The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by saltywet
Hi Grim,

I would like you valuable input and help with my current dilemma.

My tank size is 30" wide x 25" tall x 65" long.

I am trying to decide on one of two set ups.

1. Go with two 400w MH with 20K Helios and supplement with
six 48" T5.

My question for this set up is:

1. what T5 bulbs brings out the pinks and reds in acros

2. what T5 light combo would you reccomend for this setup?

Or, should I go with all T5s--If you think one would get better colors than MH?

1. How many T5 bulbs and what inch 48" or 60"?

2. What combo T5 to help bring out rich blues, purples, reds, and
pinks in acros?

Thank you for you time and insight!!!

I would either go with a lower K halide so it can pop the pink and purple colors and use T5's for blue or go all T5's.

For all T5's I would use 8 x 54 watt lamps.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Pro Color
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Pro Color
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

About the last 6 inches on each end will be lower lighting biut a cool place to throw some shrooms or something.

[dastratt]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
I would either go with a lower K halide so it can pop the pink and purple colors and use T5's for blue or go all T5's.

For all T5's I would use 8 x 54 watt lamps.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Pro Color
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Pro Color
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

About the last 6 inches on each end will be lower lighting biut a cool place to throw some shrooms or something.

I've been thinking about a tank about that size and thought I'd put a 10-lamp powermodule over it.
Would that be overkill?

[The Grim Reefer]

No. 10 would be fine/

[luke33]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
I would either go with a lower K halide so it can pop the pink and purple colors and use T5's for blue or go all T5's.

For all T5's I would use 8 x 54 watt lamps.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Pro Color
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Pro Color
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

About the last 6 inches on each end will be lower lighting biut a cool place to throw some shrooms or something.

Grim, why would you suggest 48" instead of 60" for a 65" tank? Just curious?

[saltywet]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
I would either go with a lower K halide so it can pop the pink and purple colors and use T5's for blue or go all T5's.

For all T5's I would use 8 x 54 watt lamps.

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Pro Color
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Pro Color
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

About the last 6 inches on each end will be lower lighting biut a cool place to throw some shrooms or something.

Grim, thanks for your reply.

What would you choose if you want the best colors in pink, red, blues, and purple---MH with T5 or just only T5.

I really want the coolest 'pop' of pink for pink mille, pink hyacinthus, pink birdnest.

From your quote it sounds like lower K halide will pop pink and purple colors better than using an all T5 setup. Correct me if I am wrong?

Thanks

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by luke33
Grim, why would you suggest 48" instead of 60" for a 65" tank? Just curious?

Should have explained better. I would use the Ice Cap 8x54 watt retrofit. It overdrives the lamps. The 60" T5 kits are also overdriven but they are not as intense as the 54 watt lamps. For an SPS tank I would rather have the penetration over the majority of the tank and compromise with the ends being lower light. You also have a lot more options as far as lamp choice.

You do need to run a couple of fans to keep the lamps cool as well. One fan at each end blowing in from the back of the canopy down the ends of the lamps will do it.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by saltywet
Grim, thanks for your reply.

What would you choose if you want the best colors in pink, red, blues, and purple---MH with T5 or just only T5.

I really want the coolest 'pop' of pink for pink mille, pink hyacinthus, pink birdnest.

From your quote it sounds like lower K halide will pop pink and purple colors better than using an all T5 setup. Correct me if I am wrong?

Thanks

You get into color rendering. A yellow object looks yellow because it reflects all of the yellow light that strikes it. If the majority of the light that strikes it is blue the object will tend to look very dull. By providing a full spectrum of light your critters will give you the most accurate color.

The lower K halide wont neccessarily pop it better than the T5's but the 10K halide will definatly have a pretty full spectrum. The ATI procolor lamp has a lot of red in it. there is also some yellow. the blue plus is mostly blue but it has some green. You mix the two lamps and you hit the whole spectrum from red, orange, yellow, green, blue. It's a matter of personal taste what exact mix of lamps to use. That is one advantage T5's have is being able to mix and match lamps to get a certain look. with halides you are limited. You can influence what the halide will look like to a point but really you can only just add blue. You could use a red lamp to change the look of a 20K halide lamp but running the red lamp before and after the halide would be out of the question cause it would look like crap.

If you had room the ultimate option would be a combo Halide T5 system where the T5's wouldn't just be suppliments. Doing something like this

Front

Blue Plus
Actinic
Pro Color
10K Halide
Blue Plus
Aquablue
Blue Plus

That would pop colors like crazy. You could use 250 watt halides because the 10K's are a lot more intense than the 20K's. Doing something like that I would use 60" lamps. You wouldn't have to run the halides much over 4 hours a day.

[saltywet]

Grim,

Thanks again for your help.
A couple last questions please.

I have room for the ultimate option for a combo Halide T5 system.

Can I mount the 60" lamps 12" above the water line or would that affect the pop of my colors. I have pvc manifolds that prevent me from mounting the 60" lamps any lower.

If you think the par is affected by 12" height restriction with 60" lamps, then would it be better to do the 48" lamps mounted down to 6" to 8" above the water line?

Lastly, you recommended the 250w 10K for the ultimate setup. Is this because 400w 10K will overpower and wash out the colors of the T5 you recommended, or using 400w 10K is okay?

Once again, thank you very much for sharing your trove of knowledge and experience.

[The Grim Reefer]

400 watts would be OK, Just a 250 in a good reflector is going to have plenty of PAR. If it comes down to it I would go with the shorter lamps and mount them lower. Moving the lamps from 12 inches to 6 inches above the tank doubles the amount of light your critters receive.

