The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by GroktheCube

Thank you much for the advice Dennis. I'll keep it in mind as I play with bulb combinations. If 620 is where the 6500k LEDs really fall flat, I may play with the purple to see what that does for color rendition.

As for the LEDs I have (on each of the two strips) 24 6500k, 4 400nm, 16 450nm, 8 470nm, 4 525, 4 660.

I feel like I have most of what's above 450 pretty well covered (though based on what you said, I may be missing some in the 610+ range too). I'm looking forward to see how it looks with those gaps filled in.

Looks like your LED's seem tunded for a mid day effect that would be fairly bright. Between the 6.5K's and the 660nm you have 28 LED's compared to 28 in the blue range if my number are right. That is close to a 1 to 1 ratio. With 6,500K LED's most people go with between a 1 to 2 and a 1 to 3 ratio with the 1 being the whites. So for your T'5's I could go very heavy into the blues. Between Atinics and the KZ Blues you should not be overly blue.

[GroktheCube]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

Looks like your LED's seem tunded for a mid day effect that would be fairly bright. Between the 6.5K's and the 660nm you have 28 LED's compared to 28 in the blue range if my number are right. That is close to a 1 to 1 ratio. With 6,500K LED's most people go with between a 1 to 2 and a 1 to 3 ratio with the 1 being the whites. So for your T'5's I could go very heavy into the blues. Between Atinics and the KZ Blues you should not be overly blue.

Yeah. When I ordered them, I was concerned that having them "too blue" would cause color rendition issues, but now having done more reading and looking at more pictures, I definitely think more blue than what I have now would be better. They definitely have a "mid day" look, to my eyes pretty similar to "10k" MH bulbs. Very bright, very white light.

I think combination with the blue T5s will be ideal, I'll likely use the LEDs as a mid day light source, ramping up a few hours after the T5s are all on, and ramping down a couple hours before the T5s come off.

I'll be sure to let people know what bulb combination I end up with and how things look. The Sunpower and bulbs should be here on Thursday.

[Outrigger Reef]

Hello new reefer here and just getting my six lamp fixture for my 90 soon to be mixed reef tank. Just have fish right now.

I just bought a used fixture and it came with Eight new lamps. I would like to know which ones to use and what order. Also which ones should be my dusk to dawn lamps. I like a 14k to 20 ish k look.

Three blue plus
Two aqua blue Special
One ati actinic
One coral sun actinic
One power chrome midday

Thank you for you help in advance.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by Outrigger Reef

Hello new reefer here and just getting my six lamp fixture for my 90 soon to be mixed reef tank. Just have fish right now.

I just bought a used fixture and it came with Eight new lamps. I would like to know which ones to use and what order. Also which ones should be my dusk to dawn lamps. I like a 14k to 20 ish k look.

Three blue plus
Two aqua blue Special
One ati actinic
One coral sun actinic
One power chrome midday

Thank you for you help in advance.

Me, I'd use everything but the aquablue special bulbs.

[Outrigger Reef]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

Me, I'd use everything but the aquablue special bulbs.

In what order?

Should I get another type of lamp to make anything better?

I like a bluer tank.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by Outrigger Reef

Hello new reefer here and just getting my six lamp fixture for my 90 soon to be mixed reef tank. Just have fish right now.

I just bought a used fixture and it came with Eight new lamps. I would like to know which ones to use and what order. Also which ones should be my dusk to dawn lamps. I like a 14k to 20 ish k look.

Three blue plus
Two aqua blue Special
One ati actinic
One coral sun actinic
One power chrome midday

Thank you for you help in advance.

B
Blue
Actinic-dawn/dusk
Midday
Blue
Actinic-dawn/dusk
Blue
F

You can try a coral plus or new gen instead of the midday. A purple wouldn't hurt to try either, try it and see what you want to change about it. Are these new bulbs you say?

[Outrigger Reef]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

B
Blue
Actinic-dawn/dusk
Midday
Blue
Actinic-dawn/dusk
Blue
F

You can try a coral plus or new gen instead of the midday. A purple wouldn't hurt to try either, try it and see what you want to change about it. Are these new bulbs you say?

Yes they are brand new. Thanks for your help.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by GroktheCube

Yeah. When I ordered them, I was concerned that having them "too blue" would cause color rendition issues, but now having done more reading and looking at more pictures, I definitely think more blue than what I have now would be better. They definitely have a "mid day" look, to my eyes pretty similar to "10k" MH bulbs. Very bright, very white light.

