T5 causing bleaching on LPS?

[Justin74]

Try the 15k, I think you'll be happy with the results.It's a cool blueish white. Eventually Id also suggest swapping out one blu+ for a URI superactinic. The blues are great for popping reds,orange and yellows, but the URI will bring those greens and purples out like there suppose to be, a great balance for the best of both worlds.

 

[Jacob D]

Justin, I think what you said has a few foot notes to consider...

1. Some corals will color up nice under blue (aka 14-20k) lighting
2. Some corals will color up nice under white (aka 10k) lighting
3. Some corals will color up great under either
4. Most corals will pop under actinic, but doesn't mean they are colored up to their true potential.

If I had my druthers all of my corals would look great under a 10-12k lighting scheme. Because I know the lineage of my corals I know that just about all of them DID look great under 10k halides. To me actinics and more blues will only cover up the issue of fading colors. Although there could be something to be said about going to a lower PAR setup (i.e. using actinics) that may play into the equation as well, and might produce a positive result.

Just food for thought.

 

[duec22]

Has anyone else tried useing the 10K Midday Sun bulbs? I replaced one of my Aquablue plusses with a the Midday Sun, and did noticed much richer color out of my CaliTort and a few of my other blue SPS. However I just took it out to make sure it isn't the cause of my STN issues right now.

 

[Jacob D]

Duec

Where did you find the 10k bulb? Who is the manufacturer? The closest thing I have seen is the Giesemann 11k.

 

[duec22]

Man I don't know what I've been thinking....I just looked and it's a 6k not a 10k...somehow it got in my head that it was a 10k.:hmm4:

 

[The Beaut]

I still think your choice of bulb is your preference. Experiment until you find what you like. But i still think you need to adjust the times your bulbs are on. I am actually also now going to swap out one of my Blue + for a super actinic.

 

[Justin74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7944923#post7944923 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mothra
Duec

Where did you find the 10k bulb? Who is the manufacturer? The closest thing I have seen is the Giesemann 11k.

Actually the Geismann aquablue is a 15k, I believe when D&D was affiliated with ATI it was marked as an 11k.

Mothra: I know what your talking about with colors doing good under this and that. And actinic is going to bring out the best in visual coloring of the coral. But these colors are true, when I take em out of the tank under my kitchen flourescents I still see the same thing.

To me actinics and more blues will only cover up the issue of fading colors.

This can be true and Ive had similar opinions, but even with actinic, a good aquarist should be able to distinguish by looking at the overall health of the coral, even with strong actinics is still ez for me at least to tell when a coral is faded, and basically being carried by a light in appearance. But please beleive me when I say my colors are intensifying in and out of the water, however you want to look at them.

After using T5's for over 2 years, and trying most of the bulbs out there. This is nothing short of amazing for me, as Ive dealt with alot of mixed results and constantly questioning the integrity of spectrums in the bulbs to finally finding a config that works with what I have. The superactinic is high in PAR so that's not an issue as well as the blue+, and 15k. Im only using 1 bulb that is considered low. To me though, my instinctual gut is telling me that it is the variety and quality of lighting more so than PAR. Dont get me wrong I know PAR is important, but cmon guys. Is there really any question that these bulbs can or cant kick out some bright light, to me no. Doesnt mean your necessarily giving the corals the right spectrum there looking for either though, and this is what I think has elluded alot of frustrated T5 users, me included until now.

-Justin

 

[Jacob D]

Justin,

I believe that your corals may look fantastic, but my corals or someone else's corals may not look too hot under the same spectrum. That's why it's important to know the lineage of the corals and how they will look under a specific lighting arrangement (sort of a whole other topic there). P.s. Do you have some pics? Maybe before and after if possible?

Also re: the 11k, I think it depends where you shop. Reefgeek, Innovative Lights, Specialty Lights, DIY Reef, and Marine Depot (for example) all have different offerings between 11k and 13k Giesemann bulbs... this doesn't lend itself to us hobbysits figuring out exactly what's out there.

 

[Justin74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7952133#post7952133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mothra
Justin,

I believe that your corals may look fantastic, but my corals or someone else's corals may not look too hot under the same spectrum. That's why it's important to know the lineage of the corals and how they will look under a specific lighting arrangement (sort of a whole other topic there). P.s. Do you have some pics? Maybe before and after if possible?

Also re: the 11k, I think it depends where you shop. Reefgeek, Innovative Lights, Specialty Lights, DIY Reef, and Marine Depot (for example) all have different offerings between 11k and 13k Giesemann bulbs... this doesn't lend itself to us hobbysits figuring out exactly what's out there.

It says 15k on the box that they come in Well, if your lucky to get a box :/ some of the problems Ive noticed with vendors is they dont always send you(as a buyer) there actuall box,but just a shipping box with there inner sleave still over the bulb, could be cuz most come in bulk?Dont know.But the one and only time I have seen there actuall ready for shelf wrapping was on a purchase through a east coast vendor, and not a heavy trafficed supplier like our west coast vendors.

I know, a picture is worth thousand words. Tell that to my cheap @zz camera You have been seeing my picture postsin our club forum right ? Theyre crummy:lol: I'll see what I can do this afternoon, just for you buddy Your a cool cat and it kills me how I can always count on having slightly different opinions than you, I promise bro, I dont seek you out Next time I see you at our meetings count on me coming to finally introduce myself and shake your hand, Hell, watchout, I might even hug you weve been tangled up for so long :lol2:

But in my defense my cheap camera does have a hellova time capturing color and the corals usually look washed out and either come out too warm, or too blue, but Ill do my best.Peace.

