The T5 Q&a Thread

[KromiX]

CHange one of the 22K Aquascience for the 15K Special, good other than that

Hey grim, would this change make a big difference? I wanted that set up because of the nice color that comes with it, im afraid of the 15K changing it too much, is it necessary? Thanks for the addtl info.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

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?

Pfffft, I wouldn't mess with dimming ballast at all. I would do an ATI Blue Plus in front and a KZ Fiji Purple behind

 

[The Grim Reefer]

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

No,

a little less PAR than a Aquablue

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey grim, would this change make a big difference? I wanted that set up because of the nice color that comes with it, im afraid of the 15K changing it too much, is it necessary? Thanks for the addtl info.

The 15K special is a chalk white lamp, no blue or yellow tint. It wont do a lot but it will bring out subtle pink and purple colors that tend to get lost with a lot of blue light

 

[mirthman]

Tek-Light 8 bulb combination

Tek-Light 8 bulb combination

Hi again all,

can't believe how much traffic this thread gets. I am planning to light a 120g (24x24x48) mixed reef tank with a sunlight supply 8x54 unit. I'd like comments on the following bulb combination using only Giesemann bulbs.

Front:
AquaBlue+
Actinic+
AquaBlue+
Midday
Midday
Actinic+
AquaBlue+
Actinic+

 

[spslove]

Pfffft, I wouldn't mess with dimming ballast at all. I would do an ATI Blue Plus in front and a KZ Fiji Purple behind

There is a total of 4 T5 bulbs (2 in back and 2 in front).

Should i use ATI Blue Plus in front and a KZ Fiji Purple behind along with a 2 Geisemann Pure Actinic or something else?

Why not use dimming ballast? Are they unreliable or hurt the lamp life?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hi again all,

can't believe how much traffic this thread gets. I am planning to light a 120g (24x24x48) mixed reef tank with a sunlight supply 8x54 unit. I'd like comments on the following bulb combination using only Giesemann bulbs.

Front:
AquaBlue+
Actinic+
AquaBlue+
Midday
Midday
Actinic+
AquaBlue+
Actinic+

Will be a little more white than 14K but certainly not yellow at all.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

There is a total of 4 T5 bulbs (2 in back and 2 in front).

Should i use ATI Blue Plus in front and a KZ Fiji Purple behind along with a 2 Geisemann Pure Actinic or something else?

Why not use dimming ballast? Are they unreliable or hurt the lamp life?

In that case I would do this
Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
Halide
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

I would maybe do the dimming ballast on a couple blue plus but dimming the lamps isn't going to make a huge difference when you are going to have 2 sets of T5's to phase into the halide.

 

[gorey]

Quote:
Originally Posted by gorey
Hey grim, I have a 2 bulb over my display. It has 1 aquablue and 1 blue plus right now. Im adding 1 more bulb with a regular output fixture. What bulb should I put in it? Also is it even worth it being it wont be a HO fixture?

It really isn't going to add any par so unless you are adding a light to change the color some it isn't going to give you much unless you just want another blue for a dusk/dawn effect

Hey, If I added another single HO fixture instead what bulb would you reccommend? Also what order?

Thanks for your help and time.
Jeff

 

[nemo74]

hey grim, About a year ago you gave me some suggestions for my two teklight 6x39 fixtures which I have installed side by side on my 175 bowfront tank. It is time to change my bulbs and now I would like to get a more blueish or purplish blue effect. Right now I feel that the bulbs I have make the tank look to white. I currently have a large clam, anemone and some soft corals, would like to eventually try some hard corals too. Any suggestions.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by gorey
Hey grim, I have a 2 bulb over my display. It has 1 aquablue and 1 blue plus right now. Im adding 1 more bulb with a regular output fixture. What bulb should I put in it? Also is it even worth it being it wont be a HO fixture?

It really isn't going to add any par so unless you are adding a light to change the color some it isn't going to give you much unless you just want another blue for a dusk/dawn effect

Hey, If I added another single HO fixture instead what bulb would you reccommend? Also what order?