I think combination with the blue T5s will be ideal, I'll likely use the LEDs as a mid day light source, ramping up a few hours after the T5s are all on, and ramping down a couple hours before the T5s come off.

I'll be sure to let people know what bulb combination I end up with and how things look. The Sunpower and bulbs should be here on Thursday.

I just viewed Reef Magazine on line and they had some interesting pictures comparing different light sources on one large Acan.
1. 10 K light source alone Showed a strong orange hue
2. 1 Blue Plus and 3 10 K bulbs Showed a slightly duller Orange color
2, 3 Blue Plus and 1 10 K Bulb Showed a briliant Cyan color with dull Orange Streaking
4 At Blue Lighting showed a li==ot more of the blue and green with much less Orange.

Interestgly I have same ACAN that look very dull orange/red under midday lighting that is close to level 3 above but under strict blue light the colors of red and orange pop. I think this is a fine example of where the coral selection will determine what colors are working best for you. In the case of the coral they showed there was a lot of reflective orange, But there was also florescent blue and green pigments that barely showed or were washed out by the 10 K lighting.

In the case of the pictures they showed I lkied the effect of the sole 10K lighting alone best. But for my corals I my tank would look dull with that kind of lighting.

[GroktheCube]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

I just viewed Reef Magazine on line and they had some interesting pictures comparing different light sources on one large Acan.
1. 10 K light source alone Showed a strong orange hue
2. 1 Blue Plus and 3 10 K bulbs Showed a slightly duller Orange color
2, 3 Blue Plus and 1 10 K Bulb Showed a briliant Cyan color with dull Orange Streaking
4 At Blue Lighting showed a li==ot more of the blue and green with much less Orange.

Interestgly I have same ACAN that look very dull orange/red under midday lighting that is close to level 3 above but under strict blue light the colors of red and orange pop. I think this is a fine example of where the coral selection will determine what colors are working best for you. In the case of the coral they showed there was a lot of reflective orange, But there was also florescent blue and green pigments that barely showed or were washed out by the 10 K lighting.

In the case of the pictures they showed I lkied the effect of the sole 10K lighting alone best. But for my corals I my tank would look dull with that kind of lighting.

Interesting. I ordered a lot of different bulbs (actinics, blue plus, superblues, and purples), and the LEDs are dimmable (hooked up to Apex, but have manual dimmer too), so I'll have fun playing around to see what happens.

[Michigan Mike]

The pics...the more I look the less happy I am with them. Too large a size & way too cropped & colors are hard to dial in.
Like my normal 4 bulb combo of 2 blue, 1 purple, 1 actinic looks off, the coralline alage is too blue & the purple montis are way too blue & dull looking as well.

I redid a few pics on my Mac but now it looks more blue on my iPad. This was closer to what I see but it looked better on my Mac, the purple monti I can never get it to look like the true deep purple it really is, sad.


Does this look closer Ryan?

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

The pics...the more I look the less happy I am with them. Too large a size & way too cropped & colors are hard to dial in.
Like my normal 4 bulb combo of 2 blue, 1 purple, 1 actinic looks off, the coralline alage is too blue & the purple montis are way too blue & dull looking as well.

I redid a few pics on my Mac but now it looks more blue on my iPad. This was closer to what I see but it looked better on my Mac, the purple monti I can never get it to look like the true deep purple it really is, sad.

I have a Nikon and believe me taking pictures of different lighting of Aquariums realy is almost impossible to get the true color effect. If you can find a photosensative and opiticialsensative spectrum of a light source and compare the difference you can understand why this is happening. There is a big difference between what the human eye sees and what photography sees.

The best pictures though even not exact to what the eye sees are the ones that I run through photoshop. The prcess is very simple hust find a rock that naturaly appears grey and use that for the gery balance correction in phoroshop. The pictures come out fantastic showing all the colors but not always exactly as the eye sees them.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

The pics...the more I look the less happy I am with them. Too large a size & way too cropped & colors are hard to dial in.
Like my normal 4 bulb combo of 2 blue, 1 purple, 1 actinic looks off, the coralline alage is too blue & the purple montis are way too blue & dull looking as well.

I redid a few pics on my Mac but now it looks more blue on my iPad. This was closer to what I see but it looked better on my Mac, the purple monti I can never get it to look like the true deep purple it really is, sad.


Does this look closer Ryan?

2 blue, 1 purple, 1 actinic?

