DiscusHeckel
Acropora Gardener
Hi Dennis,
I have found Fiji purple's spectral plot in this thread (post #437). I am not sure whether it is official or not.
regards
The T5 Q&a Thread - split
- Thread starter eagle9252
- Start date
Hi Dennis,
I have found Fiji purple's spectral plot in this thread (post #437). I am not sure whether it is official or not.
regards
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
It's not official but it's the best you'll find. KZ doesn't release spectral plots for anything.
TropTrea
New member
With the detail on that plot I'm sure it is not official. Official plots are usualy not as detailed to allow for manufacturing variables especialy between different bulb batches.
But thanks for the link and I plugged there numbers into my charts and looked at the purple plus plot I ran about a year ago. The simularities are fantastic with the exception of roughly a 15nm shift on the peaks. All things considered the 15 nm could be a matter of difference in calibration of the spectrum anylizer I used, The spectrum anylizer they used, the actual difference between the differnt trafe name bulbs measured or any combination of all of the above.
But with the simularities here I would not recommend either of these bulbs as being superior or inferior to the other based on the plot data.
souk
New member
Yes, it is a bright blue and at times I do see the green; even when it's just the b+. And yes, I do like a brighter look for mid day but I'm willing to try a dimmer blue look. I appreciate the suggestion and will give it a try.
I looked at Rtpartys suggestions for others too and will try it for blue/dimmer look to what I currently have.
Thanks again.
rogergolf66
im an addict lol
Ok I have spent the last 2 months watching and reading this thread. Asking some questions here and there. Wanted to say thanks to everybody for all the help.
I have 1 more question that I think can help me really get an understanding of the different bulbs ok here it is.
All for the same dimension tank 4x4x2 120 gal all have 8x54w ati fixtures
Tanks 1 sps tank
Tank 2 LPS tank
Tank 3 zoa tank
Tank 4 softie tank
What would be the 4 different bulb recommendations for these 4 different tanks? I know its a lot to ask but I think it will help me understand intensity of each bulb and coral light requirements under t5.
Thanks so much. And for the record I do have 2 of those tanks running.
Roger
I have 1 more question that I think can help me really get an understanding of the different bulbs ok here it is.
All for the same dimension tank 4x4x2 120 gal all have 8x54w ati fixtures
Tanks 1 sps tank
Tank 2 LPS tank
Tank 3 zoa tank
Tank 4 softie tank
What would be the 4 different bulb recommendations for these 4 different tanks? I know its a lot to ask but I think it will help me understand intensity of each bulb and coral light requirements under t5.
Thanks so much. And for the record I do have 2 of those tanks running.
Roger
TropTrea
New member
This is tough and does rewuire alot of generailzation . On the most part a lot of the varience can be taken up with the timing of your lights. But simply saying SPS need more light and Softies less can be over generalization.
SPS usualy are higher light demanding Corals. But there are a few exceptions. Ignoring the exceptions most of mune and RT's suggestions without using Atinic bulbs should work fine with 8 bulbs.
LPS now your expanding the range of lighting needs again. LPS's like Buncans are realy low light Corals and some others have needs simular to those of SPS corals. So again I would keep the same lioghting but monitor your lighting cycle for most of them. If your cycle drops under 8 hours/6 Hours you can add an Atinic to get you closer to the 12/8 hour cycle that is ideal.
Zoos. My favorate coral but also my biigest pain in the neck. Some grow fantastic for me with a lot of green in them and those with a lot of red in them are nearly impossible for me to keep. Some Zoo experts told me it because I have to much red lighting with using 2 purple plus bulbs and I reduced to one now and am seeing somne improvement. But again some Zoos like more light than others but with coral placement to account for that it should not be an issue. Some of the best Zoo tanks I saw were using all Blue Plus and Atinic Bulbs with 1 Coral Plus or 1 off brand 10,000K. They were all very blue tanks.
Softies There is a range here as well but most fall in the medium to low lighting requirement range. On my 8 bulb fixture I had the best results where they went wild with growth when I had a ballast go out for me and was waiting for a replacement. I would not recomend an 8 bulb fixture for softies but if that is what you have run at least two atinic bulbs to help reduce the PAR.
Brando5185
New member
I have a 6x54W light and I am running
ATI Blue+
ATI ABS
ATI Purple+
ATI Coral+
ATI Blue+
Coralife 10K
The tank has assorted LPS and some zoas, 2 BTA's and one LTA. Should I be running different bulbs? I have been reading through here and seem to notice people reccomend more Blue+ than I am running.
