The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
If the tank is 18" front to back 6 lamps are perfect.
The T5 Q&a Thread
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If the tank is 18" front to back 6 lamps are perfect.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I think his stuff is on the Manhattan reefers website now
jimpierce7
New member
wow this is a fast moving thread!!
How should these bulbs be arranged properly?
ATI blue plus
ATI blue plus
ATI Aqua blue special
ATI true actinic
UVL 75/25
UVL 10000k Aquasun
How should these bulbs be arranged properly?
ATI blue plus
ATI blue plus
ATI Aqua blue special
ATI true actinic
UVL 75/25
UVL 10000k Aquasun
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
BP
TA
AS
BP
75/25
AB
DheereCrossing
New member
On my Icecap prewired retro kit, (which works now, thank you), the reflectors just slightly overlap. Are the edges of the reflectors supposed to lock together or something? As it is, each reflector has to be angled a bit to keep them from overlapping. Would you just bend them a bit to make them narrower?
jimpierce7
New member
Thank you very much!! It is wonderful that you are so willing to, and patient with shareing your knowledge.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Try locking the edges together. I haven't seen the pre wired kits so I am not sure but I would assume you should be able to have the reflectors pointed straight.
drgabe
Premium Member
Two quickies for the group. (I read through about 40 pages and couldn't find the answer, though I know it has been discussed before- such a huge thread.)
1. How much above the water level should your retro kitted (or fixture of that matter) T5's be?
2. Can you use any material to protect the bulbs from splashing and slat creep? Would it be better to put a "lid" over the tank surface, or under the lights- which will dissapate heat better?
Thanks.
1. How much above the water level should your retro kitted (or fixture of that matter) T5's be?
2. Can you use any material to protect the bulbs from splashing and slat creep? Would it be better to put a "lid" over the tank surface, or under the lights- which will dissapate heat better?
Thanks.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
About 4" above the water as long as you don't have a splash shield. With the shield as low as you want. You don't want to cover the tank. Causes heat and gas exchange issues.
ATI Pro Color of Fiji Purple?
ATI Pro Color of Fiji Purple?
Grim,
I have my hood built and ready to hang, just waiting for my Aquactinic reflectors to arrive today sometime.
I went with Geissman bulbs for 5 of the slots, got a good price.
Current setup is
Actinic Plus
MidDay (6000K)
Aquablue plus
Pure Actinic
Actinic Plus
Aquablue Plus
Need to swap out the Pure Actinic for either a Pro color, Fiji or other in that general range
First, other than the Pure Actinic does the layout look right/good
Second, what should I get. Got to order it in in any case so all options are open.
Here is the hood with all current bulbs fired up.
TIA
ATI Pro Color of Fiji Purple?
Grim,
I have my hood built and ready to hang, just waiting for my Aquactinic reflectors to arrive today sometime.
I went with Geissman bulbs for 5 of the slots, got a good price.
Current setup is
Actinic Plus
MidDay (6000K)
Aquablue plus
Pure Actinic
Actinic Plus
Aquablue Plus
Need to swap out the Pure Actinic for either a Pro color, Fiji or other in that general range
First, other than the Pure Actinic does the layout look right/good
Second, what should I get. Got to order it in in any case so all options are open.
Here is the hood with all current bulbs fired up.
TIA
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
Re: ATI Pro Color of Fiji Purple?
Re: ATI Pro Color of Fiji Purple?
If you want to keep some actinic plus add red then the UVL 75/25 is your best bet. If you want to simply add a lot of red then do the Fiji Purple.
Order like this:
Actinic Plus
75/25 or Pro Color or Fiji Purple
Aquablue
Midday
Actinic Plus
Aquablue
You want the 75/25, Pro color or Fiji Purple front of center. That way the light strikes the viewing side of the corals.
PS - If you get really good deals on Gmann then maybe the Aqua Flora would work. It is a pink bulb.
Re: ATI Pro Color of Fiji Purple?
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14207473#post14207473 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Challenge
Grim,
I have my hood built and ready to hang, just waiting for my Aquactinic reflectors to arrive today sometime.
I went with Geissman bulbs for 5 of the slots, got a good price.
Current setup is
Actinic Plus
MidDay (6000K)
Aquablue plus
Pure Actinic
Actinic Plus
Aquablue Plus
Need to swap out the Pure Actinic for either a Pro color, Fiji or other in that general range
First, other than the Pure Actinic does the layout look right/good
Second, what should I get. Got to order it in in any case so all options are open.
Here is the hood with all current bulbs fired up.
TIA
If you want to keep some actinic plus add red then the UVL 75/25 is your best bet. If you want to simply add a lot of red then do the Fiji Purple.
Order like this:
Actinic Plus
75/25 or Pro Color or Fiji Purple
Aquablue
Midday
Actinic Plus
Aquablue
You want the 75/25, Pro color or Fiji Purple front of center. That way the light strikes the viewing side of the corals.
PS - If you get really good deals on Gmann then maybe the Aqua Flora would work. It is a pink bulb.
A.T.T.R
Active member
hey grimm
i installed my t5 system on the first of the year using icecap ballast driving 3 ft bulbs
one of my UVL t5 daylight lamps is hardly lighting and is a orange color.
did i get a bad bulb or could this be caused by heat?
i have two fans blowing from back to front under the endcaps (endcaps are 5 inches off water) and then i have 6 inch open air space ABOVE the lamps
i put a temp sensor on top of the reflector ( only spot that it stays put) and am getting a temp of 114 degrees
i can TOUCH the bulbs with noproblom right near the endcap and its jsut kinda warm
any ideas?
i installed my t5 system on the first of the year using icecap ballast driving 3 ft bulbs
one of my UVL t5 daylight lamps is hardly lighting and is a orange color.
did i get a bad bulb or could this be caused by heat?
i have two fans blowing from back to front under the endcaps (endcaps are 5 inches off water) and then i have 6 inch open air space ABOVE the lamps
i put a temp sensor on top of the reflector ( only spot that it stays put) and am getting a temp of 114 degrees
i can TOUCH the bulbs with noproblom right near the endcap and its jsut kinda warm
any ideas?
