The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

2 of these http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic/itemdetail.asp?itemid=LT-CV-T5RK2-3 over each of the smaller tanks and 3 on the bigger one will work. They are close to a ready made fixture and you can seperate the two pairs a bit to cover the whole tank better than having just 4 shoved together.

I would probably swap out the lamps to good ones withing 6 months.

 

[beatle]

I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a 4x54w kit soon for my 90. I have softies and a couple LPS right now. I figure I'll add a 2x54w kit to the 4x54w down the road for when I get some SPS. The Tek retrofit from Reefgeek w/SLR reflectors will be the base, but I'm unsure what combo of bulbs to get initially, their order, and then which to add afterwards and where. Suggestions?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The 4 lamp Tek retro will be fine bu o yourself a favor and gt Ice Cap reflectors, reefgeek does a reflector upgrade for 2 bux per lamp.

FOr lamps I would do a GE 6500K, 1 ATI Aquablue, 1 ATI blue Plus and 1 ATI Super Actinic

 

[jdellman]

Hey Grim - Hahn,

Based on your previous recommendation, I went with the FM Ultra Solaris, 6 x 54. They recommended the following for bulbs-

2 x Blue- 20,000 K
2 x Special- 15,000 K
2 x Duo.

What do you think? Again, I appreciate the advice.

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Another question for the HO experts,

I remember that back in the day, the options for actinics in T5 HO was limited and were inferior to their VHO cousins. This was of course years ago when T5 was starting to roll on the market.

Is this still the case today or has this changed over the years? If so, are they equivalent or better? From my impressions, it seems that this is no longer the case and the T5s are just as good with respects to actinic supplementation, but I just wanted to make sure.

Cheers,
John H.

 

[aardvark20]

Lighting suggestion

Lighting suggestion

I am setting up a 270 reef. The tank is 72 long by 36 wide by 24 tall. what would you suggest for the t5's. I was thinking IC 660 with 4 x 54 overdriven with IC reflectors. Should I add two more for the width? What spacing should I put between them?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[skey44]

dimensions of tank... 48x18x24 (standard 90)
thinking of... 4x54 driven by IC 660 with IC reflectors
or 4x54 SLS retro with IC reflector upgrade

i have sps and zoanthids so i would like to have lighting zones... high light(sps) at top middle, and a little less(zoa) at bottom. 1.will these combos work? 2.and if so which one will be better? 3.i have read here that the ic ballast overdrive the bulbs, does this mean the bulbs are brighter and they last shorter or do they still keep their life? 4also what bulbs would you run in this config... have seen a mix of 6500k + 10000k + actinics but just wondering what would be best (prefer a white w/ blue look but also don't want to sac the intensity)? 5. how much fan will i need if mounted in a hood above the tank for cooling of both the lights and the water? thanks so much for all the answers this page provides!

thanks,
Scott

 

[hahnmeister]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9221407#post9221407 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdellman
Hey Grim - Hahn,

Based on your previous recommendation, I went with the FM Ultra Solaris, 6 x 54. They recommended the following for bulbs-

2 x Blue- 20,000 K
2 x Special- 15,000 K
2 x Duo.

What do you think? Again, I appreciate the advice.

Sounds like a very nice combo.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9221407#post9221407 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdellman
Hey Grim - Hahn,

Based on your previous recommendation, I went with the FM Ultra Solaris, 6 x 54. They recommended the following for bulbs-

2 x Blue- 20,000 K
2 x Special- 15,000 K
2 x Duo.

What do you think? Again, I appreciate the advice.

I would drop one special and add a UVL Super Actini

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9221905#post9221905 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rufio173
Another question for the HO experts,

I remember that back in the day, the options for actinics in T5 HO was limited and were inferior to their VHO cousins. This was of course years ago when T5 was starting to roll on the market.

Is this still the case today or has this changed over the years? If so, are they equivalent or better? From my impressions, it seems that this is no longer the case and the T5s are just as good with respects to actinic supplementation, but I just wanted to make sure.

Cheers,
John H.

