The T5 Q&a Thread

[jaeden]

Sorry forgot to mention important part tank is 125 aga 72 inch long 22 inch high

 

[apologeticus]

just wanted to let everyone know: Aquabuys has Giesemann bulbs for the cheapest prices I've seen. I plan to pick some up this week (they're local for me!). he hasn't been carrying them for that long, so I thought I'd let everyone know.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7678118#post7678118 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jaeden
question to all would 4 80 watt 60 inch t5 + two 72 inch 110 watt vho attanic be considered too much light for mushrooms but good for corals or would the mushrooms be ok on the sand bed with the corals up top .
Also would this be overkill on the lighting is so any suggestions purchasing the lighting any day now probably from reef geek thanks ahead of time

that would be fine

 

[brandon0350]

during a discussion about lighting a response of "MH generate more PAR that goes deeper " was made. is this true. i always thought with the right reflector t5s created more par and were better at penetration

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Halides don't penetrate any deeper than any other light. They reason they typically provide more intensity at the sandbed is they start out much more intense. a 4x54 watt Ice Cap T5 setup will put more light to the sand than most 250 watt halides.

 

[brandon0350]

thanks grim

 

[hahnmeister]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7679937#post7679937 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brandon0350
during a discussion about lighting a response of "MH generate more PAR that goes deeper " was made. is this true. i always thought with the right reflector t5s created more par and were better at penetration

like Grim said, in general, the only reason halides penetrate deeper is because you can just get 400 (or 1000!)watts into a smaller area...where it takes a T5 setup a full 1.5'x4' area to do that much. Other than that though the T5s should penetrate deeper from a PAR/penetration/watt standpoint.

 

[jjoos99]

I am running 4 HO 60 inch bulbs fired with the 430 icp ballast. Alot of my sps have lost there color due to what I have contributed to too strong of lighting. They will darken up in color as they are moved lower in the tank. These bulbs run very hot which I have contributed to being overdriven. I have since install a workhorse ballast on 2 of the bulbs to bring them down to not being overdriven and they are still running very hot and I saw no noticable change in light intensity(no par meter just by the eye). Am I still overdriving these bulbs using a workhorse 7 ballast?
Thanks ahead for any advise.
Jeff

 

[The Grim Reefer]

How many red wires are going to the end of each lamp? You should have one going from the ballast to each lamp that is split to both pins. There should be 2 unused red wires. If you used 2 wires for each lamp you are overdriving the lamps.

 

[jjoos99]

Grim
I wired it as what the web site shows for 2 ho bulbs. I do have 2 red wires unused. Do these 80 watt bulbs run hot? They are as hot or hotter then my old vho system.
thanks
jeff

 

[The Grim Reefer]

my ic 80's got hot but not that hot. I could touch them but not hold on to them.

 

[MACDad]

Coralline algae bleaching...

Coralline algae bleaching...

Hi all,

I have been reading all these threads and appreciate the information posted. I recently upgraded my 230 watts of PC lighting to 4x54 watt Tek Retro with IC reflectors. I know I have read somewhere before about this, but can't find it. My problem:

It seems my coralline algae is dying off. At least half of the algae has bleached. I used the screen method to acclimate everything for about 2 weeks. They have been screenless for going on 3 weeks now. I have a 75 Gallon tank, and the bulb configuration from front to back is Actinic/Blue Plus, 65k GE, 11k Aquablue, Actinic/Blue Plus. They are about 3-4 inches off the surface of the water.

I remember reading that the GE 65k may have too much PAR, so today I have removed the reflector from that bulb. Hoping to reduce the intensity (if that is the issue). If anyone has had a similar experience, please let me know how you have addressed it.

Sorry for the long post. Thank you, Macdad

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The coraline bleaching is not unexpected.

If you have ATI lamps that Aquablue has just as much PAR as the GE, a new development IME.

 

[MACDad]

Thanks, perhaps I will just put the reflector back on and not worry about it.

 

[Alque01]

I was surfing the web and came across this site with this t5 set up.
http://www.aquauniverse.com/compone.../category_id,51/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,31/

I called and they explained that it does come with individual reflectors.

Grim, take a look and tell me what you think?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The 6 lamp unit is 7 1/8 inches wide. Ain't no way there are parabolic reflectors in that thing.

 

[MJAnderson]

Dang it...just bought the GE for the par boost.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7683162#post7683162 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
The coraline bleaching is not unexpected.

If you have ATI lamps that Aquablue has just as much PAR as the GE, a new development IME.

 

[R33f3r]

Re: Coralline algae bleaching...

Re: Coralline algae bleaching...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7682952#post7682952 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MACDad
Hi all,

I have been reading all these threads and appreciate the information posted. I recently upgraded my 230 watts of PC lighting to 4x54 watt Tek Retro with IC reflectors. I know I have read somewhere before about this, but can't find it. My problem:

It seems my coralline algae is dying off. At least half of the algae has bleached. I used the screen method to acclimate everything for about 2 weeks. They have been screenless for going on 3 weeks now. I have a 75 Gallon tank, and the bulb configuration from front to back is Actinic/Blue Plus, 65k GE, 11k Aquablue, Actinic/Blue Plus. They are about 3-4 inches off the surface of the water.

I remember reading that the GE 65k may have too much PAR, so today I have removed the reflector from that bulb. Hoping to reduce the intensity (if that is the issue). If anyone has had a similar experience, please let me know how you have addressed it.

Sorry for the long post. Thank you, Macdad

Don't worry mine did the same thing when I added 2 more T5's, it will come back in a few months with vengeance!

 

[skype]

can't decide if I should get the 4x54w tek retro fit or the 3x80w tek retro fit kit for my 135 gal, 6ft tank.
This will be mostly fish only and some easy corals.
Which one should I get?

Also are 60" bulbs harder to get?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

60" are harder to get but not that hard. I'd go with the longer lamps.