The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by leadsinker

Grim need info on which t5 fixture to buy. will be mixed reef 36 x 20 x 20.

ati 6 x 24, 4 x 36, 6 x 36



i have been told ati 6 x 24 is enough

You would get fall out on the ends if the Lent of the fixture does not match the length of the tank. Even with a perfect match there actually is some fall out but not nearly as noticeable as with a 6" gap on each end of the tank. So basically rule out the 24" fixture.

The six bulb fixture will defiantly give your roughly 50% more par than the same brand and design of a 4 bulb fixture. Personally Id even go with a slightly lower quality fixture and have more bulbs to give me some extra ability to tune the fixture to my eye.

Another big factor is what kind of corals that you keeping. Most SPS like a lot more light than many soft corals. But the 6-36 from your list should be the best bet all the way around.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by leadsinker

Grim need info on which t5 fixture to buy. will be mixed reef 36 x 20 x 20.

ati 6 x 24, 4 x 36, 6 x 36



i have been told ati 6 x 24 is enough

6x24 would be enough but a 6 x 39 would offer better options should you decide to get a bigger tank

[leadsinker]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

6x24 would be enough but a 6 x 39 would offer better options should you decide to get a bigger tank

would 6 x 24 tek or aquantic life be ok? been told that the ati put out more lumes.

the ati 6 x 39 would not be over kill?

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by leadsinker

would 6 x 24 tek or aquantic life be ok? been told that the ati put out more lumes.

the ati 6 x 39 would not be over kill?

Goes back to the upgrade ability as well as lamp life. ATI's cooling is the best I've seen so your lamps should be good 12 to 15 months. If you go to a bigger tank the ATI will handle it.

[leadsinker]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Goes back to the upgrade ability as well as lamp life. ATI's cooling is the best I've seen so your lamps should be good 12 to 15 months. If you go to a bigger tank the ATI will handle it.

obvicously powermoduels have more fans,but will the sunpower models also prolong lamp's for 12 to 15 month's

any other pro's and con's between the two, aside from the $$$

thank you Grim

[The Grim Reefer]

No, both models have good cooling.

[garygb]

I just hung up my ATI Sunpower a few days ago from the ceiling, and I'm curious, is there something I should do with the cables that hang down on either side of the fixture? The cables hang down well below the top of the tank on either side.

[gmoney243]

looking for a nice blue look with great par

3 ati blue+
1 fiji purple

or
3 ati blue+
1 ati aquablue special

or
2 ati blue+
1 fiji purple
1 aquablue special

thx in advance

[Dimon]

Hey! I just got my 40 gal breeder and ordered ATI sunpower 4x39 and looking for a set of bulbs, first of all I was inspired by Bucketdrop with his 40 gal setup, he had light fixture with one of each bulb: UVL superactinic, ATI blue plus, ATI aquablue special and a GE 65000K
This is his tank

But I did my own research and many people suggest to get
2 ATI Blue Plus,
1 ATI Purple Plus
1 KZ New Generation
What do you think I should get? I really like that 14k look but my main focus right now is to get maximum growth for any kinds of korals, so which setup will give me 14k look and which setup is better for maximum growth?

[pwoller]

Originally Posted by garygb

I just hung up my ATI Sunpower a few days ago from the ceiling, and I'm curious, is there something I should do with the cables that hang down on either side of the fixture? The cables hang down well below the top of the tank on either side.

I coil them up and tape them to the top of the fixture.

[pwoller]

Originally Posted by gmoney243

looking for a nice blue look with great par

3 ati blue+
1 fiji purple

or
3 ati blue+
1 ati aquablue special

or
2 ati blue+
1 fiji purple
1 aquablue special

thx in advance

I like option 1. Nice blue 20k look to me.

[gmoney243]

Originally Posted by pwoller

I like option 1. Nice blue 20k look to me.

But do the corals get good growth and all the spectrum they need?

[pwoller]

Originally Posted by gmoney243

But do the corals get good growth and all the spectrum they need?

Yes. Blue Plus and fiji purples put out a ton of par.

[garygb]

Thanks pwoller, that's a good idea.

[sarget]

Guys

I am looking at a 36" 6x39w T5 fixture.
I have narrowed down my selection to either the ATI Sunpower or the TEK- Elite.

My question is: Is the ATI really worth $135 more? Both have active cooling.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by sarget

Guys

I am looking at a 36" 6x39w T5 fixture.
I have narrowed down my selection to either the ATI Sunpower or the TEK- Elite.

My question is: Is the ATI really worth $135 more? Both have active cooling.

What size tank and what are you keeping? The ATI puts out roughly 25% more PAR so if you need the light it is well worth it.

[sarget]

RTParty. The tank is a 65 gallon 36x18x24. Thanks for the quick response. Just setting up the tank but want to keep some SPS close to surface and LPS midway and maybe some leathers in the darker section of the tank.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by sarget

RTParty. The tank is a 65 gallon 36x18x24. Thanks for the quick response. Just setting up the tank but want to keep some SPS close to surface and LPS midway and maybe some leathers in the darker section of the tank.