-Justin

 

[Jacob D]

My pics always come out cruddy too, but a cruddy pic is a little better than none at all . I think we agree on a lot, we just don't come across how we want to.

All I was getting at, like I posted a few above, is that some corals will color up one way under 20k, others will look great under 10k (etc etc). We're not always talking apples and apples when it's my tank, compared to yours, compared to someone elses. Plus what looks good to me may not look good to you. It would be great to put all of our tanks side by side and just have a big open forum about what we like don't like etc... but chances of that happening are pretty slim eh?

 

[Justin74]

Agreed. Like MH you cant even go by the same bulb when it has different results on different lengths used ie. 24",36"48" etc. Im currently using the 36" 39w normally driven HO. And even with these same bulbs Im sure if it was over my tank about 6 months ago when my phosphates were high I wouldnt be sittin here saying yippe! look at me! Soo many variables in equipment, water flow and quality, let alone the different corals we keep.

Just got finnished using the magfloat for the pics, and Im pooped, you guys will just have to deal with the coraline growth on the tank because im not scraping it off,I know, Im a wimp

-Justin

 

[Justin74]

Heres a good before shot, you can see the acro in center is fairly a drab tan with at the time hints of a green and purple encrusting base. The digi straight tan. The calitort healthy, but not vibrant. These colors came out a lil more when its actinic only in the morning/evening, but even then the digi was just a dull flat color.

heres the same digi now with a definate green in the polyps and the base is turning a pink color(not flourescent pink,but flat) and when the same actinics are only on(which that aspect of config hasnt changed) it is undeniably green. Not your typical green digitata green but a dirty green, Ive havent come across this morph yet.

and here is a typical green digi so you can see that Im not by chance mistaking the two for just a "coloring up" one.

more on the way....

-Justin

 

[Justin74]

Now here is an aftershot with arrows pointing at the acro and tort, on the acro the pic doesnt show how green it really is getting and the purplish pink tips are fabulous. The tort has also changed in the fact theres more green coming through the base instead of tan and the polyps have never been this color of bright turquoise before, and again, when the same set of actinics come on now, the colors are just that more intense.

Kinda runnin outta time so I have to wrap it up, but needless to say my LPS are doing soo much better as well, really noticeably in the frogspawn, just getting a nice rich green with vibrant purple tips.

-Justin

 

[Justin74]

Btw, that acro w/ blue tips in the back of the last pic is another testament. When I got it it was a rich foresty green/brown base. Ever since then it not only lightened up but lost all of its green pigment even when just the actinics were on it was soo faint. Now even with the daybulbs on you can make out a green shimmer over its base, and its even a darker green when the actinics come on making it better than even when I first got it.Peace.

-Justin

 

[Jacob D]

Justin,

Those are decent pics, thanks for scraping the corraline. Your colors look on PAR with what I consider the norm for a T5 lit tank, looks pretty similar to the coloration I experience in my tank too.

I don't know if I'm just super picky or what, but I'm after more intense color. Your tort looks similar to mine, maybe a little better even, but it is also a little smaller. When mine grew out a little the green skin became subdued and it is a bluish purple color now. I expect mine to look more like this: http://www.exoticreefs.us/repository/snipersps/hg_tort.htm

Of course that one is being blasted with 20k so it has developed quite a blue color. I don't know if it can be acheived using only T5, if so it will take a mostly blue setup to do it. Only time and trial and error will tell.

 

[Justin74]

No offense to sniperSPS, but mine looks way better. His polyps are brown, while mine are a bright blue/turquoise. You cant see this with my pic due to lack of detail. But Im only comparing my frag to his frag pic seeing how there basically close in size, mines only 2 1/2 inches, but I'll never do these corals any justice untill I get a better camera. As far as achieving a colony like his, only time will tell. But Im in it for the long haul, so stay tuned!


Norm for a T5 tank?Hahaha, dont even try to make me believe that. Ive seen alot of T5 tanks, the normal is very pastelly and light, alot like what I was seeing for the past couple years . You gotta keep in mind as well that Ive only been using this current config for no more than 2 months(started cycling in new bulbs 3 months ago over a 1 month process). Ive been touring alot of MH tanks as well, and some of my corals share the same DNA lineage as some of there corals, amazingly enough the MH corals are the ones that are subdued, faded, or just not as colorfull. To me that is far from normal.

Were just gonna have to check each others stuff out, then I'll let you have the final word


-Justin

 

[Justin74]

Oops! Reading my post I came off very arrogant and crasse. Sorry to all if that's how you took it, it wasnt meant.

-Justin

 

[Jacob D]

Sorry man, if your color is that good then it was my mistake, looking at the 2 pics it just didn't look that way, I didn't mean any offence by it.

 

[Justin74]

None taken I wasnt very eloquent when I wrote. And aggreed I came off snappy, sorry bout that.

The first pic in my opinion is something I would expect to see in a T5 tank, just kind washed with no substance. But the second pic is just poor detail to polyps and depth of color is kinda washed out by the camera, you can tell this just by looking at the tips, there white in the pic, in real life there definately not white the coloration in real life is almost exactly like the farmers pic only difference is the polyps is all.His are brown mine are a very bright turquoise color. No big whoop though.

-Justin