The T5 Q&a Thread
- Thread starter JohnL
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Pufferpunk
New member
OMG, that's so cool!
Justin74
New member
Honestly Im not sure. My gut tells me that would be too high though. You may want to start off at 6 inches and raise or lower by an inch accordingly to the response or lack there of by your corals?But that it is only a guess, and where Id start until someone came along with more experience with shallow setups.
sjm817: Thats great! Very beautifull colonies. How many bulbs are you using and how deep are the zoos? And how high do you have your lights above water?
-Justin
The zoos are nice, but a problem. They are spreading too much and I dont have room for other things. My Clowns host in the red ones. 
I have 2 each of D&D AB, B+, and 2 UVL SA 54W. I had a 50/50 mix of AB and B+, but it seemed too much. The cap you can see on the edge was bleached and is starting to come back with the change.
The top of the Zoos are maybe 2/3 way up (90G). The bulbs are ~ 4" off the water.
I have 2 each of D&D AB, B+, and 2 UVL SA 54W. I had a 50/50 mix of AB and B+, but it seemed too much. The cap you can see on the edge was bleached and is starting to come back with the change.
The top of the Zoos are maybe 2/3 way up (90G). The bulbs are ~ 4" off the water.
Pufferpunk
New member
I wouldn't mind at all if my zoas looked like that!
reef211
New member
Hey there guys, I just got my TEK Light T5 of from ebay, the unit come with 8x54, 4 10,000K and 4 actinic. My tank is a 75gal. 48"x18"18" how high should the light be off the water? And is that to much light for mushroom, zoo, LPS, SPS? I was thinking about getting 4 aquablue and 4 pure actinic what do you guys think? and with those 8 new lights will my tank look like i have 20k HM? HELP HELP HELP
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7598945#post7598945 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Justin74
Sounds like a winning combo for zoos, and is a great example why my experiences were totally different. You run 216w over your 90 and Im running 234w over my 55My zoos at the time were only 7" below surface.
Thanks for the pic, great testimonial
--Justin
Actually, I run 324W (6x54W) and always have. The Zoa's have been under that from day one with 3 AB and 3 B+. The growth from frag to what is in the pic was under that lighting. I recently swapped 1 AB and 1 B+ for 2 UVL SA. Still 324W, but the SA bulbs have less output than the AB and B+. This was to reduce overall brightness which I think was adversely affecting the Cap. The Zoa's seem to like both setups just fine.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Wow, that seems like alot for a 75g to me, even with mostly blue bulbs. I would go with 3xaquablue, 3xblue+, and 2xactinic03...either the G-man or the UVL version. Trading just one or two bulbs for the actinic would make it look just a little bit nicer, esp when it comes to night viewing.
scarletknight06
New member
New ATI Bulbs
New ATI Bulbs
Just got my new ATI bulbs from reefgeek. thought you guys might like some pictures. This was the first time I fired up my new tek light, and wow I am impressed. I don't have anything to compare them to though, nor is my tank setup to give you a shot of that. So these will have to do for now.
New ATI Bulbs
Just got my new ATI bulbs from reefgeek. thought you guys might like some pictures. This was the first time I fired up my new tek light, and wow I am impressed. I don't have anything to compare them to though, nor is my tank setup to give you a shot of that. So these will have to do for now.
Shawnts106
New member
Looks GREAT!!!!
Dont you worry that youve got too much Blue light and not enough of the white spectrum for corals?
Dont you worry that youve got too much Blue light and not enough of the white spectrum for corals?
scarletknight06
New member
nope no worries. I ordered 2 aquablue's and 2 blue plus'
The color in the last pic is messed up. It has a greenish/yellow tint that is not accurate. in real life the aquablue's are a pure white and the blue plus's are (for lack of a better description) pure blue.
The color in the last pic is messed up. It has a greenish/yellow tint that is not accurate. in real life the aquablue's are a pure white and the blue plus's are (for lack of a better description) pure blue.
spmedi
New member
Hey, any of you have any alternative methods of mounting t5 lights in a open tank? Mine sits in a little closet, front facing the foyer, so I access from the back. I really don't like the legs, have broke one. I could do a suspension thing, but was thinking about creating something to mount to the 2 2x4 on the wall in front of my tank. They are almost centered on the tank.
Something that would hold the lights at about the 4 inches they are at but that I could also lift and push toward the wall when I want to jump into the tank.
Thanks,
Something that would hold the lights at about the 4 inches they are at but that I could also lift and push toward the wall when I want to jump into the tank.
Thanks,
I just ordered a new 2 bulb retrofit kit to go with my 4 bulb set. My current combo is 1 sun, 1 aquablue, 2 actinic/blue plus. The new 2 bulb kit will come with 1 aquablue and 1 actinic/blue plus. I also ordered 2 superactinics. Now my question is what combo do I use with my new superactinics? Right now my tank is a nice white color and I want to add the superactinics to make the corals brighter but I dont want it to look too blue. I have sps and lps corals with zoos on the bottom. What 6 bulb combo do you recommend with these lights?
thorsky
New member
Great thread! HUGE THREAD!! 
I'm looking at a 36" 4 bulb TekLight retro for a 30 gallon(36x12x16). The tank has softies, zoas and an LTA. The LTA will be heading to a 90 that's being setup shortly. Will this be too much light?
For bulbs, I'm thinking:
2 Gmann Blue+
2 UVL(URI) T5 50/50
Do I need any more daylight?
Thanks!
I'm looking at a 36" 4 bulb TekLight retro for a 30 gallon(36x12x16). The tank has softies, zoas and an LTA. The LTA will be heading to a 90 that's being setup shortly. Will this be too much light?
For bulbs, I'm thinking:
2 Gmann Blue+
2 UVL(URI) T5 50/50
Do I need any more daylight?
Thanks!
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
From what I've heard you should stick with the Gmann Aquablue isntead of the URI 50/50.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
That should be fine. I'd stay away from the GE daylight. They might be too intense.
Pufferpunk
New member
OK, here are the bulbs I have to choose from:
http://sunlightsupply.com/aquarium/products/fluorescent_lamps.shtml#fl_lamps_atiblue
Which will be best for a 90g, installed into a canopy (not sure how close that would make them, since I don't have the tank yet), for mostly zoas, shrooms, softies & LPS. I'm thinking that 6 bulbs will be good?
http://sunlightsupply.com/aquarium/products/fluorescent_lamps.shtml#fl_lamps_atiblue
Which will be best for a 90g, installed into a canopy (not sure how close that would make them, since I don't have the tank yet), for mostly zoas, shrooms, softies & LPS. I'm thinking that 6 bulbs will be good?
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