The T5 Q&a Thread

[The Grim Reefer]

Tried those 5K lamps a few years back. Phillips which is supposed to be out of the same factory as GE. At the time I wasn't impressed. Par was Good but not quite as high as the 6500K.

I think it's good to give SPS a lot of spectrum but when it comes right down to it corals are incredibly adaptable. Give then enough time and they will grow well under a lot of different lighting conditions.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

i just want the t5 101. all that i know is that i need one to grow coral, and anemones.



what's the general rule of thumb? how do i determain how many watts i need for my size tank?



how do i read a spectrum chart?



and what is the par number?

and what the diff between 6500 10k 12.5 etc

Click on my screen name and go to my website. It will explain the basics for ya.

 

[rtparty]

I had bone a lot of research on this years ago and I'll agree that coral growth is not directly related to any PAR or PUR meter readings. The highest PAR bulbs are acturaly the GE 5,000K bulbs with a very flat power spectrum and a CRI rating of 100. These work good for terestial as well as fresh water plants that are in shallow water.

With coral you have a nearly a completly different animal. They do need light in throughout the spectrum however the longer wave lenghts they have less need for and in excess can actualy cause more harm than good. This is because corals have basicly evolved over generations to live at various depts in the ocean where longer wavelenghts are filtered out and shorter wave lenghts are abundent.

Keeping in mind that each species of coral is different and florishes at different depts in the ocean it is realy hard to say one particular bulb is ideal in all situations. However can safely say it is hard to get too much light in the shorter wave lenghts like 420 nm and to 460 nm while in the longer wave lenghts like 685 nm some corals have been proven to easily bleach out from excess of these frequencies. Yet some corals do requiere a limited amount of these longer wavelenghts. Obtaining the balance is the hard part especialy when you add the factor of pesonal taste in what you want your tank to look like.

According to Sanjay Joshi and his spectrometer(sp?), the ATI Blue Plus is the highest PAR bulb on the market.

Remember his meter costs about 20x what the standard Apogee meter does.

 

[iHasFishes]

great link, but it didn't explain what par is, or spectrum. or how to read a spectrum graph

 

[sqwat]

6 bulb 24 watt ho settup

6 bulb 24 watt ho settup

what bulbs do you guys think i should get i have a 6 bulb settup over 40 high tank.this is what i came up with what do you think4 ati blue 1 atipurple pluss and 1 6500kge tell me what you think i am replacing stock bulb and geisman aquablue and true attinnic.mixed reef with anenome's currently running 2 geisman aquablue 24 watt and 2 guesmann true attinic and 1 stock 10000k 1 stock attinic.and how would i go on replacing them 2 a month 1 a week?thanx

 

[The Grim Reefer]

great link, but it didn't explain what par is, or spectrum. or how to read a spectrum graph

PAR is the energy the light produces that can be used for photosynthesis

Spectrum is the range of electromagnetic emissions. In this hobby we concern ourselves with the visible light range for the most part.

A Spectrum graph is showing a lamps output within the electromagnetic spectrum. The higher the graph line is at a certain point the more output the lamp will have within that range of light. the left side usually is the 400nm edge which is violet/ultraviolet border. As you move to the right you will move to blue which is about 450nm, green which is around 500, yellow which is around 570, orange above that and red which is around 620 going up to the red/infrared border at 700nm on the right side of the graph. Those numbers are all approximate. I don't remember the exact wavelengths but it's close.

If you need an explanation beyond that Google is your friend.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

what bulbs do you guys think i should get i have a 6 bulb settup over 40 high tank.this is what i came up with what do you think4 ati blue 1 atipurple pluss and 1 6500kge tell me what you think i am replacing stock bulb and geisman aquablue and true attinnic.mixed reef with anenome's currently running 2 geisman aquablue 24 watt and 2 guesmann true attinic and 1 stock 10000k 1 stock attinic.and how would i go on replacing them 2 a month 1 a week?thanx

Your list that you came up with has been recommended in this thread at least a hundred times, I spect you'll like it one lamp every few days would be fine.

 

[iceman]

Royal blues kill all when it comes to popping coral.

You could even do this using a couple high power DIY led setups

Front
12 Royal Blue LED's
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ge 6500K
ATI Blue Plus
12 Royal Blue LED's

I know someone doing something similar with 4 lamps over a 75 except he uses low power LEDs but it looks nice. Rapid LED sells everything you need to do it.

Grim,

what are your thoughts on this? I currently have 4x24w over a 34g solana with 2 blue plus, purple plus and aquablue and thinking of adding some RB LEDS? The tank has sps up top and acans on the bottom. Looking for some pop like you mention above...

