THE T-5 Q&A THREAD

greymach

greymach

Member
I have a 55 gallon tank...36" long. I am looking into getting new lights. I have VHOs right now, 285 watts. I want to be able to have the actinic look. I was looking at the 6x39 watts of tek t5s. Will this be an upgrade of my 285 watts of VHOs? Can anyone post a picture of what t5 actinics look like on their tank. My friend had PCs with actinics and they look awsome. All his coral glow and i want that for my tank. Thanks
 
rmahnick

rmahnick

Member
try 3 ATI Blue Plus, 1 GE 6500k, 1 UVL Super Actinic, 1 ATI Aquablue.
front
blue plus
super actinic
6500k
blue plus
aquablue
blue plus
 
greeds

greeds

New Member
great thread...i have the tek T5's, 4 x 54w, 2 10k's and 2 pure actinics. my lights are mega-bright and i was wondering if there is some way of blocking the space between the light fixture and the top of the tank (as they are on a stand, about 4 inches or so above the tank). when i look at the tank, my eyes hurt! also, i was wondering, will the spectrum coming off of the lights damage my eyes? i know it's a stupid question, but they are freaking bright and I was wondering what the risk of that would be...especially if you had kids around.
thanks guys
 
matt819

matt819

Member
haha...no known risks, as far as I know. I've read a lot of places too, wouldn't worry about it. I just got an icecap 4 lamp retro, 48 inch for my 55. I love it and just mowed about 50 stalks of xenia out of the way, so I got some prime real estate for some new coral. Can't wait to stock up and see what kinda growth I can get.
 
skeletoncowboy

skeletoncowboy

Member
Alright guys I have a question. I currently have a 24 gallon tank with dimensions of 30"L x 12"H x 12"W that just recently finished its cycle. No livestock in it yet, just LR. For lighting I'm using a MH 150W 10k light over it currently so I can pretty much put any coral in there I want. I'm thinking about switching to T-5s, Is there any T-5s out there that can match or exceed the MH I'm currently using? Would it be a smart choice to change to T-5? Any suggestions for a setup? It can only be 30 inches
 
mp32

mp32

Member
I have a 72" nova extreme pro. It is time for bulb replacement, and I was wondering what would be the best bulbs for this fixture. I have a mix of SPS and LPS and I want something that will be good for growth and of course good color for the coral and the fish. Thanks in advance!
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
i would go with some blue +, kz fuji perples and i always use ge 6500. along with some aquablues. that has alot of bulbs so ya.....what exact color do u want? how many bulbs does that fixture have?
 
mp32

mp32

Member
It has 12 bulbs, 6 10,000k, and 6 blue 460nm. I just would like to have the colors to really pop, and make sure I have good growth. This is my first lighting change so I am use to what I have now and that is it. So I am not sure how I would like it to look. I was thinking of 2 420nm, 2 460nm, and 2 fiji purple. For the white bulbs I was thinking 4 10,000k, and 2 12,000k 50/50 I do not know, what do you think? Also is it true that you should only replace 2 bulbs a week, so that the new light does not bother the coral?
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
buy ati, ulv not nova. u dont want actinics they look goofy, i have a 6 bulb and i have 4 blue + 1 fuji purp and one powergrowth. i use the powergrowth cause its almost orange. order 4 blue+, 2 kz fuji purp, 2 ge 6500, 2 aquablue specials and 2 75/25s. that will be a nice 14k with a nice pop
 
bmkj02

bmkj02

Member
How do you feel about the Glo products? My lfs had a couple of 54x2 ballast on clearence I picked up for $35 each. Havent finished my canopy yet and only have 1 ballast hooked up running 2 lights. All four T5HO will be actinics Glo products. I also have 2 400w MH 10k. Its on a 125
 
culp

culp

Active Member
also i think you would be happier with 4 ATI blue+ they have much higher output and are still really blue.
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
Originally Posted by bmkj02
http:///forum/post/3054734
How do you feel about the Glo products? My lfs had a couple of 54x2 ballast on clearence I picked up for $35 each. Havent finished my canopy yet and only have 1 ballast hooked up running 2 lights. All four T5HO will be actinics Glo products. I also have 2 400w MH 10k. Its on a 125
they arent the best but they arent bad most use them for fresh planted tanks cause they dont need much light. dont get glo bulbs get ati like culp said blue+ are a nice deep blue. they arent the best reflectors but if they are just suplementry lighting they will work fine.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
Quick question that I prob already know the answer to, but I am looking at buying a 58 gal rr tank (used) It comes with a tek t5 6 bulb light. Is this a good light? I will only be keeping soft corals and macros as this is my seahorse tank.
T
 
culp

culp

Active Member
if you put fans to blow acrossest the end caps the tek fixture is pretty good. only fixtures i can think of that are better are ones made by ATI and Aquactinics.
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
well how long id the fixture? 36" or 48"? will be plenty and they are good. need more details. but even if its a 36" u will have enough for sps
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
Originally Posted by Culp
http:///forum/post/3055173
if you put fans to blow acrossest the end caps the tek fixture is pretty good. only fixtures i can think of that are better are ones made by ATI and Aquactinics.
aquatinics r way better. in order it would be nova tek aquatinics ati
 
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