The T5 Q&a Thread

[Roland Jacques]

Hey Grim
If you were going run only 2 bulbs over your 48" very shallow prop/ grow out tank. what 2 would you use. Color rendition is not that important just want to maximize healthy growth?

im confused on the ice cap ballast usage. Don't they tend to "overdrive" the t-5 and doesn't that shorten bulb life allot? or is "overdriving" just a heat issue?

 

[mrcrab]

Same question as Roland but 36" lamps on a triad ballast.

Thanks Grim

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8757398#post8757398 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Roland Jacques
Hey Grim
If you were going run only 2 bulbs over your 48" very shallow prop/ grow out tank. what 2 would you use. Color rendition is not that important just want to maximize healthy growth?

im confused on the ice cap ballast usage. Don't they tend to "overdrive" the t-5 and doesn't that shorten bulb life allot? or is "overdriving" just a heat issue?

Probably run a GE6500K Daylight and just for giggles a GE 3000K lamp if you were doing shallow water animals. For deepr water critters I would do Aquablues so they are getting blue spectrum.

The Ice Cap will overdrive the lamps but as long as you use fans to keep them from overheating it wont kill the lamps. They probably wont go as long as they could on a real T5 ballast but there doesn't seem to be a huge diffrence that anyone has documented.

 

[Roland Jacques]

Thanks,

So the ice caps burn the bulbs about 10-20% brighter?

i guess the GE 6500 can be found cheep at HD?
so the blue is really not needed for healthy growth for corals, polyp and softies?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

For polyps and softies I would use the Aquablues. They have tons of PAR and have blue spectrum the corals would be hit with in nature. SPS and other shallow water critters would be seeing red gren and blue so the GE daylights would be good.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

And the Ice Cap runs 54 watt lamps about 35% brighter.

 

[kamla]

Mr Grim...

for a 72 gal Bow front, which is the better bet..
Aquactinics T5 54x5 or Tek Light T5 54X4..

I planed to keep LPS, softies and Zoos...

And if you dont mind, which bulbs i should get..
for good growth But better colors..

Also which light fixture has the better reflectors...

Thax for your time

 

[Roland Jacques]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8759523#post8759523 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
And the Ice Cap runs 54 watt lamps about 35% brighter.

Wow, that sound like a good long term investment. 35% more light how much more elictricity consumtion?

Sorry for all the questions, it's for 6 tanks, so im trying to weight everythings costs....

The heat is actually a plus for me, my system runs very cold (1000 watt heater running 40%-60% of the time or more lately. im working on insulating some more.)

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Aquactinics is better. I would run 1 UVL Aquasun, 1 UVL Super Actinic, 2 ATI Blue Plus and 1 Aquablue.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8759652#post8759652 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Roland Jacques
Wow, that sound like a good long term investment. 35% more light how much more elictricity consumtion?

Sorry for all the questions, it's for 6 tanks, so im trying to weight everythings costs....

The heat is actually a plus for me, my system runs very cold (1000 watt heater running 40%-60% of the time or more lately. im working on insulating some more.)

It was a good deal on the electricity, 29% more power usage. That will vary a bit depending on which lamps you use.

 

[kamla]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8759668#post8759668 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
Aquactinics is better. I would run 1 UVL Aquasun, 1 UVL Super Actinic, 2 ATI Blue Plus and 1 Aquablue.

Thax for the quick reply..

Where would you buy the blubs from...

Thax again

 

[The Grim Reefer]

reefgeek.com

 

[mickeylu]

does anyone use sunlight supply t5's? I was just wondering if these were worth the money? http://www.specialty-lights.com/250525.html

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Check reefgeek.com, I think they are cheaper.

 

[mickeylu]

thanks Grim, if I get 2 of these, what would be a good bulb combo? I plan on growing a little bit of everything in my 50g.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I would do a daylight or sun, Aquablue, UVL Super actinic and a blue plus.

 

[latches109]

Hey Grim,

I am setting up a 20 gal reef tank, and plan on having stony corals. I like the whiter look. I have about a $200 budget. What kind of t5 setup would you reccomend? I also noticed in your sig you run vho t6's how do they compare in lumen/watt output vs. t5's?

-latches109

 

[kamla]

thax Mr Grim....

 

[funnyguyMI]

T5s on IceCap 660

T5s on IceCap 660

Hey all.

I have a quick question about running T5s on an IceCap 660 ballast. I've heard that this ballast will overdrive the 4' bulbs to 80W. Does anyone know what it overdrives the 3' and 2' bulbs to? Also, does this shorten the life of the T5 bulbs?


Thanks,
-Mike

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8760627#post8760627 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by latches109
Hey Grim,

I am setting up a 20 gal reef tank, and plan on having stony corals. I like the whiter look. I have about a $200 budget. What kind of t5 setup would you reccomend? I also noticed in your sig you run vho t6's how do they compare in lumen/watt output vs. t5's?

-latches109

with a 200 dollar budget you are a bit limited. I just saw a current 4x39 T5 fixture at that range.

The T6's are intense but not as efficient as T5's.