The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by barney1215

Hey Grim. Just picked up a 10 bulb 80 watt ati powermodule for sps dominant tank. What bulb conf. would you go with. I like a bluer look also.

blue plus
blue plus
purple plus
blue plus
ge 6500K
blue plus
purple plus
blue plus
blue plus
blue plus

Grab an extra GE to play with

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by mginn

When a coral or clam is rated as requiring intense lighting how is this determined ? Is that strictly a total par rating. Very confused as to how wavelength, kelvin temperature and par values are related. Thanks for any help.

Corals will use any light from violet to red. I've seen shallow water coral that would have seen some red and a lot of yellow light do fine in a tank with very blue halides and deep water corals that would never see anything but blue light do well under 10K's

Just worry about PAR. Truth is the corals adapt to whatever light they get. You can have the same species 5 feet below the surface and 25 feet below the surface in the same area. They will see a big difference in the light reaching them

[sixshot00]

Hi Grim,
I Have a TEK 8x54
Bulb recommendation for LPS and some SPS
Order from front to back?

How lOng should I have bulbs on? Four middle bulbs are in one switch and two outer On either side for the other switch.
Thanks!!!

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by sixshot00

Hi Grim,
I Have a TEK 8x54
Bulb recommendation for LPS and some SPS
Order from front to back?

How lOng should I have bulbs on? Four middle bulbs are in one switch and two outer On either side for the other switch.
Thanks!!!

Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

[garygb]

I just received and hung my new ATI Sunpower fixture today. I want to make sure I install the bulbs correctly. In the User's Manual that accompanied the fixture, it says: "Each bulb should be oriented so that the stamp/label on the bulb is over the hole in the fixture." I'm pretty sure this means facing down, as into the water, but I want to be certain I'm installing them correctly. Also, does it matter if the label end is on the fan end of the fixture or not?

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by garygb

I just received and hung my new ATI Sunpower fixture today. I want to make sure I install the bulbs correctly. In the User's Manual that accompanied the fixture, it says: "Each bulb should be oriented so that the stamp/label on the bulb is over the hole in the fixture." I'm pretty sure this means facing down, as into the water, but I want to be certain I'm installing them correctly. Also, does it matter if the label end is on the fan end of the fixture or not?

The label end needs to be on the cord side of the fixture. There are vent holes that you can see, put the label under those holes. It does not matter if the label is up, down, left or right. It just needs to be on that side.

[garygb]

Thank you Ryan. I put the labels under the fan end, I'll switch them.

[db1317]

Originally Posted by rtparty

The label end needs to be on the cord side of the fixture. There are vent holes that you can see, put the label under those holes. It does not matter if the label is up, down, left or right. It just needs to be on that side.

rtparty...I received a new 6x54 sunpower a few weeks ago and noticed mine doesn't have any vent holes on the power chord side, but has a gap between the acrylic shield and the fixture on the opposite side. Am I missing something or is there a possible design change? I'm attaching pics of each side...they aren't the best, but hopefully, you can see what I'm talking about.

I noticed when I previewed the message, the pictures of the light fixture are upside down...Sorry about that...Didn't take them that way

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by db1317

rtparty...I received a new 6x54 sunpower a few weeks ago and noticed mine doesn't have any vent holes on the power chord side, but has a gap between the acrylic shield and the fixture on the opposite side. Am I missing something or is there a possible design change? I'm attaching pics of each side...they aren't the best, but hopefully, you can see what I'm talking about.

I noticed when I previewed the message, the pictures of the light fixture are upside down...Sorry about that...Didn't take them that way

The holes are on the inside of the fixture, not the outside.

Let me explain the cooling system.

The fans draw in cool air. That air travels over the ballasts and to the cord side of the fixture. There are vent holes on the cord side inside the fixture. The fresh cool air then cools the cold spot of the bulb. The air hits the acrlyic shield and travels down the length of the bulb and out the side of the fixture.

[The Grim Reefer]

just mount the label end of the lamps so they are at the same end as the holes in the reflectors, they are easy to see

[db1317]

Originally Posted by rtparty

The holes are on the inside of the fixture, not the outside.

Let me explain the cooling system.

The fans draw in cool air. That air travels over the ballasts and to the cord side of the fixture. There are vent holes on the cord side inside the fixture. The fresh cool air then cools the cold spot of the bulb. The air hits the acrlyic shield and travels down the length of the bulb and out the side of the fixture.

