The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Best thing for the ATI's is to get on reefgeek's waiting list.
The T5 Q&a Thread
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jamesdawson
New member
The Solar Flare is outstanding and makes the most PAR.
The ATI PowerModul is also outstanding (but expect a wait once you get on the list through ReefGeek) A cheaper option is an ATI SunPower, but again there is a wait.
The Aquatinics Constellation and TX5 are also very good fixtures as is the Fauna Marin Ultra Solaris.
Good luck,
James
The ATI PowerModul is also outstanding (but expect a wait once you get on the list through ReefGeek) A cheaper option is an ATI SunPower, but again there is a wait.
The Aquatinics Constellation and TX5 are also very good fixtures as is the Fauna Marin Ultra Solaris.
Good luck,
James
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Thought I would revisit this thread after a long time to talk with Grim on an old topic...
This T5 tank, Aqua Science and ATI bulbs comparison...
http://archiv.korallenriff.de/Lichttest/T5-1.pdf
^^^ english translation
It turns out its a 490g tank with 20x80watt bulbs. 10 of the bulbs on one half of the tank are Aqua-Science, and the others are ATI. Some of the results are interesting. The bulbs on both sides are the same really... 7xAquascience Special (15,000K) and 3x Aquascience blue on the AS side, and 3x blue+ and 7x aquablue+ on the ATI side.
The growth under the AS are significantly better, and there are other conclusions they have come up with as well.
This T5 tank, Aqua Science and ATI bulbs comparison...
http://archiv.korallenriff.de/Lichttest/T5-1.pdf
^^^ english translation
It turns out its a 490g tank with 20x80watt bulbs. 10 of the bulbs on one half of the tank are Aqua-Science, and the others are ATI. Some of the results are interesting. The bulbs on both sides are the same really... 7xAquascience Special (15,000K) and 3x Aquascience blue on the AS side, and 3x blue+ and 7x aquablue+ on the ATI side.
The growth under the AS are significantly better, and there are other conclusions they have come up with as well.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Have you seen an Aquascience special 15000K lamp? It is a pure white lamp. The 15000K Duo has the blue tint like the Aquablue.
Not sure why they chose that lamp. I am a little uncomfortable with that test. Seems like it was set up to get a desired result but I could be wrong. Gotta remember these are the folks who a few months ago argued Lux was a better measure of a lamp's effectiveness than PAR. Is the 15000K Special lamp better than the ATI Aquablue? Maybe. It's possible the Special lamp despite having less PAR than the Aquablue could have more peaks in the sweet spot. I am not convinved yet. As long as a GE 6500K lamp is half the cost I would stick with it.
Not sure why they chose that lamp. I am a little uncomfortable with that test. Seems like it was set up to get a desired result but I could be wrong. Gotta remember these are the folks who a few months ago argued Lux was a better measure of a lamp's effectiveness than PAR. Is the 15000K Special lamp better than the ATI Aquablue? Maybe. It's possible the Special lamp despite having less PAR than the Aquablue could have more peaks in the sweet spot. I am not convinved yet. As long as a GE 6500K lamp is half the cost I would stick with it.
shred5
Premium Member
The fact they did this with a light meter kind of discredits them. Why measure in lux and not par.
The fact the corals grew faster is interesting. It was not a controlled environment at all, two corals can grow at different rates under the same lighting when there is different flow and food available. Some sps can grow faster under less lighting and plus we do not know the placement from the lamps for each coral.
But there is a huge difference in some of the corals.
Dave
The fact the corals grew faster is interesting. It was not a controlled environment at all, two corals can grow at different rates under the same lighting when there is different flow and food available. Some sps can grow faster under less lighting and plus we do not know the placement from the lamps for each coral.
But there is a huge difference in some of the corals.
Dave
shred5
Premium Member
I would like to add this too: do we know the exact lighting (par) requirements for the corals we keep?. No, we do not even know what most of the corals we keep are let alone the actual amount of light they need. We just might be splitting hairs here, I mean so what if a lamp puts out 5 percent better par. It may only make a difference in a deep tank.
The fact that allot of people have been cutting back there photo period on their halides with no difference or better results means to me we just may be giving some of our corals more light than they actually need for the proper growth and color we are looking for. Can some corals thrive in allot more light, sure but that does not mean they actually need it?