UV Lighting aka URI came out with a nice Super Actinic T5. he combination of that lamp with a blue plus looks great. The VHO Actinic still pops colors a little better but the overall look of the T5's is better IMO.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Re: Lighting suggestion

Re: Lighting suggestion

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9222181#post9222181 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aardvark20
I am setting up a 270 reef. The tank is 72 long by 36 wide by 24 tall. what would you suggest for the t5's. I was thinking IC 660 with 4 x 54 overdriven with IC reflectors. Should I add two more for the width? What spacing should I put between them?

Thanks,

Mark

I would be thinking metal halides in lumenarc reflectors.

 

[hahnmeister]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9221905#post9221905 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rufio173
Another question for the HO experts,

I remember that back in the day, the options for actinics in T5 HO was limited and were inferior to their VHO cousins. This was of course years ago when T5 was starting to roll on the market.

Is this still the case today or has this changed over the years? If so, are they equivalent or better? From my impressions, it seems that this is no longer the case and the T5s are just as good with respects to actinic supplementation, but I just wanted to make sure.

Cheers,
John H.

I managed to test the PAR on a 110w/4' VHO, and compared it to the UVL super Actinic bulb. I found that while a single VHO actinic did provide more output at the bulb than a T5 (which I would expect at 2x the wattage for the VHO), the readings from 12" away were rather similar... no doubt due to the superior T5 reflector. So if you are looking to compare T5s and VHOs, the most fair way would be to match wattages... and I can promise that 2x54wattT5s running super actinics will shred the output of the URI VHO actinics.

There is of course the other argument of course then from the VHO crowd... that VHOs still 'just look better' for some reason. Perhaps its the phosphors, perhaps its nothing but percention. Output-wise, the T5s were the better unit watt for watt in hard numbers... but hey... beauty is in the eye of the owner...

Me personally, the blue bulbs are what do it for me with T5s... not the actinics as much. To me, that trumps everything else, as its a much more effective and useful light than an actinic. And, I as far as actinics go, I know the raw output isnt as high, but the G-man true actinic 03s just have a better look to them than the UVLs. I consider the UVL's a 'cheater-bulb' in that they mixed some of the blue phosphors in with the actinic to boost the raw output... but the bulb it not a true actinic anymore. Its somewhere in between blue and purple... which if you are running blue+ bulbs anyways, is a bit redundant.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9222416#post9222416 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skey44
dimensions of tank... 48x18x24 (standard 90)
thinking of... 4x54 driven by IC 660 with IC reflectors
or 4x54 SLS retro with IC reflector upgrade

i have sps and zoanthids so i would like to have lighting zones... high light(sps) at top middle, and a little less(zoa) at bottom. 1.will these combos work? 2.and if so which one will be better? 3.i have read here that the ic ballast overdrive the bulbs, does this mean the bulbs are brighter and they last shorter or do they still keep their life? 4also what bulbs would you run in this config... have seen a mix of 6500k + 10000k + actinics but just wondering what would be best (prefer a white w/ blue look but also don't want to sac the intensity)? 5. how much fan will i need if mounted in a hood above the tank for cooling of both the lights and the water? thanks so much for all the answers this page provides!

thanks,
Scott

You nee the full Ice Cap system over that tank. 4 lamps woul work but I would do the 4 lamp Ice Cap and a 2 lamp Tek for blue/actinic lamps and dusk/dawn control. Using a couple fans you should get a year out of the lamps. I would run 1 UVL actinic and a Blue Plus of the Tek system and 1 Blue Plus, 2 Aquablues 1 1 UVL Aquasun on the Ice Cap

 

[flapjack1439]

Can an ARO AS220 run T5s?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

As far as I know it wont.

 

[flapjack1439]

Any idea why?

You would think it would just overdrive it, wouldn't you?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

You could try it.

 

[flapjack1439]

What's the worst that could happen?

If my logic is bad, let me know.

 

[flapjack1439]

In looking at the Reefgeek website, I see Triad ballasts and it states that they will not overdrive the bulbs. Don't you want the bulbs to be overdriven?

I'm want to replace 2 75 watt vhos with 39 watt T5s, if they are not overdriven, will I see a difference?

 

[aardvark20]

Re: Re: Lighting suggestion

Re: Re: Lighting suggestion

I was hoping to avoid halides do to wattage and heat considerations. What would you suggest with the t5's?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9222521#post9222521 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
I would be thinking metal halides in lumenarc reflectors.