The T5 Q&a Thread

[nyvp]

don't all tanks have side viewing? when you look at your tank the light should be the same no matter if you are one side view are both i thought. Sorry i dont understand. also what about running both ? like every other kinda thing. Tnks for the help

[JustOneMoreTank]

Hey Grim
I got a 4 bulb setup from ReefGeek for my 120g tank (2Aquablues, 1Sun, 1BluePlus bulbs) and I love it.
Question is I think that there might be something wrong with the ballast or maybe how I have the bulbs installed in the sockets??? One circuit has a problem restarting if I unplug it and try to plug it back in, it wont refire the bulbs and they will flicker once or twice and then not come on. I have to wait about 2 hours and then when I plug it back in it will fire. Do you think that the ballast is no good? It is brand new ... I just got my LR a week or so ago.
Thanks.

[Vicious]

I just wanted to say thank you to all the guys providing the help in this thread. I'm setting up a 90 gallon (all my questions have been asked by others) and this information is fabulous!

Thanks so much!!

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by JustOneMoreTank
Hey Grim
I got a 4 bulb setup from ReefGeek for my 120g tank (2Aquablues, 1Sun, 1BluePlus bulbs) and I love it.
Question is I think that there might be something wrong with the ballast or maybe how I have the bulbs installed in the sockets??? One circuit has a problem restarting if I unplug it and try to plug it back in, it wont refire the bulbs and they will flicker once or twice and then not come on. I have to wait about 2 hours and then when I plug it back in it will fire. Do you think that the ballast is no good? It is brand new ... I just got my LR a week or so ago.
Thanks.

I'd guess a ballast but check the two lamps to see if they are seated right.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by mellissa
I am setting up a 240G. 8ft/2ft/2ft. This will be my first reef tank, but I have been keeping seahorses for 2.5 years.
I have been researching T5's. I have read that 24 inches is too deep for the t5's. Is this correct? I would like to have lots of corals, and a few schooling fish in this tank. If T5's are ok, how many tubes do you think I'll need? I know that in Oz, the longest available is 48inches.

Sorry if this post is vague, if you need more info please let me know.
Mellissa

T5's are fine for a tank 24" tall but in your case halides are a better fit. You would need 16 54 watt T5s running side by side to cover that tank. 4 250 watt halides will do the same job. They will use a little more electricity but cost a lot less to set up.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by nyvp
don't all tanks have side viewing? when you look at your tank the light should be the same no matter if you are one side view are both i thought. Sorry i dont understand. also what about running both ? like every other kinda thing. Tnks for the help

If you view even an 18" tank from the side you can see the different colors from the lights. If you spread that out over 3 feet it would be very noticable. When you look from the front (or back) you are looking through a combination of all the lamps. If you look from the side you are looking down the individual rows of lamps. . You could run all aquablue lamps and have a nice look from all angles. It wouldn't look as good as mixing the blueplus and sun lamps in but it would still be pretty nice.

[nyvp]

I appreciate the answers :

>>>>>If you view even an 18" tank from the side you can see the different colors from the lights. If you spread that out over 3 feet it would be very noticable. When you look from the front (or back) you are looking through a combination of all the lamps. If you look from the side you are looking down the individual rows of lamps. . You could run all aquablue lamps and have a nice look from all angles. It wouldn't look as good as mixing the blueplus and sun lamps in but it would still be pretty nice.>>>>

Would something made like this http://reefgeek.com/products/categor...ng/104490.html
with different bulds fix that problem?

[The Grim Reefer]

You want to run the same color halide lamps or you will see a big difference in color from one lamp to the other.

Here's what I'd do, get 2 of these so you have a total of 4 pendants http://www.reefgeek.com/products/cat...ng/104666.html

By running the Phoenix 14K lamps you don't need to run actinic or blue lamps with them.

For dusk/Dawn or night time viewing I would order one of these.\

http://www.reefgeek.com/products/cat...ng/104068.html

And run blueplus lamps end to end just outside the halide pendants down the length of the tank on either side. I would strongly suggest running 4 halides over the tank unless you run 3 400 watt lamps in lumenarc reflectors. I assume your 8 foot sections will be your main viewing points so you want it lit evenly end to end.

Those halide retros should be simple to install, you just mount the pendant and plug everything in.

[nyvp]

sounds good. the electric doesnt scare me been doing that for a while. Don't know if you have the software to make me a map of the top view of the tank so I can see your outline decribed. Tnks again for your patience and time

[crazyaggie05]

what about T5's on a 20H? is it too much? i saw that one link for a 4x24 watt system that was pretty affordable....

[The Grim Reefer]

Not sure if you would really need a Tek light on a 20 but if it will fit it would be very well.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by nyvp
sounds good. the electric doesnt scare me been doing that for a while. Don't know if you have the software to make me a map of the top view of the tank so I can see your outline decribed. Tnks again for your patience and time

________ ________

--H---H---H---H--
________ ________

Assume the long lines are the T5 lamps end to end along the length of your tank. The dashes represent the center line of the tank and to center the H's which would represent the 4 halide lamps.

[cabenin]

is anyone using the plexiglass cover over the sunlight supply units. I recently put mine in because the reflectors ar enot doing well with the salt environment.

[crazyaggie05]

i was talkin bout this one:

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...Code=Finnex-T5


114 ready to go with lights... doenst sounds like a bad deal considering its T5, there are PC units that cost this much and theya re only 2 bulb

[mskohl]

Okay, I need specific for my tank since I'm a newbie. I have a 45 gal. 36"L x 12"W x 24"H. Currently I'm running PC 192W of dual daylight and dual actinic. I have mushrooms, zoos, frogspawn, kenya tree, bta, xenia, open brain, gsp, and button polyps.

I would like to upgrade my lighting since I'm already feeling limited and left out. I would rather be limited by the size of the tank that the lighting over it.

What is the best purchase for me. I'd like a bargain as well as reasonable lighting for possibly a few sps or clams. Btw, I don't know a thing about ice caps or whatevers. I kinda need a package deal with legs (not hanging) if possible.

Thank you for your time and patience.

[redlad]

Grim the guru:

I have a 55 gallon, 36x20x18, with a 2" sandbed on which I am running 216 watts of PCs. I would like to change to Sunlight Suppy TEK 5s, since running MH is not an option in my case. My goal is to house a mixed reef, some shrooms,zoos, and some mixed LPS and some SPS. Would you recommend the 4 or 6 bulb system, and what bulbs would you suggest I use.

Thanks

[00nothing]

Originally posted by mskohl
Okay, I need specific for my tank since I'm a newbie. I have a 45 gal. 36"L x 12"W x 24"H. Currently I'm running PC 192W of dual daylight and dual actinic. I have mushrooms, zoos, frogspawn, kenya tree, bta, xenia, open brain, gsp, and button polyps.

I would like to upgrade my lighting since I'm already feeling limited and left out. I would rather be limited by the size of the tank that the lighting over it.

What is the best purchase for me. I'd like a bargain as well as reasonable lighting for possibly a few sps or clams. Btw, I don't know a thing about ice caps or whatevers. I kinda need a package deal with legs (not hanging) if possible.

Thank you for your time and patience.

I personally havnt seen any quality setups that have the legs i have only seen those on cheaper setups like the jebo ones I could be wrong though, if hanging is not an option then u may want to consider building a hood and going with a retrofit kit

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by crazyaggie05
i was talkin bout this one:

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...Code=Finnex-T5


114 ready to go with lights... doenst sounds like a bad deal considering its T5, there are PC units that cost this much and theya re only 2 bulb

That T5 unit doesn't have the individual reflectors which is what gives T5's such a big advantage. That unit would probably work well for your application although the lamps might not be very good..

[ErikS]

I hope this isn't a thread jack - but I wanted to ask a Q & it's seems that Mr Guru of all that is T5 (aka Grim_Reefer) might know.

Currently running 2x250 DE HQI's on a 4' x 26" tall tank for 10hrs, seems like too much - even the coraline on the bottom of the tank is light pink.

Thought about running 2x54 (Tek - 1 aquablue & 1 GE) for 10hrs & having halides come on for 4 - 5hrs in the middle of the photoperiod.

Enough for SPS?

Thanks

[nyvp]

hey grim is something like this what your talking about so two of them would give me the 8ft that i need or do i need more bulbs on each side of t 5's? how many t5 bulbs do I need on each sideand what kind?
http://www.reefgeek.com/products/cat...ng/104489.html

[The Grim Reefer]

That would actually work pretty good. I didn't realize the maristar was so close in price to the pendants.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by ErikS
I hope this isn't a thread jack - but I wanted to ask a Q & it's seems that Mr Guru of all that is T5 (aka Grim_Reefer) might know.

Currently running 2x250 DE HQI's on a 4' x 26" tall tank for 10hrs, seems like too much - even the coraline on the bottom of the tank is light pink.

Thought about running 2x54 (Tek - 1 aquablue & 1 GE) for 10hrs & having halides come on for 4 - 5hrs in the middle of the photoperiod.

Enough for SPS?

Thanks

How about moving up to like 14K halide lamps? Better color and less par. If you want to run T5's I would use 2 Aquablue lamps instead. Id still run the halides 6 hours if you have SPS. The Aquablue lamps will have more PAR than the Blueplus and look better than the GE. I would say you would have slightly more PAR than the blueplus/GE combo and a better look. It usually takes 2 blueplus lamps to 1 GE to wash out the green tint of the GE lamp.

[ErikS]

Thank you sir, very much appreciated.

I should have mentioned they are 14K DE's (phoenix). Can't really move them up (at about 6") it's part of a built in unit (long story ).

Two Aquablues - check.

I figure if nothing else I can save a bit on electricity - can always jack the photoperiod back up.

[carpetride]

Don't know how I missed this thread a week ago when I updating myself on current bulb choices. Just got my order in from ReefGeek today and swapped out the bulbs. All I can say is HOLY CROW!!

Went with 2 daylights, 2 actinic+, and 4 aquablue 11K.
______

11k
daylight
11k
actinic
actinic
11k
daylight
11k
______

Much brighter than what I had (1.5 year old bulbs) and a much crisper white light. I had wondered what the 11k's would be like and am very pleased.

edit: an earlier post was asking about T5's and a 24 inch tank. My experience is that a clam on the sand bed has done well and mushrooms on the bottom (more or less) have not faired so well and have not spread at all.

[cmomo0128]

Thanks for all the great input. I have yet another question for the lighting pros out there. I am wanting to upgrade from my 55 to a 125 gal tank. I found a site that sells a T5 hood that long but dont know much about them besides the first post in this thread. The tank is 72x18x22 and I was thinking of going w/ T5's from here http://www.aquauniverse.com/ . I was wondering if this would be a good light setup, and if so, should I go with the 6 bulb or the 8 bulb setup. I am wanting to keep lps sps & a few clams. Thanks.