Looks like the purple is right over the Orange monti? A little pink on my screen but pretty good representation

[Dapg8gt]

I've read almost the whole thread. And grime webpage.. I have an ATI sunpower 36" 6 bulb and am about to pull the trigger on bulbs. I got to the reefgeek page and now I'm back. Please let me know which combo you think would be the best.. I have now on my tank 4x blue+ and a 14k Phoenix 250 watt.. I like the color but would like a little more blue..

I'm thinking

Front
Blue+
Blue+
Purple+ or figi pink? (unsure)
Ge 6500k or coral + (unsure)
Blue+
Blue+

1) I haven't played with the light at all so I don't know which ones are the sunrise/sunset ones and where they are in placement wise.. Is my orientation right for that?

2) Will one 6500k make the tank too white or will the blue + even it out?

3) is there a major difference (to the eye) from the purple + and figi pink?

4) would you change anything? What other colors should I get to play with?

Sorry for the long post just wanted to get my order ASaP and thought I could just get it all out of the way at once..I'm not afraid to order some extra color bulbs to play with but am I on the right track with my order and choice.I'm hoping the resident experts can chime in on what they think of my choice and if it will be a good balance of growth and pop..


Thanks Daniel

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by Dapg8gt

I've read almost the whole thread. And grime webpage.. I have an ATI sunpower 36" 6 bulb and am about to pull the trigger on bulbs. I got to the reefgeek page and now I'm back. Please let me know which combo you think would be the best.. I have now on my tank 4x blue+ and a 14k Phoenix 250 watt.. I like the color but would like a little more blue..

I'm thinking

Front
Blue+
Blue+
Purple+ or figi pink? (unsure)
Ge 6500k or coral + (unsure)
Blue+
Blue+

1) I haven't played with the light at all so I don't know which ones are the sunrise/sunset ones and where they are in placement wise.. Is my orientation right for that?

2) Will one 6500k make the tank too white or will the blue + even it out?

3) is there a major difference (to the eye) from the purple + and figi pink?

4) would you change anything? What other colors should I get to play with?

Sorry for the long post just wanted to get my order ASaP and thought I could just get it all out of the way at once..I'm not afraid to order some extra color bulbs to play with but am I on the right track with my order and choice.I'm hoping the resident experts can chime in on what they think of my choice and if it will be a good balance of growth and pop..


Thanks Daniel

Check this out.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZvif6APEiU

I would not use any low K bulbs if you want a lot of blue. 1 or 2 other bulbs like 1 purple or 1 coral plus maybe, maybe 1 purple & 1 coral.

2 pages back I posted some 4 & 6 bulb pics.

[Dapg8gt]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

Check this out.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZvif6APEiU

I would not use any low K bulbs if you want a lot of blue. 1 or 2 other bulbs like 1 purple or 1 coral plus maybe, maybe 1 purple & 1 coral.

2 pages back I posted some 4 & 6 bulb pics.

Thanks for the response I have seen those pics and they did help a lot. I think I will just order an extra blue+ and botandem coral +and GE to check it out. I don't think I would be happy looking now at 100% blue+ on my current tank so I def need to experiment.

What about trying to mimic My 14k and blue+ now. A coral + in the mix with all the other? Is the coral plus pretty much a 50/50 bulb?

Again thanks for the input I really appreciate your time.

[tekjunkie28]

Can someone point me in the direction of a cooling mod for my aquaticlife 6 tube. I want to get the best value I can while I have this unit until I get an ati.

Sent from my SCH-I605

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Dapg8gt

Thanks for the response I have seen those pics and they did help a lot. I think I will just order an extra blue+ and botandem coral +and GE to check it out. I don't think I would be happy looking now at 100% blue+ on my current tank so I def need to experiment.

What about trying to mimic My 14k and blue+ now. A coral + in the mix with all the other? Is the coral plus pretty much a 50/50 bulb?

Again thanks for the input I really appreciate your time.

The Coral Pluys will brighten up the blues but it is far from a 50/50 bulb. White is really 33% blue, 33% green and 33% red. Which would be very close to a 10,000K bulb.

Think of it this way

GE would be 30% Blue 35% green 35% Red
Aqua Blue Special 45% Blue 45% Green 10% red
Purple Plus or Fugi Purple is 50% blue 50% red
Coral Plus is 70% blue 5% Green 25% red
Blue Plus is 80% blue 20% Green
KZ Blue is 85% blue 15% green

So if you want a 10 K look you would want to balance the red blue and green
For a 20 K look you would want something like 60% blue 25% green 15% Red
So for 14,000K your looking at 50% Blue 30% green and 20% red

In reality most Aquarium lighting that is claimed to be 20,000K lighting is a lot bluer than a true 20,000K. If you just ran aquablue specials by themselves you would be bluer than a true 20,000K.