Grim,
I have a 6 bulb retro fit in my 150 gallon (60x24x24) mixed tank. I would like to have as much SPS as I like. I currently have ~12 small to medium SPS frags and various LPS, etc. I am using 48" bulbs centered (leaving about 6" on either side) with SLR reflectors. Current bulbs are alternating Current 10K and Current 460NM (3 of each). I am running on 2 Icecap 660s with the 460s on 1 and the 10Ks on the other (460s are on dusk/dawn).
Couple of questions:
1) Do you think the 6 bulbs are enough to get good growth? The area of the tank with SPS is well covered with bulbs. I could possible squeeze in one more if i removed my moonlights (although I would rather not).
2) Should I be using the 60" bulbs vs. the 48"? I heard that the 60" bulbs don't burn enough on the edges of the bulb, 48" burns better across the entire bulb.
3) I see a fairly standard bulb configuration that you advise, however with my alternating bulb wiring, what would you recommend? Obviously I can re-wire to a 4 bulb and 2 bulb config or whatever (although, rather not if possible).
4) What do you know about the Current bulbs and Icecap ballasts? I have been using the ballasts for a year now and just recently switched bulbs to Current (as I was told "they make the best bulbs"), and all has been fine (even started getting better color and growth). Just very recently I went to replace one of my 460NMs with a 10K (thought I wasn't getting enough growing light) and the new Current bulbs kept burning out. I then heard that Current will not guarantee their bulbs when running them on Icecap ballasts due to the ballasts over-driving the bulbs. Did Current recently change the way they make bulbs? Will the ATI, UVL, Giesemann bulbs work fine with Icecaps? I would think so as all are sold by ReefGeek.
Sorry for such a long group of questions.
Thanks for your advice.
I have a 6 bulb retro fit in my 150 gallon (60x24x24) mixed tank. I would like to have as much SPS as I like. I currently have ~12 small to medium SPS frags and various LPS, etc. I am using 48" bulbs centered (leaving about 6" on either side) with SLR reflectors. Current bulbs are alternating Current 10K and Current 460NM (3 of each). I am running on 2 Icecap 660s with the 460s on 1 and the 10Ks on the other (460s are on dusk/dawn).
Couple of questions:
1) Do you think the 6 bulbs are enough to get good growth? The area of the tank with SPS is well covered with bulbs. I could possible squeeze in one more if i removed my moonlights (although I would rather not).
2) Should I be using the 60" bulbs vs. the 48"? I heard that the 60" bulbs don't burn enough on the edges of the bulb, 48" burns better across the entire bulb.
3) I see a fairly standard bulb configuration that you advise, however with my alternating bulb wiring, what would you recommend? Obviously I can re-wire to a 4 bulb and 2 bulb config or whatever (although, rather not if possible).
4) What do you know about the Current bulbs and Icecap ballasts? I have been using the ballasts for a year now and just recently switched bulbs to Current (as I was told "they make the best bulbs"), and all has been fine (even started getting better color and growth). Just very recently I went to replace one of my 460NMs with a 10K (thought I wasn't getting enough growing light) and the new Current bulbs kept burning out. I then heard that Current will not guarantee their bulbs when running them on Icecap ballasts due to the ballasts over-driving the bulbs. Did Current recently change the way they make bulbs? Will the ATI, UVL, Giesemann bulbs work fine with Icecaps? I would think so as all are sold by ReefGeek.
Sorry for such a long group of questions.
Thanks for your advice.
A.T.T.R
Active member
if i touch the par sensor to the center of each bulb i get a reading over 1000 par (1k to 1.3k) so all the otehr bulbs seem ok bu thte one that is bad is only 77 on the par meter.
i guess ill keep checking for par drop in the otehr bulbs to see if the bulbs are starting to go
i guess ill keep checking for par drop in the otehr bulbs to see if the bulbs are starting to go
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
On a 24" tank you really want 8 bulbs especially on an SPS tank. You should be able to fit 8 no problem over that tank even with moonlights. Most SLR reflectors are only 2.5" except for the TEK ones. They are 3". But since yours are overdriven 6 might be enough.
The 60" bulbs will cover the whole tank a lot better but the 48" leave dark spots on the ends which looks pretty cool IMO. I would stick with the 48".
As for a reco on bulbs:
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
The Current bulbs are no bueno. They lose output within 6 months on regular ballasts so I assume being overdriven they last maybe 3 months. The IC ballasts are great ballasts! No reason to change those. Just change your bulbs and you will get much better color and growth. The combo I recommended above will work perfect with the IC ballasts. You may want to make it so you have 2 Blue Plus and the 75/25 come on for dusk/dawn.
Last edited:
Appreciate your input. Thanks so much. As far as fitting 8 bulbs, my canopy has a piece of wood running along the back that supports the sides, as it is an open back. This support piece cuts me off by a few inches at the back of the tank. I also have a split lid top (top opens in two pieces), so I had to run a piece of wood along the front to try to make it more like a single piece lid, taking off another few inches (don't want to mistakenly open one side and rip out the retro-fit). Anyway, I will see was I can do to fit in 8 bulbs. If I manage to get 8 in there, do you have another bulb configuration for the 8? Thanks.
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