The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

I'd go with those

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13028942#post13028942 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by carlos_fb
I will definitely try to add some fans on the sides.

This was the configuration that you suggested before to get enough par for SPS, that would also pop pinks and green and at the same time would have a purple tint to it.

Blue Plus
Super Actinic
Aquasun
Blue Plus
Pro Color
Blue Plus

Should still get the same bulbs or do you have a better suggestion?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13029007#post13029007 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raynist
Hey Grim,

If you remember, what bulbs did you use on the ATI fixture that you tested a year or two ago when it hit 300 at the sand bed in 17 inches of water? Just wondering as I have a 4x39 unit that has a UVL SA, 2 ATI Blue + and and Aqua Blue plus. I know this is not the hot setup for par as I am more interested in color, but I am getting about half of that at the sandbed. The fixture is about 5-6 inches off of the water.

Thanks!!!!
Ray

That shouldn't be that far off of what I had except I had the fixture sat right on the tank. I had 1 Blue Plus, 1 Aquablue 1 Actinic ans 1 ATI Sun Pro. The sun pro is probably good for a few points over the aquablue. Even accounting for the possibility the 220 volt ballasts might drive the lamps a little harder than the 110's it still should be close.

 

[raynist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13029335#post13029335 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
That shouldn't be that far off of what I had except I had the fixture sat right on the tank. I had 1 Blue Plus, 1 Aquablue 1 Actinic ans 1 ATI Sun Pro. The sun pro is probably good for a few points over the aquablue. Even accounting for the possibility the 220 volt ballasts might drive the lamps a little harder than the 110's it still should be close.

I moved the fixture down to 1.5 inches from the surface, cleaned the reflectors, sheild and bulbs and the best spot I could find was a par reading of 213 moving from front to back. Was your 300 reading in just one spot or an average? Was this taken at the mid point l/r of the bulbs?

I think my par meter is calibrated for flourescent lighting instead of sunlight so that may be some of the difference. I am also not 100% sure how old these bulbs are, was told they were about 3 months or so. Could this all account for the nearly 50% difference?

Here is the list of the actual bulbs I have in there front to back

ATI Blue +
UVL SA
Geissman Aquablue
ATI Blue +

All of the bulbs except the UVL SA have dark ends on each side for about 1.5 inches. Maybe they are even older than 3 months?

--Ray

 

[Jon]

Quick question in regard to cooling T5 bulbs. I remember reading somewhere that T5's only run best at a key temp so there was some guidelines on how much fan cooling and where to direct it. Also that too much cooling was a bad thing. Does anyone have a link to that thread or know the guidelines? BTW I'm dealing with the 48" (54w) bulbs. Thanks,

Jon.........

 

[Everyones Hero]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13027755#post13027755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gig
Hey Grim on a 72" retro setup it makes sense to have fans on one side right? not on both ends blowing into each other I guess???

I don't have any experience with lighting, but I'd assume that running one fan so it blows across the lights & the fan at the other end pulling air off of the lights would be more efficient. It would give more flow & would be pulling heat out of the setup vs just trying to blow cooler air in.

 

[gig]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13030215#post13030215 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Everyones Hero
I don't have any experience with lighting, but I'd assume that running one fan so it blows across the lights & the fan at the other end pulling air off of the lights would be more efficient. It would give more flow & would be pulling heat out of the setup vs just trying to blow cooler air in.

that's what I thought as well.

Grim, I have an inwall setup, so you mean have two fans on each end blowing across the endcaps versus across/parallel with the bulbs?

Here's an old pic of my setup before adding the T5's

 

[superstein61]

Hey Grim - OK, I think after multiple hours of reading I have light overload.

Anyway was going to buy the 48" Nova Extreme - but cancelled that and order the 48" Nove Extreme Pro for a 72 gallon bowfront tank.

