# T5 for my 10 gallon nano?



## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

I posted this earlier but in the wrong area sorry for double...

I was looking at some T5HO lighting and was wondering if anyone had used Odyssea T5 or maybe had feedback. They have a pretty nice deal right now for a nice lamp with4 free bulbs and 4 LED. Check it out and tell me what you think Odyssea T5 High Output Lighting

Worried about the "get what you pay for"


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

Well I ended up reading horror stories about Odyssea. That their lights catch fire. There was a post that dissected that set up and went through all the parts and pointed out that it could be a fire hazard. I decided to keep my 2 CFL 50/50 lights but purchased an Truelumen LED strip TrueLumen LED Strips | Current-USA to add to my fixture. It had nice reviews and was the same price as the other fixture. Apparently it's flat and can be added to most hoods. I don't have any coral yet but will start with soft coral once I get this LED strip put in. Wish me luck!


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

I've been looking at those for awhile...you'll have to tell me how it goes.


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

I'll post some before and after pics. I am certain they will enhance my lighting. I was just looking to supplement my current lighting which is 2 cfl 6500k 50/50. This strip promises 12000k lol. I bought my first coral plug today. Hopefully not in vain...


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

You should see some coral growth with that much lighting. good luck with the new coral. .what kind did you get?


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

I got a neon candy cane. Small one but figured a good tester lol.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

ahh good! I have the less neon version. lol. Watch to make sure it opens a lot but it proably wont open all the way. at night, it may extend its feeder tenticals, that looks cool. if it stays shut for a long period of time, try moving it to higher and lower light. also, since its grows a skeleton, be sure your calcium levels are always above 400.


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

It was open when I bought it, then the guy stuck it in a bag and it's been closed ever since.

I don't have a calcium test yet. I paid 40 bucks for a "master tester" test kit and it seems pretty limited... it has like 4 tests. Some master lol

I will try to find one tomorrow since the world shuts down at 6pm Sundays.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

It will take a few days for it to calm down. They need the same acclimation and stress treatment as fish (minus the chemicals). So keep an eye one it and make sure it doesnt start to dwindle. API's reef master should be used AS WELL as their other master kit. The reef master has calcium, phosphate, nitrate, and carbonate tests which are all very important for the reef. You may want to see if you can get a magnesium test kit too. Its essential as well.


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

I have a candycane, and when I put it in my tank it took it almost a week to start opening up all the way. It is probably just a little stressed from the move, acclimation, etc. its normal.


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

my snail knocked it out of it's crevice last night. Add one more week of stress lol...


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

get some of that putty to help hold it in. I dont have a single frag i dont have glued or puttied in somewhere.


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

I tried posting this yesterday but the site was down for some reason.

Well I got the Truelumen LED strip. I'm not impressed personally. They do make a slight difference but not worth the 50 bucks plus 11 for the power adapter...

Before pic









After pic









Just LED









Like I said they do make a slight difference. I will just keep the strip and use it in my sump with chaeto and live rocks. It would be a pain to return.

Does give a nice shimmer lol it might do wonders for the coralline but it's only been 2 days with this strip.

I am going with Reefbrite I think for my new 30 gallon. LFS here sells them and they look nice. Better than T5 HO is the claim and from what I've seen it's close enough to not deal with T5 heat.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

Yea, you'll need more than one strip to bring out some blue and color when adding to what you have already. A lot of people dont realize that. Do at least a 50/50 mix of white and blue on your next purchase (if you do straight LEDs).


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

lol these are 50/50. turned it on this morning and it started sizzeling and smoking and 2 of the leds are dim... im returning them


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

Did they get wet?


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

no but they're supposed to be water resistant anyway.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

i wonder if the power source sent more current than the LEDs can take. Did the strip come with a power source or was it yours?


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

I had to buy one but I got the truelumen one made for it.


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

interesting.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

did you have it turned to the max?


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

it doesn't even have an on switch lol, plug in and it's on. It was a 50 dollar led strip that promised the world. I'm not super shocked


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

some power sources suck at regulating power.. it could have spiked and fried a few of the leds. that's what it sounds like. There were no inline fuses or anything either?


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

nope I'm sure they would have charged extra for that if they did. Kinda crappy how LED companies don't include the power supply. Seems like all the ones I've looked at don't. 

