The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Re: Newb to T5s
Re: Newb to T5s
Yeah but use a ATI Blue Plus instead of the Actinic White.
Re: Newb to T5s
Yeah but use a ATI Blue Plus instead of the Actinic White.
The T5 Q&a Thread
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
- Status
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Actinic Plus
Aquablue
Midday
Actinic Plus
aquaconnect
New member
Hey Grim,
I wanted to follow up with a crazy story about my t5's! A couple of months ago I asked some questions about my 65 gallon that I was going to do 3 sided viewable. Got the tx5 36" 5 bulb fixture. Went with:
Front
Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
Blue Plus
Aquablue
This is where it get's interesting. I tore down my 180 and a buddy kept my corals for 4 mts till I started adding last week. I have 2 huge colonies of tyree sunset. I got it all setup, looked awesome. Then I went on the other side, sat down on my couch and looked at the sunset and it was brownish..I was like what the heck, went back to the 'front' side and it looked normal. After a few walks around the couch, I decided, duhhhhh....it's the aquablue not blending well since it was on the very end. I was laughing at this, seriously. So, I ordered another giesemann 420nm to swap with the blue plus on the 'back' and move the blue plus to the aquablue to see what happens. Right now I have the figi something or nother in there temp, until it arrives.
I just got a laugh at this because I thought I'd lost my mind and just wanted to share my funny story because I'm sure I looked like an idiot running back and forth!
I wanted to follow up with a crazy story about my t5's! A couple of months ago I asked some questions about my 65 gallon that I was going to do 3 sided viewable. Got the tx5 36" 5 bulb fixture. Went with:
Front
Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
Blue Plus
Aquablue
This is where it get's interesting. I tore down my 180 and a buddy kept my corals for 4 mts till I started adding last week. I have 2 huge colonies of tyree sunset. I got it all setup, looked awesome. Then I went on the other side, sat down on my couch and looked at the sunset and it was brownish..I was like what the heck, went back to the 'front' side and it looked normal. After a few walks around the couch, I decided, duhhhhh....it's the aquablue not blending well since it was on the very end. I was laughing at this, seriously. So, I ordered another giesemann 420nm to swap with the blue plus on the 'back' and move the blue plus to the aquablue to see what happens. Right now I have the figi something or nother in there temp, until it arrives.
I just got a laugh at this because I thought I'd lost my mind and just wanted to share my funny story because I'm sure I looked like an idiot running back and forth!
sevenkillers
New member
I have a Nova Extreme Pro 72" T5 Light fixture. I am switching from a 3 x 250HQI and 4 x 96 watts pc.
My new tank is 72" x 36" X 27"H.
I have my rock set up in the middle of the tank with plenty of room in the front and in the back. I am planning on keeping a mix reef tank. Just wondering what kind of bulbs would you recommend? and how long should I run the lights for?
Thanks
My new tank is 72" x 36" X 27"H.
I have my rock set up in the middle of the tank with plenty of room in the front and in the back. I am planning on keeping a mix reef tank. Just wondering what kind of bulbs would you recommend? and how long should I run the lights for?
Thanks
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I assume that tank is 72 long, 30 tall and 24 front to back???
Do 8 rows of lamps, 80 watt lamps with and here is where things get tricky, contact either Premium Aquatics or Aquarium Specialty and see if they have Reefgeek brand retros available or at least the Reefgeek reflectors. DO NOT CONTACT REEFGEEK, THEY CANNOT AND WILL NOT SELL YOU THE REFLECTORS. I've known about these for a while but was asked not to mention them until they were in the retail pipeline. They are available in 60" and are only 2 1/2" wide. You should be able to get 8 in there fine.
For lamps
Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Actinic
GE Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
GE daylight
Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
Blue Plus
If you can get a deal on 80 watt ballasts go for it. Otherwise Ice Cap 660's can run 3 80 watt T5's.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Depends on what you want to pop. GE 6500K will get you better greens and yellows. 75/25 will help with pinks. I'd drop one row of actinics for sure. I'd drop the Aquablue for GE daylights and one of the actinics for the 75/25 of Fiji Purple.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
8 would be even better. Check with Premium Aquatics and Aquarium Specialty and see if they have the 60" Reefgeek Reflectors, they are only 2 1/2" wide so you should be able to get 8 in that tank.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I tested the COnstellation and liked it so well I bought one.
Front
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
UVL Super Actinic
Blue Plus or Aquablue for a whiter look
Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
Blue Plus
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Do a Blue Plus at the front and a Aquablue in back. ATI brand for both.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
If you are going to view from front and back do this
Blue Plus
Actinic
Aquasun
Actinic
Blue Plus
Lamp position does effect the look.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Front
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
Justin/TiV
New member
awesome thanx...one more question, if I do go with ice cap 660...I'm guessing I would need 3 to run 8 lamps...??
Thanx again...
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Yep
Todd March
Premium Member
Wats'up with THAT?! I've never known Greg to be one of those PITA kinda sellers, in fact he normally bends over backwards to help get what you need... Never heard anything strange about Greg till now... I guess it happens to all of them (selling aquaria gear) eventually, lol!
