T5s Q&A

Anyone know if the icecap 430 overdrives bulbs like the 660? I have advance ballast that are underdriving my bulbs.

 

Advance drive them at the bulbs specs. The 430 does over drive. The same as the 660.

 

t5

how many t-5 over 40 gallon breeder.i have a six bulb nove extreme pro with all six bulbs runing it bright as heck.i have some lps corals some milli corals in the middle of the tank and a dresa clam on the bottom.i been debating to just run 4 bulbs i had a monti coral lighten up and it seems the mushrooms dont care for 6 bulbs runnning.what i have for bulbs been trying different combos and its driving me nuts.
2 ati b+
1 geismann atintic +
2 uv indigo suns
1 uv aquasun
2 geismann aquablue+ 15k bulb
1 uv super atintic
whats a good combo with the bulbs i have setup with 4 bulbs and 6 bulbs

 

Without being too generalized just about any ballast CAN overdrive lamps... If you look at an IC ballast, the reason WHY it ODs lamps is because two leads go to every endcap... Whereas a Advance or WH or similar ballast sends ONE lead to the endcap which is then jumpered to the other port on the endcap... SO if you were to take TWO leads from say a WH and send one to each port you would be overdriving the lamp... The thing is you would obviously be able to run less lamps....

Like stated the 430 ODs just the same, just less lamps.... Coralvue is another company that makes a VHO ballast.....

 

Without being redundant since I answered these via PM have you thought about using the light you have for different corals? Many people have to use the light they have for corals they aren't thrilled with... I am talking about people that don't have quite enough light and settle for softies and LPS when they truly desire higher light corals... Sometimes sacrifices are made... Have you considered keeping higher light corals instead of the lower light corallimorphs?

If you want to keep mushies and the like, they do not care for over the top T5 light, it essentially smothers them with light... I would either find a shaded spot for them or swap out some of your "day" lamps for more blue, or true actinics.... Downside to this though is you will end up with a blue heavy tank which not everyone cares for....

 

What would be a good order for the following bulbs? Or will it not make too much differance w/ a 4-bulb fixture?

Giesemann
1xAquablue
2xActinic+
1xPure Actinic

Is there a standard that people follow when arranging their T5 bulbs?

 

hi reef to keep - Dr Fragenstein has been busy with shop moving recently so may not see your post for a while

here is my opinion though as I have 2 of the 3 lamps you list above on my tank
the aquablue are 14K and its a nice white light
the actinic plus are 22K and are blue
the 3rd lamp I dont have but its another blue lamp I believe?

so you might find your tank overly blue in terms of colour

if it where mine I would probably run 2 x aquablue and 2 x actinic plus and have the actinic lamps either side with the 2 white ones in the middle (depends on switching really)

as for dawn/ dusk I like to have my blue lamps on 1 hour before and left on for one hour after the white tubes go off

so if you have 2 switches and 1 switch controls lamps 1 and 4 - put 2 tubes same colour in those sockets
if you have 2 switches and 1 switch controls lamps 1 and 3 - then put 2 lamps same colour in those sockets

hope that makes sense

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, yup that makes sense.....and thanks for the heads-up w/ Dr. Frag.

Are far as the blue color, well I don't mind it being a bit heavy but I'll just have to see what it's like when I set it up tonight. If it's too much then I'll just get one more aquablue like you suggested and keep the other bulb as a replacement. This is my first T5 system (and second lighting system ever) so I'm expecting a bit of adjusting in the next few months to figure out exactly what I like. Overall I'm very excited to get it installed and see how my corals benefit;D

I have to see where my switches are to get the dawn/dusk affect going (that's exactly what I'm currently doing with my PC set up).

One other question (actually started a thread on this)....any recommendations for acclimation process regarding the lighting schedule. I figured cut the time in half to start, then add an hour each week. Too much? Too little?

Thanks again for your reply!

 

question.i have HO nova exrtreme with 6 bulbs, work great for awhile then the 2nd and 3rd bulbs from the front of the fixture went out... figured no big deal went to the store got the same white actinic bulbs just a little better bulb, installed'em looked and worked great for the whole weekend. got hometo day after work and noticed my lights looked dim again. checked it out and the same 2 bulbs are out (2nd and 3rd bulbs) again! wth is going on. the bulbs have all been brand new and they go out within a couple of days or a week or so...

 

oh yeah and with this light fixture, is it possible to support clams?