The T5 Q&a Thread

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T5s on eBaY for CHEAP!!!

T5s on eBaY for CHEAP!!!

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Thrre days ago you're asking about best prices and now you have a deal only if your name is mentioned ? It would appear there's a "quid pro quo" involved, which now designates you as a commercial seller.
 
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Those prices are just under what I paid. Pretty good deal. I am still happy with my www.ReefGeek.com purchase. Greg is super to work with and can/will answer any questions that you might have. He let me upgrade my 2 bulb Retro Kit to an IceCap 660 ballast (instead of the standard ballast) to overdrive 4 bulbs. Now I have 6 T5 bulbs total.
 
JustOneMoreTank,

What bulbs are you using? Are they SlimPaq's? And what combination of lights do you use with your 6X fixture?


~Josh
 
The best price I found for the GE Sun T5 bulbs is from ReefGeek.com, but for Blue+ and AquaBlue (especially buying by case) the best price is from SeedsEtc.com HTH
 
Just want to thank all the contributors to this thread as you've sure been a big help. Based on your recommendations to other's earlier questions about supplementing and/or replacing pc's with t5's, the placement of the light sources and bulbs, I bought a retro (2-35w, 36") and cooling fan from Reefgeek to supplement the Coralife pc's. With some ideas from the DIY forum I built a canopy for the t5's, put it all together with the excellent directions from Reefgeek and it worked on the first try. I'm no carpenter or electrician , own only a minimum of tools but it looks great and works. I stapled 3 layers of fiberglass screening to the canopy for temporary shade to acclimate my corals to the additional light and will remove 1 layer each week. I've noticed that the cooling fan not only cools the t5's but also supplements the built in fans on the Coralife fixture as well. So far it is great, not only brighter but less yellow. Thanks to all of you.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6760669#post6760669 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JoshHarpst
JustOneMoreTank,

What bulbs are you using? Are they SlimPaq's? And what combination of lights do you use with your 6X fixture?
~Josh
Click to expand...

Josh,
I bought all of my lights from www.ReefGeek.com Greg was a great help in getting me what I needed. I ordered 48" Retro kits and I couldnt be happier. 4 of the bulbs are pushed by an IceCap 660 ballast and the other 2 bulbs are run by a standard ballast that comes with the ReefGeek kit.
I have 1 GE Sun bulb (6500K), 2 AquaBlue bulbs (11000K), and 3 BluePlus bulbs.
 
T5's for my 75 mixed reef?

T5's for my 75 mixed reef?

I have been kicking around the idea of using T5's on my inwall 75 gallon mixed reef. Currently I use 2 x 175W 20K MHs and 2 x 110W VHO URI Actinic Whites. This isn't the best "growth" combo I've used, but I like it aesthetically although things grow slower.

Of the advantages of going to T5's, I see a saving in heat and power used. Being an inwall tank, heat has been an issue solved by a 1/4hp chiller. In reading around this morning and yesterday evening, I'm kind of in overload...

One major thing I have noted, individual reflectors that are designed right go a long way. I also have several Fulham WH7s laying around I can use. Not sure if I am ready to make the jump, but here is my Q.

Would 4 x 54W HO's on a WH7 be sufficient for my tank? It is your standard AGA 75g, 48 x 18 x 21. I saw a nice (German) 75g tank in a thread about pics of T5 reefs that was stunning. It used this bulb setup... but I don't recall whether they were overdriven, just that single reflectors were used.
 
I think most people w/ 75g go w/ six bulbs....I just ordered the 4 bulb for a 55. I remember reading that overdriving the 54s was more like 80w or so though....Good luck, I will post my reports when my lights get up and running...
 
Okay, so I am buying a 90g tank 48x18x24 or its a 48x18x25, I can't remember the exact dimensions. The canopy is about the standard size, I will also have a 5" sb through out the entire bottom of the tank.

I will be wanting to keep corals like Frogspawn, Hammer, Torch, some Bubble, Leather, Toadstool, maybe some Mushrooms, and some anemoes.

I am going to be getting the Sunlight Supply 48" Retrofit 6X54. This should get more a little over 3.0 watts per gallon.

I want more of a crisp white look from the lights, but at the same time I want them to be benefcial to the corals,(make them grow and be healthy)

I need help picking out the bulb configuration. Here are my choices:

.... T5 high-output fluorescent retrofit kit with your choice of six from the following German-made bulbs: 6000K Sun, 11000K Aquablue Special (60/40), Actinic/Blue Plus, and Pure Actinic 03.



Thanks!
 
I just got a set of T-5s and I played around a little with different lighting options. I'm pretty new to this, so I'm not going to even try to answer what's best for your corals, but for the crispest white look, I like the Aquablues. I've been running two of them in the morning and evening. A combination of 50% 6500K (I'm guessing it's a very similar look to the 6000K) and 50% Actinic/Blue Plus was actually my favorite combination visually, though. It still looks pretty white, but you get some nice flourescing from the actinics that you won't get with the Aquablues. The Aquablues with the actinics were far too blue for my tastes, but most of my corals did flouresce pretty nicely. Hope that helps with at least part of your question.
 
Just wondering how long do these T5 bulbs last... I bought a retro from reefgeek.com about 10 - 11 months ago and 2 bulbs gave out and I had to replace them - not even a year yet.

Has anyone seen this happen in their setup? I'm not running my overclocked with an IC ballast - I'm using the standard TEK T5 retros - I think they're called universal ballast.
 
to-arbitrate,

just curious - are you running a cooling fan on the bulbs? If not that may be the problem
 
id add one on if you are going to continue using the fixture. Keeping the bulbs at a lower temperature definatley extends their life.
 
Ok, So I'm already sick of t5's after reading about 20 or so pages. lol. j/k. Grim thanks for all the great info so far. I do have a question for ya now much different then the rest of the questions ask so far.

I'm looking for a set-up for my new tank. I have a 150gall (it's 48"x24"x24") I do have about 4"-5"s of sand. Most of anything I put in tank will be at least 6" above the sand. What set-up would you rec?

Thanks so Much.
 
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