Advice on T5 lighting

[dragon99]

Currently running AI Primes (3 regular, 1 HD). Running ~16k color temp 5hrs at full intensity, 4hr ramp up/down

LUX measured: - 30k peak, 38k peak under HD
LED's ~10in above water

I'm switching to a T5 8bulb (Sunlight Tek T5) because I'm unhappy with the shadowing the LED's are giving me. The fixture is split into (2) 4-bulb banks (4 center, 2 on each side) which is handy, because going with 8 bulbs all at once would fry everything.

4- bulbs in center (3 blue+, 1 coral+)
LUX measured: 27k across most of center
T5's ~8 above water

Should I be OK with that jump in PAR? 500-600 from LED to 675 from T5's (@saltyfilmfolks , I borrowed your conversion #'s)
What light on cycle should I run? I'm thinking 8hrs max, maybe start at 6?

I'd like to increase this up to 12hr per day. Then, after a couple weeks, I will start turning on the second bank of T5's for 1hr a day, increasing an hr per week. To maybe a max of 4hrs?

Tank
Reefer 350, 48" wide, 20" water depth

Corals
~20 SPS
2 favites, 3 acans, 1 lobo, and 2 scolys (all near or on sand)
1 frogspawn, back corner couple inches up
Derasa clam on sand

 

[GoVols]

What's your tank size (gallons and the 3 demenions - W x D x H) and how many primes are you running?

 

[dragon99]

What's your tank size (gallons and the 3 demenions - W x D x H) and how many primes are you running?

Red Sea Reefer 350 ~47"x20"x21" high
4 Primes currently

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

fwiw tank size wont matter. acclimation only.

My first thought is, in the MH days T5, the stuff just turned on, once the corals were acclimated, so 0 to 1200 par took an hour while the tubes/bulbs warmed up.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I run from 6am to 10 pm. my peak of 40,000 is only eight hours. 4 hours(2am 2 pm) of blue is less then 3000 lux. the rest is day colors but not peak.
peak takes 30 min. so 3k to (i think) 20kish the 30 min 20k to 40k.

IMO you could safely set a new DURATION with the led immediately with no ill effects. assuming the peak is not more than you have now or longer.
then add the t5 to that mix. either in increments of longer duration OR in the addition of tubes at peak.

Have you been running High intensity with the leds before or is the high numbers an upgrade/experiment?
did you have a target Par number in mind to begin with?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

@ksc your looking. what do you think. seems like basic new light acclimation. us young-uns do over think stuff.

 

[dragon99]

I'm going full swap from LED to T5, I don't have a good way to mount both over the tank.

The LED's have been running like this for ~3months. I'm trying to avoid a shock with going to the T5's which will have higher PAR.

I don't have a target PAR really, my biggest issue right now is shadowing.

 

[reefwiser]

Well you are going in the right direction. [emoji3] Just run the new T5 8 hours. Maybe move some corals down lower in the tank if possible. Or mount the T5 fixture up 6 inch from what you will normally have it at. The corals adapt well to T5 and MH as they give a more even light across the corals without hot spots.

 

[GoVols]

Well you are going in the right direction. [emoji3] Just run the new T5 8 hours. Maybe move some corals down lower in the tank if possible. Or mount the T5 fixture up 6 inch from what you will normally have it at. The corals adapt well to T5 and MH as they give a more even light across the corals without hot spots.

+1
If it's too much you can always cut back to a 5 to 6 hour light cycle and build up.
Watch for nuisance algae as well as your coral heath.
At least you had 4 primes on there and can understand your frustration with hot spots and shadowing.

 

[luke33]

Your corals should be fine running the 4 bulbs to start for 8 hrs per day. You may see some brown out for a few weeks but should color back up after time. The other thing to think about is just because your lux seem similar really doesn't mean anything until you do measurements under water, some led's really fade quickly under water but t5's are usually more gradual ime. But just watch how your corals respond.

In the end I think you'll be really happy with the light and sps color and growth.

 

[GoVols]

Your corals should be fine running the 4 bulbs to start for 8 hrs per day. You may see some brown out for a few weeks but should color back up after time. The other thing to think about is just because your lux seem similar really doesn't mean anything until you do measurements under water, some led's really fade quickly under water but t5's are usually more gradual ime. But just watch how your corals respond.

In the end I think you'll be really happy with the light and sps color and growth.

+1

 

[dragon99]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm fairly certain I'm overthinking this.

I haven't heard anyone complain about T5's not working out. So I'm hopeful. Long term I do want to go back to LED, but with something like the Philips, not something with 90deg lenses. Before I buy a new set of bulbs, I'll probably re-evaluate.

 

[GoVols]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm fairly certain I'm overthinking this.

I haven't heard anyone complain about T5's not working out. So I'm hopeful. Long term I do want to go back to LED, but with something like the Philips, not something with 90deg lenses. Before I buy a new set of bulbs, I'll probably re-evaluate.

Well mh/t5 to ME is still the gold standard in reef lighting.
You'll be fine and love those t5's .
I had great success on a small tank with a Kessil a350w led on it for two years and a lot of us are looking at that Coral Care too.

 

[reefwiser]

It will take LED manufacturers realizing that the hobbyist want a plug and grow light. Not something that they may not have the best success with. I hate seeing people leave the hobby due to something like lighting when there is gold standards for this available.

 

[dragon99]

Does pulling 2 bulbs out and running as a 6-bulb fixture cause a problem? I tried it and the remaining two bulbs on that bank still light, but I wonder if it's overdriving them now.

 

[Scott.h]

Get a dimmable t5 fixture..

 

[reefwiser]

No T5's work in set's of two off one ballast. So as long as you remove two that are connected to the same ballast the bulbs should light. The issue with dimmable T5's is that you cut the life of your bulbs

 

[Scott.h]

No T5's work in set's of two off one ballast. So as long as you remove two that are connected to the same ballast the bulbs should light. The issue with dimmable T5's is that you cut the life of your bulbs

ATI told me that as long as you do the three day burn in, dimming them doesn't lower the lifespan.

 

[GoVols]

ATI told me that as long as you do the three day burn in, dimming them doesn't lower the lifespan.

Good to know about the 3 day burn in.

 

[reefwiser]

So funny they said that. As someone who has installed thousands of fluorescent fixtures and replace untold bulbs in my 40 years as an electrical maintenance man. They are using consumers ignorance to hide basic electrical facts. When you have a florescent tube running below their striking voltage the bulb will burn out way faster. I have this problem in areas of high vibration due to equipment and large motors.