ATI Blue+
ATI ABS
ATI Purple+
ATI Coral+
ATI Blue+
Coralife 10K
The tank has assorted LPS and some zoas, 2 BTA's and one LTA. Should I be running different bulbs? I have been reading through here and seem to notice people reccomend more Blue+ than I am running.
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
I wish that stupid test would just go away.
Later on it was discovered that the "experiment" was tainted. The guy doing all the testing was an AquaScience guy. I can't remember if he worked for them directly or was being paid by the owner of AS on the side.
Many, many aquarists proved their numbers wrong and false. They setup the whole thing as a marketing ploy.
TropTrea
New member
Actualy you have 3 full spectrum bulbs the Aqua Blue Special, the Coral Plus, and the Coral Life 10,000K. This is lot of full spectrum light and with the purple plus also a lot of red light. 95% precent of Coral growth comes from light in the blue end of the spectrum. This is why we generaly say start with nearly all blue bulbs then simply add enough full spectrum lighting to please your eye.
Drastic changes are usualy very noticable to the human eye as well as to the corals. So I would not change everything right away. but in steps roughly 2 weeks apart.
Pick up two more Blue Plus bulbs. Then replace the 10,000K bulb with the one of the Blue Plus bulbs. This will get the tank bluer but will not look drastic as you still have two full spectrum bulbs in.
Two weeks later swap out the Coral plus bulb for a blue plus. This will be another small change as the Aqua Blue Special is a much whiter bulb than the Coral Plus. Do not through out the coral plus bulb though.
Then finaly you can make your final adjustment. This has a lot to do with your personal color taste. You can go bluer with replacing the Aqua Blue special with the Coral Plus. However it could end up to blue for some peoples taste. If that looks two blue for you then leace it with the Aqua and Purple as your only none blue bulbs. If either combination looks too pink or purple to you you can replace the Purple with another Blue Plus.
TropTrea
New member
This is typicial of what I was shown every day when I had my store. Every manufacturer come out with studies that are suposedly none bias that proves there products are better than the competetors.
Having also worked in new product R&D I know that manufacturers gove out loads of free products for evaluations. The reports from them is usualy considered confidential and they will publish virtualy anything positive on there products and edit out anything unfavorable for advertising. Those doing the evaluations know that if give good reports they will probably get more perks in the future. When the next new product comes out they send the samples only to those that wrote the best reports for them in the past.
TropTrea
New member
Loads of flaws in this study just from reading it. The biggest one for starters is the ATI bulb combination they used. Right there they were aiming for failure from the ATI bulbs. No one I know runs only a ratio that low of both Aqua Blue Special and Bllue Plus Bulbs.
The 30& loss in 9 months has a lot more variables to it that they do not mention. What kind of Ballasts are they using and how are the bulbs being cooled? These are big factors as if you do everything wrong you could fry bulbs in well under 9 months and if you do everything right you should only see about a 10% loss in about 6,000 hours of operation.
reefndude
New member
My 6x80 watt sunpower come in today. I also ordered 4 b+, 2 C+, 1 P+, and 1 actinic.
I'm familiar with the 4b+, 1 p+, and 1 c+ combo.
I wanted to try out another combo with 3 b+, 2 c+, and 1 actinic. what order would the experts run this? I was thinking this:
front to back
blue+
coral+
blue+
coral+
antic ATI
blue+
I'm familiar with the 4b+, 1 p+, and 1 c+ combo.
I wanted to try out another combo with 3 b+, 2 c+, and 1 actinic. what order would the experts run this? I was thinking this:
front to back
blue+
coral+
blue+
coral+
antic ATI
blue+
TropTrea
New member
Coral placement can also be an issue that effects bulb lacement but this is what I would do
Front
1 Blue Plus
2 Coral Plus
3 Atinic or Purple Plus
4 Blue Plus
5 Coral Plus
6 Blue Plus
if you want to use two Coral Plus with another none Blue
I'm not personaly crazey about using the Atinic bulbs I think the Blue Plus give off enough Atinic light.
TropTrea
New member
Actually 6 bulbs on an aquatic life fixture should not be creating that much light for yu which have to worry about a prolonged accumulation process. I run my fixture roughly 4" above the water surface which should also work for you. For acclimation I would initially start with 12 hours for your dawn to dusk bulbs usually two Blue Plus or a combination of Blue Plus and a Purple. Then for your daylight lighting start with running the other bulbs only 3 hours per day the first week and then add another 1/2 hour every week. As your doing this watch your corals closely and if you see any signs of bleaching back off on the mid day lighting for an hour less every day. Ideally you will end up in the 6 to 8 hour range for the midday bulbs.
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