Also remember that the sun is only directly above a coral from roughly 11:00 am till about 2:00 pm. In the morning and after noon hrs allot of the light is being reflected off the surface of the water and only lights mainly one side of the coral.
Dave
The fact that allot of people have been cutting back there photo period on their halides with no difference or better results means to me we just may be giving some of our corals more light than they actually need for the proper growth and color we are looking for. Can some corals thrive in allot more light, sure but that does not mean they actually need it?
Also remember that the sun is only directly above a coral from roughly 11:00 am till about 2:00 pm. In the morning and after noon hrs allot of the light is being reflected off the surface of the water and only lights mainly one side of the coral.
Dave
Hey All,
Questions for the T5 gurus.
Two years ago, after browsing this forum extensively, I bought a 6 bulb Tek fixture for my tank, which became a SPS dominated system. The bulb setup I settled on was:
GE daylight
Actinic+
Aquablue
Aquablue
Actinic+
GE Daylight
The fixture is only a few inches from the water surface. I have very little splash. The bulbs need to be wiped off every now and then. No noticeable corrosion anywhere after 24 months. I am happy with the coloration this setup gives me. I am running the center bulbs for about 7 hours, and the outer 2 daylights for 10, making for a sunrise and sunset of about 90 minutes. This setup has worked fine for the past 2 years, at least as far as healthy, growing corals are concerned. Just in the past month I have started to notice some things that hint at bulb replacement.
My question is this: should I just replace the bulbs with identical ones, or are there things that I can (easily) do to improve the setup? For example, are there any newer bulbs that are significantly better then the ones I bought 2 years ago? What about swapping parts out on my tek fixture? I know that I could replace the ballast and overdrive the bulbs, but what about changing out the reflectors? I am not above modding my fixture at this point, if it doesnt require my own machine shop.
My general impression, after reading parts of this thread, is that there may be some newer bulbs that are slightly better then the ones I selected 2 years ago, but not a ton better. Someone tell me if I am wrong. Also, I seem to remember that it is difficult to fit icecap reflectors in a tek fixture, but again I might be mistaken.
Suggestions from people who know more then me? Heck, I'll even take advice from people who know less
Questions for the T5 gurus.
Two years ago, after browsing this forum extensively, I bought a 6 bulb Tek fixture for my tank, which became a SPS dominated system. The bulb setup I settled on was:
GE daylight
Actinic+
Aquablue
Aquablue
Actinic+
GE Daylight
The fixture is only a few inches from the water surface. I have very little splash. The bulbs need to be wiped off every now and then. No noticeable corrosion anywhere after 24 months. I am happy with the coloration this setup gives me. I am running the center bulbs for about 7 hours, and the outer 2 daylights for 10, making for a sunrise and sunset of about 90 minutes. This setup has worked fine for the past 2 years, at least as far as healthy, growing corals are concerned. Just in the past month I have started to notice some things that hint at bulb replacement.
My question is this: should I just replace the bulbs with identical ones, or are there things that I can (easily) do to improve the setup? For example, are there any newer bulbs that are significantly better then the ones I bought 2 years ago? What about swapping parts out on my tek fixture? I know that I could replace the ballast and overdrive the bulbs, but what about changing out the reflectors? I am not above modding my fixture at this point, if it doesnt require my own machine shop.
My general impression, after reading parts of this thread, is that there may be some newer bulbs that are slightly better then the ones I selected 2 years ago, but not a ton better. Someone tell me if I am wrong. Also, I seem to remember that it is difficult to fit icecap reflectors in a tek fixture, but again I might be mistaken.
Suggestions from people who know more then me? Heck, I'll even take advice from people who know less
TracyZeuner
New member
Grim- I just replaced my bulbs on my 6 foot Aquactinics light. There 14 bulbs, 7 on each side. This is my setup:
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
KZ Fiji Purple
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aqua Sun
Aqua Blue
This setup seems really blue to me.Is there a way I can switch some bulbs around to get a crisper(more white) look without buy more bulbs? Thanks, Tracy
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
KZ Fiji Purple
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Aqua Sun
Aqua Blue
This setup seems really blue to me.Is there a way I can switch some bulbs around to get a crisper(more white) look without buy more bulbs? Thanks, Tracy
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10292193#post10292193 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hdyoung
Hey All,
Questions for the T5 gurus.
