The T5 Q&a Thread

[clomon]

it is a workhorse 5

 

[clomon]

and i dont have no $200 to spend on a light upgrade and the water is in prem proper shape no amona, nitrates. no phosphates i use ro water the tank is 1 year old at most i can spend $100 bucks im am a student so money is -Tight-.

 

[clomon]

bump

 

[horkn]

clomon. those slimpaqs are not that good. the best part of t5ho is the reflectors on the good retros.

if you only want to drop 100 dollars , and keep the lps and softies, and maybe some easier sps, like montipora, get 3 reflectors, 2 ati blues, and one ge6500k day- or a aquablue, and waterproof endcaps and standoffs from www.aqualuxlighting.com

it will be right around 100 dollars, maybe a bit more, but if it is, just get 2x24w and the reflectors and encaps, standoffs, and an aquablue and an ati blue. that will at least support softies and lps for now

 

[JoshHarpst]

i just purchased a T-5 tek light 6x54 about a week ago and ordered it without the bulbs to save some money. I ordered my bulbs from Drs. Foster and SMith and they are the SlimPaq brand. I don't know if anyone knows of these, but how good/bad are they? I saved $36 by going with them over the stock bulbs which were "Geissman" or something german like that. Did i make a mistake? b/c i can still reorder those bulbs and return the ones to F&S.

here is one of the bulbs that i bought

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13824



Next question, what is overdriving a bulb?? How do you do this and is it good/bad. Thanks.

~Josh


P.S. anyone know what happened to Grim Reefer?? Bright guy, don't know why the site would want to ban someone like him.If anything he was helping this site out tremendously! he is a great reference and da*n the man that banned him!

 

[JoshHarpst]

one more thing, what should i put between the light and the water? I have heard of UG-4 plexiglass as being a great choice if going with glass/plexi. What about fiberglass screening? is that an option? This way the air/gas exchange could occur.

Thanks


~Josh

 

[horkn]

well, those bulbs are said not to last as long as the ati geiseman d&d bulbs.

i would run them if i were you, and see how long they really last, and see if you like the look of them. as far as the shield, many guys use the "lexan" brand of plastic. it works well from what i hear

 

[JoshHarpst]

so the color output isn't going to be different between the bulbs? I will continue to use them if that is the case. What is that "lexan" stuff? will it warp if the light is too close? THankss

~Josh

 

[JoshHarpst]

do you think the fiberglass screening is a bad idea? know anyone who has used it?

THanks

~Josh

 

[kmacartney]

So the only bulbs worth getting are the ATI's?

 

[horkn]

i dont know if i would go that far in saying that.

gieseman d&d, and ati all seem good. even though they are all interconnected at one point.


for blues, i love the helios superblue, but how long will it last? good question....

 

[horkn]

oh yeah, we cant forget the PAR king. the GE starcoat 6500k day. that is a great bulb.


UV lighting will have t5ho bulbs soon. they were formerly URI. i bet those will be great, esp the actinic

 

[JoshHarpst]

so there is no longer URI? I was told that URI was king and that they were planning on coming out with T5 HO bulbs in February. Any updates?

 

[kmacartney]

So slim pac and catalina suck?

 

[WanaLeime]

Hey guys...If your looking for a good deal on TEK T5s retros and bulbs (giesemann)...LMK(PM)...I got a supplier, but Im not sure if I can post the link or prices (so just PM me). I hear thats how people get booted, becaue of the sponsers....


These are the best prices on the WEB.
TEKs are rated 3rd according to horkn and grim....
Thanks again for your HELP horkn...

 

[JoshHarpst]

is that why Grim got booted?

 

[eben]

I have a question:

I have a 40 breeder 35x16x18 and I just bought a SunLight Supply Tek 6x39 T-5 fixture. I was wondering how much heat these puppies actually produce?

If the light is 4 inches on the surface of the water (and acrylic) will it transfer to much heat into the tank and is there a possibility that it will warp the acrylic (like my 250 DE's did without a fan)?

Do you guys run a fan angled underneath the fixture to keep things cooler or can I get a away without one?

 

[brentp]

The bulbs will last longer with a fan cooling them. They do not produce as much heat in one spot like halides so you should be fine without a fan.

IME, the bulbs last a long time with a fan cooling them. My bulbs will be two years old this summer and the lumens has only gone down about 10% since I first measured it when the bulbs were running for about two months.

 

[WanaLeime]

Brentp, Josh,
Did you guys get my reply...?

 

[horkn]

if you have a great source for bulbs, and other items, you are doing nothing wrong in letting others know about them.

grim got booted fro other reasosn. off topic conversation in the open forum... it wasnt reef related.

I let everyone know about the less expensive aqualux reflectors all the time.. i have yet to be told not to say anything about them, despite aqualux not being a sponsor of RC..

maybe if aqualux gets bigger, they will sponsor RC..

and the same to any other company...


no problem Wana.. i am happy to have helped.. pm me the link as well