I would go with the ATI personally. If you upgrade to a 48" tank you can still use the 36" ATI if needed. I ran a 24" ATI over a 36" tank for 8 months. I purposely did this because I didn't need my carpet lit.

[shred5]

Originally Posted by sarget

RTParty. The tank is a 65 gallon 36x18x24. Thanks for the quick response. Just setting up the tank but want to keep some SPS close to surface and LPS midway and maybe some leathers in the darker section of the tank.

You should be fine with the tek. I own two regular tek fixtures without the fans and they do fairly well. The Fans on the elite will increase the par over mine and increase bulb life. I also own a Ati power module and they are nice, they do have additional par. They are nice looking fixtures and nicely built but for the price I am slightly disappointed. The stupid power adapter for the fans is one thing, no power switches, no legs, and crappy directions. Just seems odd for such a high end fixture. Don’t get me wrong it is a great fixture especially for output but it does have short comings.

For what you are talking about doing the tek should be fine. Anything over 24” tall I would look at the ati for sure. You have too look at what you are gong to keep.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by sarget

Guys

I am looking at a 36" 6x39w T5 fixture.
I have narrowed down my selection to either the ATI Sunpower or the TEK- Elite.

My question is: Is the ATI really worth $135 more? Both have active cooling.

with the ATI you might get 125% of the PAR but you need to judge for yourself if for you that extra 25% is worth the money. Keep in mind that some people have to raise there light 24" above the tank to decrease the PAR and others need to put there lights 3" above the water to get enough PAR. The big difference being what you want to keep in your tank.

If you intend to put clams on the substrate level then the more PAR the better. But if you want a lot of LPS corals throughout your tank than you will probably have to find the ideal height to balance the system for your corals regardless which fixture you use.

Personally I would put that $135.00 into a higher quality protein skimmer or a larger refugium. While lights are extremely important I do not believe they should be 50% of the cost of any reef. However I'm more of an LPS person than some of the SPS and clam fanatics.

[yellowsnow]

Hi I have a to get new bulbs soon wright now I have coralife 10'000K and actinic blue by aquatic life. I want to go with ATI 12'000k & ATI true actinic I have four bulbs to change I am new to salt water 8 months I have soft & SPS I call them hard corals every thing is growing great .My lights are on for 7hours fist the blues 1hour them the 10'000k those turn off one hour before the moon lights come on . Dose anyone have a good combo for me so my corals will keep growing at a good pace my neon green birdsnest is growing like a weed.Thank You Yellowsnow

[yellowsnow]

My lights are T5 54w

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

Hi I have a to get new bulbs soon wright now I have coralife 10'000K and actinic blue by aquatic life. I want to go with ATI 12'000k & ATI true actinic I have four bulbs to change I am new to salt water 8 months I have soft & SPS I call them hard corals every thing is growing great .My lights are on for 7hours fist the blues 1hour them the 10'000k those turn off one hour before the moon lights come on . Dose anyone have a good combo for me so my corals will keep growing at a good pace my neon green birdsnest is growing like a weed.Thank You Yellowsnow

It sounds like you have the same lighting I initialy started out with about 10 years ago. In time I found out it was not the greatest and I did loads of experimenting. My suggestion for you would be to pick up 2 ATI Blue Plus bulbs initially. Replace one of your Atinics and one of you 10,000K's with them. With this change you only slightly be decreasing the 420nm atinic light since these Blue Plus do provide some, But you will be increasing your 460nm to 500nm lighting that is equally as important.

After a few weeks change out your other Atinic bulb for an ATI Purple plus. This bulb is basically another Blue bulb but also has a nice peak in the red range for added color balancing and providing the corals with there needed red light.

Finally a week or two later change out the last 10,000K bulb. This is very debatable on what will please your eye as well as provide the best color growth. the range of bulbs here include the 6,500K (yellowish) the 10,000K, 12,000K 14,000K or even the Aqua Blue Special (strong in the blue greens). I'm personally running the 14,000K 75% Atinic25% full spectrum but on my next bulb change will probably go with the ZK New Generation.

[ninjanole]

Hey I've just started a 65 gallon hex tank and I would like to add some corals and possibly a few anemones. The light fixture that i have is a 24" coralife t5 ho with 2 bulbs. currently only a 24w actinic bulb is in there but not running as only fish and rock are in the tank. What is the best combo for bulbs? I have asked my LFS but I get different answers. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by ninjanole

Hey I've just started a 65 gallon hex tank and I would like to add some corals and possibly a few anemones. The light fixture that i have is a 24" coralife t5 ho with 2 bulbs. currently only a 24w actinic bulb is in there but not running as only fish and rock are in the tank. What is the best combo for bulbs? I have asked my LFS but I get different answers. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks

Unfortunatly with a 65 gallon Hex the longest fixtures you can go with are with 24" tubes. 36" Tubes would over hang your tank. Simularlt your limited on the width of the fixture since there are short sides. However I had seen some beautifuly lit Hex tanks in the past.

With just two bulbs I would go with one ATI Blue Plus and the other probably a New Generation. Idealy a six bulb fixture would be the best however with the tank dimensions I doubt one would available without overhang. But if were me I would look for a LED light for a tank like this. A home built LED fixture would save you money as well as customizable to your tank size.