I don't keep nor plan to keep anything real difficult right now (upgrading from a 37 gallon with PC lighting) but wanted the possibility to do so done the road. Right now just have some mushrooms, leathers, bubble coral, hammer coral and a huge branch of candy cane coral (which has grown tremendoulsy - its centered and high up in the tank but just has a light green coloration). I don't want to overwhelm the old corals in the change but do want to add some more itmes that can take advatage of the added light

One of my thoughts is to swap out 2 or 3 of the 6 bulbs on the NEP with something better now and then when it comes time to change all bulbs, use the couple I swapped out plus the same new ones.

Does it make sens to do this and if so, what 2 or 3 should I swap out and replace with ???

Thanks

 

[darkcirca]

I'm attempting to purchase new bulbs, but I need some help with deciding. We have the Aquactinic's 5x54W fixture.

What we are looking for is a bit less purple looking during the day, and a little less blue at night.

Here is what we had last time:
2 x Blue Plus - ATI
1 x 10,000K AquaSun - UV Lighting
1 x 12,000K Actinic White - UV Lighting
1 x 75/25 14,000K AquaBlue - UV Lighting


Any suggestions?

 

[Simon68]

Hi Grim,
I currently have a T5 fixture with 2 54w 10000k white bulbs and 2 54w actinic blue bulbs and there is a single reflector over all 4 bulbs.
If I would like to keep some SPS, what bulbs would I have to get instead?
Thank you!

 

[pancho]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13019901#post13019901 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
That combo isn't really going to work well, too much red I think.

Front
Blue Plus
Pro Color
Super Actinic
Aquasun
Blue Plus
Pro Color
Aquasun
Blue Plus

Is the best I can think of with that mix.

I would do this

Blue Plus
Pro Color
Super Actinic
Blue Plus
Aquasun
Super Actinic
Aquasun or GE 6500K
Blue Plus

Thanks Grim! I am going to try out the bulb mix you recommended. I have another question. Will it be best to overdrive the 4 center bulbs or every other bulb?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13029520#post13029520 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raynist
I moved the fixture down to 1.5 inches from the surface, cleaned the reflectors, sheild and bulbs and the best spot I could find was a par reading of 213 moving from front to back. Was your 300 reading in just one spot or an average? Was this taken at the mid point l/r of the bulbs?

I think my par meter is calibrated for flourescent lighting instead of sunlight so that may be some of the difference. I am also not 100% sure how old these bulbs are, was told they were about 3 months or so. Could this all account for the nearly 50% difference?

Here is the list of the actual bulbs I have in there front to back

ATI Blue +
UVL SA
Geissman Aquablue
ATI Blue +

All of the bulbs except the UVL SA have dark ends on each side for about 1.5 inches. Maybe they are even older than 3 months?

--Ray

My lamps were all new. The reading was taken with the sensor planted in the sand then moving the fixture around. It wasn't really peaky, if I moved fore or aft a ways it would drop in a way I think was to be expected. Side to side din't make much difference at all.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13029596#post13029596 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jon
Quick question in regard to cooling T5 bulbs. I remember reading somewhere that T5's only run best at a key temp so there was some guidelines on how much fan cooling and where to direct it. Also that too much cooling was a bad thing. Does anyone have a link to that thread or know the guidelines? BTW I'm dealing with the 48" (54w) bulbs. Thanks,

Jon.........

I find just having 3" fans blowing in from the back at each end down the rws of endcaps works well as you are going to get without having some kind of light meter to really dial it in. .

 

[Canadian]

Hey Grim,

I just swapped my 24" Giesemann Eco Plus pendant (was using a 150W HQI Giesemann 13,000K and 2x24W T5 Giesemann Actinic+) for a 24" Tek light because I can't hang a pendant at the new place I'm moving in to. Anyway, I'm hoping that the "individual-like" reflectors in the Tek will still give me enough light for my SPS dominated tank. My tank is 24x17x17 (the actual display area of my custom AIO).

Given that the 24" Tek only has room for 4 lamps, at this point I've gone with (not in this order):
2x Aqua Science Duo
1x Giesemann Actinic+
1x Giesemann AquaBlue+

The only manufacturers of T5 lamps I have readily available are Giesemann, Aqua Science, and UVL. What 4 lamp combination would you suggest for the best compromise between good SPS growth and color?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13030215#post13030215 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Everyones Hero
I don't have any experience with lighting, but I'd assume that running one fan so it blows across the lights & the fan at the other end pulling air off of the lights would be more efficient. It would give more flow & would be pulling heat out of the setup vs just trying to blow cooler air in.

