The T5 Q&a Thread
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Bunkerbean
New member
Grim
I am planning a tank build with the dims 84"x60"x30". What would you recommend for lighting over a tank like this? Is there a pendant you recommend?
I am planning a tank build with the dims 84"x60"x30". What would you recommend for lighting over a tank like this? Is there a pendant you recommend?
Paul_PSU
In Memoriam
Grim.
I have been giving this much thought and I have decided that I will make the move to the "dark side" ,no pun intended, and switch completely to T5. If I take the (2) MH 250w 14k phoenix out of the picture and added (4) more 36" T5's what would you recommend. I will still be keeping mainly sps, but basically a mixed reef with some zoa's, softies and clams. Do you think (10) 36" 39 watt T5's will be enough for what I want to keep in a 36x36x27 tank?
Thanks so much for your help.
Paul
First off I want to applaud you guys for this astonishing thread.
Second I want to apologize that I have no idea what the flow of this thread is but as far as I can tell if I ask a question someone will probably answer it (referring to t5). I attempted to get to the first post but it has been split so many times I gave up trying to get there, so forgive me if this is a redundant question.
First question - I bought a t5 fixture link and so far it has treated me well. The light does not affect the temperature of my tank even though it does get warm, its quiet, it isn't bad on my tank. My tank is a 55g that is 48x15x12 (I believe), my first question is about the bulbs themselves. Because it does run t5 should I be able to put any t5 bulb in there? Meaning are all t5 bulbs universal?
Second question - Are the temperature of the bulb merely for aesthetics? As of right now I hate the color of my tank, it has 3 "atinics" which I believe are 450nm, 3 "daylight" bulbs which are 10k. The order of the lights are:
atinic (switch two)
atinic (switch one)
daylight (switch two)
daylight (switch two)
atinic (switch one)
daylight (switch two)
And it has moonlight leds on its own switch, total of 3 power chords. I plan on keeping mostly softies, lps, an anemone, doubt I will do any sps. What color spectrum would be best in my case? I don't mind the violet (true atinic) look, I prefer a darker in color display rather than the overpowering white look in my tank (I leave atinics on when daylights are on).
Question three - Do you recommend somewhere to buy these bulbs? Some place you have had excellent luck with.
I'm sorry this is a bit long but I appreciate any help you offer.
Second I want to apologize that I have no idea what the flow of this thread is but as far as I can tell if I ask a question someone will probably answer it (referring to t5). I attempted to get to the first post but it has been split so many times I gave up trying to get there, so forgive me if this is a redundant question.
First question - I bought a t5 fixture link and so far it has treated me well. The light does not affect the temperature of my tank even though it does get warm, its quiet, it isn't bad on my tank. My tank is a 55g that is 48x15x12 (I believe), my first question is about the bulbs themselves. Because it does run t5 should I be able to put any t5 bulb in there? Meaning are all t5 bulbs universal?
Second question - Are the temperature of the bulb merely for aesthetics? As of right now I hate the color of my tank, it has 3 "atinics" which I believe are 450nm, 3 "daylight" bulbs which are 10k. The order of the lights are:
atinic (switch two)
atinic (switch one)
daylight (switch two)
daylight (switch two)
atinic (switch one)
daylight (switch two)
And it has moonlight leds on its own switch, total of 3 power chords. I plan on keeping mostly softies, lps, an anemone, doubt I will do any sps. What color spectrum would be best in my case? I don't mind the violet (true atinic) look, I prefer a darker in color display rather than the overpowering white look in my tank (I leave atinics on when daylights are on).
Question three - Do you recommend somewhere to buy these bulbs? Some place you have had excellent luck with.
I'm sorry this is a bit long but I appreciate any help you offer.
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
First off you have come to the right place! Grim Reefer the head honcho here is a genius with this stuff. I have been following this thread for over two months now and learn new things daily.
First thing is first, go here: http://tfivetesting.googlepages.com/
Read all of that and you will learn a lot.
Now I will attempt to answer your questions.
First, yes all T5 bulbs are universal. Just make sure they are HO(High Output) not NO(Normal Output).
Second, I agree 3 actinics and 3 daylights is no bueno! The Kelvin ratings on T5 bulbs are misleading. A 14000K T5 bulb looks much different than a 14000K MH.
Third, reefgeek reefgeek reefgeek! LOL Go to www.reefgeek.com and get the bulbs there. Excellent service and great prices!
What do you like as far as a tank goes? A blue look? White with some blue? I personally like a bluer tank so here is my recommendation for bulbs.
Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
That way you can have switch 2 come on first and act as dusk/dawn. The Blue Plus mixed with a 75/25 is pretty cool. Then switch one can come and be midday for you.
If you have any other questions ask away! Grim will respond to your post with what he recommends.
marinebarn
New member
Grim,
I just ordered two ATI Blue Plus and two ATI Aqua Blues from ReefGeek. Thanks for imparting your wisdom.
I just ordered two ATI Blue Plus and two ATI Aqua Blues from ReefGeek. Thanks for imparting your wisdom.
agriffin1300
New member
125g lighting
125g lighting
im kind of new to this hobby. i really dont know too much about lighting but i want to upgrading my mh to t5 ho. i was wondering if 6 x54w 48in t5 be enough lighting for my 125g. i am open to any suggestions please help. my Mh tend to generate too much heat. and my lfs was trying to school me on t5's and tellin me to go with 4 x 48 "t5's 54w each. staggered in my canopy. please help
125g lighting
im kind of new to this hobby. i really dont know too much about lighting but i want to upgrading my mh to t5 ho. i was wondering if 6 x54w 48in t5 be enough lighting for my 125g. i am open to any suggestions please help. my Mh tend to generate too much heat. and my lfs was trying to school me on t5's and tellin me to go with 4 x 48 "t5's 54w each. staggered in my canopy. please help
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Go with the 80 watt lamps with the reefgeek reflectors unless you want a butt load of SPS in the tank.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Halides over something that massive. 6 400 watt lamps in Lumenarcs would cover it.
