The T5 Q&a Thread

[00nothing]

I have noticed a lot of questions recently regarding t5 lights and how many bulbs should i have for this setup, is this setup any good? I thought maybe we could gather all the information into a single thread in an effort to cut down on the same posts over and over as well as make it easier for people who are new to T5 to find this info, and if we can keep this thread jsut to the facts and not opinions regarding the equipment i feel that it would make it much easier for people to get the info the require

I will try to give some info here but i am also hoping that people will chime in with questions and try to keep them to this thread and perhaps our residnet T5 god will chime in and help with this ( Oh hey grim didnt realize u were watching lol)

first thing i will touch on is the t5 setups from aquauniverse.com as i own these and feel like i can give a good opinion on them I am going to take some points from another thread asking about these lights where i posted ( i have tried to remove any personal opinion as to give more fact in this thread rather than heresay)

They area great CHEAP alternative but you get what you pay for i know that my system is lacking in areas where perhaps a reefgeek setup would jsut kill but either way i like it. Areas where there is room for improvement:

first off the reflectors are jsut bent polished reflectors nothing like a tek or icecap reflector at all and they are hard mounted to the fixture so in order to swap them out u need to drill out all the rivets it has not been tested yet but i do believe it would be possible to swap these to a tek reflector

secondly my 2x39w which i have 2 of setup uses a single workehorse 5 ballasts now there some debate from what i have read about this ballasts reducing the life of the bulbs so what they are still gonna last a hell of a lot longer than vho or pc and the bulbs cost a lot less

third this is the one that a lot of people arent going to like these are not waterproof endcaps they are more like a tombstone style one except that its not fully open it has a protective shield sort of thing that turns as u turn the bulb to block things off

Another thing that people ask about a lot is what bulbs should i use if i have x number of bulbs well since the search feature is working for me tonight here it goes (all listings are front to back) these are all only recommendations some people may want more blue for appearence some may want more daylight for growth it is all amtter of personal opinion

4 bulb
Blue+
Aquablue
GE Sun
Blue+

6 bulb
Blueplus
Aquablue
Blueplus
GE Daylight or ATI Sun
Aquablue
Blueplus

8 bulb
I cant seem to find the 8 bubl recommendations but i believe it was the addition of one more daylight and one more blue plus perhaps grim can provide us with this info

Whats the diffrence between the bulbs:
Huge post and lots of info on this so i am giving the short version

aquablue special: this is an 11k bulb even though it is listed as blue it is more of a pure white bulb

Daylight or Sun bulb: there are 2 to choose from the ATI Sun bulb which is a 6k bulb and the GE daylight which is a 6500k bulb the GE is a cheaper bubl price wise and also provides more par than its ATI equivalant so it is more often recommended

blueplus: the blueplus is the alternative to an actinic bulb it combines the spectrum of an actinic as well as a pure blue to give your tank that nice glow and blue look to the water

Pure Actinic 03: not a very popular bulb as the true actinics do not provide the amount of blue that many people prefer (I have ture actinics after seeing the blueplus there is no comparison the actinics will be leaving asap)



okay well i just spent a bunch of time creating what i will will be a useful post but the only way its going to get there is if everyone ask the important questions here and once my hands stop cramping i will try and dig up some more Q&A

[crash519]

Just a friendly bump so the thread doesn't disappear Tagging along!

[noles315]

I bought a used unit and don't know the age of the bulbs. Is there a way of telling when it's time to change them out? Also, any recommendations on were to buy the replacement bulbs online?

Thanks

[00nothing]

Originally posted by noles315
I bought a used unit and don't know the age of the bulbs. Is there a way of telling when it's time to change them out? Also, any recommendations on were to buy the replacement bulbs online?

