Ati sunpower 48in 8 bulb

N1tew0lf1212

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#1
What has everyone used for a t5 lighting option. Acquired this light on a deal and am inclined to use it with LEDs. Its an 8 bulb fixture and am wondering what everyone has used or does use for t5s and what assortment of bulbs. Never ran t5s and read about 100hr break in at 100% on dimmable fixtures. Is this truth? What has been the pros and cons of t5s? Who all still uses t5s and what is your assortment.
 

SynDen

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#2
I have used t5s for years on various tanks. Currently run them on my mangrove and planted fuge tank. I have a 48" 4 bulb retrofit and a 36" 6 bulb on it. The 36" is over the mangrove and 48" is over the tank itself. Since it planted I mostly use cheaper vivosun 6500k bulbs now, but when I had it over my 75g mixed reef tank I used 3x ATI Blue+ and 1x ATI purple+ on it.

I have always loved t5s, as they are very easy to get the look you want, bulbs are fairly inexpensive, they dont put out much heat, and they aren't as energy intensive as MH. The down side is that the bulbs lose par after about a year use, so you need to change them once a year on average. That is if you are growing coral and par value matter to you. However on my planted tank I pretty much run them till they burn out which can be 5-7 years or so.

You can extend the life of them a bit longer if you run fans on both ends of the fixture though. The end of the bulb that plugs into the fixture is where the bulbs get hottest and that is where they lose their power over time, so if you keep decent fans on each end you can help extend their life some.
 

jda123

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#3
You can use the bulbs for 2 years in a ATI with the fans and stuff. People are using them for 2 years in other fixtures too. Even if you want to be cautious, you can easily do 18 months. I would do 24 months even over my acropora, but I also use my MH bulbs for 2 years too without any issue.

They put out wonderful light and plenty of it. No need to use LEDs with them, but you can. Many of the LED companies and their shills compare T5s in lesser fixtures to their panels to "prove" how good their LEDs are. Don't pay any attention to most of these clowns since it is like comparing MH on m80 to a 80w eBay LED panel - what they are saying is just not accurate. When comparing best of breed to best of breed, Sunpower lit tanks are awesome and as good as anything save for some MH setups.

I have never dimmed them - don't see the need. I also don't care about thunderstorms, dusk to dawn and all of that.

50/50 split of Blue Plus and Coral Plus is a good place to start for bulbs. Bulbs are cheap considering you would need at least 4x Radion xr30 pros at $4k new to cover the same 4x2 area as a 8 bulb Sunpower. Even with way less light with just 2x xr30 pros, that is still $2000. At least with the ATI, you are not screwed when the unit breaks after it is out of warranty - bulbs, switches and ballasts can be replaced. Bulbs are cheap.

Keep the reflectors and acrylic shield clean.

In any case, that is a good get. People are wanting their Sunpowers and high-end MH stuff back lately. I get requests on R2R all of the time to sell my best-of-breed lighting to people who regret getting rid of theirs.
 

N1tew0lf1212

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#4
You can use the bulbs for 2 years in a ATI with the fans and stuff. People are using them for 2 years in other fixtures too. Even if you want to be cautious, you can easily do 18 months. I would do 24 months even over my acropora, but I also use my MH bulbs for 2 years too without any issue.

They put out wonderful light and plenty of it. No need to use LEDs with them, but you can. Many of the LED companies and their shills compare T5s in lesser fixtures to their panels to "prove" how good their LEDs are. Don't pay any attention to most of these clowns since it is like comparing MH on m80 to a 80w eBay LED panel - what they are saying is just not accurate. When comparing best of breed to best of breed, Sunpower lit tanks are awesome and as good as anything save for some MH setups.

I have never dimmed them - don't see the need. I also don't care about thunderstorms, dusk to dawn and all of that.

50/50 split of Blue Plus and Coral Plus is a good place to start for bulbs. Bulbs are cheap considering you would need at least 4x Radion xr30 pros at $4k new to cover the same 4x2 area as a 8 bulb Sunpower. Even with way less light with just 2x xr30 pros, that is still $2000. At least with the ATI, you are not screwed when the unit breaks after it is out of warranty - bulbs, switches and ballasts can be replaced. Bulbs are cheap.

Keep the reflectors and acrylic shield clean.

In any case, that is a good get. People are wanting their Sunpowers and high-end MH stuff back lately. I get requests on R2R all of the time to sell my best-of-breed lighting to people who regret getting rid of theirs.
Awesome where you purchasing bulbs from? Ati itself? Thanks for all the heads up. Its a 6ft tank (220g) was going to use the leds on the edges to cover the rest of the tank tbh. Just lower light stuff in the 1ft sections on each end. This is awesome to know. I got this light during a tank break down for free!!! and now that you chimed in it wont be going anywhere anytime soon.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

N1tew0lf1212

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#5
You can use the bulbs for 2 years in a ATI with the fans and stuff. People are using them for 2 years in other fixtures too. Even if you want to be cautious, you can easily do 18 months. I would do 24 months even over my acropora, but I also use my MH bulbs for 2 years too without any issue.

