The T5 Q&a Thread

[ReeferChick85]

Hey Grim,

I wanted to get your opinion on whether the ATI 48" 6X54w Sunpower fixture is enough for a 120g (48x24x24) tank? It will be a mixed reef with a few choice sps colonies and a variety of LPS pieces like chalices,favias,acans, and scolys. I've done a lot of research and reading on T5 lighting and I know I wanna go this route but I just want to make sure this will work. I've read how it can bleach and/or melt some LPS corals and I definitely don't want to have that happen with my corals

I was thinking of going with 4 -ATI Blue Plus,1 Aqua Blue Special,and 1-KZ Fiji Purple or a pure actinic instead of the Fiji Purple. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

[Big E]

I need to replace my bulbs for my t-5 fixture & currently have 2 Geisman Blue plus & 2 Geismans Antinc plus.........ballast is an ice cap 660. I like this combo but haven't tried to grow sps. So far I've had anenomes, LPS & caps do fine under them with a 20" 75g.

I see ATI mainly mentioned a lot.......... Are the Geismann's Antinic+ & ATI blue + basically the same?

How about Geismann Blue+ compared to the ATI Blue specaial?

I'm interested in performance compared not price. I can get the Geismanns locally.

I"m going to go with a 24" high tank after these bulbs are change out. Any input is appreciated.

 

[FranktheTankTx]

Grim -

What color would this produce:

Front
Blue +
Super Actinic
B+
75/25
B+
Aquablue Spec
B+
75/25
Super Actinic
B+

I'd like a nice 20k look, but get something from all the colors in SPS (Reds, Greens, Pinks & Purples). Sometimes 20k washes out colors & all you get is blue/green. I was hoping the Super Actinics would provide a real glow to the corals & with 10 bulbs overdriven, I'll have plenty of PAR.

P.S. Would you still recommend overdriving these when mounted in a canopy 10" high above water line over a 48"x30"x19"? I'll cool the heck out of them.

Should look good. I would probably overdrive them but remember, only cool the label end of the lamps. You could have a fan on the other end to draw out the warm air but only blow air on the label ends.

Grim -

I'm most certainly NOT questioning your expertise, however after your response I read an interesting "ignored thread" on the Ice Cap forum in regards to the Ice Cap 660 ballast & advantages of overdriving. You personally posted a few times - questioning Ice Cap's silence in regards to "data to back up overdriving".

So my question to you is - is it really an advantage over say the ReefGeek Accustart Triad ballast? I can always be convinced to save a little money on initial up front costs & perhaps bulb life.

If I may go on further, it appears to me that ATI Powermodules are NOT overdriven. So if I created a 10x54w retro fit, with Accustart Triad ballasts, Aquaillumination reflectors, & cooled it (label end only you suggest) - would I get high PAR & performance to support the most light demanding corals & clams?

Again, keep in mind - 10" above water line, only 19" deep tank.

Thanks for your time & conversation.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim, because of the way you have me put these in order with the Blue Plus bulbs on the front and back, I can't control them to where I can have the two Blue Plus bulbs come on first for dawn and off last for dusk, because the ATI fixture is set to where one plug in controls bulb 1 an 3, and the second plug controls 2 and 4. So I either have to turn off a Blue Plus and Fiji or Blue Plus and GE Daylight...so I chose the Blue Plus and Fiji...was more dark...

Or should I move the two Blue Plus bulbs together so I can turn them on/off together as dusk/dawn?

Blue Plus
GE
Blue Plus
Fiji

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim,

I wanted to get your opinion on whether the ATI 48" 6X54w Sunpower fixture is enough for a 120g (48x24x24) tank? It will be a mixed reef with a few choice sps colonies and a variety of LPS pieces like chalices,favias,acans, and scolys. I've done a lot of research and reading on T5 lighting and I know I wanna go this route but I just want to make sure this will work. I've read how it can bleach and/or melt some LPS corals and I definitely don't want to have that happen with my corals

I was thinking of going with 4 -ATI Blue Plus,1 Aqua Blue Special,and 1-KZ Fiji Purple or a pure actinic instead of the Fiji Purple. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Front
Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Aquablue
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

It should be OK on a 120 as long as you don't plan clams.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I need to replace my bulbs for my t-5 fixture & currently have 2 Geisman Blue plus & 2 Geismans Antinc plus.........ballast is an ice cap 660. I like this combo but haven't tried to grow sps. So far I've had anenomes, LPS & caps do fine under them with a 20" 75g.

I see ATI mainly mentioned a lot.......... Are the Geismann's Antinic+ & ATI blue + basically the same?

How about Geismann Blue+ compared to the ATI Blue specaial?

I'm interested in performance compared not price. I can get the Geismanns locally.

I"m going to go with a 24" high tank after these bulbs are change out. Any input is appreciated.

It's a Giesemann Aquablue plus and yes it is the same as the ATI version.

I would do 2 ATI Blue Plus and 1 ATI Aquablue and 1 KZ Fiji Purple. Plenty of PAR for anything that is directly under the lamps all the way to the bottom, within reason.

 

[Jared J]

A couple of Blue Plus should be fine with the halide, you could throw in a 3rd lamp, Fiji purple or a UVL 75/25 would be my choice. Length is like 35.4 with the water proof endcaps

So I tried this way, using only the two blue plus bulbs and the halide. Not working so good. I'm gonna have to add the Fiji and the 75/25 like you suggested in the first place Grim. I should have never tried to be cheap.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim -

I'm most certainly NOT questioning your expertise, however after your response I read an interesting "ignored thread" on the Ice Cap forum in regards to the Ice Cap 660 ballast & advantages of overdriving. You personally posted a few times - questioning Ice Cap's silence in regards to "data to back up overdriving".

