T5's: A cautionary note

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Alright, alright, enough of the sentimental remarks, your making me weep tears of joy.

Here is the official FastUno reasoning behind the camera sale. I know it was a great camera & yes I still had my gripes (remember my Jack Daniels glass is always 1/2 empty). I am usually good about buying equipment & selling them in the nick of time before their values reduce to nill. With this camera I flinched & lost about $300 more that I should have gotten for it. There are 2 new updated models of my camera & they rock. I have seen amazing shots taken with these cameras at iso 800 & 1600, to the point where you barely notice any artifacts. I still kept the $500 dollar lens for the camera, they are all interchangeable & hold their value, just don't have the body yet.
 
I've been using halides for a few months and I still am not completely happy with them as far as the color goes. The T5's will do good for you.

Don't worry about Uno, He's just a typical disgruntaled New Yorker so his opinion don't count
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Grim you are using 10K's, right? Can you ever test out the Hamilton 14K? That in conjunction with the actinics T5 look so awesome. I did not expect to be this happy with the look, but it looks freakin awesome. The crappy point & shoot camera that I borrowed simply cannot convey the true nature of the tank. For looks I HIGHLY recommend this combo. Remember at one point I was ready to rule out actinics, but this combo has got me liking them again.

Gotta take out my NY aggression somehow.
 
Running 150 watt DE lamps I can't use the hamilton lamps and 14K's aren't gonna cut it PAR wise anyway. I am going to fire up a couple of T6's and see if running those with 20K halides will work.

By the way, I expected the fish in your avitar tohave a black eye the way we've been slapping you around.
 
so has the dark side of metal halide won the debate here????
I was moving T5ish but now not sure.
 
I did not switch to halides because of performance issues or the look of the light. It was because I wanted a more open look to the tank which I could only get using a hood instead of a canopy. I happened to trip on a once in a lifetime deal on a halide hood so I went for it. If I could have gotten a six foot long T5 hood that is what would be on the tank. I have learned I was hitting some of the corals too hard as far as intensity goes. If I ever turn back to the light side ofthe force there will be a couple of actinics in the mix to tone down the intensity a tad.
 
Speaking for myself I have to still be inconclusive. It's still too early to pass complete judgement. I have not seen any reason to blame MH for anything negative that has happened yet, believe me if I see any such signs you will be the first to know.

I am totally impressed with the Hamilton 14K/T5 actinic look, that it would be hard to experiment with any other bulb combo. The 14K look good on their own, but the actinic give it that extra punch. The greens & reds really stand out. Actually the look might be even better than my T5's alone, probably cause I only had to opportunity to run just 1 actinic bulb in my mix before.
Also, from what I have seen from the spectral plots of other Hamilton bulbs, it seems that they provide us with the typical bell shaped curve that peaks in the blue range & no unexpected peaks in between. I have not come across the exact plot for the 175W bulb though, but would love to find it. If anyone can help with that it would be much appreciated.


Running 150 watt DE lamps I can't use the hamilton lamps and 14K's aren't gonna cut it PAR wise anyway. I am going to fire up a couple of T6's and see if running those with 20K halides will work.

By the way, I expected the fish in your avitar tohave a black eye the way we've been slapping you around.
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I know about your DE bubs, but you seem to be a resourceful guy. Anyway you can check out 14K Hamilton w/T5 actinics? Also, the MH fixture is on 2x4's right now on top of the tank, only 2 inches off the very top of tank, 3" if you count the dead airspace due to the overflow design. I figured that if I put them lower I would harvest some more par. The limiting factor would have obviously been heat. The fixture has 2 fans & I can feel the warm air blowing. The first 2 days I did not have room AC on & the tank temp was 80-81. Now I have AC on, room temp is 79-80, & tank temp is 81 mostly & sometimes gets close to 82. This is the same temp fluctuations that my tank would go through with T5's, go figure?

Not to worry about slapping, I am a big boy...I can take it.
 
I don't think these guys can decide what the brand name of the lamps will be. Deltec has marketed them under D&D but I guess Giesmann is a better name for marketing. Does your lamp say Made in EC on it? That is where the ATI and D&D ones came from.
 
yep, made in EC. The box says Giesemann, the bulbs say D+D, reefgeek says its an ATI bulb with a new name on it.


How long before its burnt in?

Im now running
Actinic
Blue+
Blue+
Aqua blue

Way too blue for me, I may throw the Actinic out and put a aquablue back in. However, I guess if they are not burnt in they will change?
 
I'd give it a month to burn in all the way.
Back when I first got my ATI bulbs the tank was SUPER blue, then the bulbs burned in and it's not as blue anymore.
 
Here are some pictures under an all T5 tank.
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Nice. Very nice & healthy. Makes you wonder what I was doing wrong. I just don't get it.

Quote from the D&D site
ALGAE GROWTH

Please note:
With high illumination of planted tanks growth is enhanced. However if there is an excess of phosphate the growth rate of unwanted and nuisance algae is likely to accelerate. To solve this problem we recommend that you use Rowaphos which successfully absorbs phosphate and silicate, removing the nutrients which the algae need to feed on without releasing back any of the absorbed materials.


Translation: Through our testing we have discovered that T5's produce that much par, that given the proper conditions your tank will be a photoynthetic Mecca. Every corner of you tank will be bombarded with extra pars to allow for anything & everything to grow. The less corals you have the more room for the other crap to grow & cause a never ending cycle. The only way around this is if you run some type of phosphate removal. If you don't agree with these statements you will soon.
 
One little note, you know that green stuff that was growing in the back of my tank. Since the MH were on it has begun to turn white. I think it's green coralline & have always attributed its presence to the strong T5 output.

I think I just might end up scraping all that off.
 
FastUno- Are you mixing your own water or buying natural sea water. The reason I ask is because I am using Catalina water for my tank from day one, and everything has been good.
 
I use instant ocean & have been doing weekly water changes up until a point. Now I do them every 2-3 weeks (about 15-20g).

The first time I tried not changing water for a month I noticed some differences. Then I began running a 1 micron filter sock & carbon & I can no longer tell. The water now always looks clean.
 
I think what contributes to how my tank looks and overall health is in the water. I do two water changes a month using Catalina Water and everything in the tank is growing and colorful.
 
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