Suggestions for a T5 Fixture

Discussion in 'T5 Aquarium Lighting' started by kwmjones, Dec 26, 2012.

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  1. kwmjones

    kwmjones Flamingo Tongue

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    I have no height limit as it will be hung from the ceiling (rimless tank). Looking at a bunch of the great Korean/Japanese SPS tank as well as Leonardo's reef which really inspired me to go this route, they all had minimum 8 lamps up to 10 lamps on similar size tanks. They are perhaps a little deeper than mine by a few inches but still kept SPS at the top and reported amazing colors & growth.
     
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  3. Kevin_E

    Kevin_E Giant Squid

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    8 bulbs seem right, no? I had 4 bulbs over my 20 tall (12 inch width) and many have at least 4 bulbs over their 55 (13 inch width).
     
  4. kwmjones

    kwmjones Flamingo Tongue

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    From the research I've done (and by research I mean reading other threads!) a nice combination would be the following:

    1. ATI Blue +
    2. Giesemann Midday 6000k
    3. UVL 75/25 14k
    4. ATI Blue +
    5. UVL Aquasun 10k Pink
    6. ATI Blue +
    7. ATI AquaBlue 12k
    8. ATI Blue Plus

    Anyone have thoughts or suggestions for substitutions to this mix? I'd like a bluer, closer to 20k look but don't want to jeopardize growth, so wondering if I need more white/day lamps.
     
  5. Kevin_E

    Kevin_E Giant Squid

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    In the thread title, edit it to something along the lines of "T-5 bulb suggestions". It may attract 2in10 to this thread. He's a wizard when it comes to t5 bulbs.
     
  6. kwmjones

    kwmjones Flamingo Tongue

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    I'm a newb to the online forum world, can you point me in the right direction to make a title change?

    Really appreciate the feedback so far fsukum
     
  7. Kevin_E

    Kevin_E Giant Squid

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    Sure. Go to your very first post in this thread and click "edit". The click "go advanced". Above your text is a box that says "title". You can edit your original title there and then click "save changes" underneath the text.
     
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  9. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    I would go

    1 ATI Blue +
    2 ATI Coral +
    3 ATI Blue +
    4 ATI Blue +
    5 ATI Coral +
    6 ATI Blue +
    7 ATI Coral +
    8 ATI Blue +

    The Coral plus is a daylight bulb with a pinkish hue. This combo should give you close to a 20000K color. Also I would mount the fixture at least 30" above your substrate and not run it for more than 10 hours a day. Run ATI Blue Pluses in the dawn/dusk positions for ten hours and the rest of the bulbs for 8 hours starting 1 hour after the dawn/dusk bulbs are scheduled to come on.
     
  10. kwmjones

    kwmjones Flamingo Tongue

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    Thanks for the advice 2in10 - looking at the fixture (TEK 48" 8 lamp) it says the 4 outer lamps and 4 inner lamps have separate power cords so would you still keep the coral + in the inner 4 as the dawn/dusk lighting? Not trying to question you, just wanted to point that out and see if it would change the layout. Cheers
     
  11. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    Thanks for letting me know as I have not used the fixture nor checked it out that closely.

    If you want to have blue only during d/d then yes. There would be no problem. Just put the 5th bp in between cp bulbs. Check it out and play with it to see what you like.
     
  12. kwmjones

    kwmjones Flamingo Tongue

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    Do people typically go all blue with t5s for dusk/dawn or have one white lamp in the mix?