They put out wonderful light and plenty of it. No need to use LEDs with them, but you can. Many of the LED companies and their shills compare T5s in lesser fixtures to their panels to "prove" how good their LEDs are. Don't pay any attention to most of these clowns since it is like comparing MH on m80 to a 80w eBay LED panel - what they are saying is just not accurate. When comparing best of breed to best of breed, Sunpower lit tanks are awesome and as good as anything save for some MH setups.

I have never dimmed them - don't see the need. I also don't care about thunderstorms, dusk to dawn and all of that.

50/50 split of Blue Plus and Coral Plus is a good place to start for bulbs. Bulbs are cheap considering you would need at least 4x Radion xr30 pros at $4k new to cover the same 4x2 area as a 8 bulb Sunpower. Even with way less light with just 2x xr30 pros, that is still $2000. At least with the ATI, you are not screwed when the unit breaks after it is out of warranty - bulbs, switches and ballasts can be replaced. Bulbs are cheap.

Keep the reflectors and acrylic shield clean.

In any case, that is a good get. People are wanting their Sunpowers and high-end MH stuff back lately. I get requests on R2R all of the time to sell my best-of-breed lighting to people who regret getting rid of theirs.
I also have the mh pendants with ballasts ready to go so I guess I am all set.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

Dr.DiSilicate

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#6
You can use mostly the blue plus bulbs, maybe an actinic or two, some people use a 6500k in there too. The blue plus aren’t all that blue, great par!

The best growing tank I ever had was with an ati t5. No shadows, amazing spectrum, you can change a bulb out of you wanna play with the look a bit!

Never had a dimmable fixture so no advice there.


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SynDen

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#7
Awesome where you purchasing bulbs from? Ati itself? Thanks for all the heads up. Its a 6ft tank (220g) was going to use the leds on the edges to cover the rest of the tank tbh. Just lower light stuff in the 1ft sections on each end. This is awesome to know. I got this light during a tank break down for free!!! and now that you chimed in it wont be going anywhere anytime soon.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Almost all the LFS will carry ATI bulbs, they are pretty much the primary standard for t5s. You can also order them from any online saltwater retailer
 

jda123

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#8
With 6 foot tanks, people usually use a 48 and 24 inch, two 36" or try and find a 60". While T5 are great, they are not really known for filling in 12 inches on each side over a 6 foot tank.

Black Friday sales are when people usually get their T5 bulbs. If you are flexible on colors and stuff, you can often find people closing out KZ, AquaMedic, Giesemann, etc. bulbs for $10-15 bucks. These are all good bulbs.

The cheap eBay chinese T5 bulbs are low output. They can be fine if you put a bunch of them over a tank with easy corals, but they are better for supplement or non-demanding tanks. They are cheap, but not always worth the savings. They work great over fuges to grow chaeto and stuff, but so do $3 GE bulbs, reef bulbs over 2 years old, etc.

6500k and 10k spectrum can add light and colors that other bulbs and LEDs do not have. True Actinic can do the same. It can take a while for the corals to respond, but there are real differences and growth. There is a reason why coral farmers still use 6500k bulbs over their corals. You can find the masses or posts online about how corals from these folks lose some of their color over time in tanks with limited spectrum - Battlecorals is one of them where heavy-blue lit tanks without true UV (not lying LED manufacturer UV that is just violet) or IR lose the high contrast and even some of the color.
 

jda123

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#9
Lastly, don't believe any of the BS that you might see about USA and EU banning reef T5 bulbs. There are SOME general purpose bans, but most of these are being pulled back for T5 anyway. Specialty T5s are not on any ban lists and at least Giesemann and ATI have committed to making them as long as people want them. The posts are mostly from shills for the LED companies or the morons who believe and parrot the nonsense. The same is true about plasma, metal halide and even HPS/MV if you want to use them. Specialty is all OK and does not have the same rules as general purpose.

T5s are coming back in warehouses and stores. There are two big-box stores in Longmont that took their LEDs out and replaced them with solar screens and T5s. I asked and the solar makes the T5s more efficient than any LEDs (duh with solar being free) and well below the W/L requirements. Any of you with too many BRIGHT LEDs in your home know how harsh that they can be over time when up too high. LED fatigue is real for many people. The Edison-style LEDs really help, but many folks and businesses already spend lots of money buying LED bulbs years ago that have not paid off. Restaurants, jewelers all are moving away from their LEDs with customer comfort in mind.

In any case, T5s are going to be around. Lots of people use them around the world. Heck, if UVL still has a market to make VHO T12s, then T5s are plenty fine.
 
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