The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

thanks.. Ya eventually i am going to go back to leds but i want to wait a little while i figure i'll have this 75g for the rest of my college career and probably after until i'm on my feet a little more then i'll go back to leds.

Just for clarification, by aquablue did you mean; ati aquablue special, giesemann 11000k aquablue plus, or uv 75/25 14000k aquablue?

I figure i'll get both ge and aquablue and see which one i like more.. Then i have to run it by my lady friend she is the one who likes the crazy blue 20k :spin3:

Thanks again man

ati

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Should have read down one more post

 

[Flavordsm]

Thank you much guys

 

[Mavrk]

More yellow, yes.

IME removing the splash shield on any actively cooled T5 fixture hurts the output. Fixtures with no fans overheat with a splash shield.

Thank you. I remember you saying once something about the tek splash guard should not be used. But I figured you meant because of overheating. I just wanted to be sure the tek elite wasn't in the same boat. I appreciate your prompt response as always.

 

[thebanker]

Best I could do w/ the iphone.

From left to right, Current 460 (I know, it sucks), ATI Aquablue, Wavepoint Coral Wave, ATI Blue Plus

FTS w/ all 4 on. Looks less red than w/ the Red Wave, yet with more pop than Aquablue with 3 blue bulbs. It's hard to capture the purpleness in this shot.

 

[thebanker]

reposted from T5 Q&A

reposted from T5 Q&A

gah! double post

 

[thebanker]

I color corrected this on my iPad to show the general color of the light. Ignore the way the corals look, I did this just to show how the bulb looks when paired with a blue plus, actinic only.

 

[HAMsmith]

Grim,

I have a 40B with 4 36" T5s about 8" from the water surface in a retro mount.

The bulbs I have are:

Odyssea Actinic
Odyssea 12K Daylight
Odyssea Actinic
Odyssea 12K Daylight

The problem I have (other than a cheap fixture and bulbs ) is that I don't get good pop on my corals. Corals that had great pop under the LFS T5s are drab in my tank.

I was hoping to just change out 1 or 2 bulbs to get my corals to pop. Any suggestions?

I just keep softies and LPS.

Thanks,

Martin

 

[jeremyreef]

Great color on that birdsnest banker

 

[rtparty]

Grim,

I have a 40B with 4 36" T5s about 8" from the water surface in a retro mount.

The bulbs I have are:

Odyssea Actinic
Odyssea 12K Daylight
Odyssea Actinic
Odyssea 12K Daylight

The problem I have (other than a cheap fixture and bulbs ) is that I don't get good pop on my corals. Corals that had great pop under the LFS T5s are drab in my tank.

I was hoping to just change out 1 or 2 bulbs to get my corals to pop. Any suggestions?

I just keep softies and LPS.

Thanks,

Martin

Change all 4 and make sure you are using a fan to cool the label ends of the bulbs.

2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Aquablue and 1 ATI Purple Plus

 

[Ynotme4886]

Hey Grim quick question for you.

Are you going to try out the new ATI purple plus?

Its $8 cheaper than the KZ purple bulb in 54w size and I am wondering if this would be a good and less expensive alternative?

I love using the ATI bulbs and I am hoping that this one is just as good as the rest of their product line.

Any thoughts?

 

[rtparty]

Hey Grim quick question for you.

Are you going to try out the new ATI purple plus?

Its $8 cheaper than the KZ purple bulb in 54w size and I am wondering if this would be a good and less expensive alternative?

I love using the ATI bulbs and I am hoping that this one is just as good as the rest of their product line.

Any thoughts?

I am not Grim but he has stated that unless companies send him bulbs he isn't buying any to try. He has moved on to LED.

I have seen pictures of the Purple Plus and it looks identical to a Fiji Purple. I also called and talked to Reefgeek about it and they love it. They have a spectral plot for it so that is really nice too. George said he can't tell a difference between the two.

So I think it is a great alternative. ATI and KZ bulbs are made at the same factory, so there isn't a huge difference in their bulbs except that KZ thinks theirs are made of gold.

 

[Ynotme4886]

I am not Grim but he has stated that unless companies send him bulbs he isn't buying any to try. He has moved on to LED.