What it is in reaity is determining how much white and how much you want blue to dominate to make your personal color choice. For the white end of the spectrum I like the GE 6500 Paired with 2 Purple Plus bulbs. This combination gives you roughly 43% blue, 12 % green 45% red. Then when you add 3 more Blue Plus bulbs it increases your blue lighting considerable so you end with roughly 62% Blue 16% Green 22% Red. Since most people eye are most sensative to green light it will appear fairly blanced as blue to most but to others they will pick up the red and blue enough for them to call it a pink tint. If it looks to pinkl for you you can always drop one of the purple plus bulbs for another Blue Plus.

Looking at the Cloral plus this bulb was originaly designed as a stand alone bulb for people with single or double tube fixtures. It is claimed to a 15,000K light source just by itself. So if your ran 6 Coral plus bulbs you would have a 15,000% result. Most people like a bluer look and would recommend that you rean 3 or more blue bulbs in combination with these. But even running 4 Coral plus and 2 Blue Plus would push your true K rating well over 20,000K.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by Dapg8gt

Thanks for the response I have seen those pics and they did help a lot. I think I will just order an extra blue+ and botandem coral +and GE to check it out. I don't think I would be happy looking now at 100% blue+ on my current tank so I def need to experiment.

What about trying to mimic My 14k and blue+ now. A coral + in the mix with all the other? Is the coral plus pretty much a 50/50 bulb?

Again thanks for the input I really appreciate your time.

ATI says the coral plus is 50% blue plus, 40% aquablue special & 10% purple bulbs combined.http://atinorthamerica.com/bulbs.php?tabbedtabs=0

I would start with 4 blue a GE6500 & a purple bulb and go from there, I actually like this 6 bulb combo. If you want more blue try a coral plus instead of the ge6500.

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by tekjunkie28

Can someone point me in the direction of a cooling mod for my aquaticlife 6 tube. I want to get the best value I can while I have this unit until I get an ati.

Sent from my SCH-I605

Grim was working on one but never seen the completed product, you can start by taking the splash shield off and check your PAR, should get 15% increase just from that alone.

[Dapg8gt]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

The Coral Pluys will brighten up the blues but it is far from a 50/50 bulb. White is really 33% blue, 33% green and 33% red. Which would be very close to a 10,000K bulb.

Think of it this way

GE would be 30% Blue 35% green 35% Red
Aqua Blue Special 45% Blue 45% Green 10% red
Purple Plus or Fugi Purple is 50% blue 50% red
Coral Plus is 70% blue 5% Green 25% red
Blue Plus is 80% blue 20% Green
KZ Blue is 85% blue 15% green

So if you want a 10 K look you would want to balance the red blue and green
For a 20 K look you would want something like 60% blue 25% green 15% Red
So for 14,000K your looking at 50% Blue 30% green and 20% red

In reality most Aquarium lighting that is claimed to be 20,000K lighting is a lot bluer than a true 20,000K. If you just ran aquablue specials by themselves you would be bluer than a true 20,000K.

What it is in reaity is determining how much white and how much you want blue to dominate to make your personal color choice. For the white end of the spectrum I like the GE 6500 Paired with 2 Purple Plus bulbs. This combination gives you roughly 43% blue, 12 % green 45% red. Then when you add 3 more Blue Plus bulbs it increases your blue lighting considerable so you end with roughly 62% Blue 16% Green 22% Red. Since most people eye are most sensative to green light it will appear fairly blanced as blue to most but to others they will pick up the red and blue enough for them to call it a pink tint. If it looks to pinkl for you you can always drop one of the purple plus bulbs for another Blue Plus.

Looking at the Cloral plus this bulb was originaly designed as a stand alone bulb for people with single or double tube fixtures. It is claimed to a 15,000K light source just by itself. So if your ran 6 Coral plus bulbs you would have a 15,000% result. Most people like a bluer look and would recommend that you rean 3 or more blue bulbs in combination with these. But even running 4 Coral plus and 2 Blue Plus would push your true K rating well over 20,000K.