The problem is Having a single fan at one end pulling air in and a single fan at the other pulling it out is going to create a concentrated stream of air that will only pass over 2 or possibly 3 lamps at most. Having enough fans to cover all the lamps might actually overcool the lamps as well.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13031256#post13031256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gig
that's what I thought as well.

Grim, I have an inwall setup, so you mean have two fans on each end blowing across the endcaps versus across/parallel with the bulbs?

Here's an old pic of my setup before adding the T5's

Blowing in from back from front. It really doesn't take a lot to overcool the lamps. I am sure given the right number of low speed fans it could be done the other way. I need to do some experimenting on cooling but I have a Tek refurb project I need to jump on too while I have the fixture here to use.

 

[Everyones Hero]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13036166#post13036166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
The problem is Having a single fan at one end pulling air in and a single fan at the other pulling it out is going to create a concentrated stream of air that will only pass over 2 or possibly 3 lamps at most. Having enough fans to cover all the lamps might actually overcool the lamps as well.

Makes sense.

I don't doubt you at all, but I'm curious as to where you get your information from. Do you work for a company or have you done a lot of research/experimentation?

It's just amazing to me to come across someone that is essentially an encyclopedia of information on a given subject.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13033034#post13033034 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by superstein61
Hey Grim - OK, I think after multiple hours of reading I have light overload.

Anyway was going to buy the 48" Nova Extreme - but cancelled that and order the 48" Nove Extreme Pro for a 72 gallon bowfront tank.

I don't keep nor plan to keep anything real difficult right now (upgrading from a 37 gallon with PC lighting) but wanted the possibility to do so done the road. Right now just have some mushrooms, leathers, bubble coral, hammer coral and a huge branch of candy cane coral (which has grown tremendoulsy - its centered and high up in the tank but just has a light green coloration). I don't want to overwhelm the old corals in the change but do want to add some more itmes that can take advatage of the added light

One of my thoughts is to swap out 2 or 3 of the 6 bulbs on the NEP with something better now and then when it comes time to change all bulbs, use the couple I swapped out plus the same new ones.

Does it make sens to do this and if so, what 2 or 3 should I swap out and replace with ???

Thanks

I'd yank 2 10K's and replace them with a Aquablue and Super Actinic. At 6 months pull the rest of the lamps and add 3 Blue Plus and a UVL Aquasun. A year after that change all the lamps. I think you can sneak 18 months out of the Aquablue and Actinic, at least get close

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13033606#post13033606 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by darkcirca
I'm attempting to purchase new bulbs, but I need some help with deciding. We have the Aquactinic's 5x54W fixture.

What we are looking for is a bit less purple looking during the day, and a little less blue at night.

Here is what we had last time:
2 x Blue Plus - ATI
1 x 10,000K AquaSun - UV Lighting
1 x 12,000K Actinic White - UV Lighting
1 x 75/25 14,000K AquaBlue - UV Lighting


Any suggestions?

Do this

Front
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
UVL Aquablue 75/25
ATI Blue Plus

The Actinic White has a pepto bismal tint that is gonna make things look more purple. The ATI Aquablue is bright white with a slight blue tint.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13033747#post13033747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Simon68
Hi Grim,
I currently have a T5 fixture with 2 54w 10000k white bulbs and 2 54w actinic blue bulbs and there is a single reflector over all 4 bulbs.
If I would like to keep some SPS, what bulbs would I have to get instead?
Thank you!

Best shot would be 2 Blue Plus, 1 UVL Aquasun and 1 ATI Aquablue/

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13035736#post13035736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pancho
Thanks Grim! I am going to try out the bulb mix you recommended. I have another question. Will it be best to overdrive the 4 center bulbs or every other bulb?

Probably 2 in the center and then skip one lamp each way


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