The T5 Q&a Thread

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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14290556#post14290556 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Grim Reefer
Oh yeah, as long as you are using good reflectors.
Are ice cap ballasts and reflectors a safe purchase to get ample power/reflection?
Definitely am needing a retrofit kit to my exiasting canopy.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14293579#post14293579 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Milhouse
So are the 460nm Current USA bulbs able to replace the Blue Plus? I know the Blue Plus are better bulbs, but I have a couple of the currents laying around. This way I could try the two currents, get a 75/25, and use the actinic I already have. I know the Current isn't a true actinic.

On a side note, at what point should I replace my T5's? They'll be a year old in about a month.

One year for the lamps. The current lamps are a crappy replacement for the blue plus, very low PAR.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14294336#post14294336 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by easygoer2
Not happy with my light setup and need some help changing it. I need some opnions about what I have to work with here. The tank is 60" long and 30" wide. What I have right now is 2 lumateck 250W ballast and a 48" Aquactinics TX5 fixture. Wantiing to put the MH's on the ends of the tank and the fixture in the middle. Now this tank does have a center brace on it. For the best colors of my SPS corals what do you think I would need for my MH's and five T5 bulbs? Or should I start over, or add something? Please give me your input on the bulbs.

easygoer2

Uh, yeah. 60 x 30 footprint you need a couple of Lumenarc type reflectors and retrofit T5's. You could built a hanging canopy type deal to mount everything/ I'd do 3 80 watt T5's with Blue Plus lamps and 12K halides.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14294515#post14294515 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by taku
Are ice cap ballasts and reflectors a safe purchase to get ample power/reflection?
Definitely am needing a retrofit kit to my exiasting canopy.

Yes.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14294515#post14294515 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by taku
Are ice cap ballasts and reflectors a safe purchase to get ample power/reflection?
Definitely am needing a retrofit kit to my exiasting canopy.

Call Reefgeek and get the reefgeek brand reflectors. You can order the IC ballasts if you like. I would just get the retro fit kit that Reefgeek sells. That is what I have and love it!
 
Hope this is the right thread..

i am upgrading my 65 gallon tank to a 90, I cant figure out what fixture to get.. would the 6x54 ATI powermodule be better then the 8 bulb tek light ? i want to get some sps ..but have a bunch of softies now.. would the ATI burn my softies out at the bottom of the tank ? and are they realy worth the money ?

lol, sorry about all the questions.i cant wait to get rid of my powercompacts!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14297175#post14297175 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltwaterpimp
Hope this is the right thread..

i am upgrading my 65 gallon tank to a 90, I cant figure out what fixture to get.. would the 6x54 ATI powermodule be better then the 8 bulb tek light ? i want to get some sps ..but have a bunch of softies now.. would the ATI burn my softies out at the bottom of the tank ? and are they realy worth the money ?

lol, sorry about all the questions.i cant wait to get rid of my powercompacts!

A 6 or 8 lamp Tek will be fine if you arent doing clams or a lot of SPS.
 
Het Grim,

I've got a Nova Extreme 48" 4x54 watt T5HO fixture (the one with the single reflector) over my standard 55gal. I've had the fixture for over 7 months and figure it's time to replace the crappy stock bulbs.

I am primarily keeping LPS with some shrooms and zoas. With the stock bulbs it seems that the flourescence of the LPS are kind of washed out when all 4 bulbs are on...blah. What will be the best bulb combination for growth and for more flourescence than the stock bulbs? I don't want an extremely blue look, but a little more blue than the stock bulbs, Mainly I just want to see If I can get my LPS to fluoresce more.

Also, since the fixture is wired for the 1st and 3rd bulb on one circuit and the 2nd and 4th bulb on another circuit... what order should I place the bulbs for dusk/dawn simulation?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14297553#post14297553 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shuguley
Het Grim,

I've got a Nova Extreme 48" 4x54 watt T5HO fixture (the one with the single reflector) over my standard 55gal. I've had the fixture for over 7 months and figure it's time to replace the crappy stock bulbs.

I am primarily keeping LPS with some shrooms and zoas. With the stock bulbs it seems that the flourescence of the LPS are kind of washed out when all 4 bulbs are on...blah. What will be the best bulb combination for growth and for more flourescence than the stock bulbs? I don't want an extremely blue look, but a little more blue than the stock bulbs, Mainly I just want to see If I can get my LPS to fluoresce more.

Also, since the fixture is wired for the 1st and 3rd bulb on one circuit and the 2nd and 4th bulb on another circuit... what order should I place the bulbs for dusk/dawn simulation?

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
UVL 75/25
ATI Aquablue
 
Thank you SUPER BOWL!!!! The search feature actually worked for a change.

Can anyone assist with a few questions?