Thanks for your help and time.
Jeff

KZ Fiji Purple

Front
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Aquablue

 

[The Grim Reefer]

hey grim, About a year ago you gave me some suggestions for my two teklight 6x39 fixtures which I have installed side by side on my 175 bowfront tank. It is time to change my bulbs and now I would like to get a more blueish or purplish blue effect. Right now I feel that the bulbs I have make the tank look to white. I currently have a large clam, anemone and some soft corals, would like to eventually try some hard corals too. Any suggestions.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

 

[homeboyreefer]

hey grim, i'm hating my bulb combo as i've gone from mh to 10bulb pm,

front
uv super actinic
b plus
uv super actinic
fiji purple
bplus
ati ab spec
bplus
bplus
ati ab spec
bplus

should i change my ab specials to something else to get more pop, color looks a lil washed out, i don't get that deep rich color i use to get out of my standalone phoenix 14k.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

hey grim, i'm hating my bulb combo as i've gone from mh to 10bulb pm,

front
uv super actinic
b plus
uv super actinic
fiji purple
bplus
ati ab spec
bplus
bplus
ati ab spec
bplus

should i change my ab specials to something else to get more pop, color looks a lil washed out, i don't get that deep rich color i use to get out of my standalone phoenix 14k.

Grab another fiji and a GE 6500K Daylight an experiment pulling out the aquablues and see what you get. You could just do a UVL Actinic White in place of one and see if that does it.

 

[dustinc]

Ok, so I now have a 24" 6 bulb Sunpower running Front to back:
Blue+
Giesemann Pure Actinic
Blue+
Fiji Purple
Blue+
Blue+

I love the colors and combo I have now. I'm thinking of upgrading to the Oceanic Illuminata Aquarium (36x18x21) and trying to see if I can get by with the same light and bulb combo. My tank now is a 20" cube and I can grow anything anywhere. I was wondering if 6" on each side will be really dim? Also, will my chalices and lower light corals still receive enough on those sides because I have to shade them now in my tank. Thanks

 

[Triple_B]

Grim,
Awesome thread. I almost hate to ask for help because you have helped so many, but after about 30 minutes of browsing through this thread, my head hurts even more...

I have: 75g, 18 inch tall? Running 4 T5's with IceCap retro kit / 660 ballast / IceCap reflectors / ~ 4 inches above the water. (can't raise the lights due to wood canopy on top of tank)

bulb config is: (front to back)

1 x Giesemann Aqua Blue+ 48" 54 watt
1 x Giesemann Actinic+ 48" 54 Watt
2 x Giesemann Midday 48" 54 Watt

I like the color... it is white with a slight blue, but I just picked up my first corals and the colors don't really "pop" quite like I was hoping. I have a small Acan colony (green and red) and a good size piece of Frogspawn. LPS and softies are all I plan on keeping...

Sticking to the 4 bulb config, what would you do?

 

[cvd55]

Hey Grim Thank You for answering my last question so fast.
My last question was if i should use a 8 lamp for a 48x24x24 and of course the answer was yes so my wife has decieded she wants a rimless tank so the new size will be 48x24x21, 104 gallon should i still go with the 8 lamp for a sps and lps tank?
Thanks again for the help

 

[malac0da13]

I just purchased an 8x54 Icecap retro fit and the bulbs that came with it are a little to white for my liking and i would like it to look more like my 400w 20k xm bulb I have at the momment. Any suggestions? Also where is a good place to get bulbs from? My LFS just carries UVL bulbs and I would like a little more choices then just 3 different bulbs.

 

[LS1 WS6]

Holy cow, reading through all this can give a guy a headache so I will just ask the question. I am starting up a 57 gallon (Oceanic Illuminati) with a 6 bulb Tek T5 Elite light. I want to do pretty much all SPS tank and I want all the colors to pop! Which bulbs would you go with and with that combo what would the color temp look like? I'm thinking I like the 14 to 15k look? Thanks for the info.

 

[customdusty]

I'm in the process of switching from MH back to T5 and wanted to get some feedback on which fixture to choose. My tank details, 48"x24" footprint, SPS dominated, 21" deep, from water surface to sand bed is 18" max. Tank is minimilistic so most of the corals sit 1/2 down or further as far as depth. I'm going to order a Sfigoli Stealth, but I'm not decided on what number of bulbs to get. All of their fixtures use the same housing, so the physical size of the fixture doesn't change, they just pack in more bulbs or space them apart further depending on how many they want to fit.

The 8x54 fixture is 20" wide, and their 12x54 fixture is also 20". Both will look the same over my tank, I'm just trying to decide if the additional bulbs are just too much or not. Cost doesn't really matter, their stuff is expensive either way. I figured with the 12 bulb I could use more color enhancing lower par bulbs (Fiji purples, actinics) in addition to my array of Blue + and AB Special.

What do our resident T5 gurus think?