Strictly T5 thread

[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

[banditpowdercoat]

Originally Posted by 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

Leah, I have a glass top made for my tank as well. I now, never use it. I found the glass, 4mm, would block a noticeable amount light. That and I was forever cleaning it. Then, with no glass, and no plexi cover on my lights, I was cleaning my reflectors, but not as much as the glass. The plexi cleans up so much easier than the reflectors. Have you decided on new bulbs yet? what are you going with?

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by 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

Removing glass cover from your tank would be a good idea just for proper gas exchange; someone just lost all the fish not too long ago on here (Alfredshouse?) because of lack of O2. Our tanks are not perfectly designed for proper gas exchange anyway.
Ideally tank height needs to be equal to its width, or greater like a lake or an ocean, but this is the case only with cubes, so we all need some help with gas exchange.

Re T5, I don’t use any cover and my 6 lamps Tek fixture is on the legs at the lowest setting which is about 6” or lower from water surface just above the splash level

[Leah]

Does it effect Temp in your tank?

[banditpowdercoat]

Didn't notice a temp difference in my tank

[Leah]

Hey, I had all these questions I was going to ask you when you came by.
I have my reef at 80F. I will watch it closely, how far is your light above the water level.
Do you have the acrylic cover on yours?
Thank-you, Banditpowdercoat,
This is fun right!?#*

[Leah]

No wonder so many give up, just when I thought I had an answer........My light is crap
make that both are. When I stop crying I will hit post quick reply, nope i will jump the gun.

[Canadian]

The problem with removing the glass cover is that you're going to expose your T5 reflectors to salt spray and humidity which will lead to pitting of the reflectors and eventually diminish light output.

Then the other problem you have is that if you choose to protect the reflectors by putting the acrylic shield on the fixture you're going to trap heat in the fixture around the lamps causing them to burn out faster and lower the PAR produced. Ideal T5 output occurs when the cold spot on the lamp (the end where the label is on the lamp) is kept at a temperature around 115-120 F. And this is not simply accomplished by blasting the lamps with a fan because the air should be directed at the cold spot on the lamp. The concern regarding overheating the lamp when leaving the acrylic shield in place is negated when you have a fixture with active cooling. And again, this is why it is prudent to purchase a quality T5 fixture - you save on lamp replacement costs in the long run and you get better output.

One of the trends I've noticed in this thread is that the majority of posters are relatively new to the hobby. I think what unfortunately happens is that new hobbyists read that T5s are great and see people keeping higher demanding corals with them. So they've done part of the research when it comes to making a lighting decision but they unfortunately miss part of the story - the important part where lower quality fixtures produce significantly less light output and the importance of things like high quality individual reflectors, active cooling over the cold spot, and appropriate lamp shielding among other factors such as quality of ballasts.