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim,

what are your thoughts on this? I currently have 4x24w over a 34g solana with 2 blue plus, purple plus and aquablue and thinking of adding some RB LEDS? The tank has sps up top and acans on the bottom. Looking for some pop like you mention above...

Couldn't hurt. Once you do that I'd think about pulling the Aquablue for a GE6500K. More color will come out but the blue led's will still pop your corals.

 

[kellerexpress]

I've been using the combo of
4-blue plus
1-purple plus
1-6500

The 6500 makes things a little too white for my taste, I really prefer the look of using another purple plus instead. Is there any disadvantage to using 4-blue plus and 2-purple plus? Will I be missing any spectrum? Too much red?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I've been using the combo of
4-blue plus
1-purple plus
1-6500

The 6500 makes things a little too white for my taste, I really prefer the look of using another purple plus instead. Is there any disadvantage to using 4-blue plus and 2-purple plus? Will I be missing any spectrum? Too much red?

Try it and see what YOU think. It wont hurt anything. If you don't like that try a KZ New Gen which is about half way between an aquablue and blue plus

 

[kellerexpress]

Roger that, thanks!

 

[TropTrea]

I've been using the combo of
4-blue plus
1-purple plus
1-6500

The 6500 makes things a little too white for my taste, I really prefer the look of using another purple plus instead. Is there any disadvantage to using 4-blue plus and 2-purple plus? Will I be missing any spectrum? Too much red?

I'm not as found of the 6,500K bulbs for reefs as Grim is. the 6,500K is a broad spectrum bulb giving you a lot of light at basicly all frequencies. Compared to other reef bulb like a 10,000K it is a little heavier in the reds and yellows.

Replacing it with a AquaBlue Special you will get the same full spectrum coverage but a lot more blue and greens compared to the red with the 10,000K even. So it would push you overall look considerably blueer than it is now without loosing the required greens that some corals do utalize.

The purple bulbs are basicly a spike in the blue range plus another smaller spike in the red range. These bulbs do not produce any light in the green and yellow range. Therefore I would strongly suggest you keep a bulb in the system that produces these greens and yellow.

Dependent upon your color preference the following bulbs will give you the balance your corals need with the top bulb giving you the whitest effect and the bottom bulb the most blue.
Your 6,500K (which you claim is to white and I consider too yellow)
The 10,000K bulbs.
The UL 75/25 12,000K Atinic White bulbs
The UL 50/50 14,000K Aqua Blue bulbs
And the ATI Aqua Blue Special. (giving the most blue in this series of bulbs)

 

[Thisseemsfishy]

Thanks Grim. I'm also a couple of months out of buying new bulbs...I currently have 2 blue+, 1 purple+, and 1 GE 6500k. I was thinking I wanted to replace the 6500k with something around 10000k, without totally losing my reds and yellows. Any suggestions or a total new bulb combination?


Thanks again, Jonathan

Pretty heavy properly place.

 

[alrha]

Front
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
GE 6500K
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

Interesting: with the B+ & P+ in the dawn/dusk, the tank get a purple tinted look that looks a bit like sunset. not sure yet if i prefer that over the B+/B+ look.
Overall, the color is pretty nice, but not really that "pop" - if i wanted to have more pop of the colors, how would you adjust the bulbs?

 

[banzai75x]

What is the difference between a GE 6500k and an ATI Aquablue Special?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Thanks Grim. I'm also a couple of months out of buying new bulbs...I currently have 2 blue+, 1 purple+, and 1 GE 6500k. I was thinking I wanted to replace the 6500k with something around 10000k, without totally losing my reds and yellows. Any suggestions or a total new bulb combination?


Thanks again, Jonathan

Giesemann aquablue

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Interesting: with the B+ & P+ in the dawn/dusk, the tank get a purple tinted look that looks a bit like sunset. not sure yet if i prefer that over the B+/B+ look.
Overall, the color is pretty nice, but not really that "pop" - if i wanted to have more pop of the colors, how would you adjust the bulbs?

Pull the GE for another Blue Plus

 

[The Grim Reefer]

What is the difference between a GE 6500k and an ATI Aquablue Special?

GE is a full spectrum daylight lamp and the Aquablue is biased towards blue. Think eggshell with vs Ice cube.

 

[pwoller]

Grim,

I found a bulb combo that is pleasing to my eye. 6 blue plus and 2 fiji purples. My par is 250-300 on the sand bed am I ok to run this combo on a sps tank?

Thanks