The T5 Q&a Thread

[Rickyrooz1]

Grim, would twelve 60" (80 watt) T-5's in IceCap SLR reflectors sufficiently cover a 72"x44"x24" SPS and LPS tank? What bulb combo would you recommend if I bought all ATI bulbs? I saw a TOTM had ten 60" bulbs over a 64"x31"24" tank with lots of SPS and had great growth.

 

[BaNDiTo_RoX]

Hey Grim,

I have a current 24" fixture with (1) 150w Phoenix 14k and (4) T5 from factory what would you recommend it's over a 40g breeder frag tank with a mixture of SPS,LPS,Softies and Zoas for now. Would like to see great color and growth. If I have to change out the MH LMK.

thx in advance

 

[steelhant]

Grim, Going to purchase the Aquactinics Constellation 72 inch. Just curious if the bulb choice would be the same as the setup you recommend. I figured to save some energy, the MH have to go.. I hope I have enouph lite.

Thanks,
Steelhant

 

[danorth]

I have a FO tank, you can see the fish I have in my Current Tanks line, I have a 4x54 over the left and one on the right. What bulbs should I use to get the best color out of the fish? Not doing corals.....thanks.

 

[rtparty]

Hey Grim,


I noticed reefgeek added a new bulb from Geissman, the Aqua Flora and also UVL has a new bulb with an internal reflector.

Have you tried these out for PAR numbers? What is your opinion on them?

Thanks

Ryan

 

[ktar]

Hey Grim just a quick question.
I have a cadlight 39 gallon Nano and was looking into getting T5 for the tank. First option is the 24" Tek light or the 24" ATI powermodule but i want to know what is the difference between the two unit . My tank will mainly be LPS only. thanks in advance.

 

[gindobuck]

so i posted earlier stating that i might go with this set up. btw any pictures on how this my look. also i might want to swap out one of the 12k for a pro color to further enhance the red and orange (but i heard it causes whitening of the sps???) or will the 12k enhance the red and orange well enough?
i like kind of a blueish tank but not too blue. will this tank be too bright still with the two 12k?
Back
ATI Blue Plus
ATI 12k aqua blue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Korallen Zucht Fiji Purple
ATI possible 12k aqua blue
ATI Blue Plus
Front

 

[gindobuck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13764491#post13764491 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snaza
Will look good. I run 7 bulbs with the above combo. i have 1 extra blue plus. I would get an extra Blue plus to play around with.

hows your growth in your tank with this set up?

can you show me pictures of how blue your tank is?

thanks

 

[Tbone675]

hey grim
i have a outer orbit pro 2x150 with 14k mh over my oceanic 70...what actinic bulbs should i put in to make my corals POP?
thanks, tbone

 

[snaza]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13771601#post13771601 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gindobuck
hows your growth in your tank with this set up?

can you show me pictures of how blue your tank is?

thanks

Growth is good. Not amazing but good. I dont really want extremely fast growth though. Here are a few old pics i dug up.

 

[gindobuck]

wow that tank looks hella nice. hey in your last picture what is that green sps? i have the pink one but i dont know what its called. (i just got into sps)

 

[gindobuck]

i was also wondering
i know:
ati blue plus: is really blue
ati 12k: enhances red and orange is more white than blue, sps will like it
ati pro color: enhance red and orange but i heard may whiten sps
what is figi purple for?

 

[snaza]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13772097#post13772097 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gindobuck
i was also wondering
i know:
ati blue plus: is really blue
ati 12k: enhances red and orange is more white than blue, sps will like it
ati pro color: enhance red and orange but i heard may whiten sps
what is figi purple for?

Fijis are similar to ATI pro colour. brings our reds.pinks and purples. Fiji is more violet,purple bulb where pro colour is more pink/red. I have both and the Fiji and 100000000x better (i think anyway)

 

[snaza]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13772090#post13772090 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gindobuck
wow that tank looks hella nice. hey in your last picture what is that green sps? i have the pink one but i dont know what its called. (i just got into sps)

Its actually a LPS (candy cane)

 

[danorth]

Do fish colors not 'pop' like a coral's colors?

 

[jennmac415]

Snaza, your tank is beautiful!! Please humor me and post your bulb combo one more time, and are all bulbs on in those above pics?? Thanks!

 

[jennmac415]

Snaza, your tank is beautiful!! Please humor me and post your bulb combo one more time, and are all bulbs on in those above pics?? Thanks!

 

[trilinearmipmap]

My question (and I am sorry if this was answered earlier, I can't read through 10 million pages of thread) is about recommended frequency of changing T5 bulbs. I have read 6 months or 12 months. Has anyone actually studied this?

Has anyone measured PAR on new bulbs then checked every month and generated a graph of degradation of light output over time?

I have a T5 Tek-light, I haven't changed bulbs in several years, my corals and anemones seem happy but I would like to keep some more difficult SPS (right now Montipora are doing fine even on the bottom of the tank). I would change bulbs every 6 months if there were some hard data to prove that it is worthwhile.

 

[snaza]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13772498#post13772498 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jennmac415
Snaza, your tank is beautiful!! Please humor me and post your bulb combo one more time, and are all bulbs on in those above pics?? Thanks!

ATI - Blue +
ATI - Blue +
KZ- Fiji Purple
ATI - Aqua blue
ATI - Blue +
ATI - Aqua blue
ATI - Blue +

Yes all bulbs are on in the pics

 

[SaltyDr]

Grim (or anyone else)-

I currently have 2 2X96W PC and am going to buy Tek T5 54W retrofits. To save money was going to get the 4X54W and keep 2X96W PC for actinics. Any reason not to do this, and if I do, what bulb combination for the T5s? Thanks.