Thanks

very good question

if theres no way of determining the age of the bulb then my recommendation would be to replace them straight away unless u can get an approximate age from the seller there are light testers u could get to find out exactly how muhc life the bulb has left but its a lot cheaper to jsut replace the bulbs

as far as where to buy them online your best bet would prob be reefgeek.com If you wnat to get ATI bulbs there are plenty of places that carry them but reefgeek seems to have better pricing and from what i have heard the service is good also

HTH

[amheck]

Originally posted by 00nothing
Another thing that people ask about a lot is what bulbs should i use if i have x number of bulbs well since the search feature is working for me tonight here it goes (all listings are front to back) these are all only recommendations some people may want more blue for appearence some may want more daylight for growth it is all amtter of personal opinion

4 bulb
Blue+
Aquablue
GE Sun
Blue+

6 bulb
Blueplus
Aquablue
Blueplus
GE Daylight or ATI Sun
Aquablue
Blueplus

8 bulb
I cant seem to find the 8 bubl recommendations but i believe it was the addition of one more daylight and one more blue plus perhaps grim can provide us with this info

So are these bulb configurations the "more white" or the "more blue" look? What bulbs should be swapped out to get the "other" look?

Aaron

[00nothing]

Originally posted by amheck
So are these bulb configurations the "more white" or the "more blue" look? What bulbs should be swapped out to get the "other" look?

Aaron

these would be the more white look if u were to swap out the daylights for a aquablue it would give u more of a blue look

[The Grim Reefer]

You can actually make slight changes to the look of the light by changing the order of the lamps.

Front

Aquablue
Blueplus
GE
Blueplus

Rear

Because the more white lamp is the front lamp the light will have a more white look. If you want a more blue look swap out the GE lamp for a second aquablue.

[psycho_clown]

i will have to keep up with this thread thinking of going with T-5's

[The Grim Reefer]

On an 8 lamp setup I would def run 2 daylights and maybe even 3 with the rest being blueplus as a starting point. If you are going to run 8 T5's the tank better be at least 24" tall and deep and the only mushrooms better be on a steak or in your .... nah, wont say it.

My new tank will be 6x80 with glass tops on the tank (maybe what made things so smooth last time). I am going to try daylights and superblues only and see what happens.

[vthondaboi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but supposedly 3-3.5 watts/gallon will let you keep SPS and clams under T5.

I've always wondered how much of a heat difference is there between MH and T5 though.

[The Grim Reefer]

Forget the watts per gallon thing. Too many variables. If you ran say 4 54 watt T5's you have 216 watts. However your critters are more interested in PAR. A 216 watt T5 system with 2 actinic and 2 ATI suns would have a lot less PAR than one with 2 aquablues and 2 bluepluses. You also have to consider the reflectors and how tall the tank is.

[psycho_clown]

grim, the tank i got is a 75 4x18x24 thought about a 6 or 8 bulb set up i would like to keep a few sps like maybe two or so high in the tank, the rest sun coral, Yellow Fiji Leather Coral ,Pipe Organ Coral ,Colony Polyp (Yellow) do you see any problems with this iu know that the suns will have to be put in the shade.

[jjoos99]

I have a 120 gal. that is 5 foot in length. I have vho lighting with old tar ballast. My bulbs are in need of replacement and I am looking at different lighting. I have seen some retro units for t-5 on ebay but in my 60 inch length they are 54 watt bulbs with a 6 bulb unit. I am not sure what bulbs come with the unit. Does anyone here know if these retros would work on my tank or do I need the 80 watt bulbs? I have also read about overdriving these bulbs with the ice cap ballast. What is meant by this and how many t-5's would the ice cap 660 fire? I have mostly soft corals and lps's
Thanks
Jeff

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by psycho_clown
grim, the tank i got is a 75 4x18x24 thought about a 6 or 8 bulb set up i would like to keep a few sps like maybe two or so high in the tank, the rest sun coral, Yellow Fiji Leather Coral ,Pipe Organ Coral ,Colony Polyp (Yellow) do you see any problems with this iu know that the suns will have to be put in the shade.

A six lamp setup should be fine; The suns will be fine as long as your Nitrates and Phosphates are in check.

