The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grim, I had to break down and buy the TEK 4x39 VS. the ATI 6x39.
What bulbs do you recommend? This will be over a 40g breeder.

2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Aquablue and a KZ Fiji Purple placed so the blue plus are your dusk/dawn lamps./

 

[theyammieguy]

Thank you sir.

 

[ganjero]

What giesenann bulb or icecap (if they are any good) is comparable to an ATI blue plus? I need one bulb and dont want to pay shipping for just the ATI. I want to make my tank bluer but keep high PAR for faster growing.

 

[A.T.T.R]

Blowing air in from the back down the endcaps on one side will do it. Just make sure there is some airflow in the area of the lamp ends, don't cool the center section.

so you mean just blow air across one side of the bulbs from back to front?
i assume id cool the side witht he label?
may be worth one more try before dropping the ballast down to a lower rating

 

[The Grim Reefer]

What giesenann bulb or icecap (if they are any good) is comparable to an ATI blue plus? I need one bulb and dont want to pay shipping for just the ATI. I want to make my tank bluer but keep high PAR for faster growing.

Giesemann Actinic Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

so you mean just blow air across one side of the bulbs from back to front?
i assume id cool the side witht he label?
may be worth one more try before dropping the ballast down to a lower rating

Yep, label end of the lamps.

 

[A.T.T.R]

just changed the fan and it seems that the end with out the label runs hotter and takes more damage ( blackening)
also after testing the par of the bulbs it seems that the set of 4 that still lights ahs the same par output as when 1 day old.
makes me question icecaps and 3 bulb setups

 

[kc350twin]

Hey Grim, Thanks for all you do.

I am finally going to try T5's. I am lighting a 48x30x18. I just picked up a 8x54w ATI Power Module. It will be a peninsula with most of the coral in the center so par will not need to be crazy high around the edges.
I currently have a 14k Phoenix MH bulb and like the color. I'm not sure I like the total "Windex" look but maybe a step whiter. Can you suggest me a bulb combo? Thanks in advance.

Kc3

 

[A.T.T.R]

well after adjusting the fan my other lights just burnt out
after starting it appears as if only one bulb went bad in the set of 4 however
guess the label end was the wrong side in this case
i really want to keep the lights but cant do it if they keep doing this.
not sure if its worth tyring to find out what bulbs are bad, replacing them then doing more cooling or if i should jsut change ballast.

had one set of vho's for close to 4 years. and corals did fine under them at the bottom of the tank

edit

one thing pops into mind
i wonder if the waterproof endcaps are retaining to much of the heat

 

[ReefingBuddha]

hoping I could get some advice on my setup. I have 2 of the 6x80w Sunpower units above my 300 Deep-Dimension tank.

Current bulbs front to back across both fixtures.

Aquablue (ATI)
Aquablue (ATI)
Fiji Purple (Koralzucht)
6500k Daylight (GE)
Pure Actinic (Giesemann)
Aquablue (ATI)

Aquablue (ATI)
Aquablue (ATI)
6500k Daylight (GE)
Fiji Purple (Koralzucht)
Pure Actinic (Giesemann)
Aquablue (ATI)

I took some par reads as can be seen in the following pictures today. So output isn't a problem. What I would like to do is tweak the color so its a little more blue. I added the Pure Actinic bulbs hoping to get some more florescent punch but I didn't quite get the results I was looking for.

Any advice on bulb selection or change would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[dh350twin]

thanks grim,which one of these enhance the red and yellows in my tank,also i dont think i can get ati at my lfs just giessman,any giessman reccomendations?


Grims reccomendation
Front
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

hoping I could get some advice on my setup. I have 2 of the 6x80w Sunpower units above my 300 Deep-Dimension tank.

Current bulbs front to back across both fixtures.

Aquablue (ATI)
Aquablue (ATI)
Fiji Purple (Koralzucht)
6500k Daylight (GE)
Pure Actinic (Giesemann)
Aquablue (ATI)

Aquablue (ATI)
Aquablue (ATI)
6500k Daylight (GE)
Fiji Purple (Koralzucht)
Pure Actinic (Giesemann)
Aquablue (ATI)

I took some par reads as can be seen in the following pictures today. So output isn't a problem. What I would like to do is tweak the color so its a little more blue. I added the Pure Actinic bulbs hoping to get some more florescent punch but I didn't quite get the results I was looking for.

Any advice on bulb selection or change would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Replace the Aquablues with ATI Blue Plus. About the same amount of PAR and way more POP.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

thanks grim,which one of these enhance the red and yellows in my tank,also i dont think i can get ati at my lfs just giessman,any giessman reccomendations?


Grims reccomendation
Front
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
Blue Plus

Use Gman Actinic Plus in place of Blue Plus, Aquablue for Aquablue and 2 Middays in place of the Actinic White and GE.

 

[dh350twin]

thank you grim

 

[yongpanda]

hey grim i had a few questions on T5 lighting. i have 2 ati blue+, 1 uvl super actinic as well as a kz fiji purple. the outside two bulbs are on a seperate switch. what bulb order whould i use?

Another one was that i was planning on doing a fan mod to this T5 HO light fixture. Does active cooling mean having the fan on all the time or only when it overheats at a certain temp? can TOO cool lead the bulbs to decrease in performance?

if i make a fan mod to the fixture, how should i go about it? put holes in the reflectors so they can make its way to the bulbs or what? hmm

 

[malawinovice]

How much do I lose by have my aquactinics tx5 4 inches above the water line using the tank brackets vs right on the tank?


My 75 mixed reef is doing well, but am i short changing the light by keeping it up?

thanks

 

[AustinVines]

You are such a benefit to this community, Grim. Thanks for devoting so much time to answering variations of the same question all day, ever day With that out of the way, I will ask one of my own :lolspin:

I have a 75 with these lights:

2x 110W VHO Actinics
2 x 54W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent (ATI1013) by ATI
1 x 54W 10000K AquaSun T5 HO Fluorescent (UVL0005) by UV Lighting
1 x 54W 75/25 14000K AquaBlue T5 HO Fluorescent (UVL0029) by UV Lighting

The tank looks pretty good but is definitely shifted to the purple end of the spectrum. What lamps and order would you suggest to punch up the blue (the actinics are on the ends)?

Thank you very much.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

hey grim i had a few questions on T5 lighting. i have 2 ati blue+, 1 uvl super actinic as well as a kz fiji purple. the outside two bulbs are on a seperate switch. what bulb order whould i use?

Another one was that i was planning on doing a fan mod to this T5 HO light fixture. Does active cooling mean having the fan on all the time or only when it overheats at a certain temp? can TOO cool lead the bulbs to decrease in performance?

if i make a fan mod to the fixture, how should i go about it? put holes in the reflectors so they can make its way to the bulbs or what? hmm

Front
Actinic
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus

You just want the fan blowing on the label ends of the lamps on one side, how you do that is up to you.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

How much do I lose by have my aquactinics tx5 4 inches above the water line using the tank brackets vs right on the tank?


My 75 mixed reef is doing well, but am i short changing the light by keeping it up?

thanks

I wouldn't worry about it. 4 inches might drop it 20% at most but you still should be getting plenty of light for a mixed reef.

 

[kc350twin]

Hey Grim

8 bulb PM. Bulb combos for mixed reef

14k

and

20k

Thanks
kc3