The T5 Q&a Thread

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The Grim Reefer said:
First of all I would probably use ATI Blue Plus instead of the super blues, both lamps are made by sylvania so I doubt there is much difference other than price.

Front
Super Blue
Fiji Purple
New Gen
Blue Plus
Aquablue
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Super Blue
Click to expand...

Grim,
I am not sure of which bulbs are on the 2 bulb ballast but the fixture is set up to be able to turn two bulbs on and off at a different time than the other 6 bulbs. Which bulbs would you put on the two bulb control. I thought it is the 3rd and 5th bulbs but not sure. Have not received the fixture yet.

Also wanted to know what you thought of my choices as far as growing SPS.
 
Anybody running a powermodule over any anemones? I have 4 250MH over my tank now, and have 4 diff anemone species in there, seriously considering switching to 10 bulb ATI PM's, but dont wnna lose my anemones.
 
jwilliams860 - I know several people running TEK T5 fixtures and have beautiful Anemones. I am sure that an ATI Powermodule fixture would be even better.
 
I am getting either a 48x24x20 or a 54x24x20 eurobraced tank. I am looking at the ATI fixture. would I want the 36 inch or the 48 inch and would I want the 6 or 8 bulb? I was thinking 48 inch 6 bulb Sunpower. I want to have the light in the tank with littlelight outside of the tank. I will hang this from the ceiling. Let me know.
 
adamfajge said:
I am getting either a 48x24x20 or a 54x24x20 eurobraced tank. I am looking at the ATI fixture. would I want the 36 inch or the 48 inch and would I want the 6 or 8 bulb? I was thinking 48 inch 6 bulb Sunpower. I want to have the light in the tank with littlelight outside of the tank. I will hang this from the ceiling. Let me know.
Click to expand...

Personally, I would go with the 48" 8 bulb fixture. The SunPower is decent but the Powermodule is much better. Just my opinion...
 
luckyfish said:
Grim I just read the thread in the IC vendors forum about the IceCap 430 ballast running T-5 bulbs and came away with some questions:

I want to run 60" T-5s on 430 (or 660 ballasts) over a standard 180 gal, primarily LPS. What issues, positive and negative do you think I'm going to encounter?

Are the issues going to be the same for the 430 and 660's?
Thanks
Click to expand...

About the same issues, I had great results with Ice Cap ballasts and 60" lamps. Just remember only 2 lamps per 430.
 
Hdhuntr01 said:
Grim,
I am not sure of which bulbs are on the 2 bulb ballast but the fixture is set up to be able to turn two bulbs on and off at a different time than the other 6 bulbs. Which bulbs would you put on the two bulb control. I thought it is the 3rd and 5th bulbs but not sure. Have not received the fixture yet.

Also wanted to know what you thought of my choices as far as growing SPS.
Click to expand...

Should be fine for SPS, I believe its 2nd and 7th for Dusk/dawn, if I am wrong try to get either the Fiji and a Blue Plus or 2 Blue Plus for dusk/dawn
 
adamfajge said:
I am getting either a 48x24x20 or a 54x24x20 eurobraced tank. I am looking at the ATI fixture. would I want the 36 inch or the 48 inch and would I want the 6 or 8 bulb? I was thinking 48 inch 6 bulb Sunpower. I want to have the light in the tank with littlelight outside of the tank. I will hang this from the ceiling. Let me know.
Click to expand...

Really need 8 lamps. I'd do a 48" unit.
 
Hdhuntr01 said:
The big difference is in cooling the bulbs. The Powermodule has a much better cooling setup with more fans. T5 bulbs should be constantly run at 95 degrees to ensure they produce the maximum PAR for the maximum bulb life. You can start from the beginning and read a lot of info in this thread...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1553614&perpage=25&pagenumber=38
Click to expand...


The Sunpower and Powermodule have the same cooling setup. The PM just uses more fans. There were quite a few of us on a thread that tested temps and fan settings on both Sunpowers and Powermodules. Guess what? You can very easily control the temps with either unit.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1641235

The Powermodule puts out about 2% more PAR over the Sunpower. Definitely not worth it to me to spend the extra money. Of course if you need more than 6 bulbs, you don't have a choice.

To say the Sunpower is "decent" is crazy. Tell my corals that I bleached within 24 hours that the Sunpower is "decent". Tell the PAR numbers that prove both fixtures are nearly identical that the Sunpower is decent.

The only reason I would go with a PM over an SP, is if you like the look more and have the extra money to blow.
 
So Grim,

I were to go with a 8 bulb PM instead of the 6 bulb SP, and I was planning on running this as my 6 bulb configuration:

(front)
blue plus
blue plus
aqua blue
true actinic
blue plus
blue plus
(back)

What two other bulbs would you put in the mix and were would you put them? Would two true actinics just be a waste?
 
Having both a Sunpower and Powermodule I can say the biggest difference is in the build quality of the fixtures. Sunpower performs very well, I suspect Ryan's 2% difference in output claim is pretty close. Powermodule has a much more solid housing, better splash shield etc. so it isn't like you can't see where your money went. Just a matter of you don't have to spend the extra money if those those things aren't important to you. Powermodule seems slightly quieter too, despite having more fans.
 
JG1 said:
So Grim,

I were to go with a 8 bulb PM instead of the 6 bulb SP, and I was planning on running this as my 6 bulb configuration:

(front)
blue plus
blue plus
aqua blue
true actinic
blue plus
blue plus
(back)

What two other bulbs would you put in the mix and were would you put them? Would two true actinics just be a waste?
Click to expand...
Fiji Purple in the second slot and a Aquablue in the rear
 
The Grim Reefer said:
Fiji Purple in the second slot and a Aquablue in the rear
Click to expand...

jeez I posted them wrong bulb configuration.

this is what I meant (sorry)
(front)
blue plus
blue plus
aqua blue
fiji purple
blue plus
blue plus
(back)

so you say this:
(front)
blue plus
fiji purple
blue plus
aqua blue
fiji purple
blue plus
blue plus
aqua blue
(back)

Or are two fiji purple's too much?
 
The Grim Reefer said:
Having both a Sunpower and Powermodule I can say the biggest difference is in the build quality of the fixtures. Sunpower performs very well, I suspect Ryan's 2% difference in output claim is pretty close. Powermodule has a much more solid housing, better splash shield etc. so it isn't like you can't see where your money went. Just a matter of you don't have to spend the extra money if those those things aren't important to you. Powermodule seems slightly quieter too, despite having more fans.
Click to expand...

Another very important factor in my decision was the weight of each unit. I've never owned a Powermodule, but heard frequent complaints about the weight of that unit. That alone stopped me from purchasing it. My Sunpower is very light and easy to move and work around.
 
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