That's a great response to a guy who has just spent a day or two trying to figure out what combo to get. I've read so much it's all mashed into the back only to come back out after I hit the pay now button and regret it. That's a perfect way to point me in the right direction. Thank you.

[Dapg8gt]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

ATI says the coral plus is 50% blue plus, 40% aquablue special & 10% purple bulbs combined.http://atinorthamerica.com/bulbs.php?tabbedtabs=0

I would start with 4 blue a GE6500 & a purple bulb and go from there, I actually like this 6 bulb combo. If you want more blue try a coral plus instead of the ge6500.

Cool I'm gonna order three extra bulbs along with the combo abOve to play with.. A purple, a GE6500k, and a coral plus, to see what's the best for my eye. I figure I could always use them later anyways. I figure also having an extra blue plus around I won't really have to worry about it being too white and with the others I can experiment with growth rates adding more daylight spectrum at the peak of the day.

Do most people order the bulbs online? I have a few places that are local but one closest being a store I vowed to never give buisness to again and seems most order on reefgeek.The others are a good distance away and will most likely be the same price as reefgeek but will give me the temptation to buy some SPS ( my recent kryptonite LOL) and I will have to take a decent drive to get there including bridge toll and a 470 HP car equals more than the online store shipped to my door. And I won't have an opportunity to get a speeding ticket LOL... .

Is reefgeek the best/cheapest/common place to get the ATI bulbs? Marine depot is closest to me as an online vendor but ends up costing more.. The other stores local only have other brands like zoomed and wavepoint and from the par studies I'm not gonna even try them , even though a local store sells the wave points for $10 each ;(


Thanks again to the both of you I'm glad I posted this and I'll let you guys know how it goes and maybe update with a color pic once I swap over tanks.

[tekjunkie28]

Originally Posted by Michigan Mike

Grim was working on one but never seen the completed product, you can start by taking the splash shield off and check your PAR, should get 15% increase just from that alone.

Wish that was an option but I have a Hob skimmer. I have to wipe off the glass enough now. Its a RO bh2000. If anyone has any ideas it would be of much help.

Sent from my SCH-I605

[Michigan Mike]

Originally Posted by tekjunkie28

Wish that was an option but I have a Hob skimmer. I have to wipe off the glass enough now. Its a RO bh2000. If anyone has any ideas it would be of much help.

Sent from my SCH-I605

How long have you had the skimmer? Can you turn the return toward the back glass?

[tekjunkie28]

I have had it 7 months. No I can't turn into away it's got a chamber which is apparently new design. I guess I could take the chamber off and get a 90 and put on it. Right?
This chamber or outlets is slotted woth holes in the top. I'm guessing the bubbles supposed to stay in and pop inside the chamber but I'm not for sure.

Sent from my SCH-I605

[GroktheCube]

It's been a few days since I got my 4x54 Sunpower, so I thought I'd post up some thoughts. I haven't been able to experiment with it quite as much as I'd like, unfortunately. The day I put it up, I noticed a few slimy strands of dinos on the sand. The next day, the sand bed was brown, and there were slimy strands coming off several of the rocks. I turned all the lights off yesterday, and they'll be staying off for a few days (along with dosing H2O2, and some Kalk to maintain pH of ~8.55).

I did however have some time to play around, and I'm very impressed. I'm definitely glad that I invested in this fixture. It's obviously very well made, and I love the hanging system. Aesthetically, the lighting is worlds better than LEDs alone. I can see why ATI is charging an arm and a left kidney for the LED+T5 powermodule, it's a fantastic combination. With the T5s added in, my green hitchhiking Palys have gone from being pretty little green buttons, to glowing green with red bodies. The colors generally look more defined throughout the tank, and the final color is more to my liking than LEDs alone.

I was surprised by how much more blue the KZ Superblue bulbs where than the ATI Blue + bulbs. The ATI bulbs definitely have a good bit more green in them. They're also appear a bit brighter to my eyes. I like the way the ATI purple bulb makes reds pop out, but it makes everything else look a bit too warm also. I'm currently using:
Front
ATI Actinic
KZ Superblue
ATI Actinic
ATI Blue +
Back

Still not completely sold that I've found the best combination. but I'm getting there.

I ordered a few LPS from DD (Green Galaxea, "Green Eye" Favites, Red and Green Fiva) which should be arriving Tuesday. I'll be turning the lights back on Wednesday (hopefully the Dinos will be all but toast by then, still have no idea why they showed up, I don't have any other problem algae in the tank), so I figure that'll give me some more chances to experiment.