The T5 Q&a Thread

[lukinrats]

^ Grim

 

[kmacartney]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10214495#post10214495 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
Did you wire it properly? Make sure all your connections are good and the lamps are both seated.

As far as I know I have everything wired properly. When I put a bulb in or take one out they both will flash then turn off.

 

[RobbyG]

Hey Grim check this out, I thought you would find these test very interesting. I had recommended to Aquariumobsessed to send you one of these bulbs for testing. If your interested PM him, I am almost sure "WILL" at AO can send you a sample.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1148534

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I bought lamps from Aquarium obsessed, the Fauna Marin Ultra Solaris too.

The test Claude is touting is using 3 AS blues and 7 15000K Specials on one side and 3 ATI Blue Plus and 7 Aquablues on the other.

Aqua Science has 3 lamps, the Blue, the 15000K Special and the 15000K Duo. The 15000K special is a white light like you would expect a 10K lamp to look, no blue to the look. The Duo looks just like the aquablue, bright white with a blue tint. Why they decided to match different styles of lamps for that test I dont know. If you placed a 10K halide against a 14K which do you suppose would give you more growth? I am a little surprised in the difference in growth on some of those but not surprised that a good daylight lamp gives more growth than a 50/50 lamp.

At least they are now admitting Lux is a poor way to assess the power of different lamp. A few months ago they were arguing that Lux was a better measurement than PAR.

 

[jamesdawson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10215906#post10215906 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chinzman93
James,

Thanks for the reply. That's kinda what I suspected. The TX5 is close to the top of my budget for lighting. The lunar lights would be an added on later, I saw pretty cool DIY setup with LED computer case fans. Do you think there would be a stocking limitation with the TX5? I don't plan on keeping any SPS or a clam, but if I would down the road it would be nice if I would have that option. I would like a solarflare but its about almost twice the cost.

With the TX5 you should be able to keep any high-light needs animal, at least if they are within 18" or so of the lighting. The major benefit of going Aquatinics besides the high quality of the design and build is the customer service/warranty support is also there (and is totally lacking by SLS).

Good luck,

James

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Wow...9 months for normally driven lamps?!? I guess getting 9-12 months out of my overdriven lamps just flew out the window along with some of the overall cost savings I was hoping a little for.

 

[jamesdawson]

9 month change out is for maintaining the best color. This is something that the European master aquarist Iwan has also recomended before. The bluer the tube, the more it matters.

What I do is put new ones in at 9 months and put the older ones on my frag tank since it is shallower I still get the great growth since my frags are all within 5"-10" of the lights. I leave these bulbs on the frag tank for another 9 months. The color still seems good on my frags, just not as good as my display.

James

 

[TracyZeuner]

Originally posted by TracyZeuner
Grim,
I have the Aquactinics 6Foot light fixture on my 180 reef tank and it is time to replace the bulbs. What would you recommend for this fixture? Is there any new bulbs out there? My current setup is all UVL and ATI's.This is my setup:

front


ATI Blue plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aqua Sun
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aqua Sun
UVL Super Actinic
Aqua Blue

back
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Trade 1 row of the Aquasuns for a KZ Fiji Purple if you can find them, captive oceans has them under their zeovit section. I would maybe move that rear Super Actinic lamp a slot or two forward so its light strikes the viewing side of your corals.

Thanks for the info about the purple fiji's-they had them in stock and I got 2(shipping is as much as 1 bulb). This is what I was thinking-
Blue Plus
Super Actinic
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Super Actinic
AquaSun
AquaBlue

What do you think?

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Somewhere in this monster thread someone was pretty sure about needing output from T5's below 400nm for sps coloring. I went looking at Sanjay's site and I couldn't find any halide lamps that had much of any at all below 400nm. I can't seem to find this part of this thread now though.

Was this just a theory by him or has this been found to have validity? I remember he said G-mann's pure actinic was the leader in output below 400nm for T5 lamps...is that true?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I don't know if anyone has done a spectrometer reading on T5's yet. On sanjays site you can adjust the parameters so the graphs report below 400nm, I think you will find most halides have output in the UV range

 

[Amphiprion]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10215949#post10215949 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Amphiprion
Grim, I am adding an extra 2 t5s to my 4 bulb setup (used to have 2 vhos plus 4 t5s). I am looking for a crisp white to slight blue color (more natural, I guess), but with reasonable coloration. I currently have 2 Blue +, 1 aquablue special, and 1 aquasun. I was thinking maybe another blue + and maybe a GE 6500K would give me that effect. Any recommendations?

^^^^Sorry, just reposting the above so that it doesn't fall into oblivion.

 

[Pitcom]

I'm looking for a good bulb setup for my tank. Its 65g 36x24x18L, and I plan on doing lps and sps coral. I have the tek5 6bulb 39w light fixture. I was thinking about this;

Blue Plus
Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
Aquablue
GE 6500K
Blue Plus

What would be most beneficial with this setup and what could i try different? Thanks.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10220960#post10220960 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
I don't know if anyone has done a spectrometer reading on T5's yet. On sanjays site you can adjust the parameters so the graphs report below 400nm, I think you will find most halides have output in the UV range

I ran the majority of the 400w halides through with range specified to 310nm-450nm. They all have 'some' output, but none of any considerable amount. I was just wondering if anyone even thought that guy had a case?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10221295#post10221295 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Amphiprion
^^^^Sorry, just reposting the above so that it doesn't fall into oblivion.

That would probably be good. Should be fairly neutral.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10221528#post10221528 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by E-A-G-L-E-S
I ran the majority of the 400w halides through with range specified to 310nm-450nm. They all have 'some' output, but none of any considerable amount. I was just wondering if anyone even thought that guy had a case?

I think it was minibowmatt on reefmonkey that had a DE lamp outter glass break so there was a hole in it but the lamp stayed lit, he said it killed a bunch of corals. That hole would have let a lot of UV light out.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Looks like a good place to start. Should be good.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10221392#post10221392 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pitcom
I'm looking for a good bulb setup for my tank. Its 65g 36x24x18L, and I plan on doing lps and sps coral. I have the tek5 6bulb 39w light fixture. I was thinking about this;

Blue Plus
Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
Aquablue
GE 6500K
Blue Plus

What would be most beneficial with this setup and what could i try different? Thanks.

 

[AquaKnight]

So what was the final word about using PC ballast with T5 lights? I read back a few but dodn't see anything.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

What difference is there between Icecap's SLR's and Aquatinics reflectors used in the Constellation?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

The Ice Cap is a facited type and the aquactinics is a gull wing type

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10228432#post10228432 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by E-A-G-L-E-S
What difference is there between Icecap's SLR's and Aquatinics reflectors used in the Constellation?

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

And performance wise?
Also, the Aq. Constellation says it's meant for wide tanks...does this mean the reflectors are slightly angled outwards? If so, can they be adjusted?

Once again thank you Grim for your never ending help on this thread.