converting to T5's

[young_skywalker]

I want to switch my 15 gallon from PCs to HO T5s. I wanted to hear some of your thoughts on the bulbs? I was going to put 4 over it (just for even numbers) but I was wondering if that is too much.

give me your thoughts

thanks

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
You're talking to a SPS guy there is never too much light Just kidding
If you can find bulbs short enough for your tank it would be a great improvement over PC's. T-5HO's run cooler, use less electricity, and put out more PAR than PC's. They also cost less to replace.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[young_skywalker]

yeah I've heard a lot of good comments on the T5's. I figured if I use a retro-fit kit I can put four over the tank. Do you have a suggestion for the bulbs? I was thinking about 2 20k and 2 14k

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
It's mostly a matter of color preference. I like the color a little more on the white side so for me I would use three 11,000K and one 450nm.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[colleen]

Hi Kevin,

Just wanted to let you know how pleased we are with the decision to switch from VHOs to T-5s after our discussion with you. We switched from 4 6-ft. VHO T-12 superactnic 420 nm to 6 24 " T-5 powerchrome 450nm. We had the 155 gal. still set up with the T-12s next to the 270 gal. when we fired up the T-5s so we could easily compare color. The color correction with the T-5s is now more blue than purple, which we like better. (We're currently testing different 400W 10K bulbs, so are running a Coralvue 10K on each end with an XM 10K in the center.)

We'd heard illumination wouldn't be as good with T-5s, but with them mounted just under the outside edges of the lumenbright fixtures they throw out more light than the old T-12s. Thanks for the great advice - we love them!! (Not to mention the 24" bulbs are cheaper MUCH easier to store than 6 footers.)

Attached are photos of lighting setup with T-12s and then T-5s.

 

[kevinpo]

Nice pictures Colleen Glad you like your new setup.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[colin779]

I like the actinic+ lamps from geismann. I run two of those and two 10k's. I only have a small amount of sps, but it has all grown and gained color under those lights.

 

[young_skywalker]

what is the consensus on order? should I alternate the two different colored bulbs or put the two bluer ones on the edges and white in the center?

 

[braddo]

4 bulbs is not too much, we run 4 T5-HO's on our 15 gallon tank. At first we ran 2 blue’s and 2 10k’s staggered and had a nice slightly blue look. I then switched out one of the blues for an actinic. The corals fluoresce a bit more with the actinic but since the actinic isn’t as bright as the blue bulb the color of the tank has shifted more toward the 10k spectrum.

Check out this page for PAR measurements and bulb combo suggestions.http://tfivetesting.googlepages.com/bulbs

 

[gotfish]

If anything, alternate them, but make sure a blue is in the first position. What fixture do you have?

 

[young_skywalker]

I'm retro fitting it...I was planning on alternating but wanted to see what others thought. I'm only going to keep some slightly deeper reef corals so I'm going to use two 14k and two 20k bulbs

 

[gotfish]

It's not like that with t5 bulbs. I've never seen a 20k bulb per say in t5's. They are named something like aquablue which is equal to a 12k bulb or 75/25 which is around 14k, but I've never seen a 20k t5 bulb. I would go with an aquablue, 2 blue +'s and maybe a fiji purple or true actinic. That would be nice and blue along with a bit of purple/actinic to get some nice pop.

 

[returnofsid]

Gotfish is correct. It's not at all like other lighting. You have such a huge selection of color choices with T5s. There are even bulbs that will give you the actinic look, while still providing high PAR, such as the Aquablue Plus.
For instance, in my 6 bulb Tek5 fixture, I have the following, from front to back:
Bulb Order:
ATI 54W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent
UV Lighting 54W Super Actinic T5 HO Fluorescent
ATI 54W 12000K Aquablue Special T5 HO Fluorescent
GE 54W 3000K Daylight T5 HO Fluorescent
UV Lighting 54W 10000K AquaSun T5 HO Fluorescent
ATI 54W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent

This combination is slightly too blue for my taste, so my next selection is going to be slightly different.

 

[gotfish]

Bulb Order:
ATI 54W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent
UV Lighting 54W Super Actinic T5 HO Fluorescent
ATI 54W 12000K Aquablue Special T5 HO Fluorescent
GE 54W 3000K Daylight T5 HO Fluorescent
UV Lighting 54W 10000K AquaSun T5 HO Fluorescent
ATI 54W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent

How do you like that 3k? I went with a 6.5k just for the par. To me it yellows the tank out a bit.

Have you tried switching the aquablue with the front blue plus? That should take some of the blue away from your view. Either that or switch it out for a UVL 75/25. In reality you don't have that many blue bulbs. You must like a 10k look.

 

[boatswainmate]

I'm running 4 t5 ho 2 attenics power chrome and 2 10k on a 75g my corals grow verry well and the colour is wonderful i alternate the bulbs and have them set on diff timers the attenics come on 20 min before the full spectrum and go off 20 min after

 

[returnofsid]

Well, my new order is going to consist of this configuration:
Front to Back

Blue Plus
12000K Aquablue Special
75/25 14000K AquaBlue
10000K AquaSun
12000K Aquablue Special
Blue Plus

The 3000K was definitely too yellow. But, at the time, they Aquablue Special and Blue Plus weren't as available, so it's what I went with for increased PAR.

 

[boatswainmate]

is a nice combination .. you will have to post some pics i may change my light choice

 

[returnofsid]

I'll be changing the bulbs this week and I'll take a before and after pic. One thing I have noticed...with the current bulb combination that I have, it appeared slightly too blue, when bulbs were new. As the bulbs have aged, the "too blue" has faded some. The bulbs are 16 months old and a couple of months ago, I had to change the Custom White Balance of my camera, for this tank. There was pretty drastic color shift at about 14 months of life on the bulbs. The color shifted away from the blue and more towards white.

 

[young_skywalker]

I understand there are choices, but I got a good deal on these bulbs and I think they'll be sufficient and give a good look to the tank. As for the names, this company doesn't have weird names for the bulbs so I used the color temperature.

 

[mc_hong]

I checked out this site.
The 6-bulb suggestion has 3 BluePlus, 1 SuperActinic, One 75/25, and one Aquasun.
For growth of LPS/SPS, don't you need more white Daylight??

Thanks,
Moeljo

Check out this page for PAR measurements and bulb combo suggestions.http://tfivetesting.googlepages.com/bulbs[/QUOTE]