I did look at that DIY site you recommended to someone but that seemed really expensive still and I have never soldered so I would likely make a fire hazard or something that crumbles into the water and fries my fish...

Did you happen to see my new "identify this" thread? I'm kinda waiting on feedback before I stick my hand back in there LOL


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

Yea, dont worry about soldering stuff, its easy and you can test it before you put it on. the thermal paste actually works really well and if you're still worried about things falling in, then you can just add a piece of plexiglass over them and you wont have to worry about it.
I would suggest buying an inline fuse (with the proper rated fuse for the setup) next time you get the leds. it could save you some frustrations. 
Ya, you have to get the full on premade systems for them to add the power supply. Things will change though. 
Which thread are you talking about? i just saw your old one where you identified the new corals as "not anemone" lol


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

The new LED strip I'm looking at is supposed to be better than T5 HO and about 190 for a 16 inch strip. My cube is only 20 inches wide so hopefully it works out lol.

The new post is in the same area as the anemone lol. Maybe there's server lag


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

have a link to the new setup? Just be sure you know there are some safety measures put into the fixture.. Does it need an external power supply still?


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

Doesn't the company sell a power supply that is supposed to work. 
What brand is that new LED strip you are looking at? If you get it, you'll have to tell me what you think...
Why don't you post some FTS?


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

I'm looking at the reefbrites now. The review on this link here made it sound nice and compared to others I've seen they aren't too expensive plus my lfs sells them.

link ~ LED Module Comparison - ReefBrite / Illumilux / TrueLumen Pro - Reef Central Online Community

FTS = full tank shot? Those are full tank shots lol It's a 10 gallon  I kinda want to wait on the new 30 gallon to cycle and I'll be transferring everything from the 10 gallon. I'll use the 10 gallon as a quarantine if I ever need too.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

you may want to get a 50/50 mix. Straight blue will look cool but its not completely beneficial for a reef. You do need some other wavelengths in there. You could get a white now and a blue to add on later. These will eventually be transferrred to the 30 gallon right?


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

oh lol yeah I would get the 50/50 I guess that review is for blue. I assumed the info was just as good for 50/50 hehe. Yeah the 30 gallon.

Here's a pic I just took with the new rock


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

looks good! now u just have to add things to it.. lol


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

lol. well I did add my cupcoral in there. They don't need special lighting. I have 1 snail and 2 crabs in at the moment to start the cycling. The live rock has lots of algae and bacteria on it to help it along. The rock is 34 pounds and the sand is 40 pounds of live instant cycle sand. That one rock is 14 pounds alone lol It has some small coral on it. I forgot what my bud said it was but I'm not really wanting too much light on it while in it's first couple of weeks of cycling for fear of too much algae. So that coral may not make it >.<


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

yea, we'll all experience some loss of coral.. lol it could survive tho..


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

OMG so sorry...I didn't see those pics somehow. The 30 looks great. Good luck on that!


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

ah ok  thanks I'm in love with the 30 already lol that giant rock helped


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

haha. you don't have to worry so much about aquascaping if there are bigger pieces...


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

the sucky part is the lighting. it will be 2-300 bucks for LEDS or I can get T5HO which I'm completely turned off on now with their heat, monthly expense and yearly replacement. I want corals though. Those are the best part of saltwater >.>


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

just do LEDs, they'll run cheaper from the day *after* you buy them. lol


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

Well I am done with my lighting journey! I liked the metal halide but yeah... I found a group buy on some LEDs. They really make my coral pop! I took these pics with my cell phone. My point and shoot captured too much light.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

awesome!


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

thanks 

they were supposed to be one cord for blue and one cord for white but they made them with 2 buttons. I have to manually do the sunrise/sunset which sucks. Still though 180 LEDs with 3 cooling fans for 180 bucks lol. Can't be beat.


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

Yeah, totally.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

180 LEDs?! how many watts total is it?


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

You will probably be good for pretty much anything you want as to corals if I'm not mistaken...