Todd March
Premium Member
I posted this in a thread in the SPS forum, but thought I would share it here as well...
I really got jazzed about my Powermodule and my T5's today, and learned a powerful lesson about coral colors--that lights and spectrum matter more than I currently thought, having totally bought into a current trend of thought in the hobby (particularly in Zeo-Land where I spend a lot of time) that good coral colors are centered around nutrient levels and other water quality parameters, rather than our light selections...
I bought two new acros from my LFS; a frag of Lime In The Sky acro that was showing a nice overall neon green coloration; and a medium sized maricultured acro colony (with an acro crab!), medium/darkish but bright green with a slightly bluish tone. My LFS guy said when these two corals first came in, that the Lime In The sky had more fluorescent green corralites (tips), and that the maricultured colony was more blue, with distinct blue tips. This green colony at the store showed no difference of colors at the tips... The shop uses 250W DE Ushio 20K's (pretty sure on HQI/mag ballasts, as they don't look too [eballast] blue and are bright).
Upon acclimating them and placing them in my tank under my T5's--WOW!--sure enough the Lime In The Sky frag looked much more like the pictures on Tyree's site, with lighter colored blueish tissue overall and with neon green corralites; the change in the maricultured colony was even more amazing--a beautiful medium hued shade of a much more blueish green (like a fine tourmaline) than in the store, and with distinctly colored tips that approach turquoise.
It really slapped me in the face today that while coral coloration is certainly connected to nutrient levels, as well as many other water quality issues, a LOT of coloring really is about our lights. The difference in color of these two corals today was only a couple of hours apart, and pretty dramatic, and had nothing to do with nutrients and water quality parameters.
Will they keep these colors? Will they pastel out under my T5's and with my nutrients levels getting lower and lower with Zeo--who knows, this is an ongoing experiment, right?
I really got jazzed about my Powermodule and my T5's today, and learned a powerful lesson about coral colors--that lights and spectrum matter more than I currently thought, having totally bought into a current trend of thought in the hobby (particularly in Zeo-Land where I spend a lot of time) that good coral colors are centered around nutrient levels and other water quality parameters, rather than our light selections...
I bought two new acros from my LFS; a frag of Lime In The Sky acro that was showing a nice overall neon green coloration; and a medium sized maricultured acro colony (with an acro crab!), medium/darkish but bright green with a slightly bluish tone. My LFS guy said when these two corals first came in, that the Lime In The sky had more fluorescent green corralites (tips), and that the maricultured colony was more blue, with distinct blue tips. This green colony at the store showed no difference of colors at the tips... The shop uses 250W DE Ushio 20K's (pretty sure on HQI/mag ballasts, as they don't look too [eballast] blue and are bright).
Upon acclimating them and placing them in my tank under my T5's--WOW!--sure enough the Lime In The Sky frag looked much more like the pictures on Tyree's site, with lighter colored blueish tissue overall and with neon green corralites; the change in the maricultured colony was even more amazing--a beautiful medium hued shade of a much more blueish green (like a fine tourmaline) than in the store, and with distinctly colored tips that approach turquoise.
It really slapped me in the face today that while coral coloration is certainly connected to nutrient levels, as well as many other water quality issues, a LOT of coloring really is about our lights. The difference in color of these two corals today was only a couple of hours apart, and pretty dramatic, and had nothing to do with nutrients and water quality parameters.
Will they keep these colors? Will they pastel out under my T5's and with my nutrients levels getting lower and lower with Zeo--who knows, this is an ongoing experiment, right?
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
If you were a retailer and the distributor you were buying your product from started selling that product to the public as well would you be happy? You gotta remember greg has to wear 2 hats. He isn't just a retailer.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Look up color rendering on google. It helps explain the immediate change in coral colors you see. As far as long term changes in color I believe the pastel problem could be related to too much PAR. It's gonna take someone with a whole lot better luck growing stonies than I to prove that but I think the fact that the corals are struck by the light in all directions by fluorescents might mean the critters will require less par as expressed by a raw reading than what is needed with halides which tend to be more directional.
ocd_mariner
New member
Just had a catastrophic power failure on my 120, so its sell off and upgrade time. I'm going to be getting a 150g rimless, 48x30x24.
My question is about the t5 hoods. Im not sure which to go with, or who offers the best deal, or best equipment. I saw some zillion dollar ATI fixtures on reefgeek, but Im not sure why they are so expensive, or how they are better then the Tek fixtures. ATI does offer a 48" 10 bulb system, but Im not sure if 8 bulbs would be fine for such a wide tank. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
This tank will be sps dominated. Any softies or LPS will be an afterthought.
My question is about the t5 hoods. Im not sure which to go with, or who offers the best deal, or best equipment. I saw some zillion dollar ATI fixtures on reefgeek, but Im not sure why they are so expensive, or how they are better then the Tek fixtures. ATI does offer a 48" 10 bulb system, but Im not sure if 8 bulbs would be fine for such a wide tank. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
This tank will be sps dominated. Any softies or LPS will be an afterthought.
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