T5s Q&A

You bet, someone has to stick up for T5s ;D

 

hey frag I have a 4' 4 bulb t5ho fixture what bulbs would you use for coral growth ? i know next to nothin about lighting so a thourogh hand holding would be great lol

 

Hey Dr Frag the wife and I decided to go with the ATI sunpower 6 x 60" 80w T5 fixture. If I order it with bulbs its an additional $110 and all the bulbs are ATI, is this a good price/deal?

If it is a good deal these are the bulbs I have to choose from:

ATI T5 Aquablue special
ATI T5 Blue +
ATI T5 Pro Color
ATI T5 Pure Actinic

What would you recommend for the 6 bulbs to get? Or do you think I should go without bulbs and just buy them seperately.

This will be going on a new build, my 125g I am working on.

 

Honestly for good growth and decent coloration I would just simply do a 1:1 of Giesemann's or ATI's Aquablue+ and Actinic+ or Blue + which are essentially the same lamp just different brands...

Both have good PAR levels, good color and are easy to find.. ATI's might be a touch better and are actually cheaper, well if you get them at Reef Geek.

What type of corals are you planning on keeping?

 

If you look at it this way, 6 lamps for $110 is less than $20 a lamp... Thats a good price for 60"ers.

As far as color is concerned, beauty is in the eye of the beholder... Literally. I like the tank pretty white with a hint of blue, some like it really blue, some like the look of actinics and so on. I personally don't like TRUE actinics... They don't put out much PAR and they tend to be somewhat dim.

On my tank I am running 3xAquablue 3xActinic+ and 2x6000k... I am considering swapping a AB for a Fiji Purple... I like that really whitish look but cranks out the PAR values..

Enough about my tank, for yours I would if it was mine go with 3 Blue+, 2 Aqua blues and maybe a Pro Color to bring out a little red... Unfortunately I haven't seen ATI's 6000k lamp in a long time..

If you want it blue heavy go with 4 Blue+ an Aquablue and a Procolor, or 2 Aquablues...

Happy lighting!

 

Thanks Dr. Frag much appreciated! Think i will just order the bulbs with the unit, I thought it was a good price as well but figured I would ask since this is the first I am using T5's.

 

You bet

 

hey Doc,

i have a 37g 30x12x22 that i would like to get a lighting setup for.

i have wieghed MH and t5 with about as much literature as i can handle to read and i just seem to like the Pros of t5 more.

anyway you being very knowledgeable on the subject what fixture and bulbs would you recommend for me.. i only intend on keeping softies. i am on a tight budget but dont want to waste my money on something cheap.

 

Hmmm, 30"ers huh.. That tends to be a bummer as there is no 30" lamp.

As often as I DON'T recommend these fixtures, I will now, I would do a 30" NEP fixture with 4 lamps. If you only want softies and want to save money that is your best bet. Make sure you get the NEW model with the ICR(Individually CONTOURED Reflectors) hey I think I just made up an acronym- instead of the older parabolic one. You could potentially make a GOOD retro but you would then be making a 24" frame on the tank and without a canopy honestly it will look kind of weird.

Good luck

 

hmmm im searching the web high and low to find this fixture your talking about.. i cant seem too. where did you see it?