So my question to you is - is it really an advantage over say the ReefGeek Accustart Triad ballast? I can always be convinced to save a little money on initial up front costs & perhaps bulb life.

If I may go on further, it appears to me that ATI Powermodules are NOT overdriven. So if I created a 10x54w retro fit, with Accustart Triad ballasts, Aquaillumination reflectors, & cooled it (label end only you suggest) - would I get high PAR & performance to support the most light demanding corals & clams?

Again, keep in mind - 10" above water line, only 19" deep tank.

Thanks for your time & conversation.

Overdriving the lamps increase output by about 35%. The only question I have is about longevity of the lamps. With the 80 watt lamps I had great results but have never ran the 54 watt lamps long term overdriven so I can't say how they will do.

If you are worried about overdriving the way to make up for it would be to lower your lamps down to about 6" above the water or less. Doing that and cooling the lamps will be enough for that tank.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Opps

 

[reef211]

Hey GrimReefer,

I wanted a 20k look on my 120g. I got the 8 bulbs tek light, What should i do? So far i have these bulbs in order and i think is a little yellow when all the light are on. Should i take out the midday and replace it with other blue plus? and how would you arrange that?


This is what i have for now.
front
blue plus
blue plus
kz fiji purple
blue plus
aquablue
ge midday
blue plus
blue plus

Thank Grim....

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey GrimReefer,

I wanted a 20k look on my 120g. I got the 8 bulbs tek light, What should i do? So far i have these bulbs in order and i think is a little yellow when all the light are on. Should i take out the midday and replace it with other blue plus? and how would you arrange that?


This is what i have for now.
front
blue plus
blue plus
kz fiji purple
blue plus
aquablue
ge midday
blue plus
blue plus

Thank Grim....

Yep, change out the midday, other than that it looks good.

 

[reef211]

Thanks Grim, you are the man!!!

 

[mvergas]

The 50/50 will give you the purple look. Swap it's position with the 6500 and see what you think.

Nice tank

That helped some, Thanks! Should I want to buy another bulb to loose the purple, what bulb should i get and which of my current bulbs should i replace it with?

 

[sean A.]

Hey Grim I'm setting up my 240g 8x2x2 tank. I would like enough lighting to have any
Coral I want in this tank. I was looking at getting two 48 inch fixtures. The Tek 6x54w or the 8x54w T-5HO fixtures. My other two options would still be two 48 inch fixtures. Option 2 retro fit 4x54w
overdriven T-5 bulbs on icecap ballast. Or option 3 my LFS has a 2x250w MH with 4x54w HO
T-5 bulbs. Not sure what make the MH fixture is tho. What do you recommend I get. I
don't want to hang anything from my ceiling.

 

[Baalz]

Been thinking about changing my VHOs to T5's over my 75g Soft Coral tank. I currently have 110w X 4 on an Icecap 660. Would I get any benefit to changing over to a 54w X 4 T5 setup? Looking to save on some power and wouldn't be using the icecap ballast.
If I was to do this what would be a good bulb combo for this? Cons?

Thanks
Bob

 

[wet reefer]

Grim,

What do you think of this combination over a standard 135? All lamps will be over driven with 3 stages using IC ballasts. Also using IC reflectors. By bending in the outer most edge of the reflector I can fit 7-80 watt lamps without affecting the overall shape of the reflector. The two outer reflectors will be tilted slightly to direct the light from the outer lamps more towards the center of the tank. Thanks for taking the time to help us all out. :thumbsup:

1-1st stage-12 hours
2-2nd stage-8 hours
3-3rd stage-6 hours

FRONT
3-blue plus
2-aquablue
1-blue plus
3-GE
3-actinic
1-blue plus
2-aquablue

 

[MATT CLOWNS]

We just got a sunsystem ho t5 24''s.the tank is 24''wide and 15'' deap we wont to do sps with some lps.and there 4 bulbs how high from the water should thay be that have giseman bulbs blue pluse for now.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

That helped some, Thanks! Should I want to buy another bulb to loose the purple, what bulb should i get and which of my current bulbs should i replace it with?

You could try a UVL 75/25 or a Fiji purple which would both boost red or a Aquablue if you want no purple look at all.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim I'm setting up my 240g 8x2x2 tank. I would like enough lighting to have any
Coral I want in this tank. I was looking at getting two 48 inch fixtures. The Tek 6x54w or the 8x54w T-5HO fixtures. My other two options would still be two 48 inch fixtures. Option 2 retro fit 4x54w
overdriven T-5 bulbs on icecap ballast. Or option 3 my LFS has a 2x250w MH with 4x54w HO
T-5 bulbs. Not sure what make the MH fixture is tho. What do you recommend I get. I
don't want to hang anything from my ceiling.

For any coral you want either 2 54 watt ATI Powermodules or overdriven retros, both with 8 lamps or the 250 watt halides.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Been thinking about changing my VHOs to T5's over my 75g Soft Coral tank. I currently have 110w X 4 on an Icecap 660. Would I get any benefit to changing over to a 54w X 4 T5 setup? Looking to save on some power and wouldn't be using the icecap ballast.
If I was to do this what would be a good bulb combo for this? Cons?

Thanks
Bob

Running 4 T5's on the Ice Cap ballasts will use less power, down to just over 300 watts. It would be a whole lot more light making it into the tank

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus