t-5 owners...how high do you keep your lights

[RDMike]

I kept it at around 6 inches off the surface and some of my sps are bleaching. I have a 6x54watt over a 20 inch high 75 gallon. Thanks

[Elan L.]

I keep 8 54w over my 75 at about 5'' and sps are still thriving on the bottom of the tank.

[RDMike]

you dont have sps bleaching at the top?

[tas5tas]

I have 8x80w on IC-660's and they are mounted 12" from the water and I still bleach some SPS on the bottom of my 125. I had to cut the lighting cycle on my daylights to 4 hours to keep everything happy.

[RDMike]

I have 8x80w on IC-660's and they are mounted 12" from the water and I still bleach some SPS on the bottom of my 125. I had to cut the lighting cycle on my daylights to 4 hours to keep everything happy.

wow ...
So I moved my lighting up to around 9 inches from the water...hopefully this will help out

[OrrG]

I'm using a 6 bulb Powermodule at 4" above my 90, started at 12" and lowered an inch or so a week. It's been at 4" for almost 2 months now and my SPS seem to love it, no bleaching at all. Can't say the same for my Acans or Brain, they hate it.

[chadfarmer]

2 inches off the water of my 120

i had them right on the top but not all my sps in the back were getting enough light

[catastrofe]

5 inches off the top of my 20" high 150G. 12 X54W.

:D

[fishy125]

Six inches 8x54.

[Logzor]

Mine are sitting directly on top of my 90g. I can only run 5 bulbs or I lose color on my sps, most of which are high up in the tank.

[tas5tas]

I have 8x80w on IC-660's and they are mounted 12" from the water and I still bleach some SPS on the bottom of my 125. I had to cut the lighting cycle on my daylights to 4 hours to keep everything happy.

Forgot to mention that all of my SPS are mid to bottom of my tank as well.....here is a FTS from October 6th. Apologize in a advance for my photog skills as they still lack a little bit.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa170/tas5tas/October%206%2009/FTSOctober09.jpg


You can see my Tyree Ponape Birdsnest on the bottom in the dead center of the tank bleaching......it has now been moved off to the side under a ledge on the bottom and is starting to recover slowly.

[ksc]

It's doubtful your corals are bleaching from too much light unless you shocked them. The par at the bottom of the tank with the lights 12" off the surface is probably less than 100. My ponape is getting 500 ppfd..

[stayhuman]

my t-5s are 6in. from water

[Wilberheim]

In my last setup I have them about 5 inches off the water. I was using a Tek 4 x 54 watt setup, I had pink birdsnest about 10" below the water line and the tips of that were bleaching, but the rest of it was a bright vivid pink.

[tas5tas]

It's doubtful your corals are bleaching from too much light unless you shocked them. The par at the bottom of the tank with the lights 12" off the surface is probably less than 100. My ponape is getting 500 ppfd..

No shock ....I've had the coral for 4 months now and when that shot was taken 3 months. It slowly bleached over those 3 months with good polyp extension and as I stated, since moving it to a shaded area it is starting to regain it's color. I also cut my lighting cycle on my daylights(2-GE6500k, 1-ATI AB Special, and 1-ATI Blueplus) back from 6hrs to 4hrs.

Here is my lighting schedule.....

9am-11pm 2-140w VHO Super Actinic R and 1-80w ATI Blueplus

11am-9pm 2-80w ATI Blueplus and 1-80w ATI Aquablue Special

2pm-6pm 2-80w GE 6500k, 1-80w ATI Aquablue Special and 1-80w ATI Blueplus


All T5's are overdriven with IC-660's so I have around 880w of T5's or 7w/gallon plus the 140w of actinic lighting

[ksc]

Overdriven makes no difference, the ATI fixtures put out far more par using ho ballasts and proper cooling than an Icecap setup.
.

[Rodrigo_BG]

Overdriven makes no difference, the ATI fixtures put out far more par using ho ballasts and proper cooling than an Icecap setup.
.

did you test this?

[skjohn98]

8" off the water on my 75 they are the same as the 175 MH's

[tas5tas]

did you test this?

Exactly.....show me the proof.


I know the ATI is a bad A fixture, but I've never seen the proof that the PAR is higher than an Icecap retro with the same amount and type of bulbs.

I have seen that the output increases from a standard HO T5 ballast to an Icecap by as much as 35% though.


8x54w ATI= 432w
8x54w Icecap= 640w because a 54w bulb is overdriven to 80w

8x80w ATI= 640w
8x80w Icecap= 880w because a 80w bulb is overdriven to 110w


As with ALL T5 setups, it's about the cooling and the reflectors!!!

[ksc]

That's the input. The output is the par for our purposes. I've seen numbers for the icecap retro at about 500-600 at the surface, and a Powermodule at about 900. You'll have to do a simple search, there are many people out there with par meters and their numbers posted. Once my fixture is finished I'll post some numbers but I know I will get more par than an icecap retro using Triad ballasts, ATI reflectors, and proper cooling. I think it's funny that Icecap has stated that their new fixturtes don't need cooling fans, maybe the heat produced by the increased input wattage can't be cooled using fans, hence the lower par numbers...

[ksc]

Here's an ATI setup-http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1641235&page=7
I can't find an icecap setup with numbers close to this...

[scrapz]

I have a ATI SP on my 84x24x20. Started it at 15" above the water for 2 weeks. I was still growing montis & sps easily on the sand bed. I now have it at 8" to help cover the width of the tank.

[chilwil84]

an icecap retro sold with a triad ballast(usuall a generic brand) is different from a retro sold with a icecap retro with a 660 or 430 icecap ballast

[emoore]

an icecap retro sold with a triad ballast(usuall a generic brand) is different from a retro sold with a icecap retro with a 660 or 430 icecap ballast

And it is different if you are using fans to cool the bulbs. I saw somewhere on here there is a big difference between bulbs that are cooled and not cooled.

[scrapz]

an icecap retro sold with a triad ballast(usuall a generic brand) is different from a retro sold with a icecap retro with a 660 or 430 icecap ballast

overdrive bulbs burn faster and produce less par if not properly cooled.

[Elan L.]

you dont have sps bleaching at the top?

I keep my rockwork fairly low so that the coral can grow. I used to have rock stacked up everywhere to fill in but then i relized that is the corals job. I have a frag rack near the top with sps that have no bleaching.

[chilwil84]

overdrive bulbs burn faster and produce less par if not properly cooled.

all t5s produce less par when not activily cooled, i was just saying about the type of t5 ballast that was mentioned. and if we are going to be talking about cooling we need to mention that the cooling needs to take place at the ends of the bulbs, especially if they are in a closed canopy or fixture.

[fishview]

Sit on the rim. 4 x 54 on icecap 660 for 90 gallons.