The T5 Q&a Thread

[SDiver]

ok, i got the parts from reefgeek today for my t5's. a++++ service. anyway i got my lights working and they are to bue looking. i have 4 x54 bulbs. bulbs are 10k,atinic,blue+,aquablue.

any suggestions?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8476548#post8476548 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zestay
well i was planning on doing Zoa's and shrooms at first... this will be my first tank...
i know a SPS wont make it in in..

what do you mean by softies?

Soft corals like shrooms, colt corals etc. but even then there are some softies that need a lot of light. Get at least 4 lamps and stick to low and moderate light critters.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8476995#post8476995 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jag1979
My t5's have decided to stop running after a few hours. When I notice I turn them off, then on and they fire up for a while then quit on me again. I am running 3x5' t5's as supplemental lighting for 3x250 mh's. The icecap guys said that the mh's are burning the t5's, so are t5's not supposed to be used w/ mh's?

Currently I have my fans turning on when the temp reaches 81, but I will change that so that they turn on when the lights turn on and hopefully that will work. I have 1 6" fan and 1 4.75" fan in my canopy. The canopy is 17" tall (14" clearance) and has an open back.

My current lighting schedule is t5's on for 10 hours, mh's on for 5 hours each, overlapping so that all three are on together for only 3 hours. Is this an adequate lighting schedule?

thoughts?

What kind of ballast are you using for the T5's? Try just running the T5's for a day and see if they shut down. It sounds like your T5 ballast might be overheating. Definatly a heat related issue. If your ballast is mounted in the canopy it is possible it is just too hot of an environment. Make sure your T5 lamps are all seated in the endcaps and fit snugly beteen the endcaps. If you are using a real T5 ballast it will shut down if it senses a burned out or loose lamp.

If your T5's shut down with the halides off it is likely a defective ballast. If the printed circuit board in the ballast warps once it heats up it can cause a break in a circuit and shut down the ballast. That is a common failure in electronic equipment.

Unless your T5 lamps are sitting like 2" away from the halides I doubt they are getting too hot to run.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8477138#post8477138 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SDiver
ok, i got the parts from reefgeek today for my t5's. a++++ service. anyway i got my lights working and they are to bue looking. i have 4 x54 bulbs. bulbs are 10k,atinic,blue+,aquablue.

any suggestions?

Put your lamps in like this

Front
Actinic
10K
Aquablue
Blue

see what you think. Color is very subjective. Your list is not a really blue mix of lamps but if changing the arrangement doesn't get the look you like you should swap the aquablue for anothr 10K.

 

[jag1979]

Originally posted by jag1979

I run an icecap 660 ballast for the t5's. It is just a month or two old. The ballast in in a heatsink and is in an open air stand, it is not in the canopy or aquarium stand.

running just the t5's is a good idea I will try that

 

[jag1979]

the t5 lamps are close to the mh's. I have 2 5' t5's in the front of the canopy, they are about 1/2" apart, then I have the 3 mh's. The mh reflectors would be touching the t5 reflectors, but they extend lower by about 4", then I have a t5 behind the mh's in the same position.

I have a picture of my canopy listed in my photo's

thanks

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Are you running fans in the canopy?

 

[jag1979]

I have 1 6" fan and 1 4.75" fan, I had them set to turn on when the temp reaches 81, but today i set them to run w/ the lights; hopefully that will help

 

[The Grim Reefer]

You really need to run fans whenever the T5's are on. Huge gain in output by keeping them cool, just make sure the fans don't blow on the halide lamps.

 

[jag1979]

thanks, why shouldn't I have a fan blowing on the halides, those don't need to be cooled?

So do you think that the lamps overheated and thats why they turned off? I really don't think my ballast could have gotten too hot.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The ballast could just be defecive, it happens. Halides need to get hot to run right. Cooling them off hurts output.

 

[jag1979]

thanks for all your help, sorry for asking so many questions. So if I run my t5's all day today and they work ok (it has been a little over two hours and they are fine so far). Then I guess i will try running all my lights tomorrow and if the t5's turn off again, what do I do? Could it still be a defective ballast if it turns off only w/ the other lights on? As far as the ballast heating all my ballasts are separated and they shouldn't effect each other so if it is a heating issue then I guess the issue is in the canopy.

hopefully the difference will be keeping the fans on the whole time, but it seems like in your opinion that would not turn off the t5's but rather increase there efficiency...is that right?

