The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Depends on your tank. If you think the tank looks too purple swap the positions of your Blue Plus and Super Actinic.
The T5 Q&a Thread
- Thread starter JohnL
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geo*SanAnto
New member
Mr. Grim, thanks for clearing up the workhorse ballast question.Im have another question if the work horse ballast is not a true t5 ballast why do they supply wiring diagrams and operate t5 lamps?the Icecaps do not provide wiring diagrams and so many people use them .Also are the icecap660 ballast the best ballast to get?I want to set up a three bulb actinic supplement for my 250watt 10k mh.TIA.
geo*SanAnto
New member
Mr. Grim, thanks for clearing up the workhorse ballast question.Im have another question if the work horse ballast is not a true t5 ballast why do they supply wiring diagrams and operate t5 lamps?the Icecaps do not provide wiring diagrams and so many people use them .Also are the icecap660 ballast the best ballast to get?I want to set up a three bulb actinic supplement for my 250watt 10k mh.TIA.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
The Workhorse will run the T5's just not lik they are designd to be ran. For actinic supplimentation I would just use standard T5 ballasts.
I have a aga 180 mixed but sps dominated. My plan is to use 6 x 80watt T5. All of my tanks in the past have used a 1:1 ratio of URI super actinic and URI 50/50 VHO bulbs. I really like the look it gives me. Could you tell me what combination of T5 bulbs would get me as close to this as possible without sacrificing health/growth. Thanks.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
You need enough room for air to flow into the ducts. Probably cutting holes in the canopy where the intake ducts are in the flare would be the way to go.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I would do 2 Blue Plus, 1 Actinic, 2 Aquablues and a GE 3000K. Reefgeek has the 3K. It will give you that warm color you are used to seeing with the URI lamps.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Are you kidding me? 10-14 hour days?!?!?! I run mine for 8 hours a day tops... they put out light levels that rival halides after all, and those can do fine after 6-8 hours a day. Running your lights for more than a 12 hour spread can hurt corals more than benefit (when its dark is when they feed and when they deposit calcium).
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Yeah, you might have 13 hours of sun, but that doesnt mean that the corals do. Once the sun approaches the critical refractive angle of 45 degrees in the sky, most of the light that reaches the water surface gets reflected. On top of that, its only from maybe what... 9-10 am until about 3pm that the coral is really getting 'peak' amounts of light like we give in our tanks.
Light is important to corals for photosynthesis, but they dont need constant light. Photosynthetic organisms have the process triggered by a peak light level, but after that peak level is absorbed, the coral could be kept in darkness and photosynthesis would still continue from the stored energy. As long as the light comes back in say... 15-20 minutes, the process can continue uninterrupted. This is true of corals as well as land based plants, and makes sense since otherwise clouds would be giving corals a challenge on a daily basis. This is also why one can use a light mover over their reef tank, cutting the light use in half, but still get the same growth.
Now, I know thats not what you asked, but it relates. When the lights go off, and predation is lower, coral polyps come out to feed. This is also when they deposit calcium. Our corals grow at night in other words, not during the day. This time is also when the photosynthetic cycle runs in reverse. If this cycle is cut short, the coral isnt ready for another day of running the photosynthetic cycle. In a way, its alot like depriving them of their sleep. The less they get done at night, the less they get done during the day. Their have been studies on coral exposure and stunted growth is one of the consequences of a tank that has too long of a light period.
I dont think 12 hours is as bad, but its overkill. I think that the study found that 14+ hours was where corals started showing the effects. The reason I say 12 hours is overkill is because T5s are meant to compete with halides, watt for watt. Some of my corals are growing better under T5s than halides, with 6x39wattT5s or 250wattDE on 40B tanks (One is T5 lit, and the others are 250wattDE lit). They all have the same photoperiod of 7 hours a day (3pm to 10pm). I just dont see a reason for running the bulbs longer. Its suggested by many authors that halides only need to be run 6-8 hours per day, and that anything longer than that is fine for viewing purposes, but does nothing for the coral. In other words, after 6-8 hours, the coral is done for the day. With PC and other earlier lighting sources, people ran the lights for 10-12 hours a day because they couldnt get the peak intensity that you could with halides, so they had to run a longer light cycle to keep the corals alive... but if you want your corals to grow faster... the dark time is just as important as the day.
Light is important to corals for photosynthesis, but they dont need constant light. Photosynthetic organisms have the process triggered by a peak light level, but after that peak level is absorbed, the coral could be kept in darkness and photosynthesis would still continue from the stored energy. As long as the light comes back in say... 15-20 minutes, the process can continue uninterrupted. This is true of corals as well as land based plants, and makes sense since otherwise clouds would be giving corals a challenge on a daily basis. This is also why one can use a light mover over their reef tank, cutting the light use in half, but still get the same growth.
Now, I know thats not what you asked, but it relates. When the lights go off, and predation is lower, coral polyps come out to feed. This is also when they deposit calcium. Our corals grow at night in other words, not during the day. This time is also when the photosynthetic cycle runs in reverse. If this cycle is cut short, the coral isnt ready for another day of running the photosynthetic cycle. In a way, its alot like depriving them of their sleep. The less they get done at night, the less they get done during the day. Their have been studies on coral exposure and stunted growth is one of the consequences of a tank that has too long of a light period.
I dont think 12 hours is as bad, but its overkill. I think that the study found that 14+ hours was where corals started showing the effects. The reason I say 12 hours is overkill is because T5s are meant to compete with halides, watt for watt. Some of my corals are growing better under T5s than halides, with 6x39wattT5s or 250wattDE on 40B tanks (One is T5 lit, and the others are 250wattDE lit). They all have the same photoperiod of 7 hours a day (3pm to 10pm). I just dont see a reason for running the bulbs longer. Its suggested by many authors that halides only need to be run 6-8 hours per day, and that anything longer than that is fine for viewing purposes, but does nothing for the coral. In other words, after 6-8 hours, the coral is done for the day. With PC and other earlier lighting sources, people ran the lights for 10-12 hours a day because they couldnt get the peak intensity that you could with halides, so they had to run a longer light cycle to keep the corals alive... but if you want your corals to grow faster... the dark time is just as important as the day.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Front
Blue
Duo
Special
duo
Special
Blue
Should be a start. The special should be yellowish white, Duo should be like Aquablue.
Blue
Duo
Special
duo
Special
Blue
Should be a start. The special should be yellowish white, Duo should be like Aquablue.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Re: Bulb placement
Re: Bulb placement
Post some pics of that baby!!!
Re: Bulb placement
Post some pics of that baby!!!
casingbill
New member
stupid question....as I posted earlier, I was looking at a 6 x 54w tek retro kit....but after looking at the brightness of the ultra solaris on their site, would it make any sense to go with the ultra and use 4 bulbs instead of 6?
Bill
Bill
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Sure. According to the OSRAM specs, they get a good 20% more output per bulb due to the ballasts, built in ventilation helps, and the reflectors are better as well... so 4 bulbs on the ultra could equal that of 6 bulbs on the Tek.
My only question is 'what size tank' because maybe the 6 bulb option with the ultra would still be a better, and you would just benefit from more light.
My only question is 'what size tank' because maybe the 6 bulb option with the ultra would still be a better, and you would just benefit from more light.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
My 125 seemed to do really well 12 hours actinic/blue and 10 hours Aquablue/suns. You could run actinics 12 hours, Blues 10 hours, low intensity daylights 8 and high intensity daylights 4 hours and mimic natuaral lighting pretty well.
casingbill
New member
its an aga 75g.....48 x 18 x 20
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I wouldn't be speaking in absolutes until someone actually measures the output.
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