The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

I use a 48" fixture over a 60" tank and it looks fine. Obviously you don't want to place higher light stuff out near the ends, las 4" or so but it works fine.

The Aquactinics is better because the reflectors are better and it has active cooling

 

[Wellcraft]

what kind of bulbs does the tx5 use, T5's HO?
How much would cost to replace the bulbs and can I get them in any local petshop?
When you mean active cooling, are you reffering to fans?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

T5 HO and you might or might not find them locally. You can get them online from reefgeek for about 22 a LAMP

 

[Wellcraft]

what about a retrofit kit if I want to cover the whole 60 inches, what will be a good choise in my price range and were to look for a set up like this?

 

[Primetime33]

Grim,
I am not sure if you heard yet, but SPS/Blue Life is coming out with a new line of T5 bulbs within a month. I was at a meeting last night where Jeremy(owner of Blue Life/SPS) was the guest speaker. The bulbs are going to be 48" first with all ranges of kelvin. Should be interesting to test on my tank.

 

[ddetar00]

advice again

advice again

Grim,

Although in my original quest for advice you suggested I not purchase the Nova Extreme, I already had in in route to me. All in all not a bad fixture, runs quiet, cooler... but as suggested the bulbs are not quite what is needed. As you know the unit comes equipped with 4 10k white and 4 460nm blue.

the challenge...

After purchasing this and my new vortech, financial advisor (wife) has shut down equipment spending. what I would like to know is utilizing some of the existing bulbs and purchasing a few new bulbs to replace to achieve better spectrum, what do you suggest?

Some of the corals (pipe organ and goniapora) are not digging the bright white, pipe organ did good for about a week and has failed to open now for a week, the goniapora has yet to open since being placed in tank.

Also, your advice on staggering the lighting periods (blues on first, whites an hour later and off an hour earlier....)

Thank you for your assistance.

 

[reddaemon]

Hey Grim,

Do you know anything about these lights. powermodule copy but still pretty expensive

http://www.thelivingseas.uk.com/p/474875/blau-lumina-122cm-8-x-54w-t5-luminaire.html

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12978242#post12978242 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wellcraft
what about a retrofit kit if I want to cover the whole 60 inches, what will be a good choise in my price range and were to look for a set up like this?

Reefgeek has 60" retros, just make sure how many lamps you can fit in the canopy, the reflectors are 3 1/4" wide front to back so....

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12978955#post12978955 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Primetime33
Grim,
I am not sure if you heard yet, but SPS/Blue Life is coming out with a new line of T5 bulbs within a month. I was at a meeting last night where Jeremy(owner of Blue Life/SPS) was the guest speaker. The bulbs are going to be 48" first with all ranges of kelvin. Should be interesting to test on my tank.

Unless thay have a new idea for an actinic or some new mix of phosphores it probably just more of the same. Keep us posted.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Re: advice again

Re: advice again

Pull one white for a UVL Super Actinic and pull another one and add a UVL Aquasun. That will help until your financial advisor puts away the whip.

Then do this

Front
Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12978976#post12978976 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ddetar00
Grim,

Although in my original quest for advice you suggested I not purchase the Nova Extreme, I already had in in route to me. All in all not a bad fixture, runs quiet, cooler... but as suggested the bulbs are not quite what is needed. As you know the unit comes equipped with 4 10k white and 4 460nm blue.

the challenge...

After purchasing this and my new vortech, financial advisor (wife) has shut down equipment spending. what I would like to know is utilizing some of the existing bulbs and purchasing a few new bulbs to replace to achieve better spectrum, what do you suggest?

Some of the corals (pipe organ and goniapora) are not digging the bright white, pipe organ did good for about a week and has failed to open now for a week, the goniapora has yet to open since being placed in tank.

Also, your advice on staggering the lighting periods (blues on first, whites an hour later and off an hour earlier....)

Thank you for your assistance.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12979033#post12979033 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reddaemon
Hey Grim,

Do you know anything about these lights. powermodule copy but still pretty expensive

http://www.thelivingseas.uk.com/p/474875/blau-lumina-122cm-8-x-54w-t5-luminaire.html

No but they look interesting

 

[Wellcraft]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12979574#post12979574 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
Reefgeek has 60" retros, just make sure how many lamps you can fit in the canopy, the reflectors are 3 1/4" wide front to back so....

What about this retrofits, is this a good product and choice http://saltycritter.com/lighting/icecap-t5-retrofit.htm
I can get 3 or 4 bulbs for now.

I'm going to check the reefgeek web.

Thnaks

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Thats fine. Go with the best pricing,

 

[mkzimms]

on my new 40G breeder project im running two nova extremes T5HO 4x39w each. they cover the whole tank front to back nicely and with 8 bulbs im getting 312w. i was able to get both fixtures for a good prices so i ran with it. i'd like to change the bulbs to get more of the color and effectiveness im looking for. right now i have it setup as show below because thats how i bought them. i only moved the positioning of the bulbs to bring more actinic to the front of the tank to make it not look so washed. the tank will be a mixed reef containing softies, sps, and lps. possibly a clam if they can handle it.

rear fixture:

aquaz ocean pro 20000k (timer 1)
aquaz sun pro 9000k (timer 2)
aquaz ocean pro 20000k (timer 1)
stock nova 10000k (timer 2)

front fixture:

aquaz blue pro 470nm (timer 3)
aquaz plant pro 9000k (timer 4)
aquaz blue pro 470nm (timer 3)
stock nova 10000k (timer 4)

this is the order they come on right now... timer 3, timer 2, timer 1, timer 4

all the bulbs are in pairs of two on the timers so i have a gradual increase / decrease in lighting throughout the day. every other bulb is on one switch so they would have to be paired together to come on at the same time. see timer settings above.

im looking for more of a blue/purple tint to the tank and also to have the colors of my corals really pop. i hate the washed out white/yellow look. i'd like to switch to either ati or giesemann (or a mixture of the two) but i don't know much about their bulbs since they have like 50 different kinds and this is my first time dabbling with T5.

what would you recommend bulb wise for this setup and how would you arrange them?

