My T5 55g tank....and coral lightening

clkwrk...ya you would think huh. All I can say is my experience. My pink zoo's which were at the store under 400w 20k xm came into my tank a decent pink. When I put them up on the rock they become radioactive pink. I have a frag tank in the basement I've been running a month. This tank has mediocre reflectors and 2 giesemann bulbs and two crappy arc bulbs. Under this lighting the pink zoo's returned to decent pink as well as the SPS that are in the frag tank doing great. This has only been 3 weeks so I'm not making any definate statements.

Also I have droped one SLR on my T5 system in the main tank and droped Photoperiod a bit. I will update for sure.

As for ballast. well they should run the bulbs the same weither in Europe or North America. Thats why they call them spec ballasts...because they burn the bulb to specification. Im not talking about overdriving.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7648717#post7648717 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Large Polyp Dave
DVanacker,

I saw the totm on AA you linked earlier, and while it is a beautiful tank. It is once again an european tank using ATI bulbs on european ballasts.

There are many euro/asian tanks that are T5 that look amazing. It just seems that north america is hurting a little.
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Ya and I gave another possible explaination that you choose to ignor. He runs with less T5 bulbs and has colorful SPS everywhere.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7609220#post7609220 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dvanacker
Serious snaps....from all I've heard the ATI bulbs are the same as the DD/GIESEMANN bulbs....just different name but same manufacturer. I already mentioned this in a previous post.

Also guys I think I am really starting to see improvement running my daylights on 41/2 hrs now. If you give me a month or even less I will be able to say with out a doubt.

Grim.....If you look at the spectrum of any 20k bulb...you will not see a lot of the green/yellow/orange/red spectrum either.
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It can't be because I bought Geisemann aquablue and blue plus than bought same with ATI on the same ballast and they are different in terms of output and color....ATI are brighter and have an have a higher color temp.
 
Also, i noticed something. Mothra, you have leathers, shrooms, and zoas, but you are having problems with browning acros? Cant remember. I think you might have stated that you thought your coloration was good, but if you didnt that mix of softies with SPS might be something you want to look into.
 
Hey, you also notice that the TOTM spoken of has moved to a bluer end of the spectrum. Almost, all the great colorful coral i see, at online vendors, TOTM etc etcetct......has a blue spectrum. The best looking colors i see are under a 20K MH. I think that if you switch any bulbs over to a more "blue end" then you will notice your colors look better. There will be less bleaching and the colors just look better than under the yellow colors 10K and below. I think even IWAN tries to keep his tank around 14 K "color." This is why i ordered all ATI 12 K and the blue plus ATI version. I think this will make colors better. If anyone wants to try something and notice a change, I think the suggestion about changing from SLR reflectors or removing the acrylic shield should see a difference in color over 6 months, whether it be for better or for worse. The color of the bulb changes the color in your eye. It does change the actual color of the coral, but the light works in great measure to change how you PERCEIVE the color. So try to get your tank to a more blue and see if you notice something.
 
Get the extremely talented American reefkeepers, give them T5's with the same proportionality of t5 users as europe or anywhere, and i think you will see many more beautiful..."colorful"... sps tanks. Its not a nationality related thing. The proportionality of usage ratio for t5 users in other places is just higher, so it explains why they have more beautiful(quanitatively speaking, not qualitatively) sps tanks.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7649127#post7649127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cmc5dc
It can't be because I bought Geisemann aquablue and blue plus than bought same with ATI on the same ballast and they are different in terms of output and color....ATI are brighter and have an have a higher color temp.
Click to expand...

Ya your right...they are not the same bulb anymore. They used to be but apparently ATI had has switched manufacturers. Maybe the giesemann bulbs are the problem....who knows.
 
Dvanacker: i'm not ignoring the fact that it has less bulbs in the setup. Apologies if I came across like that.

I don't think it's an intensity thing at all. His 4 bulb setup or a new 8 bulb setup would probably both run great with european ballasts.

I just feel that our problems are a spectral issue that has to do with the way the bulbs are being burnt with North American ballasts. I have perused through a bunch of european/singapore forums and I haven't found any threads in regards to the "coral lightening/bleaching" that North American T5 users are plagued with.

I wish Sanjay (or someone with access to this type of equipment) could test the spectral output of these T5 bulbs on our ballasts and compare them to the european manufacturer specifications. I guess that's the only way we'll know for sure heh.
 
One other thought.

A lot of SPS keepers use the 400 watt 20K XM bulb
While running that bulb they do not bleach SPS the way T5 bulbs do.

