thriceanangel
Active member
Yeah, but I want to max out the PAR as well.
T5 lamp PAR readings
- Thread starter The Grim Reefer
- Start date
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
That is going to have a lot of PAR. The Aquablue Lamps have nearly as much PAR as the GE and the Blue Plus is not very far behind them, When you consider that the PAR meter is not as good at reading blue light as red it is even closer.
RobbyG
Active member
Hey Grim, I was just wondering, with my lowly 4 bulb T5 setup, what 54 watt bulbs would you recommend. So far my Acro which is 8 inches from the surface has been doing very well and most of my other corals are soft type, like Hammer, Zenia and others.
Also just wondering but since T5 put out much more light per watt than mH has anyone ever calculated out a Watt/Per Gallon optimum value for T5 lights?
Thanks for the Help..
Also just wondering but since T5 put out much more light per watt than mH has anyone ever calculated out a Watt/Per Gallon optimum value for T5 lights?
Thanks for the Help..
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
I would run an ATI Blue Plus and Aquablue, and a UVL Super Actinic and Aquasun
Hi Grim,
Thanks for all the nice information on T5s. I have one simple question about the Actinics bulbs.
I ran the ATI Actinic and hated it
I ran the VHO URI Actinic 03 and loved it
I ran the Giesemann Pure Actinic and like it but not as much as the VHO
My question is how is the UVL, formely known as URI, Super Actinic in terms of color compared to its VHO counterpart and Giesemann Pure actinic.
Thanks,
Gabe
Thanks for all the nice information on T5s. I have one simple question about the Actinics bulbs.
I ran the ATI Actinic and hated it
I ran the VHO URI Actinic 03 and loved it
I ran the Giesemann Pure Actinic and like it but not as much as the VHO
My question is how is the UVL, formely known as URI, Super Actinic in terms of color compared to its VHO counterpart and Giesemann Pure actinic.
Thanks,
Gabe
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
7Blue Plus
7Aquablue
7Super Actinic
7Aquasun
7Blue Plus
7Aquablue
7Blue Plus
7Blue Plus
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
The UVL Actinic aint bad. Any of them look better with a Blue Plus running with them
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
That would work. I might move the SA's in on more space to slots 3 and 5. If you drop to one SA add a blue Plus instead of Aquablue.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Cooling and reflectors.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
You have to be careful to say that the ATI powermodul puts out more PAR... there is no proof of this. Although I believe that is is capable of higher peaks, this does not mean that its total output is better. In the case of the ATI, we can assume that the active cooling and special reflectors do go a long way to making it a top performer, but until a 3D grid is used, we have no way of knowing how one reflector has more output than another. Point readings, as seen with the Ultra-Solaris, are a small percentage of the total output. For all we know, all this time assuming that the Icecap Reflectors are better than the Teks may be wrong... Of course, the staining problems of the Tek are one thing, but the reflectors may be designed to give a better spread rather than hot-spots where the PAR meter jumps up.
Unless a reflector directs light back at the bulb, or out the sides or in a direction other than the tank, one reflector will have the same total output as another.
When and if Teks, Icecaps, Ultra-Solaris, and ATI units are compared side by side with a 3D grid, we may find that one isnt necessarily better than another, it just has a different spread.
Unless a reflector directs light back at the bulb, or out the sides or in a direction other than the tank, one reflector will have the same total output as another.
When and if Teks, Icecaps, Ultra-Solaris, and ATI units are compared side by side with a 3D grid, we may find that one isnt necessarily better than another, it just has a different spread.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
You seriously don't think I've ever measured in different areas???
The Ultra Solaris reflectors were thumped by the Aquactinics. I shifted the fixture fore and aft to make sure I wasn't measuring a hot spot. The only reflector I suspect will really have a wider dispersion is the ATI W shapped retro reflector.
My rack is ready to go as far a measuring the reflectors. I am just waiting on a couple more reflectors so they can all be done at the same time. No real point in doing a few.
The Ultra Solaris reflectors were thumped by the Aquactinics. I shifted the fixture fore and aft to make sure I wasn't measuring a hot spot. The only reflector I suspect will really have a wider dispersion is the ATI W shapped retro reflector.
My rack is ready to go as far a measuring the reflectors. I am just waiting on a couple more reflectors so they can all be done at the same time. No real point in doing a few.
grim how about the 2007 tek light. i see in the catalogue they say the new retros have a 96% new reflective tekII reflector... are they putting thes in the tek lights? i saw one special edition blue tek on reef geek that says it has the new reflectors which are made of the ic material. their catalog also says it has like 27 bends instead of 10. have you tested these yet and do you know if you can order the tek light w/tek II reflectors? if you have tested how is the new performance?
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
No Grim, Im not accusing you of not taking readings from multiple areas, but the point is that without a grid and some calc applied to get a sum of the outputs, we dont really know for sure which 'makes more light', only which has higher 'hot-spots'.
I dont think that the tests you do are that far off, but look at how the Ultra-Solaris jumped up in PAR when put over water. The refraction of the water helped converge its output. A ray of light entering the water at 45degrees becomes 30 degrees in the process. A reflector which creates a 'hot spot' at say, 6" below the reflector might have that hot spot moved down to 9" due to water.
Now, some of your tests are like comparing PFO mini pendants to lumenarcs... the winner is pretty clear. But in others, and I bet more common in the future, these comparisons will be more like comparing lumenarcs and lumenmax reflectors. The Lumenarc has higher values at certain points, but the total output of the lumenmax is higher... go figure. The output of the lumenmax is just more evenly distributed across the tank. But back to the PFO reflector... it may produce higher peak values at the top, and at a couple points directly under the reflector, but overall, it reflects less light than a lumenarc to the bottom of the tank, or to the sides.
It pretty much comes down to this, for all you others that might be wondering what Im babbling about...
Lets say you have two grids...
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Haven't done the new Teks yet. The limited edition unit has the new reflectors. The new Retro kits with the better reflectors unfortunatly come with Workhorse ballast.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Haven't done the new Teks yet. The limited edition unit has the new reflectors. The new Retro kits with the better reflectors unfortunatly come with Workhorse ballast.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
The limited edition unit has the NEW-ER reflectors, but the NEW-EST reflectors, AKA Tek2, is retrofit only.
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