Giesemann Lighting Club.

[Helfish]

Originally Posted by simon garratt

Hi Christian.

I actually work with Giesemann on the development of the lighting systems but I'm based in the UK,

The Futura uses opticless format without secondary lenses, so each individual LED is emitting in a full 120deg range of spread. with each individual LED on each board overlapping its output within a very short distance of the board face, Each board then overlaps its neighbouring board to build up overall intensity without the need to focus light into shafts as it were. This also helps build a more uniform accumulation of light at depth without large fluctuations in intensity over short distances laterally, ( a common issue with lights using tight beam patterns) and helps reduce shading as more light is traveling at a wide range of angles including light bounced back from the internal faces of the tank.

We recently supplied several Futura units to a leading coral research facility who ran tests using some scarily clever and sensitive equipment and they were incredibly impressed by the units ability to blend output from multiple different frequency LED's within such a short distance (they actually tested down to within just 3" of the board face before experiencing any significant spotting)..at the recommended mounting height of 14cm to cover a 2ft front to back width applicable to their application all light was fully blended prior to entering the water surface.

Kind regards

Wow, sounds interesting. Do you have link or further references for the mentioned tests?

[JAustin]

How much does a 48" 2x400w mogul 4xt5 cost without ballasts and bulbs? Also how long is the approximate wait?

Thanks!

[simon garratt]

Wow, sounds interesting. Do you have link or further references for the mentioned tests?

Hi Helfish. Sadly no, we are under contract not to name the facility or any of its staff in any commercial sense (quite common in these kind of situations)..sad but true.

I suppose the saving grace is that unlike many companies that have given products freely for publicity value to such organisations in the past, we simply loaned them a unit, asked them to make up their own minds and come back to us if it was right for them...two weeks later they came back full of praise and ordered a full set of units for their facility including one with a different LED configuration for specific research and were happy to pay full price.

In a strange way I'm actually pleased we agreed not to name names etc...From a personal perspective, when I saw the original Futura over 2 yrs ago now and have worked with them since, up to and including the current S format with UV, I always knew it was something special. My inner reefkeeper with long term experience with halides said to me back then that optic-free was the way to go.(which caused a few arguments with people I know well in the industry and hobby at the time)..I'm glad to say that 2yrs later I'm still just as convinced if not more so based on the results ive seen and the biology of corals that ive studied that this is a key aspect to getting the best health out of a coral from LED (spectral range accepted)....It seems that over the last yr, many have also started to look in this direction with several companies now offering much wider beam formats than they previously argued against. Equally hobbyists are looking toward hybrid systems that offer light input from multiple source points (T5 along the outer side of light units that deliver light to corals from multiple angles) often under the impression that these different lght sources T5/LEd/HQI are offering each the coral something that is missing from each source...the truth is however, a photon is a photon and it doesn't matter what creates it as long as its at a frequency the coral can utilise....How that energy is delivered however is a whole different story, you can choose to saturate a coral from one direction only leaving large portions under illuminated (shadowing etc) or you can take the same amount of energy and throw it across the whole surface of the coral in a more uniform manner at a slightly lower intensity....The net uptake of energy over time can actually be higher in the case of the more diffuse model because you stand less chance of pushing the areas exposed to light into deep photo inhibition, compared to the highly focused model that delivers the same amount of energy but into a smaller more concentrated area..

That s basically the model that optic free and hybrid units delver...

kind regards
Simon.

[JPMagyar]

Originally Posted by simon garratt

..the truth is however, a photon is a photon and it doesn't matter what creates it as long as its at a frequency the coral can utilise....How that energy is delivered however is a whole different story,

kind regards
Simon.

Simon,

I'm not sure if you know who I am or the history of my posts, but I hope you will forgive me if I step in and add some further science to your discussion of LEDs. I do not disagree with the facts of what you are saying, but I simply feel that your discussion leaves people with the impression that LEDs are the same as other lights sources when it comes to light production because "a photon is a photon." As such I'd like to point out some very real differences between photons produced by LEDs versus photons produced by other light sources.

I'm certain I am not telling you anything new, but for the others it is important to remember that LEDs use P/N junctions to produce photons. These "gaps" or junctions produce photons of very consistent wavelengths. Manufacturers can try to combine materials in the production of their LEDs that have varying gaps so as to fool the eye into seeing a color that is not really being produced, BUT it doesn't alter the fact that LEDs NEVER produce broad spectrums of wavelength like metal halide or fluorescent lamps. Secondly, photons emitted by LEDs are directional. LEDs do not produce light in a 360 degree fashion. Therefore the tendency to use LEDs with no reflectors is the norm and unlike light sources that use reflectors LED fixtures tend not to surround corals with light in the same manner. Finally LEDs use PWM to adjust their intensity. The difference is traditional lights are like a sprinkler running continuously while LEDs are like a fire hose turned off and on at full intensity and NO ONE has studied whether or not this "pulsing" or intense "burst" of photon energy alters the way symbiodinium react to the energy they are receiving.


So yes a photon is a photon, BUT the light produced by LEDs is NOT like the light produced by traditional sources. More importantly, NO commercial greenhouses have converted to LEDs except for a few flower hot houses that have found LEDs help color the flowers better. In general LEDs do not produce "normal" growth in things like lettuce or tomatoes and exactly why that is has yet to be shown with careful scientific research. Can LEDs do a decent job of promoting photosynthesis . . . yes, of course . . . are the results exactly the same as traditional artificial light sources? No, absolutely not.

Anyways, I realize this is an arcane point, and reef keeping is a hobby so folks should continue to use whatever light they like best, but I just want folks to understand that light produced by LEDs is very different than what we have used in the past, and we barely understand how those differences may be affecting plants and corals.

