The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

I'd get the lamps from reefgeek because they have a better selection,

I'd do this

Front

UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
ATI Aquablue
Blue Plus

 

[golfbomber]

what spares should i get to play around with the color?

 

[hefeweizan]

Grim, if my take is 4x2x2 120gallon, is 8 T5s with SLR reflectors on triad ballasts ok to keep sps and clams at the bottom or do i need to overdrive the bulbs?

 

[hahnmeister]

hey Grim, thought you might like this page if you havent seen it already. Its German, but you can still make out the details. WOW, those parabolic reflectors really contribute alot.

http://www.korallenriff.de/
go to the Der Langzeittest mit T5 Röhren - Teil 2 link at the top center of the new links. Interesting info there...

 

[loweryster]

http://translate.google.com/transla...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=/language_tools

 

[hahnmeister]

Lol... or if you prefer English...lol. Thanks.

 

[loweryster]

No Prob

 

[hahnmeister]

I just thought it was soooo interesting how the 8 bulb unit w/o the individual reflectors had less than 1/2 the output of the 6 bulb unit with individual reflectors.

Thats Killer.

Also note that those are normal output 80watt T5s (as in, not overdriven), and they are on a 28" tall reef. I know I have argued with some about penetration vs. intensity of T5s vs. halides, and stated that T5s penetrate better than haldies thanks to their linear nature in comaprison, but I hope this at least proves that there are no depth concerns with using T5s on taller tanks.

 

[hahnmeister]

Oh, and Grim, I had to show you this... looks like Sam will test the output gains of a fan on a Tek light... and if the fan increases the output... he just said he would add fans to the new Tek units...lol.

Whatcha think about that??!?!!?
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=8365956#post8365956

"It's really not necessary. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll run a Tek light for 8 hours under a foot candle meter tomorrow. I'll let it cool overnight, and fire it back up in the morning with fans blowing across the lamps, again running it for 8 hours.

I'll let you know the results, if it's indeed true, then we'll add fans....deal?

-Sam
"

 

[zensaiyan]

grim, do you think you could give me some advice on lighting my tank? i have an 8x39W t5 fixture from aquauniverse.com. here is a link to the specific fixture http://www.aquauniverse.com/compone.../category_id,62/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,31/
each bulb has individual reflectors. i did not have much of a choice when i originally got the fixture as to what kind of bulbs to get, so now i am going to be getting new bulbs through reefgeek. right now i have 4 10K daylights and 4 actinics. the tank is a 92g corner tank with mostly softies, zoas, and lps. what would a good combination and order of bulbs be? i was thinking of the following:

2 blue plus
2 super actinic
2 aqua blue
2 daylight

any advice would be helpful. thanks.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8368404#post8368404 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zensaiyan
grim, do you think you could give me some advice on lighting my tank? i have an 8x39W t5 fixture from aquauniverse.com. here is a link to the specific fixture http://www.aquauniverse.com/compone.../category_id,62/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,31/
each bulb has individual reflectors. i did not have much of a choice when i originally got the fixture as to what kind of bulbs to get, so now i am going to be getting new bulbs through reefgeek. right now i have 4 10K daylights and 4 actinics. the tank is a 92g corner tank with mostly softies, zoas, and lps. what would a good combination and order of bulbs be? i was thinking of the following:

2 blue plus
2 super actinic
2 aqua blue
2 daylight

any advice would be helpful. thanks.

The lamps you have listed should be good. Don't confuse the "reflectors" in that setup with the real parabolic ones, they are better than the flat reflector Nova uses but not much. Should be fine for what you are raising though.

 

[30mini]

Grim, I'm going to be getting a workhorse 2x55W PC ballast. I know that I can theoretically run 4x24W T5HO bulbs on it. My question is, I have a 175W 10K halide, and it's very yellow. I want to get the blue back into my tank like I had with my 14K halide. What would be the best choice for bulbs in the T5's? Should I get 2 pure actinics and overdrive them, or get 2 of the actinic plus and 2 of the pure actinics? I'm not sure what would be best b/c I don't really have any experience with T5's

 

[JC VT]

Hi Grim,

You mentioned that the 3000k bulb will pop pinks and purples. Will it wash out blues/greens? My aquablue bulb is bright as anything, but it coats the tank in baby blue color.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Get one UVL Super Actinic and 1 ATI Blue Plus.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8371750#post8371750 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 30mini
Grim, I'm going to be getting a workhorse 2x55W PC ballast. I know that I can theoretically run 4x24W T5HO bulbs on it. My question is, I have a 175W 10K halide, and it's very yellow. I want to get the blue back into my tank like I had with my 14K halide. What would be the best choice for bulbs in the T5's? Should I get 2 pure actinics and overdrive them, or get 2 of the actinic plus and 2 of the pure actinics? I'm not sure what would be best b/c I don't really have any experience with T5's

 

[The Grim Reefer]

It really depends what you are running with it. In my 5 lamp system running the 3000K with an Aquablue, and 3 blue lamps it was a little much but my tank is only 10" front to back. My new tank is 18" so I will try it again. I thing in a 6 lamp system I am sure it would be fine. It basically warms up the color so the pink and purple colors on the rock look more natural.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8372037#post8372037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JC VT
Hi Grim,

You mentioned that the 3000k bulb will pop pinks and purples. Will it wash out blues/greens? My aquablue bulb is bright as anything, but it coats the tank in baby blue color.

 

[Labman48076]

posting for a friend

posting for a friend

T5: Helio vs. Tek
Hi, I'm want to light my 29g with T5. I'm very impressed with tek's review however they don't make any 30" lights. I recently found out that helios do make 30" T5 but haven't really heard much about them. How do the Helios compare to tek? Is there a difference between the two bulb brands in terms of par and performance? Also, are the helio reflectors as good? any other recomndtions for a 30" setup

 

[hahnmeister]

The 30" if anything is just a 24" bulb in a 30" body. Unless you are talking NON-HO bulbs... check the wattage... the T5s you want should be 24watts for a 24" bulb.

 

[bohlke]

Hey Grim - I recently added a hydrophona to my tank, I was wondering if I could place it on the bottom of the tank (its a 65G 36x18x24) with my current Tek T5 6x39W setup? All the bulbs are ATI except the 6500k.


FRONT
B1: Blueplus
B2: Aquablue
B2: GE 6500K
B2: Blueplus
B2: Aquablue
B1: Blueplus

Schedule so far is:

10AM B1 on
12PM B2 on
2PM B1 and B2 on
6PM B2 on
8PM B1 on
10PM off

 

[JC VT]

Hi Labman,

I am running 24 inch VHO's and T-5's right now on a 20L. There is great coverage; I don't think I could tell if they were 24 inch or 30 inch bulbs at all.

 

[mcclandy]

thanks for the input JC! I am workin on a 29" aquarium with 24" lights.