The T5 Q&a Thread

[gsxunv04]

how is everybody doing on the T5 q & a thread, im glad to see it is still going strong!

I got a question...of course...I am ordering replacement bulbs and was wondering which would be good replacements for my aquasun(daylight) bulbs. what about the 6000k midday sun bulbs from geisemann?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14687009#post14687009 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by INNOVATOR
Good Morning Grim, if it is morning for you

I'm going to have two frag tanks built that are either 48"x36" or 36"x36", one for soft/lps coral and another for sps/clams. My question is in regarding height and wondering if 24w fixtures, normal ballast, could be used for the soft/lps coral at 12"? Would a 39w fixture provide enough intensity for the sps/clams at 12" or would the 24w once again be enough?

Thank you for the help Grim!!

You are better off building tanks that are longer and narrower. The tubes are 24, 36, 48 and 60" long.

A 36x36 inch tank would need say 12 lamps over it to grow SPS frags. If you made a tank 60 x 18 inches 6 lamps would do the job. 48" lamps are the best all around as far as price and usefulness. If you made your tank 48 x 20 or so 4 lamps would light it up just fine.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14687356#post14687356 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralfragger101
Grim,

It seems to be that you are the person to ask for T5 bulb combos and it appears that you don't seem to mind.

I've been running a crap set of PFO LED's that are now useless since there isn't a company left to service them so I need to buy a new light set.

The tank is a 48" x 24" x 30" (150 High)

At first I was considering a MH - T5 combo set but am now thinking about going with 8 x 54w T5's.

I'm not too concerned about the tank depth. If all I can grow on the bottom is some shrooms then so be it.

As far as color, I guess I want what most people are probably looking for - A nice clean bright look with a hint of blue and the color of the corals to pop as much as possible.

I think I'm stuck with 8 bulbs unless someone makes a 10 or 12 bulb unit that would fit. Even though the tank is 24" in width I think I really only have about 16" of useable space unless I raise the unit.

Looking down on the tank it looks like this:

Now I suppose there are other options (more than one light unit, etc)

I'd like to keep SPS near the top and then some LPS and a few softies at the bottom.

1) How many bulbs do you think I need?

2) What color and position of bulbs would you recommend?

Thanks in advance

Chuck


P.S. - I wouldn't mind other people opinions either but I only ask one thing of you and that is to include the "WHY" of it all. It doesn't do me any good just to say, "Use 4 of this bulb and 4 of that bulb" without stating why you would do so.

An 8 lamp 54 watt ATI Sunpower would be great over that tank. You are looking at about 16" of reflector area so it would fall right into your opening size. It would also allow you to keep anything you want from SPS anywhere in the top half of the tank so shrooms in the lower corners.

For lamps

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL 75/25
ATI Aquablue
UVL Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus

Should look 12 to 14Kish. The Actinic White (and to a lesser extint the 75/25) are a little pink and the GE is kinda ivory with a little green to it. If you swap the position of the GE and the Actinic White it will change the look slightly/ The Blue Plus/75-25 combo makes for a cool dusk/dawn look.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14687420#post14687420 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gsxunv04
how is everybody doing on the T5 q & a thread, im glad to see it is still going strong!

I got a question...of course...I am ordering replacement bulbs and was wondering which would be good replacements for my aquasun(daylight) bulbs. what about the 6000k midday sun bulbs from geisemann?

Depends what you are looking for. The Aquasun adds some pink (red) output while the GE is kinda yellow/green. I think I like the Actinic White lamp as a replacement for the Aquasun as it still adds the red but has actinic kick as well and still has good PAR. Perhaps one GE and one actinic white would be what you are looking for.

 

[coralfragger101]

Hmmm - And you didn't recommend a Fiji Purple anywhere in there. I was getting the feeling that the Fiji was the latest and greatest - No?

Also wondering what the purpose of the GE 65k light is.

I use 65k's over my refugium for macro growth.

 

[coralfragger101]

And here's the dumb question of the day.

It almost seems as though people talk like the Sunpower and the Powermodule are two different lighting systems.

Are they? Cause you are recommending the SunPower and I'm finding the PowerModule.

 

[pimp4cheddar]

Holy Crap...this dude is like the T5 Guru...