I'm completely replacing the lighting on my 120 (5ft long version) with T5's. Does any company sell a 6 x 54w retrofit kit with 2 icecap 660's for overdriving + dusk/dawn? I think the 48" fixture with 6 bulbs is what I'm interested in but I could be wrong. ReefGeek has good prices, but they only have 4 x 54w kits? http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/IceCap/


And my second question; Here's a picture of my tank with 2 x 250w 15K XM halides + 2 x 98w PC actinics:

3246727160_6041f31226.jpg


left side
3246727242_a0fa21eaa6.jpg


right side
3246727196_fd2bb40be2.jpg



I'm curious about bulb configuration for a 6 bulb setup. I'm concerned that I may wash out the pink color of my huge toadstool coral on the left... or that I may mess up the bright orange and greens or the zoos on the right/middle, but I have a lot of purple mushrooms and red (with purple spots) mushrooms that I'd like to liven up a bit. So this was my thought, please correct if needed:

ATI Blue +
KZ Fiji Purple
GE 6500K
ATI Aqua Blue
KZ Fiji Purple
AT Blue +

Is that way too much blue? I've never seen T5's in person, let alone any of these bulbs. I like a 15K look to the tank. Thank you so much in advance!!
 
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Also, I have way too many maxi-jet 1200's!!!! 7 of them! Would 2 tunze's be a nice replacement for all those? I hate to spend that $$$ but I'd like to reduce power consumption but have nice flow and space in the tank. I dislike how much space all the maxi's take up though, and I already have a redsea wavemaster pro that controls 4 powerheads.. any ideas on how I could make this work? I'm willing to sell the wavemaster if it's not needed.
 
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90 Gal set up

90 Gal set up

Hey Grim, Wanted to take the time to thank you for your help. I've followed this thread for awhile and learned a lot!




I have a 90 Gal with mostly SPS and LPS, a few softies. I WAS running (2) Blue plus (1) Aqua Sun and (1) Super actinic along with a 250 watt DE Phoenix 12K halide on an icecap MH ballast.
I liked the look of this, but I was getting bleaching on my montis that are close to the top. I recently removed the halide.

My Questions are:

Are (4) T5's alone enough for a 90 stocked this way? If YES, what bulb combo do you recommend? I was thinking (2) blue plus a 75/25 and an aqua blue.
 
hey grim, I have a 14 bulb 39 watt unit i would like to change the bulbs i have 8 ati blue plus,2 ati pro color,2 uvl super actinic,2 ati aquablue specials. Im thing of 2 uvl 75/25,2 uvl super actinic,2 ati procolor,2 uvl aquasun,6 blue plus would that be a good look? Its softies/lps and a few sps but no clams.
 
Re: 90 Gal set up

Re: 90 Gal set up

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14300027#post14300027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RicGio
Hey Grim, Wanted to take the time to thank you for your help. I've followed this thread for awhile and learned a lot!




I have a 90 Gal with mostly SPS and LPS, a few softies. I WAS running (2) Blue plus (1) Aqua Sun and (1) Super actinic along with a 250 watt DE Phoenix 12K halide on an icecap MH ballast.
I liked the look of this, but I was getting bleaching on my montis that are close to the top. I recently removed the halide.

My Questions are:

Are (4) T5's alone enough for a 90 stocked this way? If YES, what bulb combo do you recommend? I was thinking (2) blue plus a 75/25 and an aqua blue.


You will at least 6 bulbs over that tank.

ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14300182#post14300182 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greennd79
hey grim, I have a 14 bulb 39 watt unit i would like to change the bulbs i have 8 ati blue plus,2 ati pro color,2 uvl super actinic,2 ati aquablue specials. Im thing of 2 uvl 75/25,2 uvl super actinic,2 ati procolor,2 uvl aquasun,6 blue plus would that be a good look? Its softies/lps and a few sps but no clams.

I personally think that is way too much red.

ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K
ATI Aquablue or Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus

The 75/25s will give you actinic and reds.
 
Grimm:
What is your impression of the GE 3000K bulbs?

I can not find any info in your threads concerning these bulbs and I recently switched to this based on info from this site

I now am running:
Blu+
GE6.5K
Blu+
BluSp
GE3.0K
Blu+

It is a very orange bulb and supposedly brings out the red pigments in corals, but I have read recently in advance aquarist that too much red can inhibit coral's growth. Any advice?

*I'm currently looking for the strongest pure T5 light to re-grow out my tank w/ nothing but millepora, montipora caps and a handful of zoanthids.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14301645#post14301645 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zachtos
Grimm:
What is your impression of the GE 3000K bulbs?

I can not find any info in your threads concerning these bulbs and I recently switched to this based on info from this site

I now am running:
Blu+
GE6.5K
Blu+
BluSp
GE3.0K
Blu+

It is a very orange bulb and supposedly brings out the red pigments in corals, but I have read recently in advance aquarist that too much red can inhibit coral's growth. Any advice?

*I'm currently looking for the strongest pure T5 light to re-grow out my tank w/ nothing but millepora, montipora caps and a handful of zoanthids.

I wouldn't run the GE 3000K unless you have like 7 other blue bulbs to hide it. There are better ways to have your reds pop. The UVL 75/25 will make reds pop and it has a lot of actinic in it also. The ATI Pro Color or Fiji Purple are other bulbs that are better choices to help with reds.
 
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