I have seen pictures of the Purple Plus and it looks identical to a Fiji Purple. I also called and talked to Reefgeek about it and they love it. They have a spectral plot for it so that is really nice too. George said he can't tell a difference between the two.

So I think it is a great alternative. ATI and KZ bulbs are made at the same factory, so there isn't a huge difference in their bulbs except that KZ thinks theirs are made of gold.

I saw the spectral plot but there isnt one for the KZ. I did not know they were made in the same factory. I have the fiji purple now in my fixture as it came with it and I really like it but $8 is $8.

Glad to hear they cannot tell the difference between them and I am sure they will sell a ton of these at that price.

Thanks for the good info

 

[rtparty]

I saw the spectral plot but there isnt one for the KZ. I did not know they were made in the same factory. I have the fiji purple now in my fixture as it came with it and I really like it but $8 is $8.

Glad to hear they cannot tell the difference between them and I am sure they will sell a ton of these at that price.

Thanks for the good info

KZ doesn't put out any spectral plots for their bulbs and that has always been a concern to me. You want more money than everybody else and then just expect your cult to follow you.

I have been pleased with everything I have gotten from ATI so I am sure this bulb will be the same.

I found a proposed spectral plot for the Fiji Purple but it isn't official.

Here is the Fiji plot:

Here is the ATI Purple Plus:

Here is the Gmann AquaPink:

The Fiji looks a little off to me. I don't see that much red in it but that is the only thing available.

 

[JG1]

Crap, I was just about to order the 48" PM x 8 bulbs, but now I see they have a dimmable PM.

Is it worth the extra $240?

 

[BigGimp77]

The issue is the ATI pulls air in from the top and out one end. If you have holes in the top so it can draw in fresh air and exhaust it out the end. Another idea would be going with a 36" fixture which eliminates the issue of the exhaust but you still need the holes in top for the fresh air. You also should use 8 lamps whatever you decide to do.

Ice Cap does make a pre wired retro but it's gonna be costly. If you go that route you'll need to add a couple cooling fans blowing in from the back of the canopy so the air runs down the rows of endcaps on each side.

Thanks for the input. I was looking at the 8 bulb powermodule. However, I dont think my canopy would fit that in it (tank is Perfecto 120g (60x18x26).

I mean if I have to I can wire a retro kit. I did so on my 37g tank. The way the canopy opens will make it a little difficult. It it has hinges about half way back on the top of the canopy and opens like a trunk of a car. So any wire on the front 3-4 bulbs will need extra slack for when I open the canopy. Would I still need to cut vent holes in the canopy with a retro kit? The wife loves the canopy, she might look at me like I'm crazy if I say I want to cut some holes into it (even though you cant see that top!) What retro kit would you recomend?

 

[thebanker]

Rtparty- looking at those spectral plots and comparing them to the wavepoint coral wave plot (which is dodgy) I can see that they are similar but not quite the same. More testing is needed.

 

[Buganddoug]

Why is it important to cool the label ends of the bulbs?

 

[The REeFFers]

Hey Grim/ everyone

I hope you can help me here. I have an ATI powermodule 8x39 i have had it running for 9 months and im thinking about changing the bulbs. Im getting good growth on my sps but not really get the best color. This is on sps and chalices. (chalice i have to keep in the shade to keep there color) I think the tank looks alittle to white for my taste also. What I need is a good bulb line up that will give me great color along with growth, and is it safe to replace them all at once? I think i would like to go with a lower par set up since most of my corals seamed blasted with light ? my set up now is

ati blue +
fiji purple
blue +
ati true actinic
blue +
blue+
aquablue special
ati true actinic

cycle is dusk =10 hrs full =5 hrs

 

[reeftanker3295]

Hi, I am thinking about changing my 90g over to T5's. I already have an IC660 ballast so I am going to retrofit a canopy with another 660 ballast to have 8 bulbs. I now have 2 250w 10k reeflux MH's and 2 110w super actinics. My tank is a mixed reef but mostly softies/LPS.
My question is, is it worth it to switch to T5HO? And if it is, what would be a good bulb configuration for an 8 bulb retrofit if I want a blueish tint (I love corals that glow under actinics but I don't want a blue tank)