T5 mounting height

[Fishfinder]

What is the max height above the water you can mount T5 for them to still be effective? I have a combo fixture that is mounted at 14" and didn't know if that was too high for T5 to be effective. Its my understanding that T5 looses PAR quickly if mounted high

 

[najer]

I don't measure par but I do understand it, mine are 7 inches off the water and I'd prefer them an inch or 2 lower!

 

[Fishfinder]

so 14" wouldn't do any good

 

[Retro Reefer]

It going to depend on what your keeping in your tank and the amount of light “spill over” you can tolerate.. I’m getting ready to setup a t5 combo on a mixed reef and plan on going about 10-12” as I want to be able to access my entire tank without raising lights.

 

[Fishfinder]

It is a fully enclosed canopy, there will be no spillover. It is mixed reef with majority SPS.

 

[Fishfinder]

I just want to see if its worth firing them up, I don't want to run them if they wont add anything

 

[Retro Reefer]

I don't want to run them if they wont add anything

It would depend on what your running now to determine if they would “add anything”.. if your adding t5’s to your existing lighting they will definitely add something even at 14” above tank.. if they are going to be your only lighting and your trying to grow sps I would get them as low as you can without them being a pain or getting covered in salt creep.

 

[Fishfinder]

Ya I'm running reef breeders and was going to add 3 T5, mounted at 14"

 

[Daniel Waters]

It really depends on the reflectors in the unit. Most T5 reflectors are designed to focus light down, so the drop off in par due to increased mounting height isn't near the same that you encounter with puck style LED's with wide angle lenses. Also, the type of fixture can really impact how much light the unit is putting out for you. I previously had some old Aquatic Life T5 fixtures I was using to supplement my LED's and my ATI fixture easily puts out about 40% to 50% more par per bulb than the Aquatic Life fixture. I think I was getting around 20 to 35 par per bulb from the Aquatic Life fixture at a pretty high mounting height (like 13" ?), so adding 3 T5 bulbs certainly could still be a benefit. Personally, I prefer the look of my LED's with T5's, so the extra par from the T5's was just an added bonus for me at that time. Lastly, it's not just the par that T5's can provide, but the spectrum is very beneficial. T5's certainly seem to be "gentler" on my corals and I don't have near the worries of bleaching them like I would with LED's anytime I would tweak my LED intensity. I can blast my corals with T5 light without worrying about bleaching them.

My light configuration now consists of a 6 bulb ATI fixture mounted in the center of my tank with 4 Kessil A360's on articulating mounts (2 on each side). I run my 6 bulb ATI T5 fixture 14" above the water line, and it's fine at that height. However, I have my Kessil A360's mounted about 11.5" above my tank, and I know I'm losing a lot of par due to light spill (the Kessils at that mounting height will illuminate a 36" diameter!). I don't worry about the loss of par from the LED's as my T5's are providing the vast majority of what I need, and I'm using the LED's now mostly for shimmer, easier dawn / dusk effect, and as a way of tweaking the overall tank color from my T5's.

 

[Da8]

It really depends on the reflectors in the unit. Most T5 reflectors are designed to focus light down, so the drop off in par due to increased mounting height isn't near the same that you encounter with puck style LED's with wide angle lenses. Also, the type of fixture can really impact how much light the unit is putting out for you. I previously had some old Aquatic Life T5 fixtures I was using to supplement my LED's and my ATI fixture easily puts out about 40% to 50% more par per bulb than the Aquatic Life fixture. I think I was getting around 20 to 35 par per bulb from the Aquatic Life fixture at a pretty high mounting height (like 13" ?), so adding 3 T5 bulbs certainly could still be a benefit. Personally, I prefer the look of my LED's with T5's, so the extra par from the T5's was just an added bonus for me at that time. Lastly, it's not just the par that T5's can provide, but the spectrum is very beneficial. T5's certainly seem to be "gentler" on my corals and I don't have near the worries of bleaching them like I would with LED's anytime I would tweak my LED intensity. I can blast my corals with T5 light without worrying about bleaching them.

My light configuration now consists of a 6 bulb ATI fixture mounted in the center of my tank with 4 Kessil A360's on articulating mounts (2 on each side). I run my 6 bulb ATI T5 fixture 14" above the water line, and it's fine at that height. However, I have my Kessil A360's mounted about 11.5" above my tank, and I know I'm losing a lot of par due to light spill (the Kessils at that mounting height will illuminate a 36" diameter!). I don't worry about the loss of par from the LED's as my T5's are providing the vast majority of what I need, and I'm using the LED's now mostly for shimmer, easier dawn / dusk effect, and as a way of tweaking the overall tank color from my T5's.

What are your impressions of your light setting after some time? Have you got any video or picture so I can make my mind?

I'm actually planning to switch to similar fixture and would be great help.

Thank you very much

 

[Daniel Waters]

What are your impressions of your light setting after some time? Have you got any video or picture so I can make my mind?

I'm actually planning to switch to similar fixture and would be great help.

Thank you very much

I have run all LED before, all T5 before, and T5 with LEDs. My preference is the hybrid approach with the T5s being the main source and the LEDs supplementing. I'm not so dogmatic to say that one type of light is better than another, as I think there have been plenty of people have success using all LEDs. I prefer my hybrid setup because I prefer the flatter T5 lighting, as it just seems to distribute the light so much better. With the addition of the LEDs, I'm able to get additional par, can tweak my overall tank color, get a little added shimmer, and I can still run just the LEDs for a nice dawn / dusk look if I want.

 

[Da8]

I do feel the same about the hybrid combo with the t5 starring.

But I'm worried about the effect and performance of a kessil 160 tuna on each corner pointing to the opposite diagonal corner.

What do you think after having used them together?

Like the shimmering, but not to much of it.
Rather do it more for the blue lights, effect on fluorescent proteins and overall look of colors in combination with 50%blue plus 50% white t5

 

[Daniel Waters]

I do feel the same about the hybrid combo with the t5 starring.

But I'm worried about the effect and performance of a kessil 160 tuna on each corner pointing to the opposite diagonal corner.

What do you think after having used them together?

Like the shimmering, but not to much of it.
Rather do it more for the blue lights, effect on fluorescent proteins and overall look of colors in combination with 50%blue plus 50% white t5

The A160s aren't going to be very noticeable as far as shimmer with the T5s on. I have 4 kessil A360s on my 6 foot tank and the shimmer is minimal. I like the LEDs on by themselves for an hour of dawn / dusk, so I notice the shimmer then, and leds are really great if you like a super deep blue look.

I'm not sure what your question or concern is. The A160s won't be too much extra power, and should complement fine with the T5s. I don't know what your tank footprint is, but 2 A160s at the corners for a 4 foot tank should be fine spread wise.

 

[Daniel Waters]

@Da8. Here is a picture of my light setup now. I have a 60" 6 bulb ATI fixture, 4 Kessil A360s on one side on articulating mounts, and I have a 48" custom orphek LED bar that I attached on the side opposite the kessils. I obviously do not need all these lights, but as I made changes, I just chose to keep the kessils that I had and incorporate them. I got the led bar as more of a curiosity. If I was doing a setup from scratch, I'd do a 6 bulb T5 fixture with two LED bars on each side (probably actinic or custom type bars heavy on the violet and blue side, as I prefer to use my T5 daylight bulbs to provide that end of the spectrum and love the deep blue LEDs can bring). I attached a picture of what my lights look like. Ideally, I'd have a 60" LED bar to match the full fixture length but that size was not available from Orphek when I purchased it. Sorry the picture isn't great. All my lights were off except for the kessils that were dimming down, but I thought you might want to see the setup anyway