The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

The ballasts in the ATI are supposed to be (according to the distributor) from some german company with the initials of V S. I would have to go dig through the garage to see for sure. The Ballast is made in China though The 110 volt versions don't seem to overdrive the lamps but ATI may be having them built to a particular spec for their fixtures. The ballasts in the fixture are not in a case so their is no way to comfirm what exactly they are.

 

[jaydubh11]

I currently have a 20g nano with PC's - a 65 watt dual (6700/10000) white bulb and 65 watt dual (420/460) actinic...

I am slowly putting together plans for a future tank (bigger...around 4' x 18"-2' x 2'... anywhere from 70 to 120 gallons)... I think I want to go with a T5 HO retrofit from Current-USA (http://www.current-usa.com/novat5horetrofitkit.html)... I like the 6700/10000 and 420/460 combination that I have used on my nano... so would 4 x 54 watts take care of my future tank? That would be a 54 watt 420 actinic, a 54 watt 460 actinic, a 54 watt 6700 white, and a 54 watt 10000 white... I will only keep softies and LPS... possibly an anemone... any other recommendations? I want something efficient and bulbs that will not be too expensive to replace... I am new to T5's but from what I have heard so far the benefit is in the individual reflectors... I want something that will be ideal for softies and LPS since that will be the focus of the tank... nothing too bright.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Henry Bowman]

You are correct about the individual reflectors. Any fixture without them is a waste. For what you are keeping the fixture you have a link to would do just fine.

You should also shop www.reefgeek.com and www.aquactinics.com they both have a great reputation here on RC and I know that Tom at aquactinics will go out of his way to be of assistance to you.

 

[hahnmeister]

My OSRAM/Sylvania units are made in China as well... so its still possible. I know that fauna-marins are OSRAM ballasts... seen them being built. FWIW, Im diggin the fauna-marin ultra-solaris... price isnt bad, and its got a bangin' output with active cooling, etc. I dont see how the bulbs get active cooling, but the unit has waterproof endcaps with open ends, so you can easily set up a fan-bank to cool them yourself. You can remove the reflectors to replace/clean, etc down the line if needed... $549 for a 6x54watt unit... not bad. $429 for a 4x54watt unit. Its no powermodul, Im sure, but its more versitile, and much less $$$. One guy says he replaced two 400watt 20,000K halides with a 5x54watt unit and now has more light. Not bad at all...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8615113#post8615113 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
The ballasts in the ATI are supposed to be (according to the distributor) from some german company with the initials of V S. I would have to go dig through the garage to see for sure. The Ballast is made in China though The 110 volt versions don't seem to overdrive the lamps but ATI may be having them built to a particular spec for their fixtures. The ballasts in the fixture are not in a case so their is no way to comfirm what exactly they are.

 

[norcal99]

Grim or Hanh-
I'm looking to get a 2x24w retrofit kit from reefgeek and am intending to use it as actinic supplemenation for a 150W 14K phoenix bulb on a 25H. What bulbs do you recommend for that blue/actinic look? I plan on turning on the T5's 2 hours before the halide turns on, and off 2 hours after the halide shuts off for a total of about 10 hours a day. I'm trying to create a sunrise/sunset effect but also want to encourage my corals to "fluoresce" as well as provide some growth benefits. The Giesemann Actinic Plus and the UVL Super Actinic were recommended from the guys at reefgeek. What would you recommend?

 

[hahnmeister]

The pheonix already has a strong blue spike, so adding more of this is really not going to 'suppliment' as much as be overkill. What the pheonix lacks at 250watts is a strong actinic, so if the 150 is anything like its big brother, I would imagine it would benefit it greatly if you were to use a UVL super actinic or other actinic03/true actinic. Otherwise, the only other thing that a pheonik really lacks is more daylight... so you can just go all actinic, or have one of the bulbs actually be a daylight bulb to fill in the daylight it lacks. This may not be what you have in mind if you are really trying to get more of a 'blue' look, but its the only other spectrum that the bulb lacks, unless you just double up on the actinics... but actinics arent exactly cashing in that great on the output end of things. Id get 3-4 bulbs and play around with the combos... 1x true actinic (this is the maybe), 1xUVL Super Actinic, 1xmidday, 1x blue+. These bulbs will give you the chance to experiment.

 

[96p993]

I am running this setup on my Aquatinics 5 lamp hood...

front
1 -- UV Lighting 39W Super Actinic
1-- ATI 39W Blue Plus
1 -- General Electric 39W 6500K Daylight
1 -- ATI 39W 12000K Aquablue
1 -- ATI 39W Blue Plus
back

I am looking for a bluer look all the way around..Anyway to perform this with the same bulbs but in a different order??

 

[djtodd]

Finally got a chance to get to the post office this morning to pick up my ATI Blue+ bulbs. Used them to replace the Aquamedic & Coralvue mishmash T5 actinics that I was using.

Wow. What a difference. Everything is nice and bright blue, *and* fluorescing. Plus they don't seem to wash out as much when my 14k halides are on.

But I think next fall when it's time to replace my halides it'll be XM 20Ks. When just the T5s are on, I *really* like the colour.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8621171#post8621171 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 96p993
I am running this setup on my Aquatinics 5 lamp hood...

front
1 -- UV Lighting 39W Super Actinic
1-- ATI 39W Blue Plus
1 -- General Electric 39W 6500K Daylight
1 -- ATI 39W 12000K Aquablue
1 -- ATI 39W Blue Plus
back

I am looking for a bluer look all the way around..Anyway to perform this with the same bulbs but in a different order??