I can't imagine the teklight 4 foot fixture with 6x54 T5 bulbs being brighter than a pair of 400 watt 20k. Is it?
 
Mothra, you have leathers, shrooms, and zoas, but you are having problems with browning acros?
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I don't have any leather corals (i.e. sinularia, sarcophyton, etc...) which would be the main contributors to alleopathy. I don't have any shrooms. I do have some xenia, zoos, and nephthea. There could be some chemical warfare going on but I don't think so - reasons being that I have had steady growth throughout the tank and 'ok' color. I don't have any brown corals, but about half of my corals are pastel which is mainly what this thread is getting at.

I do have a slight nutrient problem that I caused by removing my sandbed some time ago, but my coral lightening started well before that. I doubt it is helping my situation though :(
 
No ....it IS a spectrum issue....its called coral coloration is a million times better the closer you get to 20K...but the growth isn't....thats why these guys say they see good growht but poor colors ITO....once we get a 20K T5 bulb or even 14K, you will see T5 users much happier with their colors....PERCEPTION....

DVAN...let me know if you see any changes particularly after dropping one SLR....i think you will... but that IS intensity related not spectrum...we will see...
Also, ATI and giessman are NOT the same....Just got my Tek today and put 1 Gies and 1 ATI and can only notice the minutest(not a word) difference in the "Aquablue", the ATI is 12K and Gies is 11K... i like the ATI, a little more purplish/bluish hue...and i also think corals will look better under the 12K ATI(that is spectrum related for DAVE)...who says it cant be spectrum and intensity....come on fellas lets think here....it can absolutely be both...doesnt have to be just one....not an "or" situation...its an "and/or"

one last note......i thought that maybe my TEK wouldnt be intense enough to keep acros and the works...boy was i wrong...just hooked all 4 bulbs up and blow....im blind...my dogs are scared....and my neigbors think im growing pot...I love this fixture..now lets see what the deal is with the "color thingy"
 
ballast...shmalleast.....crapallast... european this.. european that....it will not matter... i cant wait to for my move and get my tank all set back up to show everyone Americans with T5's have colorful tanks...we just need to do some tweaking
 
I wont make a normative statement that the 6 bulb T5 is brighter than 1, (certainly dont think it would be for 2 400's) but i will say that ths fixture is pretty damn bright...now i know what everyone is saying that their Tek is brighter than their buddy's MH fixture... I am now a believer.
 
Sorry Mothra, misunderstood, should have read everything before i posted...I wont put any softies in with SPS just so it is controlled and i KNOW there is no allepothy....WHo knows, you could have some you couldnt...we wont know.. I just like to stay on the safe side and know that isnt the case if there is a problem
 
I am going to go back to the American/European(as i am a poker player i call them eurotrash playfully) discussion. I think that the difference is not the ballast, bulb, lighting etc...It is there are different husbandry practices. Look at the marked differences in their husbandry. Zeovit for one....salt used....coral feeding....different alot of things..cant name or think of them all......the difference in colors is quite possibly rooted in this than the lighting....I know this is a "light" thread, but this is pertinent and we musn't forget about it.
 
LOL dvan....Whats up with the UV brand bulbs? Has anyone not seen the lightening/pastelness of corals with them, or has it occurred with the bulbs?
 
its called coral coloration is a million times better the closer you get to 20K ....PERCEPTION....
Click to expand...

Actually this is a debateable misconception. 20k lighting can make just about anything be perceived better, but 10k can bring out the true color of the coral. I'm talking about taking a coral out of your tank and itls almost the same color in plain daylight. I won't say that 20k doesn't bring out certain pigments as well, but there's a reason why guys like Greg Hiller, JBNY, Mike Paletta, and a lot more use 10k lighting with supplements.

Speaking of perception, to say that your tank is brighter than another just by looking at it is really only a matter of how you perceive it, or possibly how you define 'brightness'. Using info from an often quoted T5 source, all of the T5 bulbs have similar PAR, of course one is the brightest, etc - but they are pretty close (other than the actinic which is obvious). Put 6 B+ bulbs over one tank and put 6 AB bulbs over another. The tank with the AB bulbs is going to be perceived as much brighter, but in reality it only has slightly more PAR. Visual comparison is not very accurate.

Becase one light source is a point source (has an intense hot spot, casts shadows) and the other is distributed (even intensity, very few shadows) this makes it even more difficult to judge at a glance.


p.s. you can see the tanks and corals of some of the folks I mentioned above here: http://exoticreefs.us/__er_farmers.htm
(friendly plug for exotic reefs :)) Several of them are using 400w 10k and no bleached corals to be seen.
 
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