Strictly T5 thread

[lorenz0]

here is one i have always found interesting

2 ATI blue+, 2 ATI blue special, 2 ATI pro color

[banditpowdercoat]

I also notice most of you have your lights 8-12" off the water. Is there a specific reason for this? I have my light hung form the celing, on a retractable string hanger, and we lower it to like 3" off the water. Is that bad? I have the Plexi cover on the light

The more I look at bulbs online, the more confused I get.........

[lastlight]

This was what REALLY sold me on the Pro Color when I was ordering my bulbs. He's actually not using them anymore though. UVL 75/25 or something similar sounding I think...



My bulbs are in transit. Hoping they arrive intact!

Not entirely sure of order (don't know yet how my light's are grouped for dawn/dusk) but thinking of:

Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Pro Color
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Pro Color
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

I'm new to T5 myself so I'm not sure what to really expect.

[Samw]

Originally Posted by lorenz0

here is one i have always found interesting

2 ATI blue+, 2 ATI blue special, 2 ATI pro color

I like this. Where are you guys getting your ATI bulbs?

What would be the equivalent from URI/UVL?

[Scythanith]

My 85 definitely has a warmer, almost red/pink hue. The Fiji Purple does a helluva job! I think the two AS Special 15000's really counteract any blue spectrum that the AS Blue 22000 put out, at least to the naked eye. Obviously the light is still getting to the corals, it just looks nothing like my other two T5 tanks! It doesn't have the blue tinge whatsoever.

That's the joy of T5's. you can configure them to suit your preferences/needs. The bad part is a bulb costs ~$25-$40 per, and a 6 to 8 bulb fixture can cost up to $320 a year in bulbs. With the IceCap ballast's I use (660), the bulbs are overdriven to ~145% of their normal output.

ie. 39 watt 3' bulbs overdriven to ~56.5 watts.

So my 6 T5's on the 85 = ~340 watts. Almost a 400 watt halide, gah!

[banditpowdercoat]

You overdrive your T5? what ballasts should I use for my 24W bulbs? I am never satisfied, am I LOL

[Canadian]

Here are some pics. My old point and shoot camera makes everything bluer than it actually is and washes out all the colors. But I thought I'd stay true to my word and post some pics - next step is buy a real digital SLR camera.

My lamps are from front to back:

ATI Blue+
ATI Aquablue Spezial
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+
ATI Aqualblue Spezial
ATI Blue+

For a frame of reference with respect to the disparity between the way things look in the pictures and how they look in real life I did have 1:1 ratio of Blue+ and Aquablue Spezial but it was too white.

Now I'm considering trying out a KZ Fiji Purple in place of one of the Aquablue Spezials







That last pic is just one that I took with the flash and the color is truer to real life (unfortunately it's not one of the tank)

[Leah]

Dumb Question, please don't laugh! On my tanks I keep the light 3 inches from the top.
I do not have the light cover, but I have always kept the glass lid thing on my tanks.
My question is should I take off the glass and purchase the acrylic for my fixture's.?
Then raise the light or leave it? Good lord. Thanks for all the light picture's. It helped
huge with my decision. Depending on what you guys think I may order the covers with
new bulbs. I keep tossing the idea around and around. Not sure of the benifits of removing the glass. That and worried about the evaporation.....help!
Thanks any help would be great!
Leah