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

sorry for the late reply lol. It's 120w and my mistake it's 119 LED










Hopefully good enough for all coral, some people ordered the same lights in another group buy a few months back and they warned me that they're really bright and have bleached some sps... so if I do sps it goes to the bottom :3 The manufacturer said it's equivalent to a 250w MH


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

Thats what i was going to state. You could do a few things: if the brightness is adjustable, then just decrease it to the lowest setting, watch the coral, and increase it if needed. You could position it higher above the tank or get some glass diffuser over the bottom. Any of those should help. 
112 leds is too much for a 30 gallon. Watch ALL your coral because others (not only sps) can be bleached by it. If you dont see good growth or it starts to bleach, move it down or up.. just watch it, that's the best thing you can do. 
BTW, where did you get that? I just got a new 75g i'm going to do a reef in so i'm checkin around for pricing and what not. PM me with the details if you could.


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

I have a few corals now  I got a neon green candycane, blue candycane, purple frogspawn, a big suncoral colony. I lost count at 72 heads lol, dragon eye zoa, greenbay packer zoa, honestly like 6 more zoas that I don't know what they are lol but they glow nice under just the blue LED, toadstool, orange rics and blue rics, a purple thing that I have no idea what it is either lol. Sucks.. I knew when I bought them but forgot since then and of course the cup corals. Supposed to get some bambam and some melting nebula palys this weekend.

Almost forgot my rainbow monti  That one was free


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

Sounds like you went coral crazy! lol. that's cool, i have some of the same coral as you. they do look awesome in blue light but you cant run them 100% blue all the time.. they'll grow better with some white mixed in there.


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

phys said:


> Thats what i was going to state. You could do a few things: if the brightness is adjustable, then just decrease it to the lowest setting, watch the coral, and increase it if needed. You could position it higher above the tank or get some glass diffuser over the bottom. Any of those should help.
> 112 leds is too much for a 30 gallon. Watch ALL your coral because others (not only sps) can be bleached by it. If you dont see good growth or it starts to bleach, move it down or up.. just watch it, that's the best thing you can do.
> BTW, where did you get that? I just got a new 75g i'm going to do a reef in so i'm checkin around for pricing and what not. PM me with the details if you could.



Yeah I have this thing pretty high up above my tank though it is 20 inches deep too. Luckily I have this on a timer and I cannot adjust the brightness. I have 2 switches for the blues and whites. I do just blue for 2 hours then 6 hours with both then 2 hours with just blue before lights out. It's too soon to notice any change yet since it's day 3 lol

I did a group buy with some people from Denver Marine Society but the company name was alieexpress according to the thread. It's a chinese company. They build them to specification though they screwed up the order. It was supposed to be two cords one for blue and one for white to automate the sunrise/sunset. SO if you do that make sure they make them right. Some people opted to return them and wait for the cords. I can rewire if it starts to bother me lol... Maybe you can do a group buy as they get cheaper with quantity


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

You probably know what I am going to ask...

How bout some pics? Please?


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

Of the corals? I can try lol my camera white balancing sucks I've learned. I can take some pics with the flash but won't give the same actinic effect lol.


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

i took some pics and some from the old MH. my fish looked pissed lol I woke them up xD like I said my cam sucks with just the blue spectrum, I didn't have the tank when I picked the camera lol. I will take better pics with all the lighting tomorrow or this weekend. Getting 3 new coral this weekend lol

first is an unknown zoa










I think this one is a watermelon. 










another unknown but nice red eye in the middle










yet another unknown










toadstool leather










sun coral










orange or blue rici. its a baby hard to tell










orange rici next to the blue candycane next to an unknown zoa










rainbow monti though all red due to the lighting










green dragon eye










green candycane (my first purchase for the 10 gallon starter)










greenbay packers


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

LOL sorry to spam but that sun coral pic annoyed me. Here's one with the flash 2 minutes ago


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

Those are good pics. The sun coral is sweet. I love those, but I'm just afraid it would cause a problem in my tank since you have to feed them so much. You should give me a frag of yours sometime.


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## Levi (Mar 20, 2011)

retook a couple and moved my rocks around lol. made a platform out of eggcrate

and sure if I figure out how to frag a glob like that lol


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## Kaiden32 (Sep 4, 2010)

Sweet. Love the scape, and i can't wait to see when stuff starts growing in more. I betcha there's a video on youtube of how to frag that stuff, but I'm not sure. Just google it if you really want to know.


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