Thanks for the explanation...I see how it works now.

[db1317]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

just mount the label end of the lamps so they are at the same end as the holes in the reflectors, they are easy to see

They are now that I'm looking inside the fixture

[jacob.morgan78]

Can you have too much light over your tank when using t5's? I'm using the 12 bulb aquatic life fixture (2 sets of 6 36" bulbs) over my 125 and have heard it may be too much light?

Opinions?

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by jacob.morgan78

Can you have too much light over your tank when using t5's? I'm using the 12 bulb aquatic life fixture (2 sets of 6 36" bulbs) over my 125 and have heard it may be too much light?

Opinions?

Yes it is possible to have too much light even with T-5's. If you have too much light escpecialy at arond 685 nm (what some people call red) it can bleach out the pigments in some corals. This is one of the reasons many people like the bluer lights.

However what is actualy too much light is made up of many variables with the biggest being what actual corals you are tryng to keep. Most SPS are high light demanding corals and they more often fail because of inadequate light more so than excessive.

In your case you might have 12 bulbs but you also have a 125 gallon tank. Your bulbs are 39 watts each so you have a total of 468 Watts of light or about 3.7 Watts per gallon. I'm only using slightly less wattage on my 120 gallon at about 3.6 Watts per gallon. I have seen people going as high as 4.5 Watts per gallon without a problem with HO T-5's.

The secret is in the selection and placement of your corals. If you any corals that do not like a lot of light then simply put them low or in shaded areas. The corals that like a lot of light can be best placed high near the light bulbs.

[jacob.morgan78]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

Yes it is possible to have too much light even with T-5's. If you have too much light escpecialy at arond 685 nm (what some people call red) it can bleach out the pigments in some corals. This is one of the reasons many people like the bluer lights.

However what is actualy too much light is made up of many variables with the biggest being what actual corals you are tryng to keep. Most SPS are high light demanding corals and they more often fail because of inadequate light more so than excessive.

In your case you might have 12 bulbs but you also have a 125 gallon tank. Your bulbs are 39 watts each so you have a total of 468 Watts of light or about 3.7 Watts per gallon. I'm only using slightly less wattage on my 120 gallon at about 3.6 Watts per gallon. I have seen people going as high as 4.5 Watts per gallon without a problem with HO T-5's.

The secret is in the selection and placement of your corals. If you any corals that do not like a lot of light then simply put them low or in shaded areas. The corals that like a lot of light can be best placed high near the light bulbs.

That's great! Thanks! I really appreciate your thorough exlanation!

[rtparty]

Watts per gallon does NOT matter. Please forget that rule.

The fixture and bulbs used make all the difference in the world! On my 40 gallon breeder I was running about 2 watts per gallon and had to shade my LPS or I would fry them. I even had to keep some SPS on the bottom or they would get mad. So as you can see, watts per gallon is useless.

3w per gallon from an ATI fixture is TOTALLY different than 3w per gallon from a Current USA fixture. The ATI will have almost double the light output and yet, watts per gallon is still the same.

With an AquaticLife fixture on a 125, you don't have too much light.

[Steve S]

I am just starting to setup a 90 gallon reef. I am looking at all the lighting options out there....MH, T-5, LED'S. I am really leaning towards T-5's just due to the fact of heat and power consumption. I'm not really sold on LED's yet. I would like your opinions on and suggestions on fixtures. 10 bulb setup or 8. I am planning on having an assortment of corals, not just sps or lps. We can hold off on the bulb configuration for the moment.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Steve S

I am just starting to setup a 90 gallon reef. I am looking at all the lighting options out there....MH, T-5, LED'S. I am really leaning towards T-5's just due to the fact of heat and power consumption. I'm not really sold on LED's yet. I would like your opinions on and suggestions on fixtures. 10 bulb setup or 8. I am planning on having an assortment of corals, not just sps or lps. We can hold off on the bulb configuration for the moment.

Standard 90 gallon tank? 6 bulb ATI Sunpower.

8 or 10 bulbs is too much on an 18" wide tank.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by jacob.morgan78

Can you have too much light over your tank when using t5's? I'm using the 12 bulb aquatic life fixture (2 sets of 6 36" bulbs) over my 125 and have heard it may be too much light?

Opinions?

