The T5 Q&a Thread
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The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Think twice buy once
Snapperface...
A pic of my 180... I transferred everything from the 29 today and put the light fixture on...the 72" Constellation from Aquactinics.... Man, is it bright!!!
here is a pic... I think I should do the while balance on my camera to get a better one, but I worked for 12 hours straight on the tank and I am Tired!!!!
you can click on the picture to see it bigger
A pic of my 180... I transferred everything from the 29 today and put the light fixture on...the 72" Constellation from Aquactinics.... Man, is it bright!!!
here is a pic... I think I should do the while balance on my camera to get a better one, but I worked for 12 hours straight on the tank and I am Tired!!!!
you can click on the picture to see it bigger
bulldogfish
New member
Grim
I am in the process of setting up a 120 long. I have 2 sylvania T5 HO 4 X 54 ballasts. I would like to run 8 bulbs over this tank. Each bulb will have indivdual parabolic reflectors.
I have looked around locally to see what brands of bulbs are readily available. The following brands are available to me:
Aqua Medic
Coral Vue
Jalli ( Never heard of them before)
ATI
URI
Helios ( haven't heard of them before either)
My question is what bulb and color combination would you recommend for this tank?
Thanks
I am in the process of setting up a 120 long. I have 2 sylvania T5 HO 4 X 54 ballasts. I would like to run 8 bulbs over this tank. Each bulb will have indivdual parabolic reflectors.
I have looked around locally to see what brands of bulbs are readily available. The following brands are available to me:
Aqua Medic
Coral Vue
Jalli ( Never heard of them before)
ATI
URI
Helios ( haven't heard of them before either)
My question is what bulb and color combination would you recommend for this tank?
Thanks
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
For 8 lamps try this
Front
Ati Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
Helios super blue (if they have them in the standard length, otherwise blue plus)
UVL Aquasun
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
Front
Ati Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
Helios super blue (if they have them in the standard length, otherwise blue plus)
UVL Aquasun
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
I recently acquired a used 6 bulb Sunlight Supply fixture. It is missing 2 bulbs. My problem is that it currently has 2 Daylight Bulbs and 2 Blue bulbs and I have no idea what they are. The bulbs are pretty new so I hate to just pitch them, I believe they are GE.
I thinkI'll use the following bulb layout as recommended in this thread:
Blue Plus
Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
Blue Plus
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
So I think I'll buy a blue plus and then for the white bulb is there any way to figure out which one I might need by looking at the bulbs I have now (no identifying markings on them)?
I thinkI'll use the following bulb layout as recommended in this thread:
Blue Plus
Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
Blue Plus
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
So I think I'll buy a blue plus and then for the white bulb is there any way to figure out which one I might need by looking at the bulbs I have now (no identifying markings on them)?
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
If there is no branding on your current lamps its a pretty good bet they are the el cheapos
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Front
ATI Blue Plus
Super Actinic
GE 3000K
Aquablue
GE 6500K
Actinic Plus
Would be a good place to start.
Get a real T5 ballast to replace the workhorse.
WangoTANGo
New member
Hey Grim,
Right now on my TX5 I'm running 3x Geisemann Aquablue, and 2x pure actinic. My sps growth is crazy, but the color is a little drabby. I was thinking about swapping one of the Aquablues for a 12k ATI, or a 14k UVL. What are your thoughts? Would I be getting much more light from a Sylvania ballast versus the workhorse?
-Justin
Right now on my TX5 I'm running 3x Geisemann Aquablue, and 2x pure actinic. My sps growth is crazy, but the color is a little drabby. I was thinking about swapping one of the Aquablues for a 12k ATI, or a 14k UVL. What are your thoughts? Would I be getting much more light from a Sylvania ballast versus the workhorse?
-Justin
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I would try the 14K UVL. Its a little pinkish which should give you some red in the spectrum. The better ballast will give you a tad more output but also has the soft start and end of life circuit T5's are designed to run on.
How about overdiving 24" T5HO's with T5HO spec ballast (non icecap). Back in the days of old remember folks were overdiving T8 NO's by doubling or quadrupling the leads. In other words a two bulb ballast would be connected with both lead pairs to one bulb.
This would put the 24" T5HO at 48 watts. The icecap is 50W for a 24" for perspective.
This would put the 24" T5HO at 48 watts. The icecap is 50W for a 24" for perspective.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I dont know if the T5 ballast can overdrive the lamps or not.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Aquactinics Constellation
Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
GE 6500K
ATI Pro Color
GE 6500K
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
i found a tek 8 bulb t5 fixture but it comes with 6 65k and 2 blue plus that are 6 months old. could i just keep this for a while until li get other bulbs? now i had a 250 watt 10k xm on there before. and i know im not going to be able to run all these 65k bulbs but how many should i run?
Mr. Grim,
Its me again and I am still trying to figure this out.
Please help me decide on lights for my new 215 (72 x 24 x 29).
I would like to keep a mixed reef including clams and sps while using a 15" canopy. I don't want to be limited due to lighting.
I just want to say thanks in advance for your help.
16 x 39w T5 Normally driven for a total of 624w
Would this be enough?
How often should I replace the bulbs.
16 x 39w T5 Overdriven with Icecap for a toatl of 960w
Would this be enough?
How much would this shorten bulb life?
How often should I replace the bulbs?
How would the above compare to the other MH and T5 setups.
What about LED?
Its me again and I am still trying to figure this out.
Please help me decide on lights for my new 215 (72 x 24 x 29).
I would like to keep a mixed reef including clams and sps while using a 15" canopy. I don't want to be limited due to lighting.
I just want to say thanks in advance for your help.
16 x 39w T5 Normally driven for a total of 624w
Would this be enough?
How often should I replace the bulbs.
16 x 39w T5 Overdriven with Icecap for a toatl of 960w
Would this be enough?
How much would this shorten bulb life?
How often should I replace the bulbs?
How would the above compare to the other MH and T5 setups.
What about LED?
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