 

[BigEasy]

Grim, couple of questions:

Forgive me if I missed this, but do you have any PAR readings for the 5k and 3k 4ft bulbs yet?

Any thoughts on their use (growth, coloration, etc)?

I noticed you are back to recommending GE day bulbs instead of the UVLs. At one point you had listed UVL>D&D>GE. Any reason?

Would like to compare the 3k and 5k to the other day bulbs as I am needing to add a day bulb to my 6 bulb Tek. Been using T5s for a couple of years and went to all Blue+ (2) and 11k (4). I like the color temp, but think I could get better colors again with a day bulb back in. Getting ready to change2 of the 11k for a UVL SA and a day bulb.

I do have a couple of GEs in the closet I could use. Suggestions? Thanks

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8478116#post8478116 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jag1979
thanks for all your help, sorry for asking so many questions. So if I run my t5's all day today and they work ok (it has been a little over two hours and they are fine so far). Then I guess i will try running all my lights tomorrow and if the t5's turn off again, what do I do? Could it still be a defective ballast if it turns off only w/ the other lights on? As far as the ballast heating all my ballasts are separated and they shouldn't effect each other so if it is a heating issue then I guess the issue is in the canopy.

hopefully the difference will be keeping the fans on the whole time, but it seems like in your opinion that would not turn off the t5's but rather increase there efficiency...is that right?

It is possible your T5 lamps are just getting too hot and causing the ballast to shut down. I have never heard of that happening but it is possible. Make sure your T5's are firmly in the endcaps too. If the intrnal resistance of the lamps gets too high from extrme heat the ballast could be sensing it as a open circuit or blown lamp and shutting down.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8488561#post8488561 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigEasy
Grim, couple of questions:

Forgive me if I missed this, but do you have any PAR readings for the 5k and 3k 4ft bulbs yet?

Any thoughts on their use (growth, coloration, etc)?

I noticed you are back to recommending GE day bulbs instead of the UVLs. At one point you had listed UVL>D&D>GE. Any reason?

Would like to compare the 3k and 5k to the other day bulbs as I am needing to add a day bulb to my 6 bulb Tek. Been using T5s for a couple of years and went to all Blue+ (2) and 11k (4). I like the color temp, but think I could get better colors again with a day bulb back in. Getting ready to change2 of the 11k for a UVL SA and a day bulb.


I do have a couple of GEs in the closet I could use. Suggestions? Thanks

3K is good PAR, a little better than the GE daylight. 5K isn't so good. In a 6 lamp mix the 3K will look sweet is you have at least 3 Blue lamps running with it. The GE is still an OK lamp, Just not great as it once was. The Aquasun has a pink hue to it so someone with a 4 lamp setup might not like it too much.

Running a 3K with all blue/actinics would look nice IMO. You could just throw a GE and a SA in place of 2 Aquablues, it would be an improvement IMO.

 

[jag1979]

thanks a lot, problem solved, I think and hope.

First thing I did was made sure all the bulbs were screwed in all the way on the endcaps, a couple were loose. Then I changed the controller so that the fans were on the whole time the lights were on.

Everything works great now! So not sure which caused the problem the lack of fans or the loose bulb (I think it was probably a loose bulb from what you have said), but the problem is solved.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Cool!

 

[hahnmeister]

Just hunting around...

Anyone know of a good 12V converter that I can use to power 12V fans with a T5 retrofit? I am using one that is ripped out of an old JBJ fixture, but I am looking for something larger perhaps (without buying a computer power supply...lol) to run 3 fans with rheostats and temp sensors.

 

[Kurt03]

im looking for one too. Hopefully someone has a good suggestion. What fans are you using hahn? If the temp is pretty low will they turn all the way off?

 

[banditfl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8490799#post8490799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
Just hunting around...

Anyone know of a good 12V converter that I can use to power 12V fans with a T5 retrofit? I am using one that is ripped out of an old JBJ fixture, but I am looking for something larger perhaps (without buying a computer power supply...lol) to run 3 fans with rheostats and temp sensors.

Check at your local Walmart in the electronics department. They have a couple different power supplies. They have variable outputs 3-12v. Get at least the 800ma version, you should be able to run 3 fans. Pay attention to the current (ma) ratings on the fans and don't exceed the rating of the supply. If you can get away with running the fans on 9v they are almost silent.