Try swapping the position of the Super Actinic and the Blue Plus at the front and the Blue Plus and Aquablue at the rear.

 

[annamarie421]

I could really use some help deciding on a fixture. After reading this thread for almost two hours, I'm not really any closer to a decision than I was to begin with.

Tank - 75gal, with a 4" sandbed, mixed reef, going more in the direction of SPS. My current lighting is a Sunlight Supply TEK 6x54w retro kit w/ IceCap reflectors mounted into a canopy. I have two Geisemann Actinic+ bulbs and four Geisemann Aquablue bulbs, and they're mounted 4"-5" off the surface of the water. I really like the T5s, but don't like my canopy, so I am planning to buy a fixture.

I'm having a tough time deciding between a TEK 6x54w fixture and an Aquatinics 5 bulb fixture. If the Aquatinics fixture was 6 bulbs instead of five, I wouldn't be torn between the two. What would you recommend Grim?

Thanks in advance!
Anna

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Aquactinics. It has a fan which helps and it has reflectors that are every bit as good as the Ice Caps. It is also designed to sit dirctoy on the tank which also helps.

 

[klongo]

Wow! Quite some thread. I started reading this thread when it first started, installed my T5s and have been quite happy! Now a little electrical accident has forced me to have to replace all six of my bulbs and I'd like some advice on new bulbs.

I like a bluer color, but the 3k bulb sounds interesting. I'm running two IC 660s with six bulbs - they fire in this order:
Front
ballast 1
ballast 2
ballast 2
ballast 1
ballast 1
ballast 2

Any thoughts and/or suggestions on bulb/brands etc would be soooo welcome!

Thanks

 

[The Grim Reefer]

If you like blue I would run a Daylight, an Aquablue, actinic and the rest blue plus.

 

[klongo]

What's your thoughts on throwing in a 3k instead of a blue plus? I have a few redder softies in the tank, would just one instead of the blue+ bring out some of the red? and how would you pair them --- the three blue plus on one ballast and the others on the second ballast?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I'd use the 3K in place of the daylight.

 

[klongo]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm sure you must get tired of answering these questions! but I sure appreciate it. It'd be great if there was a place we could go to see all of the different bulb variations before we bought! With just the one actinic, should I dawn/dusk my lights? or just put all six of them on at once? I was running eight bulbs on a cheapie setup and switched to six on IC ballasts with single reflectors. I had 2 actinic and 2 blue plus running 12 hours with 2 aquablue and 2 daylights for 8 hours, not sure what to do with just these six

 

[grandp10]

Grim, I have a question on coral placement with Solar Flare fixture. I have mushrooms (ricordea and green striped mushroom) with some zoos and a leather (kenya tree). They are placed about 10" or less from water surface, with the halide about 6" above the water surface. They actually did really well under this halide light. The halide was a PFO premium hood w/2 X 250 watt mogul based halides and 2 X 95 watt vho actinics with a glass shield. Is this somewhat uncommon that these did well under such intense light? I have the Aquactinics 5 lamp fixture over them now. Will I need to reacclimate them to the Solar Flare? So I assume that if I kept all those pretty close under that halide system with great success, I know you generally do not reccomend such intense lighting for shrooms, but should my Solar Flare work well also? Thank you very much.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8625156#post8625156 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by katlongo
Thanks for your suggestions. I'm sure you must get tired of answering these questions! but I sure appreciate it. It'd be great if there was a place we could go to see all of the different bulb variations before we bought! With just the one actinic, should I dawn/dusk my lights? or just put all six of them on at once? I was running eight bulbs on a cheapie setup and switched to six on IC ballasts with single reflectors. I had 2 actinic and 2 blue plus running 12 hours with 2 aquablue and 2 daylights for 8 hours, not sure what to do with just these six

Throw the actinic and 2 blue pluses on one ballast and use that for Dusk/dawn.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8625433#post8625433 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by grandp10
Grim, I have a question on coral placement with Solar Flare fixture. I have mushrooms (ricordea and green striped mushroom) with some zoos and a leather (kenya tree). They are placed about 10" or less from water surface, with the halide about 6" above the water surface. They actually did really well under this halide light. The halide was a PFO premium hood w/2 X 250 watt mogul based halides and 2 X 95 watt vho actinics with a glass shield. Is this somewhat uncommon that these did well under such intense light? I have the Aquactinics 5 lamp fixture over them now. Will I need to reacclimate them to the Solar Flare? So I assume that if I kept all those pretty close under that halide system with great success, I know you generally do not reccomend such intense lighting for shrooms, but should my Solar Flare work well also? Thank you very much.

I'd be moving them down. A 250 watt halide with flat reflectors isn't going to have the intensity of the SF T5 unless the critters wre right under a halide lamp.

 

[grandp10]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8625921#post8625921 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
I'd be moving them down. A 250 watt halide with flat reflectors isn't going to have the intensity of the SF T5 unless the critters wre right under a halide lamp.

Grim thanks for the quick reply, the reflector I have on that fixture is not flat it was the profesional series that has a bunch of bends in it to reflect the light better. I'm not sure if that makes a difference as to how you thought it may compare, and some of the mentioned corals were directly under the halides just 16" lower than the bulb. Please let me know if that changes what you thought and as always thank you very much.