The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TropTrea]

I've been using a mix of blue plus and coral plus and it looks great. In my 6 bulb unit I have 4 blue plus and 2 coral plus.

For 4 bulbs I would do 3 blue plus and a single coral plus, but 2 and 2 would work great too

Per ATI the Coral plus could be used as the only bulb in the system. However with just Coral plus bulbs the spectrum to me would be slightly to strong on the red end. Also for many people they do prefer a more blueish tint to the tank.

Also I'm trying to stay away from Color Temperatures as a quide since people go by what some of the old MH's were named rather than the true Color temp. In reality a single GE 6,500K with a single ATI Blue Plus already is close to 20,000K and running a couple Blue Bulbs pushes beyound the Color Temperature scale.

Right now I'm experimenting with some of the new Gmann bulbs. In the past I thought they were simular to ATI's but now I';m seeing some color differences making them unique. I'm liking there Super Coral over the Coral Plus as far as spectrum goes as does not have as strong of a red tint.

 

[sahin]

Right now I'm experimenting with some of the new Gmann bulbs.

I would be grateful if you could start a new thread in relation to the new Giesemann T5 tubes and your thoughts on this new set of tubes. Particularly as you say you are seeing some colour differences. Together with ATI tubes, and some form of feedback from you, we can make better choices as to tube combos.

I too, presumed these were just copies of the D&D tubes, badged and sold under Gmann brand.

Many thanks.

 

[lushuk]

ati 8 tube dimmable

ati 8 tube dimmable

Hi guys, i run this unit 7" above the water level on my 2' cube, i have a mixed reef lps at the bottom, montis mid, and acros at the top would people run this unit at 100% brightness or turn it down a little?
Thanks

 

[chris@CoralVue]

Explaining the CoralVue 2014 Giesemann T5 Lamps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STIg8-biwbI&list=UU8pK_mdxWehaU5nflOtUKfw

Chris

 

[TropTrea]

I would be grateful if you could start a new thread in relation to the new Giesemann T5 tubes and your thoughts on this new set of tubes. Particularly as you say you are seeing some colour differences. Together with ATI tubes, and some form of feedback from you, we can make better choices as to tube combos.

I too, presumed these were just copies of the D&D tubes, badged and sold under Gmann brand.

Many thanks.

This is a T-5 thread so I dont see why it should be separate. As I'm seeing it now the bulbs are slightly different. As with color tastes some individuals may prefer some of the Gman bulbs while others may prefer some of the ATI bulbs.

Right now I'm playing with the Gmann Flora bulb and Am seriously considering this as a better Alternative to the Purple bulbs made by either Gmann or ATI. This is basicly a white bulb but has the spectrum slightly scewed with a bit more red in it. Then the other so called white bulbs. Yet the red is not as dominant as the red is in either of the purple bulbs.

Rught now I like the color effect from mixing the Flora with the Atinic Blue or Gmann or the Blue Plus from ATI. Again it would be individual color taste if you used one or two of these bulbs with the blue bulbs. But the do brighten up the tank without the need for the purple bulbs.

 

[shelk]

i'm setting up a shallow, (30cm) tank, i have a 6bulb ATI fixture, what would be the recommended combination of lamps?

 

[TropTrea]

i'm setting up a shallow, (30cm) tank, i have a 6bulb ATI fixture, what would be the recommended combination of lamps?

Front to rear
1 Personal Choice ATI Blue Plus, or ATI Atinic Blue
2 Personal Choice ATI Blue Plus, or ATI Atinic Blue
3 Personal taste ATI Aqua blue Special, Gman Aqua Blue Coral, Gman Aquablue Azur
4 Personal Choice ATI Blue Plus, or ATI Atinic Blue
5 Personal Choice ATI Purple Plus, Gman Super Purple, Gman Flora
6 Personal Choice ATI Blue Plus, or ATI Atinic Blue

In the third position the AT Aqua Blue bub would be the whites with the Axure Being the bluest.

In the fifth position the Geman Flora would give less of a red tent than the Purple bulbs but it would also be the brightest of the three.

The rest of the bulbs in the blue family are more of a personal choice in brand names. Pricing availability is the only way I'd pick one over the other?

 

[shelk]

Front to rear
1 Personal Choice ATI Blue Plus, or ATI Atinic Blue
2 Personal Choice ATI Blue Plus, or ATI Atinic Blue
3 Personal taste ATI Aqua blue Special, Gman Aqua Blue Coral, Gman Aquablue Azur
4 Personal Choice ATI Blue Plus, or ATI Atinic Blue
5 Personal Choice ATI Purple Plus, Gman Super Purple, Gman Flora
6 Personal Choice ATI Blue Plus, or ATI Atinic Blue

In the third position the AT Aqua Blue bub would be the whites with the Axure Being the bluest.

In the fifth position the Geman Flora would give less of a red tent than the Purple bulbs but it would also be the brightest of the three.

The rest of the bulbs in the blue family are more of a personal choice in brand names. Pricing availability is the only way I'd pick one over the other?

Thank you for the fast answer as usual

It's easyer for me to get ATI's, on last question though, i like the tank on the blue side, but won't this combination leave it too blue?

 

[Mark426]

Thank you for the fast answer as usual

It's easyer for me to get ATI's, on last question though, i like the tank on the blue side, but won't this combination leave it too blue?

