T-5 bulbs, PAR rating, what bulbs to use, etc....

SunnyX

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I've read through a bunch of pages on here, but didn't find any recommendations for how high off the water is recommended for t5 fixtures.

Any guidelines for how high?

Let's say... for instance... 24" 6 bulb ATI dimmable sunpower on a 24" deep cube tank?
Well, it'll all depend on your corals and personal preference. The closer you place the unit to the surface of the water the more often you'll have to clean it off.

Personally, I place my T5 unit 4-6" off of of the rim of the aquarium. I like to have the unit as close as possible, but it basically comes down to personal preference. I'd say 8" would be the max height. Anymore than that and you'll start to lose intensity.
 

Tabasco1

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Prob mostly LPS, but will have SPS at some point. Thanks for the quick replies! This helps a ton. I'll plan for light placement to be adjustable with 4 being the closest to the tank and 8" for acclimation and bulb changes.
 

s2nhle

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LED is 12" from the water surface. For t5, depend on how coral respond to the light.
 

that Reef Guy

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SunnyX,

have you ever ran the coral+ bub? Does the Aquablue Special have more par than coral+?

Good Question

I ask this time and time again

I see PAR Readings for Blue Plus and AquaBlue Special but never for the other Bulbs like Coral Plus and Purple Plus.

Please post if you know these Readings?

Why does nobody have them?
 

denverjon

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I'm currently running Radion Gen3 LED's and have been pleasantly surprised at how well my sps have kept their colors after switching from halides. Having said that, a couple people suggested that I supplement the LED's with T5's, so I bought two 2x24 t5 fixtures, one for each side of my Radion. What configuration of bulbs would you suggest running?
 

91Atrac

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Hey guys. I have some full spectrum par led bulbs. I'm looking to add t5's strictly have the corals POP/fluores

True actinics?
 

s2nhle

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I'm currently running Radion Gen3 LED's and have been pleasantly surprised at how well my sps have kept their colors after switching from halides. Having said that, a couple people suggested that I supplement the LED's with T5's, so I bought two 2x24 t5 fixtures, one for each side of my Radion. What configuration of bulbs would you suggest running?

4 ATI blue plus. 2 on each side.
 

s2nhle

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Hey guys. I have some full spectrum par led bulbs. I'm looking to add t5's strictly have the corals POP/fluores

True actinics?

ATI blue plus provide more par than true actinics.
 

91Atrac

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ATI blue plus provide more par than true actinics.

Not looking for true par because my lights give off enough. I want the fluorescent pop is all. Don't want to much blue either.
ImageUploadedByREEF2REEF1426777291.265765.jpg


Mind the diatoms :/
 

Big E

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Good Question

I ask this time and time again

I see PAR Readings for Blue Plus and AquaBlue Special but never for the other Bulbs like Coral Plus and Purple Plus.

Please post if you know these Readings?

Why does nobody have them?

Coral+ will give you the same par as a Blue+

These are 2 blue+ & 2 coral + driven by Ice Cap ballast -------------------

The lights are 6 1/2" from the surface and total water depth is 18 1/2". The first number is the level from the floor of the tank. The number in ( ) is the distance from the bulbs.
1" off the bottom-- 200 (24)
3"- 260 (22)
6"- 280 (19)
10"- 300 (15) This is mid level area of the tank.
11"- 325 (14)
12"- 360 (13)
13"- 400 (12)
14"- 430 (11)
15"- 470 (10)
17"- 500 (8)


Both are at 1100-1200 overdriving with Ice Cap ballast measured with an Apogee about 1/2' from the bulb.

The ATI ballast driven bulbs are at 820. A six bulb Sunpower should give about the same in tank numbers as my overdriven set up.
 

itche_scratche

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Hi, i'm currently running 2x250w 14k phoenix and 3 ati blue plus and 1 purple plus. With 14k phoenix gone, i'm planning to use ushio 10k and use 4 ati blue plus or 4 giesemann actinic blue. What is your suggestion to match my existing?
 

s2nhle

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Hahaha, he must be liked it very much. I guessed your light combo is fine since your dog is watching your tank pleasantly and patiently. What is his favorite?
 

Ed Amoroso

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I really want to get the best growth out of my corals as my tanks is less than a year old. At the moment, I have a 210 Gallon tank with a 6ft T5 fixture, 8 bulb setup (4 and 4) running 2x ATI Blue plus, 1 x ATI Coral plus, and 1 x ATI Purple plus on each side. I too am considering adding light to the system in the way of LEDs. Going for SPS is my major concern. I guess my general question is, as the tank is 30", in theory, do i have enough now? i am getting some growth, but really only have a couple of monti frags at the moment. And if i were to add light, say some pendant LEDs, would it really make any difference in growth? or just appearance?
 

luke33

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Ed, what fixture are you using? I run a 185g tank and have an 8x60" ati sunpower with 5 b+, 1 c+ and 2 ab's. With the light 10" above my tank I'm getting around 350-400 par on the bottom. I can easily grow sps on the bottom of the tank. But it all depends on the fixture. I run a 36" frag tank with a aquactinics 5x36" fixture, with all lights on I'm pulling 365 par about 12" below. If I use a 6x36" odyssea fixture, same bulbs at same depth I get around 180 par. So it really is all about the reflectors and active cooling helps as well.
 

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