The T5 Q&a Thread

[jjoos99]

bulb life?

bulb life?

I have also experienced the same bleaching of some of my sps's. They never did darken up until I moved them lower in the tank. I had a piece of scroll that wouldnt grow any at all until I moved it lower and almost shaded.
How long with the t-5 bulbs last before a bulb change is needed when overdriven by ice cap ballasts? I have been noticing some of my acro frags are starting to die off. My bulbs are 8 and 1/2 months old now. Seems as if just the acros are being affected.
Thanks
Jeff

 

[brentp]

Jeff,

If you don't have fans keeping your lights cool it may be time to change bulbs. I change my overdriven bulbs at 18 months but I use fans that keeep them from getting to hot.

Your acros will most likely slow down in growth and darken as the bulbs decline, but I would guess something other than lighting is causing them to die off.

Brent

 

[Lionfan]

Hi all, Well it's been about 3 weeks for me since I made the move to T5's from my Dual 175 MH's and Dual B+ 54W T5 setup. So far everything looks great and I am truly getting more color on my montiporas, all of them. Not from the tint of light but by the 3 weeks under the T5 system. My ricordia are all doing well. So for now I am quite pleased!!! My system is the aquactinics 5X 54W with 3- blue+ and 2- aquablues.

 

[Maeda]

conserving electricity

conserving electricity

Thanks for all the posts in this extensive thread.
However i'm finding very little nano t5 information....

I'm thinking of ways of cutting my electricity usage and maintanence costs on my new sps nano tank and T5's seem like they could help.

I was going to run a 175w iwasaki 14000k on an icecap ballast.
but instead could I run 4x24w tek retro t5's?

could i use less bulbs but overdrive them (like say 1 blue, 1 day light, 1 superblue)?

can saltcreep really muck things up?

24x24x13in tank
carlson surge device
Tons of acropora.

 

[Yomeister66]

This is your acro on MH:

This is your acro on T5:

Any questions?


Yes, I know I have a hydroid problem...if you know how to get rid of them I'm all ears

 

[Ixthys]

How'd you get my acro??

 

[revclyburn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7728434#post7728434 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by horkn
other ballasts that can run t5ho are in no particular order

workhorse ballasts
triad t5ho spec ballasts
advance spec t5 ballasts
ballastwise t5ho ballasts

what size of tank are you putting this over?

i have a 35g with a millepora, pocillopra, acropora, and montipora, along with a clam and other softies and lps all lit by a workhorse 5 running 3x39 of t5ho.

I have a 90g, and really want to have some acros, caps and millis. Would a 4 bulb retro t5ho setup, DIY, and 4x54 pcs be enough?

RevClyburn - Edwin

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I'd go 6 on a 90.

 

[horkn]

yep 5 or 6 on a 90 will do it, but 4 may be a tad low on lighting for acros

 

[MJAnderson]

Grim (or anyone)

After being delayed due to a broken shipment, I finally got my bulbs:

1 GE 6500k
2 ATI Blue Plus
1 ATI 12000k Aquablue
1 Actinic Blue 03

What order to you suggest? I have two switches, one runs 1-3-5 and the other 2-4. I was trying to keep the Blue Plus out of 2-4 so that when they are running alone the tank isn't so blue. Best I could come up with was

Front
B+
A
GE
AB
B+

But it still looks kinda blue to me when everything is on. Suggestions?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Try this
B+
A
GE
B+
AB

That will give you the actinic and a blueplus for dusk/dawn.

 

[yamaha racer]

hey grim, do u have any par reading that show that t-5s are better than pc and VHO.?

 

[banditfl]

I came across this Ballast and was looking for an opiion on them.
http://advancetransformer.com/uploads/resources/EL-2070-R02.pdf

I apologize if somebody has already given an opinion on these and I missed it. I just found this thread 2 weeks ago and after 120 pages of replies I just don't remember.

thanks.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7738561#post7738561 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yamaha racer
hey grim, do u have any par reading that show that t-5s are better than pc and VHO.?

I don't remember the specific PC numbers but they weren't even close to the T5's. I think the VHO numbers are in the Great T5 glarathon thread but they couldn't have either.

 

[yamaha racer]

hey grim, my buddy has a 38g oceanic cube and i was wondering what he can keep under the tek 24" 4 lamp fixture? he really wants to keep sps. can u help me out?
thanks
dan

 

[yamaha racer]

hey grim, my buddy has a 38g oceanic cube and i was wondering what he can keep under the tek 24" 4 lamp fixture? he really wants to keep sps. can u help me out?
thanks
dan

 

[yamaha racer]

hey grim, my buddy has a 38g oceanic cube and i was wondering what he can keep under the tek 24" 4 lamp fixture? he really wants to keep sps. can u help me out?
thanks
dan

 

[yamaha racer]

sorry computer glitched

 

[The Grim Reefer]

How tall is the tank?


How tall is the tank?


How tall is the tank?


Sorry, couldn't resist.

As long as the SPS are up off the bottom it should be fine.

 

[Kiel'thalin]

I got a 5 bulb(39w) Aquactinics T-5 Fixture with the following bulbs:
2 Blue Pro
1 Pure Actinic
1 Ocean Pro (20K)
1 Sun Pro (10K)

I have them arranged as such...
Front
Blue Pro
Pure Actinic (on seperate switch)
Sun Pro
Blue Pro (on seperate switch)
Ocean Pro
Back

The light is lots brighter than just the plain standard fluorescent, I guess that is a good thing. I have not added any corals yet, tank has been up for over a month. Looking at getting SPS only tank. Does my bulb arrangement look okay, any insight? Also what photoperiod should I aim towards? This is my 1st S/W tank and still have lots to learn. Thanks.