The T5 Q&a Thread

[XtremeFromHell]

For now i have a 29gallon tank with a 30'' 2x24w T5HO fuxture, i dont think its enough light for my tank. i currently have a garden of mushrooms, some zoas/palys, some xenia, some gsp and a RBTA. the shrooms are groing like wild fire byt, my xenias arent taking off, they are growing slowly as well as my zoas and palys and gsp. and my RBTA i think needs more light.

Im thinking about getting a 36" 4x39w T5HO fixture from fishneedit.com, would this be enough or too much? i was considering going with 3 10k bulbs and 1 actinic.

 

[dieselgrk]

im planning the lighting for a 38"L X 30"W X 21"H sps reef. for about the same price i have the option to go with two 6-bulb sunpowers, or one 10-bulb powermodule. i would prefer the powermodule but am willing to go with the two sunpowers if its going to be a much better fit. what do you recommend grim?

 

[rtparty]

For now i have a 29gallon tank with a 30'' 2x24w T5HO fuxture, i dont think its enough light for my tank. i currently have a garden of mushrooms, some zoas/palys, some xenia, some gsp and a RBTA. the shrooms are groing like wild fire byt, my xenias arent taking off, they are growing slowly as well as my zoas and palys and gsp. and my RBTA i think needs more light.

Im thinking about getting a 36" 4x39w T5HO fixture from fishneedit.com, would this be enough or too much? i was considering going with 3 10k bulbs and 1 actinic.

That fixture should do good for your system.

I would change all the bulbs out from the beginning. 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and 1 ATI Aquablue.

If you are only going to use their bulbs, go with 2 10k and 2 actinic

 

[rtparty]

im planning the lighting for a 38"L X 30"W X 21"H sps reef. for about the same price i have the option to go with two 6-bulb sunpowers, or one 10-bulb powermodule. i would prefer the powermodule but am willing to go with the two sunpowers if its going to be a much better fit. what do you recommend grim?

I would go with the 10 bulb powermodule.

 

[njudson]

Just wanted to say a quick thanks. Switched my old bulbs for new ATI bulbs on my 40g breeder and it just looks awesome. Went with

Front
Blue +
Purple +
Blue +
Aquablue Special
Blue +
based on recommendations from this thread

 

[saltymight]

I currently have a 55 gallon tank with a small toadstool leather coral mid
level. I plan on getting a either bubble tip or carpet anemone around January
when I replace my bulbs. Right now i have a Nova Extreme T-5 8 bulb With 4 10k
and 4 actinic bulbs. There is two switches for the bulbs for a day/ dusk dawn
effect. What would you suggest for a mix of bulbs.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I will try to answer some posts when it doesn't take 10 minutes to get the page to load.....

 

[sahin]

Hi there Grim. I want to setup a 28L x 20W x 18H tank and run it with an Ati Sunpower (6x24w). The 6x24watt sunpower is only 23inches long and once you cut of the bit near the end of the tubecap that doesnt light at all, you've only left with about 22inches of light.

So my questions is, if I suspend the fixture about 4inches above the waterline, will enough light reach the side of the tank (being 28inches long)? I will place SPS on two small islands in the middle and want to place a few LPS on the sides.

Or will the areas on the sides of a 28inch long tank be dark? I have no idea about the spread of light of these Ati T5 fixtures.

Lastly, is the Ati Purple plus the same in terms of spectrum and physical appearance of light? Or does the KZ tube still look better?

Many thanks.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hi Grim,

I'm just starting out in this hobby and I have the benefit of researching everything without prejudice. I want a mixed tank where I really have the ability to experiment with different options including clams. Based upon cost and space as well as keeping a good bio-load to volume ratio with a few fish I was thinking a 48x20x18 would be a good all round size. I figure 18 height to help with light penetration, maybe that isn't necessary.

I have read hundreds of your posts and ATI seems to be the way to go but the cost will really put a hurting on my budget. I have been researching other options but can't find anything about the Aqua Medic's T5 Ocean Light fixture from you or pretty much anyone anywhere. AquaCave carries them. A 48" 8x54w is $459 and has 4 fans. It seems to be an excellent deal. Does anyone know anything about these fixtures? Cheap ballasts?

Let's see if I can remember a good bulb setup from the top of my head:

Front:
Blue +
Blue +
Fiji Purple
Aqua Blue
Blue +
Aqua Blue
GE Daylight
Blue+

And one more question: In your opinion, what is the best looking lighting method overall between MH, T5, LCD or any combo of such?

Take care

Unless the fixture use Miro reflector material I'd get the Tek instead.

