank, other side of bulb at the back of tank)

Outside:
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
Inside

Center:
400 Watt 20K Radium Halide

Inside
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue
Outside:

Thanks!

Outside
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Super Actinic
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Super Actinic

And just mirror it on the other side
 
Thats what I figured I would end up doing. What K rating would you say that would look like? My other question is what about adding the fiji purple? What kind of look would that give me?

18K or so. You could go with 2 blue plus and aquablue and the Fiji Purple, more of a 15K look
 
Hello all, I will be setting up my first saltwater tank and i have a couple lighting questions.
The Tank will be a 120gal 48x24x24.
Would I need a 6 or 8 light setup?
I would like to keep mostly sps and lps maybe a few softies as my wife loves them
any suggestion on what bulbs i should use for color and some growth?
Thanks for any suggestions
 
Last edited:
Hello all, I will be setting up my first saltwater tank and i have a couple lighting questions.
The Tank will be a 120gal 48x24x24.
Would I need a 6 or 8 light setup?
I would like to keep mostly sps and lps maybe a few softies as my wife loves them
any suggestion on what bulbs i should use for color and some growth?
Thanks for any suggestions

8 lamps, 5 ATI Blue Plus, 1 UVL Actinic White, 1 GE 6500K Daylight and 1 ATI Aquablue
 
I just grabbed a pair of GLO brand 54w from my LFS, they say 18k on them. I installed them in the front of my fixture, with my 2 actinics in the back. The tank looks really purple, I'm not sure if I like it. Does anyone else have experience with these bulbs? Should they be in the front where I have them or move them to the back?
 
hi grim could do with some help as my combo just looks a little uninspiring iv moved over from 10000k halides i have 6 x80 sunpower and a 54 watt unit behind it on one side of the tank due to my rock layout from front to back its
aqua blue special )
blue pluss )
aquablue special )
aquablue special ) SUNPOWER
blue plus )
aqua blue special )
blue plus }
blue plus } 54 watt unit
i intend getting a fiji purple the tank looks overly blue i think i wouldnt mind but it washes out a lot of my corals like the hystrix and dosnt bring out the nice colours of live rock like my halides and actnics did what would you recomend i change out without replaceing to many bulbs due to cost
thanks
 
hi grim could do with some help as my combo just looks a little uninspiring iv moved over from 10000k halides i have 6 x80 sunpower and a 54 watt unit behind it on one side of the tank due to my rock layout from front to back its
aqua blue special )
blue pluss )
aquablue special )
aquablue special ) SUNPOWER
blue plus )
aqua blue special )
blue plus }
blue plus } 54 watt unit
i intend getting a fiji purple the tank looks overly blue i think i wouldnt mind but it washes out a lot of my corals like the hystrix and dosnt bring out the nice colours of live rock like my halides and actnics did what would you recomend i change out without replaceing to many bulbs due to cost
thanks

Blue plus
Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
Aquablue
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

Should help. Blue Plus/Aquablue only in my opinion is a crappy look. The Fiji and GE lamp will make a world of difference
 
I just grabbed a pair of GLO brand 54w from my LFS, they say 18k on them. I installed them in the front of my fixture, with my 2 actinics in the back. The tank looks really purple, I'm not sure if I like it. Does anyone else have experience with these bulbs? Should they be in the front where I have them or move them to the back?

Take out an actinic and replace it with a daylight lamp, GE 6500 would be best. Use the actinic in slot 2 and the daylight in 3.
 
How much of a difference does active cooling make for a 4 bulb T5 unit?
I have the option of adding cooling to a T5 fixture for about 30 bucks and was wondering if it was worth the difference in cost or not
 
Should have seen this thread before I made a new one, Grim seems to be the go-to-guy :P


Grim,

Would this be an ok idea for a 40G Breeder tank

B+
22k AQ Science
B+
Fiji
22k AQ
B+


(Enough to sustain anything to the likes of clams,sps, etc)?
 
Should have seen this thread before I made a new one, Grim seems to be the go-to-guy :P


Grim,

Would this be an ok idea for a 40G Breeder tank

B+
22k AQ Science
B+
Fiji
22k AQ
B+


(Enough to sustain anything to the likes of clams,sps, etc)?

CHange one of the 22K Aquascience for the 15K Special, good other than that
 
Hey i need some advice with the lighting on my new tank. The tank is an elos 160xl (63" by 31.5" by 23.5"). Im going to use a 48" Geisemann Spectra with 2 400w 20k radiums and 4 54w T5. Im trying to decide what bulbs to use for the T5s. Im also trying to decide whether to go with 1 dimmable ballast for the T5s or 2. If i went with 2 it would allow me to dim the bulbs seperately (front 2 and rear 2). Is it worth it? I can save some money by having 1 dimmable ballast to dim all 4 at same time only. Its hard for me to decide without having selected the t5 bulbs i'm going to use. What do you think? What bulbs should i use? I Need bulbs that will go good with the radiums. Should i go with 1 dimmable ballast or 2?
 
hi grim would the ge 6500k have to be replaced ealier than an aquarium t5 bulb is the quality as good also how much par would it give compared to aqua blue
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top