[shrimphead]

Originally Posted by chris@CoralVue

Call me on Monday, I'm the Giesemann representative for North America. 985-718-1465

Hi, do you have a link to the spectral plot fot the actinic pure t5 tube, what i have on the box looks different to what people advertise online, which one is right? also have you stopped selling this tube now as i've noticed you have some new tubes out now, thanks.

[chris@CoralVue]

Originally Posted by shrimphead

Hi, do you have a link to the spectral plot fot the actinic pure t5 tube, what i have on the box looks different to what people advertise online, which one is right? also have you stopped selling this tube now as i've noticed you have some new tubes out now, thanks.

Go to www.coralvue.com and look under Giesemann for the T5 lamps.

[shrimphead]

Originally Posted by chris@CoralVue

Go to www.coralvue.com and look under Giesemann for the T5 lamps.

You don't sell the the pure actinic tube' I asked because you said you were a representative for them so thought you might know?

[chris@CoralVue]

Pure Actinic is now Super Actinic.

[shrimphead]

Originally Posted by chris@CoralVue

Pure Actinic is now Super Actinic.

Just looked at the spectral chart on the website for the super actinic and it doesn't look anything like whats on the box for the pure actinic. Which one is correct and which is FALSE ADVERTISING' thanks

[chris@CoralVue]

Originally Posted by shrimphead

Just looked at the spectral chart on the website for the super actinic and it doesn't look anything like whats on the box for the pure actinic. Which one is correct and which is FALSE ADVERTISING' thanks

Calm down with the false advertising! Let me ask Giesemann to double check the charts.

We don't do false advertising.

[shrimphead]

Originally Posted by chris@CoralVue

Calm down with the false advertising! Let me ask Giesemann to double check the charts.

We don't do false advertising.

sorry maybe false advertising was a bit overboard, thanks for looking into it

[Helfish]

Originally Posted by simon garratt

Hi Helfish. Sadly no, we are under contract not to name the facility or any of its staff in any commercial sense (quite common in these kind of situations)..sad but true.

kind regards
Simon.

Thanks for the reply Simon.

Shame as I was eagerly waiting for reading any hands on feedback from the Futura-series. There is so little user experience from the fixture across the forums, blogs or YouTube. It is really challenging for the customer to buy a light, which is quite valuable, without any real life experience.

With this I think that Giesemann has not been very successful, because even they don't have variety of pictures or videos showing the light in action. And with this I mean showing different systems with the light and seeing growth and coloration of the corals in longer period of time.

The light has been out for quite some time now, so I wonder, why there is no effort on Giesemans part on this? I have been considering Futura for quite some time now, but there is so much more information about GHL Mitras on the web... And that info makes me feel more trust towards Mitras. Dunno what others think?

[OffDaHook]

Originally Posted by chris@CoralVue

John,

We are using the LuXcore ballasts for the Giesemann fixtures that have MH.

http://www.coralvue.com/luxcore-250w...tronic-ballast

http://www.coralvue.com/luxcore-400w...tronic-ballast

We have the plugs to mate to the Giesemann fixtures.

Chris

Chris,

How do I get my hands on the plugs to mate these ballasts to a Giesemann Infiniti fixture?

[PJtree23]

Originally Posted by OffDaHook

Chris,

How do I get my hands on the plugs to mate these ballasts to a Giesemann Infiniti fixture?

bump

[audiofile18]

Originally Posted by OffDaHook

Chris,

How do I get my hands on the plugs to mate these ballasts to a Giesemann Infiniti fixture?

+1

[shaggss]

Originally Posted by OffDaHook

Chris,

How do I get my hands on the plugs to mate these ballasts to a Giesemann Infiniti fixture?

+2 but to a Spectra unit

[tonyscoots84]

Originally Posted by bergzy

who do you know that has switched back to mh from t5?

ME!

Thankgod for solar

[MrSkumFrog]

Please help me...

I've been looking into the Spectra 250wx2 for my 105g 48l"x24d"x21h. It looks like it sells without ballasts. I plan on purchasing Lumatek 120/240V Dimmable / Multi-Wattage Ballasts or the CoralVue LuXcore Selectable Digital Electronic Metal Halide Ballast and running 14k bulbs. My actual question. Do I need to buy ballasts for the T5s or are they included?

[tmc1313]

How wide (front to back) is a 48" 2x250 watt / with 4 T5's Giesemann Spectra. I've been thinking about upgrading my Infiniti fixture so I can run mogul bulbs instead of DE. I want to make sure it will fit my tank, but I can't find any specs on dimensions.

[Bigcefa]

I think the spectra is 18" wide

[shaggss]

Here ya go!

[MrSkumFrog]

I've been considering the 250w Spectra for my 105g reef. I plan on using the Coralvue ballasts. So do I need any additional cords/cables? As far as hooking things up. Is there simply a prewired plug from the fixture that connects to the ballast or do I need to purchase and wire a cable from fixture to ballast?

As far as suspension kit... Is that included with the fixture?

[ReefDoberman]

Does anyone know where I can get a hanging kit for a 72" spectra fixture? If they aren't available through giesemann then is there an alternative or diy?

[Jiinx]

Hello!
I was just looking into hamilton fixtures vs giesemanns. Anyone know a good retailer that sells the infiniti fixture? Does it come with a M80 ballast? I'm quite new to metal halide fixtures as I've only had T5 fixtures before

Do any Giesemanns have LED moonlights with MH AND t5s?

sarah

[moondoggy4]

Originally Posted by ReefDoberman

Does anyone know where I can get a hanging kit for a 72" spectra fixture? If they aren't available through giesemann then is there an alternative or diy?

Try Aquarium Specialty or Premium Aquatics.