Wow...well let me say Thanks! It's great to see a thread where people can ask questions and not get flammed to death.

Grim you seem to know your stuff...let me ask you this:


I currently have a 29 gallon tank. I went ahead and brough the Nova Extreme SLR 30 inch unit. It's the 2 bulb unit on DrsFosters for about $80. It came with (1-10k bulb, 1-460nm bulb). They look great and my tank has a decend glow to it.

My question is this: I've been told the 48watts that the unit puts out is enought to keep mushrooms and zoas, since they have SLR's. What would be a good mix of bulbs to upgrade to? It's hard to find an easy answer since I only have 2 bulbs to play with rather than 4 or 6.

I've read ATI are great bulbs and so are Gisseman<- check spelling.


Grim, I'm trying to get a look like this:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1220131

FIJI's tank is SO SICK! I know it'll be hard to get that with only 2 bulbs...but can I get something close?



Thanks man,

Here are some pics to help you out some...

 

[rutz81]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14687734#post14687734 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralfragger101
And here's the dumb question of the day.

It almost seems as though people talk like the Sunpower and the Powermodule are two different lighting systems.

Are they? Cause you are recommending the SunPower and I'm finding the PowerModule.

They are different. I ordered the Sunpower. They are essentially the same unit, except the Sunpower has less active cooling(less fan(s) and aesthestically looks different, some say not as nice, but, still looks nice to my eye. And the Sunpower is a good $150 less.

 

[pimp4cheddar]

It's hard to find any info on these lighting units...no one has them.

Why? They're not that bad!

 

[rutz81]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14687908#post14687908 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pimp4cheddar
It's hard to find any info on these lighting units...no one has them.

Why? They're not that bad!

If you're referring to the Sunpower it's because they just began importing them into the US recently on a limited basis....

 

[pimp4cheddar]

I'm referring to the Nova Extreme SLR T5HO units... They are the cheaper T5 units. Most of them have no times, fans, LED's, etc...

Most people comment on the Nova Extreme Pro units.

 

[CLINTOS]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14686754#post14686754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rtparty
You should be good with that mix. Grow just about anything you want provided you have good ballasts and reflectors.

Gmann Actinic+
KZ Fiji Purple
Gmann Actinic+
KZ Coral Light
Gmann Actinic+
KZ Coral Light
KZ Fiji Purple
Gmann Actinic+

The Gmann bulbs are good bulbs. You shouldn't have issues. You may have issues getting 8 bulbs over that tank however.

Thank you

the canopy fit's perfectly I knew there was a chance just no one wanted to confirm it

 

[CLINTOS]

Another question is on bulb colour can someone discribe the colour of the 12 000 KZ compared to the geismen 10 000k aqua blue is there a huge difference or just a slight more blue in the KZ thank's

 

[coralfragger101]

All this leaves me to the question of IS THE SUNPOWER or POWERMODULE worth the extra cash?

Along with the problem of where you can even buy the darn things.

I have found that ReefGeek sells the PowerModule but that is the ONLY place that I have found that sells either.

But now going back to the first question.
I can pick up the same recommended bulb choice and throw them in a Tek Light which seems to be a reliable unit and it would be over $400 cheaper.

What little bit I've read about the ATI units makes me understand that they are just now new to the American market so I'm not going to be able to find people that have used the units that can say they are worth the extra cash or not.

I'm just having a real hard time believing that they are worth more than $400 compared to other 8 bulb units.

 

[dustinP]

i have a ten bulb ATI fixture that im about to order and would like to grow almost all SPS in my system at virtually any level of the tank (24" tall) and would like to know the best combo for growth and color

 

[coralfragger101]

May I ask why you have decided on that unit Dustin?

 

[Bernie_Mac]

Thanks guys for the info!!!!!!!

 

[dustinP]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14688513#post14688513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralfragger101
May I ask why you have decided on that unit Dustin?

its an all around great fixture

 

[coralfragger101]

But how do you know that when it is a new product to the States? I'm not trying to beat you down or anything. I'm looking at the possibility of buying one myself but I need to know that it is worth the extra 4 bills that it will cost me.

 

[dustinP]

because it has been used for quite a long time in Europe, go look at the European TOTM winners and look at how many are using the ATI light