Order a Coral+ to play with as well. Will offset some of the blue if needed. I am not a fan of the aquablue specials at all...they seem to wash out the colors and the coral+ might be to your liking instead. That's just me though.

 

[Electrobes]

The T5 Q&a Thread - split

I figured this would be the best place to ask, but I am very interested in purchasing a Tek Elite fixture from a member. It's 36" and 6-bulbs. I have very little experience with T5's... despite being in the hobby for near eleven years. My experience has always been with MH's and LEDs, on my old 40Br. I now have (It's a bit strange) half-cylinder 100G tank. The back is 48" but the main body of the tank, where the corals are located is about 36" long. I was looking at T5's as I am not yet fully confident in LEDs now, but feel like MH is just so much power (wattage) for my 18" (of water) tank.

The fixture is a great deal, but I'd like to hear whether given my tank specs (It's a Montipora Digitata specific tank) that this fixture would suit my needs.

As gleaned from the thread, I was going to try out this combo, assuming 6-bulbs is good for my tank:

Front to rear
1 ATI Blue Plus
2 ATI Blue Plus
3 ATI Aqua blue Special
4 ATI Blue Plus
5 ATI Purple Plus
6 ATI Blue Plus

Thanks!

 

[TropTrea]

Thank you for the fast answer as usual

It's easyer for me to get ATI's, on last question though, i like the tank on the blue side, but won't this combination leave it too blue?

This is where there a big difference in opinion. What it too blue for Charley is not blue enough for Jack. With a 6 Bulb fixture I would only use one one full spectrum bulb. But the selection of that full spectrum bulb will change the overall color balance.

From the Least amount of blue to the Bluest bulb I have some listed here.

GE 6,500K
Geisman Tropical
ATI Aqua Blue Special
Geisman Aqua Blue Azure
ATI Coral Plus (includes a good red kick as well)
Geisman Aqua Blue Coral

If you were to go with the ATI Coral Plus then I would not add an additional Purple Bulb as the combination could create to pink of a look for some people. But if it looks too Blue with just one Coral plus then you do have the option of adding a second Coral plus to brighten things up.

I have heard of people using only Coral Plus bulbs with good results but to me that would be to pink.

 

[sepulvd]

Just bought aquaticlife 30 in 4 bulb fixture. I just got back to reef tanks after a 3 year layoff. Any suggestions on bulbs gonna keep the stock bulbs for a couple of minths

 

[TropTrea]

Just bought aquaticlife 30 in 4 bulb fixture. I just got back to reef tanks after a 3 year layoff. Any suggestions on bulbs gonna keep the stock bulbs for a couple of minths

biggest thing is if they gave you Atinic bulbs to replace them with Blue bulbs.

 

[ZON]

biggest thing is if they gave you Atinic bulbs to replace them with Blue bulbs.

Sure..actinic is not good in fixture under 8 tubes imho.. Blue or royal blue are a lot better

 

[sepulvd]

Yea it comes with 2 10k and 2 actinic. Gonna have to change the bulbs sooner than later

 

[shelk]

the 6 bulb fixture has lamps 2 and 5 on a channel and the remaing 4 on another channel

what cycle would you recomend?

 

[TropTrea]

the 6 bulb fixture has lamps 2 and 5 on a channel and the remaing 4 on another channel

what cycle would you recomend?

Two Bulbs on at Hour 0 (a pair of blue bulbs)
Four Bulbs on at hour 2
Four Bulbs off at Hour 10
Two Bulbs off at Hour 12

Dependent on your schedule you can set hour 0 to anything that works for you with your personal time schedule. After a few weeks of observation you might want to modify the schedule slightly dependent upon your corals and how they are reacting to your schedule. But when making changes do them slowly like no more than a half hour change per week.

 

[Big E]

Explaining the CoralVue 2014 Giesemann T5 Lamps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STIg8-biwbI&list=UU8pK_mdxWehaU5nflOtUKfw

Chris

Chris,

Do you know what has changed ........which bulbs are actually new? The Pure actinic is the same per the video.

By the spec sheets on the video it seems they added more blue to their competitor bulb to the ATI Coral+. Not sure that makes me a fan as the Coral+ pull out pinks & reds in acros better than any bulb on the market.

I responded to your request a while back to be a tester for the new Gmann bulbs but apparently I wasn't deemed worthy.

 

[Mark426]

After a few years of trying every combo and spending a small fortune on lamps I have finally settled on a simple formula.

50% ATI Blue+ and 50% ATI Coral+.

For my eye, this combo offers the so called actinic pop while the allowing the reds and greens to still stand out beautifully. Minimal wash out like so many other combos produce. My SPS seem to be happiest under this as well.

Only downside.... cant brag about my complex and oh so special lamp combo

 

[Big E]

After a few years of trying every combo and spending a small fortune on lamps I have finally settled on a simple formula.

50% ATI Blue+ and 50% ATI Coral+.

For my eye, this combo offers the so called actinic pop while the allowing the reds and greens to still stand out beautifully. Minimal wash out like so many other combos produce. My SPS seem to be happiest under this as well.

Only downside.... cant brag about my complex and oh so special lamp combo

I've been running that same exact combo for almost 3 years and have recommended it many times. Here's my tank thread for some examples all under coral+ & blue+

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2197142&page=6

Sometimes pics can help, but standing in front of a tank that has been under these bulbs is the true testament.

My friend is a hi end chalice guy and his chalices have never colored up better with this combo.