[sbcaes]

hey grim. how does the aquactinics mh/t5 combo 36" compare to say a current 2/250 4x39watt 36" in terms of par and performance. (including heat and what not) and how woudl you setup that bulb configuration? And do you know by any chance if these fixtures can sit on the Tank itself without risers?

Also how would that compare to say a TX5 from AA?

[strikleebizness]

GRIM REEFER...you're the man

Time for my question:

My current setup is a 48"x18"x18" 75 gal.

I have an IceCap 430 running 3 VHOs (they were hand-me-downs, but I know I is blue actinic)

I plan to upgrade and add an IceCap 660 Ballast overdriving 4 T5 bulbs. My config would be VHO/2xT5/VHO/2xT5/VHO

a) I am hoping to be able to do SPS, including ACROS
b) Where should I place the blue actinic lighting?
c) What T5 bulbs should I buy?

I need to know bulb brands and types. A list would be fine, but please comment on my ability to do acros. Also, what about reflectors?

THANKS

[Kevinshoemake3]

Here's a pretty simple question.

I have 2X54 retro fit hagen glo T5ho bulbs without reflectors in a home made hood on my 48" long 55 gallon tank. I have a zoa colony, a clown pair, and a 7-8 decent size frags in my tank. The zoas are growing with my current setup.

I ordered 2x54 retro fit tek lighting from marine depot to go along with my other 2 bulbs. I plan to run 2 acentic bulbs without reflectors, and the 10k bulbs with the reflectors.

Do I need to acclimate the tank to the additional lighting or can i simply cut the new lights on without any ill effects?

thanks!

[das75]

Is there a list or comparison that states the spectrums of the various T5 bulbs out there.

I'm looking for some actinics to supplement my MHs but there's Blue, Super Blue, Blue Plus, Aquablue, Actinic, Actinic Plus...

[barjam]

Reefgeek has spectrum charts on all their bulbs.

As far as supplements go check out the spectrum of your current MH. If you are, for example, running a 14k Phoenix which has a HUGE 450nm spike adding blue plus bulbs (450nm spike) may not make as much sense as a 420nm (actinic) spike.

[uhuru]

woohoo! I was able to pick up an aquactinics TX5 at the old price, so I would appreciate new bulb recommendations. This is for a 40g breeder (36x18x16H) SPS and 1 RBTA. Thanks!

[das75]

Originally posted by barjam
Reefgeek has spectrum charts on all their bulbs.

nice, thanks

[bassist6108]

Originally posted by uhuru
woohoo! I was able to pick up an aquactinics TX5 at the old price, so I would appreciate new bulb recommendations. This is for a 40g breeder (36x18x16H) SPS and 1 RBTA. Thanks!

Same here. I could really use bulb choice help. But I mostly have LPS. THanks, and sorry to jump in uhuru, hope you don't mind!

[rleechb]

Hey Grim -
I'm running 2 x 250w Phoenix bulbs. The color's way too blue for me. Is there anything I could add to whiten the color a bit, without losing the "pop" (maybe even add extra color)?

I've got a 2 x 39w T5 retrofit. how do you think a white-ish bulb in the front along w/ something red/purple in the back would fare? Thanks!

[nattydread]

Grim!

I have a Solarflare and I am slowly becomming an all SPS tank.

I am currently running this config. I am not completely impressed with the colors.

Row 1) ATI Aquablue Special
Row 2) ATI Blue Plus
Row 3) ATI Aquablue Special
Row 4) GE 6500K
Row 5) ATI Blue Plus
Row 6) ATI Aquablue Special

Would you reccomend any changes to help bring out the color in my sps?

[Dudester]

I put some SPS in my tank 9 days ago, and they all came from tanks with 400W 10K MH bulbs under Lumenarc reflectors. The corals are looking pretty pale, and I'm not sure if I'm blanching them or if they're adjusting to being cut, mounted, dipped, then placed into a different tank. So I took some PAR readings and this is what I got from the front, then from the side. I have a 10-lamp 54W ATI Powermodule located 6" above the water line. Larger size numbers are closer to the camera, while smaller size numbers are farther away. Unfortunately the new corals aren't in these pics, as the photos were taken some time ago, although most of the labelled areas now do contain new frags. What do you think?

[SimilanRocks]

Those numbers look so 3D! What's your bulb combo?

[Dudester]

front
blue plus
aquablue
super actinic
pro color
blue plus
aquasun
aquablue
super actinic
blue plus
aquasun



I'm considering changing out the central aquasun with a Fiji purple.

[ooja3k]

wow, that is a great reference tool...

lights can be compared color side by side... assuming that pic accurately reflects their color...

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by sbcaes
hey grim. how does the aquactinics mh/t5 combo 36" compare to say a current 2/250 4x39watt 36" in terms of par and performance. (including heat and what not) and how woudl you setup that bulb configuration? And do you know by any chance if these fixtures can sit on the Tank itself without risers?

Also how would that compare to say a TX5 from AA?

Couldn't say which is best between the two. I know the Aquactinics is well built and people who have them haven't complained about heat so I know they are good. Dunno about the current.

The Tx5 is better than the Tek by far.

[ooja3k]

Hey grim got a question for you.

Would you recommend acclimating my corals to this change in lighting??

I have the Nova Extreme 36" fixture with "stock" bulbs now. I am going with your recommendation with the 2x blue plus, SA, and AS. There will be a small increase in PAR but would you suggest acclimating the corals to this change?

Thanks