 

[JGilvey]

Ordered another shallow tank...it's 48" x 8"H x 9"D. Any reason to go with more than a pair of HO bulbs (ATI Aquablue+Blue Plus)? I could fit at least a third if I go with narrower reflectors like the 2" Aquactinics.

Thanks!

 

[Shouse94]

Hey Grim,
Would like your opinion on this. I have a 4 bulb 48" setup over
a 55g Mixed Reef/SPS tank. Lights are about 5 inch off the water. It's time to replace bulbs but I have 2 from the closet I'd like to use: ATI Aquablue and GE 6k.
What would you reccomend for the other two bulbs. I'm looking for a nice 14k look, not too blue and not too white
I'd also like to maximize PAR under these guidlines. In the past I've stayed away from the actinics because of poor PAR ratings (correct me if this has changed) So i was kindof thinking I'd buy 2 ATI Blue Plus. So maybe something like:

Front

Blue Plus
GE 6k
Aquablue
Blue Plus

What are your opinions on this? Thanks!

 

[ddetar00]

Re: Re: advice again

Re: Re: advice again

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12979664#post12979664 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
Pull one white for a UVL Super Actinic and pull another one and add a UVL Aquasun. That will help until your financial advisor puts away the whip.

Then do this

Front
Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25

Confused....
The white bulbs from current are 10K ... and a UVL AQUA SUN is 10K... why pull one and rerplace it with same kelvin?

 

[Reefer07]

I have a question for you grim reaper.
I have another thread up and I don't mean to post in 2 different threads but I don't know how often you check other threads besides this one.
Anyways, here is what I am inquiring about:

I have been looking into a T-5 setup for my 29 gallon for some time and I actually plan to order whatever I decide on this week.
Originally I was going to go with this sundial fixture:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ ps_View...6vendor%3d.html
It is a 4x24 watt individual reflector.....I have heard decent things about it.

However, after looking around today I had an idea.
These are 30" 2x24 watt Nova Extreme fixtures. I was thinking about using 2 of these because they are only $75 each which for 2 would be even cheaper than the sundial. Another thing that caught my eye was that they have a parabolic reflector which I have heard a lot of talk about; the sundial doesn't. The only thing that is unfortunate is that they aren't individual reflectors. It is one reflector for both bulbs.
http://www.marinedepot.com/ ps_View...ts~vendor~.html

My question is: does anyone see any problems with me running 2 of these fixtures?
The other question is it better to have the sundial with individual reflectors or is the nova extreme better even though there isn't individual reflectors but the reflectors are parabolic?

Thanks for any help,
Zac

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12980217#post12980217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mkzimms
on my new 40G breeder project im running two nova extremes T5HO 4x39w each. they cover the whole tank front to back nicely and with 8 bulbs im getting 312w. i was able to get both fixtures for a good prices so i ran with it. i'd like to change the bulbs to get more of the color and effectiveness im looking for. right now i have it setup as show below because thats how i bought them. i only moved the positioning of the bulbs to bring more actinic to the front of the tank to make it not look so washed. the tank will be a mixed reef containing softies, sps, and lps. possibly a clam if they can handle it.

rear fixture:

aquaz ocean pro 20000k (timer 1)
aquaz sun pro 9000k (timer 2)
aquaz ocean pro 20000k (timer 1)
stock nova 10000k (timer 2)

front fixture:

aquaz blue pro 470nm (timer 3)
aquaz plant pro 9000k (timer 4)
aquaz blue pro 470nm (timer 3)
stock nova 10000k (timer 4)

this is the order they come on right now... timer 3, timer 2, timer 1, timer 4

all the bulbs are in pairs of two on the timers so i have a gradual increase / decrease in lighting throughout the day. every other bulb is on one switch so they would have to be paired together to come on at the same time. see timer settings above.

im looking for more of a blue/purple tint to the tank and also to have the colors of my corals really pop. i hate the washed out white/yellow look. i'd like to switch to either ati or giesemann (or a mixture of the two) but i don't know much about their bulbs since they have like 50 different kinds and this is my first time dabbling with T5.

what would you recommend bulb wise for this setup and how would you arrange them?

rear fixture:

ATI Blue Plus or Blue Pro
ATI Aquablue or Ocean Pro
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun

front fixture:

UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus or Blue Pro
Plant Pro or ATI Pro Color
ATI Blue Plus or Blue Pro

That should give you an idea and help you decide what lamps to change.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12980458#post12980458 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JGilvey
Ordered another shallow tank...it's 48" x 8"H x 9"D. Any reason to go with more than a pair of HO bulbs (ATI Aquablue+Blue Plus)? I could fit at least a third if I go with narrower reflectors like the 2" Aquactinics.

Thanks!

I'd be looking at those Coralife NO T5's if you can find colors you like. Look around for Normal Output T5 lamps and see what you come up with.