T5 Lighting May Be For You

[DFL18]

Rj, do you know why the sunlight supply retro kit with icecap 6060's is roughly 200 cheaper than the icecap retro. is it just the difference in reflectors?

[brentp]

It's the cost of the ballasts.

[Ehydo]

Thanks RJ, on more question though. How much room do you need to clear to remove the cup on the skimmer.

And I was planning on changing the bulbs 1 at a time also. It just made so much sense.

[rjwilson37]

You just loosen the skimmer cup fitting and it slides right off.

The Euroreef skimmer cup does not require anymore room than what is needed for the unit itself. I mean you will want room so that your table to take it out of the sump and clean it as well the height I needed to add for the 3" riser it sits on. I made a custom stand that is 34" tall, so I have not problems fitting the skimmer in my cabinet.

[Timbor]

Your sump design looks pretty good... I just may attempt to use it. Two questions:

I've seen a few designs with 3 baffles after the skimmer section, and yours just has 2. Does this really make any difference in reducing bubbles?

Also, how is the flow inside your refugium? Does most of the water just run over the top, or does it get to circulate a fair bit before going into the return chamber?

Thanks,

Tim

[rjwilson37]

Alot of it does go over the top, so 3 baffles would mean the baffle just before the refuge makes the water go under and you would get better circulation. Alot of mine goes over the top, but it does mix up some especially since the macroalgae is filled in the fuge even all over the top. I don't get any bubbles into the return area that returns to the tank. The sump design is good, and I am sure there are better ones out there.

[ratherbediving]

Timbor

If I were you, i would consider not having a fuge integrated into the sump, and instead go with an additional HOB fuge (or another, separate fuge underneath the stand) later on. IME, having a small return area can cause some issues, as all of the water lost from evaporation will need to be replaced frequently. Having a larger area for the protein skimmer might be handy as well.

[efeeley]

RJ,What is the purpose of the riser under the skimmer?I am trying to design a similar sump and was going to leave 26 inches from bottom of sump to top of tank leaving only 3.5" for a 22.5" skimmer.

[rjwilson37]

Originally posted by efeeley
RJ,What is the purpose of the riser under the skimmer?I am trying to design a similar sump and was going to leave 26 inches from bottom of sump to top of tank leaving only 3.5" for a 22.5" skimmer.

The Euroreef Skimmer works best in 6-8" of water acording to Euroreef, but the public that uses them says they work best in 8-10" of water. I have the 3" riser so it is sitting in 10" of water, since the baffles are 13" high. The skimmer is working great, and my fuge works well too, I came home to about 1,000 baby shrimp in the fuge and a few hundred in the tank.

[Ti]

If only I could have fitted a euro reef.

[rjwilson37]

I love my Eruoreef, thank goodness they came up with the 2 inexpensive models for smaller tanks like mine. I also love the T5's which are great for smaller tanks to get sufficient light and run cooler so we don't have to worry about heat as much from our lighting.

Here is the latest full tank picture and a couple of other's.


Left to Right

Right to Left

[ratherbediving]

Looking great RJ! Are you content with the size of your tank, or are you getting upgrade fever yet?

[rjwilson37]

I am content, but need a bigger tank.

I have a son going to college this fall and just got my daughter a car who just got her license. The expenses are adding up right now, so I am not sure about long term immediate finances. Next years income tax return goes for an underground sprinkler system, so that money is already spent and can not be used for a new setup.

I take frags to the LFS once a month and it pay's for all my tanks frozen food and some of the salt mix. I do an online order every 3 months with a guy from work for suppliments, so the current tank is not to expensive to maintain right now. A 120-180g will be an expense that I maybe can not afford monthly right now. I feel bad for my Dori, who will be needing a bigger tank soon and I am just not sure what I am going to do.

[The Grim Reefer]

Maybe your LFS will trade you for a baby. Maybe you'll be in a better position toupgrade when it grows up. That Hippo has got to be feeling cramped. Or you could just make your daughter water the yard

[rjwilson37]

I will upgrade when the tang comes out, trust me. To get Dori out of the tank, I will pretty much have to remove everything. If everything comes out, it will be going to a new larger tank for sure and so will my beautiful little Dori.

