Change from ATI T5 to....what????

luke33 · Jun 13, 2017

najer said:
English person here, not if it was the same with you but lots of people over here tried the "led tubes" and failed, I read loads and seemed like the ballasts had to be of a certain age to run them.

Good to know. I just wonder if having the heat sink on the back(not that there is any other way) of the led tube's is forcing to much heat towards the ballast vs dispersing the heat evenly throughout on a t5 bulb. Looks like i'll be pulling those led tube's...uhhh, lesson learned. I wonder if you could combat this more powerful fans.

ihavecrabs · Jun 14, 2017

luke33 said:
On another note I am being told my ATI ballasts are going bad because i'm running two led tube's..........never heard that one before.

I'd be curious to see if anyone else is having this issue running E5's or biotech led tube's in their fixtures.

If I have two E5 bulbs on my channel 1 (2 bulbs on a 6 bulb unit) it doesn't always fire up. When I removed one for a conventional tune it fires fine.

Mark Gray · Jun 14, 2017

I ran MH 25 to 30 years ago I can't remember but then T 5's maybe 15 years ago on an Ice cap ballast then I got out of the hobby for a while, well I got back in obviously, I love LED's maybe they don't have quite the same effect, but far better in may ways. Less heat witch means less power so I am very happy with my LED's

Berlibee · Jun 14, 2017

NanoBox Retro ATI

luke33 · Jun 14, 2017

ihavecrabs said:
If I have two E5 bulbs on my channel 1 (2 bulbs on a 6 bulb unit) it doesn't always fire up. When I removed one for a conventional tune it fires fine.

Yea, it looks like I'll have to go with the bolt on if I want to use led. I'll probably install the ballast tomorrow and exchange the leds with two blue +.

Bruce Burnett · Jun 14, 2017

There must be a reason for the power supplies going out. is it in a canopy. Heat is a major cause of failure. otherwise I would be emailing ATI as I have not read where anyone else has had this kind of problem.

mah0031 · Jun 15, 2017

You need to get an amp meter on that ballast and a volt meter make sure! Both are within specs. Have you changed any or all of your bulbs since the problem started? I have seen a bad bulb kill a ballast in short order, just cause it's lit dose not mean ****.Other wise Id say look for pinched or crushed wire

luke33 · Jun 15, 2017

Bruce Burnett said:
There must be a reason for the power supplies going out. is it in a canopy. Heat is a major cause of failure. otherwise I would be emailing ATI as I have not read where anyone else has had this kind of problem.

It's completely open, no canopy and the room stays at 68-70 degrees. I'm told by ati the led tubes are causing the issue. They hinted that was the issue and then never responded after that.

luke33 · Jun 15, 2017

mah0031 said:
You need to get an amp meter on that ballast and a volt meter make sure! Both are within specs. Have you changed any or all of your bulbs since the problem started? I have seen a bad bulb kill a ballast in short order, just cause it's lit dose not mean ****.Other wise Id say look for pinched or crushed wire

As far as I can tell the wiring looks normal. I have a amp and volt meter, I'll check it out tonight when I replace the ballast.

ECOKid · Jun 15, 2017

luke33 said:
As far as I can tell the wiring looks normal. I have a amp and volt meter, I'll check it out tonight when I replace the ballast.

Have you thought of buying a better ballast? You dont hsve to use ATI's

TX_Punisher · Jun 15, 2017

I'd be waiting till after MACNA personally. I'd expect some new releases in the lighting department

I've run mh and now an 8-bulb 60" ATI. I'd probably fiddle too much with leds. I expect
Great growth and coloration out of my t5 setup.

luke33 · Jun 15, 2017

ECOKid said:
Have you thought of buying a better ballast? You dont hsve to use ATI's

Yes I have, but what ballast will fit in the fixture? I honestly thing t5 fixture's would work best if they had external ballasts, that way you don't have to worry about the things overheating.

luke33 · Jun 15, 2017

TX_Punisher said:
I'd be waiting till after MACNA personally. I'd expect some new releases in the lighting department

I've run mh and now an 8-bulb 60" ATI. I'd probably fiddle too much with leds. I expect
Great growth and coloration out of my t5 setup.

Well, I hope something great comes out of MACNA in the lighting department but I haven't heard of any rumors. As far as growth goes I can't complain about growth, or colors for that matter. Its just replacing parts to get it : )

ECOKid · Jun 15, 2017

luke33 said:
Yes I have, but what ballast will fit in the fixture? I honestly thing t5 fixture's would work best if they had external ballasts, that way you don't have to worry about the things overheating.

Look into icecap ballasts. If youre decent at wiring, you could possibly run one externally. But im jst now grtting into t5s so im not much of a help

AquariumSpecialty · Jun 15, 2017

We run several different types of lighting over our displays and farm system. If you want to use an existing T5 fixture the I suggest looking at our BioTek Marine LED T5 retrofit lamps. We are running about 30 of these over various coral tanks including 3 of our farm tanks. They come in 8 different color combinations and they use about 2/3 less power. Also, they are dimmable and they should last 5-8 years.

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/lighting/led-lighting?manufacturer=7101

luke33 · Jun 15, 2017

AquariumSpecialty said:
We run several different types of lighting over our displays and farm system. If you want to use an existing T5 fixture the I suggest looking at our BioTek Marine LED T5 retrofit lamps. We are running about 30 of these over various coral tanks including 3 of our farm tanks. They come in 8 different color combinations and they use about 2/3 less power. Also, they are dimmable and they should last 5-8 years.

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/lighting/led-lighting?manufacturer=7101

Thanks for the reply. I have been using a biotech and e5 in my fixture. That is the reason why ati said my ballasts have been failing. Do I believe that? I'm skeptical, but I bet they will not honor warranty if you run them, so just an FYI

luke33 · Jun 15, 2017

ECOKid said:
Look into icecap ballasts. If youre decent at wiring, you could possibly run one externally. But im jst now grtting into t5s so im not much of a help

The IC's are great for retro but I would fear overdriving them in a fixture would prematurely kill the bulbs. I would have to upgrade the fans if I tried that. Maybe the workhorse ballasts would work.

AquariumSpecialty · Jun 16, 2017

We've been using the BioTek lights in our fixtures for about a year...no issues here. We've sold a bunch also.

luke33 · Jun 16, 2017

AquariumSpecialty said:
We've been using the BioTek lights in our fixtures for about a year...no issues here. We've sold a bunch also.

Yea, I think I'm being fed some garbage. I like the biotechs much more than the e5's, not nearly the bow and more intensity

RobertN · Jun 16, 2017

[QUOTE="saltyfilmfolks, post:
Jus sayin.
I have acros and sps and a clam and zoas at the bottom of the tank now 18 in deep with the light 13 in above the tank at a 60% even peak for six hours on a 14 hr period including blue only.[/QUOTE]

How r u able to have your lights on for 14 hours without algae issues? I have mine on for 9 hours total; 2 hours blue only at the start and the end and 5 hours in the middle with whites and blues together.
If I wanted to increase the length, do u think a reasonable speed of increase would be 1 hr per week? Or 30 minutes per week? I would mainly extend the time at the start and end when it's just blues on. Thx!