[psycho_clown]

thanks grim thats what i was thinking.

[00nothing]

Originally posted by psycho_clown
grim, the tank i got is a 75 4x18x24 thought about a 6 or 8 bulb set up i would like to keep a few sps like maybe two or so high in the tank, the rest sun coral, Yellow Fiji Leather Coral ,Pipe Organ Coral ,Colony Polyp (Yellow) do you see any problems with this iu know that the suns will have to be put in the shade.

a 6 bulb setup would be plenty for what u are looking to do

[sjm817]

Originally posted by psycho_clown
grim, the tank i got is a 75 4x18x24 thought about a 6 or 8 bulb set up i would like to keep a few sps like maybe two or so high in the tank, the rest sun coral, Yellow Fiji Leather Coral ,Pipe Organ Coral ,Colony Polyp (Yellow) do you see any problems with this iu know that the suns will have to be put in the shade.

FYI, A 75 is 4 x 18 x 20. A 90 is 4 x 18 x 24.

[Voxboy]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
On an 8 lamp setup I would def run 2 daylights and maybe even 3 with the rest being blueplus as a starting point. If you are going to run 8 T5's the tank better be at least 24" tall and deep and the only mushrooms better be on a steak or in your .... nah, wont say it.

My new tank will be 6x80 with glass tops on the tank (maybe what made things so smooth last time). I am going to try daylights and superblues only and see what happens.

Hey Grim you seem to be the guy with the T5 knowledge so let me ask you.
I am setting up a 90 gallon. I want to house soft and LPS and a few fish. I have just installed a T5 retrofit with reflectors. It consists of..from front to back

2Aquablue
2Blueplus
2GE
2Blueplus

My question is this. I want to add mushrooms as well. How high from the tank should I place my lights. It is presently about 12" from the surface and the bulbs are running off workhorse ballasts.
Thanks
Brent

[ryannat1]

Hey Grim (MR. T5) whats the best config on a 6 bulb setup for growth and a decent 10-14k look?

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by Voxboy
Hey Grim you seem to be the guy with the T5 knowledge so let me ask you.
I am setting up a 90 gallon. I want to house soft and LPS and a few fish. I have just installed a T5 retrofit with reflectors. It consists of..from front to back

2Aquablue
2Blueplus
2GE
2Blueplus

My question is this. I want to add mushrooms as well. How high from the tank should I place my lights. It is presently about 12" from the surface and the bulbs are running off workhorse ballasts.
Thanks
Brent

What brand of reflectors are you using? If you are using Tek reflectors that is a TON of light and I wouldn't even think about shrooms. You could drop down to six lamps and drop the lamps down to six inches above the water and have a net gain in light at the bottom of the tank.

[sjm817]

You have the lights 12" off the surface? They should be like 3 - 4". And yeah, 8 bulbs is a lot with good reflectors.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by ryannat1
Hey Grim (MR. T5) whats the best config on a 6 bulb setup for growth and a decent 10-14k look?

Front

Blueplus
Aquablue
GE Daylight
Blueplus
Aquablue
Blueplus

Or

Front

Blueplus
Aquablue
Blueplus
GE Daylight
Aquablue
Blueplus

Same mix of lamps but a little more of a blue look due to the blue lamps being further forward. You could swap the position of the 1st Aquablue and the second Blueplus and get a little more blue look. Very slight changes but it does make a difference.

[pili]

Would a 6 bulb Tek light on my 40g breeder with half blueplus and half 11000k aquablue bulbs be enough for a good amount of SPS in a mixed reef? I am trying to decide between the 8 bulb and the 6 bulb but i would rather the 6 bulb for cost reasons. thanks.

[The Grim Reefer]

What are the deminsions of the 40 breeder? I am thinking 4 would be enough.

[hopper]

Just looking into T5's and was wondering what the power consumption is with 6 bulbs compared to what I now have which is dual actinics with two 175 watt MH's. Also would T5's give off less heat than the MH's?