Two years ago, after browsing this forum extensively, I bought a 6 bulb Tek fixture for my tank, which became a SPS dominated system. The bulb setup I settled on was:
GE daylight
Actinic+
Aquablue
Aquablue
Actinic+
GE Daylight
The fixture is only a few inches from the water surface. I have very little splash. The bulbs need to be wiped off every now and then. No noticeable corrosion anywhere after 24 months. I am happy with the coloration this setup gives me. I am running the center bulbs for about 7 hours, and the outer 2 daylights for 10, making for a sunrise and sunset of about 90 minutes. This setup has worked fine for the past 2 years, at least as far as healthy, growing corals are concerned. Just in the past month I have started to notice some things that hint at bulb replacement.
My question is this: should I just replace the bulbs with identical ones, or are there things that I can (easily) do to improve the setup? For example, are there any newer bulbs that are significantly better then the ones I bought 2 years ago? What about swapping parts out on my tek fixture? I know that I could replace the ballast and overdrive the bulbs, but what about changing out the reflectors? I am not above modding my fixture at this point, if it doesnt require my own machine shop.
My general impression, after reading parts of this thread, is that there may be some newer bulbs that are slightly better then the ones I selected 2 years ago, but not a ton better. Someone tell me if I am wrong. Also, I seem to remember that it is difficult to fit icecap reflectors in a tek fixture, but again I might be mistaken.
Suggestions from people who know more then me? Heck, I'll even take advice from people who know less
Unless you want to make a major change go with what you have. Personally I would use blue and actinic lamps for the dusk/dawn.
I'd try this
Front
UVL Actinic Plus
Blue Plus (ATI is a better lamp than the Giesemann)
UVL Aquasun
Aquablue
GE 10K
Blue Plus
You lose a little PAR going to the UVL Super Actinic in place of an Aquablue but your picking up with the Aquasun and Blue Pluses so it will be at least a wash and probably a net gain.
If you have ran your lamps 2 years I would suggest replacing one lamp a week lest you blast your critters with a ton of intensity they ain't seen in two years.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Swap the position of the Aquablue with the front blue Plus. If that doesn't get you there move the Aquasun toward the front as well.
TracyZeuner
New member
I dont remember if I read this or if I'm making it up but are there some bulbs(the colors) that can wash other colors out by being next to them?
HecticDialectic
New member
Anyone here tried both the sfiligoi actinic and the uvl superactinic? How does it compare visually? What about PAR numbers?
Grim -
Yeah, Im sure if I just replaced the bulbs I would bleach my whole system
I was generally thinking of replacing all of them, then placing sheets of netting on my tank top, and removing them seuqentially. However, your suggestion seems much easier. If I replace one per week, do you think I can skip having to raise the fixture or playing with shading materials?
Yeah, Im sure if I just replaced the bulbs I would bleach my whole system
I was generally thinking of replacing all of them, then placing sheets of netting on my tank top, and removing them seuqentially. However, your suggestion seems much easier. If I replace one per week, do you think I can skip having to raise the fixture or playing with shading materials?
Hey guys.. is there any major difference in the Tek T5 retrofit kit and the light fixture. I am looking at the 4x54W and currently do not have a canopy. I was wondering if it was worth the extra extra expense to go with a canopy or just go with the fixture. I am running a 55g tank.
rockethippo12
New member
Are hamilton T5 retros good? http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/shop/index.php?task=show&cat=All+T5+HO+Retrofit+Kits
IceCap 660 n00b question
IceCap 660 n00b question
Sorry n00b question here..
Can the IceCap 660 on a 4x54w bulbs setup run the 2 blues and the 2 daylights seperately like on a timer like when simulating disk\dawn or would I have to get an additional ballast for that?
Let me know if this didnt quite make sense...
Thanks in advance!
IceCap 660 n00b question
Sorry n00b question here..
Can the IceCap 660 on a 4x54w bulbs setup run the 2 blues and the 2 daylights seperately like on a timer like when simulating disk\dawn or would I have to get an additional ballast for that?
Let me know if this didnt quite make sense...
Thanks in advance!
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