You'd go broke trying to use T5's over that thing. You figure 2 fixtures with the 36" lamps side by side to cover the length. I would say 4 ATI 10 x 39 watt powermodules would be the best way to do it. That would give you 20 rows of lamps to cover 60". That gives you about 40" of full intensity. If you are planning on clams on the sandbed you might have to go with 6 fixtures instead.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Pro Color
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
Gonna be about as close as you can get.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
SHould work fine
Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Re: 125g lighting
Re: 125g lighting
If you want to keep clams or a lot of sps you need 6 rows of lamps.
I assume you have a 72" long tank. Staggering the 54 watt lamps isn't a great way to do this. just cuts down on too many options. You either need to use 39 watt lamps side by side or go with the 60" long T5.
The 60" lamps are the best solution. Reefgeek sells 60" retrofit kits. What you want is a 6 x 80 watt retrofit kit BUT you want it with the Reefgeek brand reflectors. I am not sure if they are on the site yet so you will need to call on them. I believe they will appear on the site as Aqua Illumination brand but what you are looking for is the 2 1/2" wide 60" reflectors. The only other 60" reflector is the Tek II which is 3 1/8" wide which wont fit in your canopy.
Re: 125g lighting
If you want to keep clams or a lot of sps you need 6 rows of lamps.
I assume you have a 72" long tank. Staggering the 54 watt lamps isn't a great way to do this. just cuts down on too many options. You either need to use 39 watt lamps side by side or go with the 60" long T5.
The 60" lamps are the best solution. Reefgeek sells 60" retrofit kits. What you want is a 6 x 80 watt retrofit kit BUT you want it with the Reefgeek brand reflectors. I am not sure if they are on the site yet so you will need to call on them. I believe they will appear on the site as Aqua Illumination brand but what you are looking for is the 2 1/2" wide 60" reflectors. The only other 60" reflector is the Tek II which is 3 1/8" wide which wont fit in your canopy.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
WHile not a "good" fixture it will be fine for a 55 if you use good lamps.
Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
You may want to swapp the position of the 75/25 with one of the blue pluses so you get a dusk dawn look you like.
This mix of lamps should look sweet.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
That would make it a tad more white.
You could use a GE 6500K daylight in place of an Aquablue and brighten it up instead. The 75/25 isn't too dominant other than kicking up a little red. The GE lamp is more yellow/green, With 2 75/25 adding the red using the GE lamp rather than the aquasun which also has red will balance out the colors so you would have a more neutral look comming from the 75/25's and and the GE so you would end up with a slightly blue tint from the Blue Plus lamps.
trmiv
Active member
I recently got done switching the bulbs in my Aquactinics TX5 (they were old). Here is what I had:
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
I wanted a bit more pop, so when I switched, I went with this combo:
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus
I like the look, and blue, green, and pink corals look good, but yellows and oranges could look better in my opinion. The tank looks amazing during the dawn/dusk cycle when just the Blue Pluses and Super Actinics are running though, tons of florescence. I was actually tempted to switch an Aquablue for a Blue Plus, but that may be too blue. Anyway, my question is, is there a bulb with decent par that I can switch out an Aquablue for that won't overpower the blue pluses too much, but will get better color out of orange, yellow and red colors in corals?
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
I wanted a bit more pop, so when I switched, I went with this combo:
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus
I like the look, and blue, green, and pink corals look good, but yellows and oranges could look better in my opinion. The tank looks amazing during the dawn/dusk cycle when just the Blue Pluses and Super Actinics are running though, tons of florescence. I was actually tempted to switch an Aquablue for a Blue Plus, but that may be too blue. Anyway, my question is, is there a bulb with decent par that I can switch out an Aquablue for that won't overpower the blue pluses too much, but will get better color out of orange, yellow and red colors in corals?
One more thing, looking at the bulbs on reefgeek.com The length of the bulb is 45.8", I assume this is the correct length for any t5 48" fixture? Just making sure, never heard the actual length of the bulb.
Thanks for your guys' help, I am excited to see how this looks when its all said and done.
Thanks for your guys' help, I am excited to see how this looks when its all said and done.
Last edited:
Bunkerbean
New member
Thanks for the response. I will look at the cost difference.
I have recently set up a 70 gallon Oceanic Tech and am preparing to change the lighting to something more permanent. The light right now is a USA Current 4 bulb T5 and was part of the "gifted initial setup"
Looking to build my own custom wood pendant light.
The tank is of course 36x18X24, opening is 12".
If I use the TEK or ICEcap reflectors I can only get 4 maybe 5 lights into the pendant, with the Aquactinics I can get 6.
Question is do I need 6 with the individual reflectors?
Intend on this being a full mixed tank, including SPS, Clams and maybe LPS at some point.
If 5 will do what bulb mix and should I overdrive them with ICEcap 660's or not.
Thanks
Looking to build my own custom wood pendant light.
The tank is of course 36x18X24, opening is 12".
If I use the TEK or ICEcap reflectors I can only get 4 maybe 5 lights into the pendant, with the Aquactinics I can get 6.
Question is do I need 6 with the individual reflectors?
Intend on this being a full mixed tank, including SPS, Clams and maybe LPS at some point.
If 5 will do what bulb mix and should I overdrive them with ICEcap 660's or not.
Thanks
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