Too much for what? Acans mounted on the top of the rocks? Maybe but properly placed you should be good for about anything you want to raise. Stonies should be happy higher up and brains and softies should be good down low.

[Steve S]

Grim, Nice speaking with you. I will get with you later on. Thanks for the info.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by rtparty

Watts per gallon does NOT matter. Please forget that rule..

I never said it did. I only used a comparison where these light combinations were in similar ranges.

Originally Posted by rtparty

The fixture and bulbs used make all the difference in the world! On my 40 gallon breeder I was running about 2 watts per gallon and had to shade my LPS or I would fry them. I even had to keep some SPS on the bottom or they would get mad. So as you can see, watts per gallon is useless..

40 gallon tanks are different than most tanks do to how shallow they are. Need to look at how close the corals are to the actual light bulb. Unless you have a perfect lazer beam reflector on your tank you will have a logarithmic loss as the distance changes from the light bulb itself to the coral. This perfect lazer reflector is a near impossibility. The cheapest way is usually raising the light to a higher distance above the water level to balance the loss with the light required. However with a shallow tank like this there will be less difference from the top to the bottom than you have on 24" or even 30" tall tanks.

Originally Posted by rtparty

3w per gallon from an ATI fixture is TOTALLY different than 3w per gallon from a Current USA fixture. The ATI will have almost double the light output and yet, watts per gallon is still the same..

For liability reasons I will not mention brand names here. But will say one of the big factors that separates a $70.00 light fixture from $400 light fixture is the design of the reflector. The better the design to less you have of that logarithmic loss. On an old tank of mine I made a huge polished Aluminum reflector that gave me more light from a 250 Watt MH bulb than I had gotten with a commercial reflector and a 400 Watt MH bulb.

This is where doing some research on what is out there, how it works, and why one design is better than another really pays off. Very often there are applications where a $400 light fixture would be a waist when there is one for $200 that would do a better job. While in another application the difference between a $380 and a $400 light fixture is worth many times the added $20.00 expense.

[swissgaurd]

Grim and Rparty
12 bulbs 2 x's ATI 6 bulb sunpowers

how high do you think fixtures should be on my 225 gal. from water surface
its bright but i like the brightness i used to use 2- 400 wat MH( iwasakis) on my 82 gal
tank is 24" deep minus 4"sandbed so i got 20 inches for sps
sps tank

thanks

vic

[TropTrea]

Vic

What color temp were the Iwasakis bulbs you were using? Are these are the 6,500K bulbs that are generally rated as the highest PAR for Metal Hides? If so than you relay want to shift your color spectrum away from the blues or drastically increase your light in order to trick your eye. If you could tell us what bulbs your presently using we could give you some ideas.

This is one of the cases that I always emphasize where personal taste is an important contributing factor to bulb choice. To duplicate the MH 6,500K Bulbs the GE 6,500K HO T-5 bulbs are probably the closest thing out there. But if your looking at color and growth from your coral these bulbs create to much red and yellow and not enough blue. I know when I first switched from MH's to HO-T-5 I loved the look of 4 420nm atinics on dawn to dusk and 4 10,000K bulbs on my Midday cycle. To me it seemed brighter and gave a crisper white than than my old 6,500K MH's. Through the years of trying various other bulbs I have found that a more blue spectrum is what I like now. To me the 6,500K bulbs simply look too Yellow for my eye.

Not knowing where you at the start with your HO-T-5's I can only make a suggestion that you switch one bulb at a time to something like the 6,500 K bulb until you get the brightness and color spectrum you like. Other bulbs you can consider for brighten things up are the KZ New Generation, or the KZ Coral Light 10,000K. But only change one bulb at a time and give your eye at least a week to adjust to the new lighting before you make another change.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally Posted by swissgaurd

Grim and Rparty
12 bulbs 2 x's ATI 6 bulb sunpowers

how high do you think fixtures should be on my 225 gal. from water surface
its bright but i like the brightness i used to use 2- 400 wat MH( iwasakis) on my 82 gal
tank is 24" deep minus 4"sandbed so i got 20 inches for sps
sps tank

thanks

vic

with only 6 rows of lamps it's going to be hard to get a intense look. It has more to do with the smaller footprint for the bright light. When I went from 7 lmps to 6 over my 110 it looked like less light even though the PAR was higher. That tank was only 18 inches front to back

[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