The T5 Q&a Thread

[hpglow]

First off thanx for all the help guys this thread has been a great help over the years. Here is the deal my 125 is a mostly softie tank. It does, however, have clams and some sps (the sps are very close to the light.) Right now it is being lit by a 400w pc, 150w mh combo. The clams have been thriving for almost two years now.

I am in the middle of a light fixture build, I am going to be replacing my combo with all T5s and then some very high output LED's for shimmer. Yes grim you have read my build thread on thescmas.com.

My current intention is to have 10x39w T-5 lamps, and 21x3W of LEDs over the 72x18x24 tank. What I want to know is how I should acclimate the corals to the new light setup.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13303801#post13303801 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pito
No, the cold spot is just at the same end as the brand stamp. That is designed to be the coolest spot of a running lamp. The optimum output will be reached when that metal cap on the label end is around 113 degrees.

So no need to cool that end down by running the fans a special way? [/B][/QUOTE]

That end is the one that gives you the most benefit when cooled. It doesn't matter if the label is up or down, just that the label end of the lamps are located at an end where they will be cooled.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13304943#post13304943 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rueg
I hate the electricity bill being so high. I am running 3 x 400w halides on a standard 180 gallon tank (72x24x24). I have a few SPS but the softies (mushrooms and Kenya tree) pretty much overgrow everything. If I was to switch to T5s and wanted to keep SPS what would you recommend? Would a solar flare be good enough to keep the SPS in the center of the tank and then the softies around the outsides (if they would only grow there that is)? What if I wanted all SPS? If I was to turn this tank into a fish-only tank what would you recommend?

Thanks! Trying to figure out what I want to do to lower the electric bill.

For what you have now with SPS in the upper half of the tank Aquactinics 72" Constellation fixture. Would use around 600~650 watts.

Fish only even with some softies on the rock Nova Extreme Pro 72" fixture.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13305215#post13305215 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewbieFish
I am a freshie doing research on going reef. I have been reading this thread and still have a couple of questions.

1) Would going T5 rather than MH generally eliminate the need for a chiller assuming Pacific Northwest climate?

2) People keep talking about overdriving their lamps with Icecap Ballasts. Is it that the ballast will overdrive a 48" lamp straight out of the box without doubling up connectors?

3) Considering a 48x24x24 120g tank. As a newbie I probably will not go SPS straight off the bat, but will the 8 lamp tek fixture eventually allow me to keep just about everything? If it cannot with stock ballasts will it be able to do so when OD'd?

4) Also how would a 8 lamp fixture compare to 2x 250w MH in terms of the utility bill? Is there somewhere with a light per watt comparison chart?

Thanks

1. Yes

2.Yes

3. You could keep SPS in the upper half of the tank with the tek light.

4. The ballasts would have to be remotely wired as they will not fit in the fixture. With the stock ballasts and an external fan array you could likely keep SPS pretty happy nearly to the bottom of the tank.

 

[bnum1]

hi Grim,
thanks in advance for any info. i am upgrading to a 180. i have a workhorse 7 ballast. i am thinking of getting the 60" 3x80W SLR T5 Very High-Output Retrofit kit. what kind of t5 bulbs can i run on the workhorse 7, if any? and what kind of bulb combination would you recommend?
Thanks again!

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13306795#post13306795 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pito
I'm trying to learn about lighting and it's roll to our hobby. Can someone point me in the right direction to learn about Par, Kalvins , lumins, and what ever else might be important to us reefers.

PAR is the rate at which light photons in the 400nm to 700nm range strikes an object. This light ranbge (Violet to red is what the plants and algae use for energy to grow. More PAR = more growth.

Lumens is the measurement of how bright a lamp looks. Because lumens (and lux) are measured at a narrow specific band of light, 555nm it isnt a great indication of the overall effectiveness of a lamp when it comes to growth

Kelvins is a way of identifying color of a lamp. 6500K or Kelvin is a tellowish light, 10,000K is nearly white, 14000K is slightly blue and 20,000K is blue.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13307813#post13307813 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hpglow
First off thanx for all the help guys this thread has been a great help over the years. Here is the deal my 125 is a mostly softie tank. It does, however, have clams and some sps (the sps are very close to the light.) Right now it is being lit by a 400w pc, 150w mh combo. The clams have been thriving for almost two years now.