She still has some time left, she is about 6", so that is 1/6 the size of the tank which is like having a full grown 10-12" tang in a 5-6' tank.

[superswimmer]

Very Nice Tank!

Ok here is the deal, I am very frusterated with my tank. I have flatworms and glass anemones right now and some hydroid colonies. Flatworm Exit/ Joes Juice=solution?

Also ever since adding my t-5s in Janurary my coraline in exposed to a lot of light is dying. Like 80% of the stuff on the rocks is white and yellow. The coralline under rocks/ shaded is better. However, i dont think it is a Calcium defeciency,( I dose 5 grams of Sechem Reef Advantage 2xs a week.) becuase Coralline has consumed my back glass wall, but most 50% comes in white/ and the other stuff is a healthy pink.
I change 4 gallons every week.
What to do.. ?

I think I need to invest in some test kit.. PO4, Nitates, Ca and ALK.
Are sailfert reliable?

[rjwilson37]

Just because you dose a calcium suppliment does not mean your calcium is at a sufficient level. There are other things that effect your calcium level as well, like magnesium and your alkalinity. Your dosing for calcium, but don't know how much to dose because you don't even know what your calcium is at.

I have come to a great methodology for dosing my system, but it evolved from testing and dosing for several months before it stabalized. Now I don't test that often, but I still test at least once a month to make sure things are in check. I also check when things are not looking right, or something seems not so right.

Good Luck!

[superswimmer]

Duh! Can't believe I didnt think of the obvious. I guess i still have a lot to learn. I guess when you are looking at a problem, its good to have another view on it. Thanks alot!



I hate not having a job! So much i want to buy/ get for the tank to get it looking great!

[rjwilson37]

I dose aragaMILK 2 times a week, Kent Liquid Calcium 2 times a week, and Drip Kalkwasser 2 times a week. I do this on a rotation for 6 days and then I do a water change on the 7th day and dose Iodine with maybe a squirt of Kent Liquid calcium as well into my fresh waterchange mix.

Here is a picture of my two skunk cleaner's that have babies quite often, which is basically food for the tank.

[superswimmer]

woah that's alot of stuff! Hmmm.. i'll see what works for me. I have heard some good stuff about Secheam. Like your tank, i only want a few SPS. Mainly some montis/birdnest/ pollicopora/ and if i can get my hands on it a ORA Tort. My LFS has one in the display tank.. waiting for it to grow big enough to frag.. of course all of these corals wil come only after i can maintain my levels at a consistent, acceptable range.

[JVHam]

I have been on the T5 wagon since I upgraded my tank in January. I recently upgraded with 2 more 39watt lamps from 4x39 powered by an icecap 660. I wanted to see how much electrical my tank was using so I measured before the lights came on(136 watts) and after the lights came on(502 watts). Meaning that is 366 watts in light. I know the Icecap 660 is supposed to run the lights at 60watts and the others should run at 39 watts but (39x2)+(4x60)=318. How efficient are these lights??????????????????????????????

Has anyone else measured their in/out power for their T5s??

[JVHam]

Just wanted to add. I still like the lights for the sake of heat. I am not running ac and have the lights in a hood. The temp inmy house yesterday was 79 degrees and I have a fan over the overflow that made the heater actually come on yesterday.

[Ti]

Maybe a heater came on?

[The Grim Reefer]

How long had the lights been on when you did the measurment? Until the lamps come up to tempature they will use more wattage. Ice Cap claims 60 to 65 watts for a 36" T5 which gets your wattage closer. Ice Cap says the 80 watt T5 runs at 100 watts on their ballast but a friend has measured them at 115 watts. I suspect the internal composition of a particular lamp will determine how hard the ballast will drive them.

[sidog1]

Hi guys,
Mostly a lurker here since my tank is not set up yet. However, I'm getting close and have a question. I have my sun tek t 5 lights but how high up should they be above the water? No clue what would be optimal? Any ideas? Thanks