The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

I am a Little confussed on which dirrection the fans should be blowing to cool t5ho's. Here is a pic of my hood. Could someone add arrows and size fans to cool a 6 bulb with 2 icecapp 660's. Thanks for any help.

Just move the fans out more towards the ends so they blow on the lamp ends/endcaps rather then the middle section of them.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim,

I have a 125 at the resort I manage. It has 8 39W Odyssea T5s running off workhorse ballasts. This setup was in the tank when I bought it.

They are setup four on each side. Would you recommend I run ATI bulbs with the fulham workhorse ballasts? If so which ones? I am growing mostly softies and zoas in there.

Thanks in advance.

Yeah. I would do 4 rows,

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

got the dimensions wrong, would do 4 39watt tubes on one tank not 3 54watts

Then 2 ATI Blue Plus, one Purple Plus and a Aquablue

 

[shrimphead]

Then 2 ATI Blue Plus, one Purple Plus and a Aquablue

but do you think i've got enough light to maintain lps, i'm aiming for a "moderate lighting intensity"
i know it only works out as 2watts per gallon whicj is on the low side but considereing the shallowness of the tank do you think it will be enough?

 

[njudson]

About to order lamps and I want to make sure I'm getting the best. 40g breeder with 5 bulb TX5. Tank is a mixed reef with LPS, SPS and a Clam. Planning on going

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

Is this what you would do? If not what would you change? add another blue plus?

 

[holdyourlight]

I am having trouble finding a 6th bulb for my 60" sunpower

combo is :

Front
B+
B+
B+
Fiji
B+
?????

I NEED something to make the fish look good. All of the blue is washing the colors out but it makes my corals look SO good

Here is what i have already tried: 420 spectrum (worthless in my opinion), any 6500 spectrum (tried it, too yellow)

I have tried an aquablue in the past on an old TEK fixture but i remember thinking it was too white, should i give it another shot? will it bring out the fish's colors or wash everything out? any other options?

 

[chris88]

kz new gen bulb is great for what you are explaining

 

[rtparty]

About to order lamps and I want to make sure I'm getting the best. 40g breeder with 5 bulb TX5. Tank is a mixed reef with LPS, SPS and a Clam. Planning on going

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

Is this what you would do? If not what would you change? add another blue plus?

Pull the Actinic White for another Blue Plus.

You don't want to run an actinic white and purple plus together. Way too much red and the tank will look purple.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

but do you think i've got enough light to maintain lps, i'm aiming for a "moderate lighting intensity"
i know it only works out as 2watts per gallon whicj is on the low side but considereing the shallowness of the tank do you think it will be enough?

Watts per gallon is a near useless standard. It will be fine.

 

[holdyourlight]

kz new gen bulb is great for what you are explaining

thanks, i just want to make sure i don't lose alot of blue but i gain alot of fish pop

my flame wrasse looks more white than yellow on the body with my 5 B+ and 1 Fiji
I want him to look yellow like he does when all of the lights are off!!

grim, rtparty, opinions on my original post?

 

[Eel-byte]

Ok here's my current config. I would like to get a 14k look but with the most par if that's possible with t5's. This is the original Tek fixture.

giesemann actinic +
giesemann aqua blue +
giesemann midday
kz figi purple
giesemann midday
ati aquablue special
geisemann aqua blue +
giesemann actinic +

 

[BobNY]

I am setting up a new 125g system. I have decided to go with the ATI Sun Power 60"
6x80w Fixture, which I plan to order tomorrow.
This thread has been a invaluable resource in helping make my lighting decision.
I have been reading all I can here to help me decide on the best combination of bulbs for my system.
Before I go ahead and place the order I would love to confirm I am on the correct path.
I plan to start with soft and LPS in the beginning, and eventually adding SPS.
I dont want the tank to look too blue.
Heres what I came up with:

ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
KZ Figi Purple
GE 6500K
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+

I am thinking maybe replacing one of the Blue+'s with a Aquablue special to give a less blue overall appearance.

Any confirmation or advice would be very helpful.

Thanks!

 

[rtparty]

thanks, i just want to make sure i don't lose alot of blue but i gain alot of fish pop

my flame wrasse looks more white than yellow on the body with my 5 B+ and 1 Fiji
I want him to look yellow like he does when all of the lights are off!!

grim, rtparty, opinions on my original post?

Throw in an Aquablue.

I have seen the New Gen in person. It is a tad bluer than an Aquablue but not enough for me to worry about it.

 

[rtparty]

Ok here's my current config. I would like to get a 14k look but with the most par if that's possible with t5's. This is the original Tek fixture.

giesemann actinic +
giesemann aqua blue +
giesemann midday
kz figi purple
giesemann midday
ati aquablue special
geisemann aqua blue +
giesemann actinic +

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

 

[rtparty]

I am setting up a new 125g system. I have decided to go with the ATI Sun Power 60"
6x80w Fixture, which I plan to order tomorrow.
This thread has been a invaluable resource in helping make my lighting decision.
I have been reading all I can here to help me decide on the best combination of bulbs for my system.
Before I go ahead and place the order I would love to confirm I am on the correct path.
I plan to start with soft and LPS in the beginning, and eventually adding SPS.
I dont want the tank to look too blue.
Heres what I came up with:

ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
KZ Figi Purple
GE 6500K
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+

I am thinking maybe replacing one of the Blue+'s with a Aquablue special to give a less blue overall appearance.

Any confirmation or advice would be very helpful.

Thanks!

I would do 3 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Aquablue and 1 ATI Purple Plus

Order an extra Blue Plus just in case and play around. See what you like

 

[BobNY]

Thanks for the help Ryan!!
I need to go ahead and order this fast. There is a MH+PC fixture for sale local to me for a good price. If I don't order the T5 soon I will buy that to save money and wish later that I hadn't.

Is the ATI purple pretty much the same as the Fiji?
I will get the extra blue+ to play around with. Sounds like fun

 

[The Grim Reefer]

thanks, i just want to make sure i don't lose alot of blue but i gain alot of fish pop

my flame wrasse looks more white than yellow on the body with my 5 B+ and 1 Fiji
I want him to look yellow like he does when all of the lights are off!!

grim, rtparty, opinions on my original post?

Try a Giesemann Aquablue, slightly more of a pure white than the ATI version. Might help with the yellow you are missing in the wrasse

 

[MrineLfRlz]

Grim,
Thank you so much for helping me figure out the correct T5's to use on my DT and frag tanks!
But now im setting up a tank just for a zoanthid/paly farm and frag area.
The tank dimensions are 48x13x13 i was thinking a 4 bulb 48" fixture will do the trick but what light combo should i get? I want these corals to grow fast and colorful.
thanks,

 

[tundra420619]

need help with my set up

need help with my set up

i am running a 6x54w set up i would like a lil more blue and less white
any suggestions? and how about the bubl placements?

front to back
b+
b+
75/25
fiji purple
b+
b+

 

[rtparty]

Thanks for the help Ryan!!
I need to go ahead and order this fast. There is a MH+PC fixture for sale local to me for a good price. If I don't order the T5 soon I will buy that to save money and wish later that I hadn't.

Is the ATI purple pretty much the same as the Fiji?
I will get the extra blue+ to play around with. Sounds like fun

According to Grim and the pictures I have seen, it is pretty much identical.

Grim looked at both the Fiji and Purple Plus under a spectrometer and they were identical.