I am in the middle of a light fixture build, I am going to be replacing my combo with all T5s and then some very high output LED's for shimmer. Yes grim you have read my build thread on thescmas.com.

My current intention is to have 10x39w T-5 lamps, and 21x3W of LEDs over the 72x18x24 tank. What I want to know is how I should acclimate the corals to the new light setup.

You should be able to start by running part of the T5's, the ones for dusk/dawn effect a full day cycle and start out easy on the rest, maybe like 2 hours or so a day to start and just keep adding an hour a week or so. Be careful with those LED's. Of you can grab the club's PAR meter and check to see what they are doing. With such a concentrated beam they could really shock corals hugher up in the tank that are hit by them.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13309826#post13309826 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bnum1
hi Grim,
thanks in advance for any info. i am upgrading to a 180. i have a workhorse 7 ballast. i am thinking of getting the 60" 3x80W SLR T5 Very High-Output Retrofit kit. what kind of t5 bulbs can i run on the workhorse 7, if any? and what kind of bulb combination would you recommend?
Thanks again!

The 7 will run 2 80 watt T5's. If you get a 3 lamp retro and have them add the stuff to have 2 more lamps minus ballast (you can call reefgeek and they will set you upI would do this
Front
ATI Blue Plus WH 7
ATI Aquablue
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus WH 7

 

[Rueg]

Thanks for the reply Grim.

You said: For what you have now with SPS in the upper half of the tank Aquactinics 72" Constellation fixture. Would use around 600~650 watts.

The 72" Constellation takes 14 x 39W bulbs - that comes out to 546 watts. How do you come up with 600-650 watts?

With 14 bulbs your talking close to $300 just for the bulbs. Do you think the solar flare would be good enough to keep SPS under it and then the softies on the ends if the fixture was centered over the tank? That one only requires 6 bulbs and they are overdriven.

Thanks.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13309871#post13309871 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
PAR is the rate at which light photons in the 400nm to 700nm range strikes an object. This light ranbge (Violet to red is what the plants and algae use for energy to grow. More PAR = more growth.

Lumens is the measurement of how bright a lamp looks. Because lumens (and lux) are measured at a narrow specific band of light, 555nm it isnt a great indication of the overall effectiveness of a lamp when it comes to growth

Kelvins is a way of identifying color of a lamp. 6500K or Kelvin is a tellowish light, 10,000K is nearly white, 14000K is slightly blue and 20,000K is blue.

So, lumens don't mean jack to us? Is there a par range that we need to be in to get good growth. Do kelvins make a difference in growth or is it aesthetic?


Spleen, thanks for the link. I'll reed it at work tomorrow.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13309707#post13309707 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
So no need to cool that end down by running the fans a special way?

That end is the one that gives you the most benefit when cooled. It doesn't matter if the label is up or down, just that the label end of the lamps are located at an end where they will be cooled. [/B][/QUOTE]

I'm putting two 3" fans on each end of my canopy for a total of four fans, and the canopy has an open back. I was thinking of having two fans come on and off with the lights. Then having the other two on some kind of temp controller. So when the tank warms up, these two kick on.

 

[pilotchute]

Newb to T5s

Newb to T5s

Looking to update my lighting... I currently only have PCs so this is a little bit of an adventure. Looking to use T5s b/c I have a problem with heat and am afraid of MHs. Tank is 36" wide and 20" deep. Would 4 T5s work to keep a variety of SPS, LPS and maybe a claim if i feel adventurous? Planning on using an Icaecap 660 to overdrive.

Lighting thinking about (Front to Back):

UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun (10000K)
UVL Actinic White (12000K)
UVL 75.25 (14000K)

Thanks

 

[Reefer07]

Just looking for some thought.
I currently have the current USA sundial fixture 4x24 watt. (24 inch)
I am running the stock bulbs in it. Just 2 10,000k and 2 actinic.
I would like to start a 20g long SPS tank with this fixture. I know many would recommend a TEK or something comparible but I am wondering if it is at all possible to just upgrade the bulbs. The fixture already has individual reflectors.
I was thinking of geissman bulbs with 3 midday and a actinic plus. Or 2 midday, a aquablue and an actinic plus.
I want a nice blue hue like I have now, if not better. However, I would really like growth to be good as well. I am wondering if any of these combinations are possible? If not, what do you guys think would be a good combination to achieve what I am looking for.