Is no best looking light. It's all personal choice.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim- As a follow up question(s):
Considering the secon bulb combo:
If I added a 2 bulb HO retro (2 true Actinic03) to my 6 bulb VHO (overdriven) Having 8 bulbs total, would that be too much light? I have a feeling it would be blue as I like it to be but would it be too blue? Would there be a better combo with this setup?

Adding 2 actinics isn't going to add much PAR>

 

[The Grim Reefer]

it is a 24" T5 Light HO Aquarium Marine Reef Cichlid 96W Lunar

I'd try to keep it less than 16" tall tank and 12" front to back.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hey Grimm, I'm currently running a 7x54w Constellation with 1 ATI AB Spc, 1 KZ FP, and 5 ATI B+. I'm thinking of swapping out the ATI AB Spc and 1 ATI B+ in replacement for 2 KZ New Gens.

How will the results playout in, color & PAR +/-? Also how would you configure them using the bulbs mentioned above in the 7-bulb Constellation?

You probably wouldn't notice a change other than your wallet being a lot lighter.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

hey grim! :wavehand: I have decided to go mainly softie, LPS and I want the 60" 6x80W sunpower fixture. I don't want a whole lot of par since I don't want to burn my coral, but I was thinking of doing maybe 3 aquablue special, 1 blue plus and 2 actinic (or 1 actinic 1 purple). would this be too blue? what combo do you suggest and order?

Do 2 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Actinics, 1 ATI Aquablue and 1 ATI Purple Plus. Should make those softies glow.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

For now i have a 29gallon tank with a 30'' 2x24w T5HO fuxture, i dont think its enough light for my tank. i currently have a garden of mushrooms, some zoas/palys, some xenia, some gsp and a RBTA. the shrooms are groing like wild fire byt, my xenias arent taking off, they are growing slowly as well as my zoas and palys and gsp. and my RBTA i think needs more light.

Im thinking about getting a 36" 4x39w T5HO fixture from fishneedit.com, would this be enough or too much? i was considering going with 3 10k bulbs and 1 actinic.

Do 2 ATI Blue Plus, 1 Aquablue and 1 Purple Plus for lamps.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

im planning the lighting for a 38"L X 30"W X 21"H sps reef. for about the same price i have the option to go with two 6-bulb sunpowers, or one 10-bulb powermodule. i would prefer the powermodule but am willing to go with the two sunpowers if its going to be a much better fit. what do you recommend grim?

Either will work. If you plan on clams on the sandbed the two fixtures might be a better idea.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I currently have a 55 gallon tank with a small toadstool leather coral mid
level. I plan on getting a either bubble tip or carpet anemone around January
when I replace my bulbs. Right now i have a Nova Extreme T-5 8 bulb With 4 10k
and 4 actinic bulbs. There is two switches for the bulbs for a day/ dusk dawn
effect. What would you suggest for a mix of bulbs.

Don't even think about a carpet anemone under than fixture.

5 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and a GE 6500K Daylight for the BTA

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Hi there Grim. I want to setup a 28L x 20W x 18H tank and run it with an Ati Sunpower (6x24w). The 6x24watt sunpower is only 23inches long and once you cut of the bit near the end of the tubecap that doesnt light at all, you've only left with about 22inches of light.

So my questions is, if I suspend the fixture about 4inches above the waterline, will enough light reach the side of the tank (being 28inches long)? I will place SPS on two small islands in the middle and want to place a few LPS on the sides.

Or will the areas on the sides of a 28inch long tank be dark? I have no idea about the spread of light of these Ati T5 fixtures.

Lastly, is the Ati Purple plus the same in terms of spectrum and physical appearance of light? Or does the KZ tube still look better?

Many thanks.

It will be fine. As far as I can tell the Fiji Purple and Purple plus look exactly the same and seeing as how the same company manufactures both ATI and KZ lamps......

 

[saltymight]

Thank you BTA all the way

 

[Lynnmw1208]

Do 2 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Actinics, 1 ATI Aquablue and 1 ATI Purple Plus. Should make those softies glow.

thanks a bunch!! one more ?: would this order be ok? (slot 2 and 5 are the dusk/dawn right?)
1. Aquablue
2. Actinic
3. Blue +
4. Purple +
5. Actinic
6. Blue +

 

[make73]

Hi Grim !

I have a new reef tank almost in operation here in Finland, it`s going to be mixed reef lots of SPS, LPS and clams etc. Dimensions of tank is 97x27x27 so it`s 270g.

But I also have a problem, I will be using for lighting 2 pieces of Giesemann matrix 12x54w lamps, well that´s not the issue, but I will be using Giesemann bulb`s and I haven`t found enough information what combination is the best, if you have to use only Giesemann bulps.

I sincerely hope you can help me, sorry about my bad english