 

[Justin/TiV]

Hey Grim...read many pages of this thread...great info. I knew nothing about T5 when I started.

I'm currently switching my 220 into an anemone tank. I was originally going with and bought 3 MH...cause this is what I had when my tank was a sps system. but have changed my mind and want to run T5 instead. I'm mostly gonna have BTA and RBTA and was wondering what you recommend. I want the pink and greens to pop and really like the blue look my tank had with xm 20k's.

also thinking of getting my T5 ballasts from a lighting company that came into my work...they said their electronic ballast last 20 years without losing much performance. I don't remember what brand they were...but they were pretty reasonable on price...and if you don't recommend that...what ballast combo also...sorry for so many questions...

thanx in advance

justin

 

[jennmac415]

Hey Grim!

Just about time to change my bulbs...since it has been about a year, and there have been some new bulbs and you have tried some different combos since then, I was wondering what you would suggest this go round...really want good bright colors, leaning towards the blue side...not so much white look, but do want some good growth too...

right now I am running..on a 72" Constellation

blue plus
super actinic
hagen power glo
blue plus
aquablue special
blue plus
sfilogi actinic

Have been "OK" about this combo, but not over the moon about it either...... but really want to try and make it better this time..maybe a figi purple or the 75/25...and which one... aquasun or procolor? If you could suggest another 7 bulb combo I would appreciate it.

Thanks again for all the time you put into this thread.
Jenni

 

[JRechcygl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13303148#post13303148 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
The Tek reflectors are about 3 1/4" wide,

A friend here just did a PAR reading on a 24" tall tank with 6 60" T5's. It was putting better than 300 PAR at the sand which was a shallow sandbed. That will keep clams happy, easy. You aren't going to squeeze in more than 6 lamps unless you use two 35" Ice Cap or Aquactinics reflectors per lamp. That lamp mix was 50/50 blue plus aqiuablue

I'd do this

Front
Actinic Plus
Aquablue
Midday
Actinic Plus
Aquablue
Actinic Plus

Wow. So you are saying I could do as few as 6 5'ers on the 180?!? I would like to cram more if I can but if you say that 6 is alright I won't be as concerned.

Thanks again so much!!

 

[Simon68]

Hi Grim
What is the best T5 fixture out there? Aquatinics? Tek? Nova Extreme Pro?
I am leaning towards Aquatinics Constellation - if that's the best, what's the best combo of bulbs for it to get the most pop and to be able to have any corals including, SPS and clams.
Thanks!

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13310312#post13310312 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rueg
Thanks for the reply Grim.

You said: For what you have now with SPS in the upper half of the tank Aquactinics 72" Constellation fixture. Would use around 600~650 watts.

The 72" Constellation takes 14 x 39W bulbs - that comes out to 546 watts. How do you come up with 600-650 watts?

With 14 bulbs your talking close to $300 just for the bulbs. Do you think the solar flare would be good enough to keep SPS under it and then the softies on the ends if the fixture was centered over the tank? That one only requires 6 bulbs and they are overdriven.

Thanks.

The ballasts use more wattage than they push through the lamp plus there are a couple fans

If you hang the flare up a ways you could probably keep softies at the ends.

 

[REEFR ROB]

Question for Grim..
I have a 24"acrolight over a 29 gal. which has a 150 de halide and 2 VHO fluorescents. I would like to replace the hardware in the light with so that I can swap The VHO's for t5's. I have an XM 20k bulb for the halide and would like to know what t5 bulbs to get. There will be 2 bulbs, one on each side of the halide. I would like bulbs that are fairly bright, but would still fluoresce the corals similar to the vho actinics that I have been using. I keep some sps at the top and lps and softies further down the tank. I do like a nice blue coloration.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13310747#post13310747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pito
That end is the one that gives you the most benefit when cooled. It doesn't matter if the label is up or down, just that the label end of the lamps are located at an end where they will be cooled.

I'm putting two 3" fans on each end of my canopy for a total of four fans, and the canopy has an open back. I was thinking of having two fans come on and off with the lights. Then having the other two on some kind of temp controller. So when the tank warms up, these two kick on. [/B][/QUOTE]

Should work.