The T5 Q&a Thread - split

[bucfan]

Originally Posted by mhucasey

Most recently I have been using 6 Blue and two purple bulbs on an 8bulb fixture, its working well, with rich color and a nice balance. Color is a personal preference and I would suggest reading through more of the thread to see various combos and pictures of the tanks that use them.

Which blue bulbs are you using?

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by bucfan

Which blue bulbs are you using?

A mix of 3 blue plus and 3 KZ Superblue with 2 KZ Fiji Purple on the 8 bulb fixture.

[bucfan]

Originally Posted by mhucasey

A mix of 3 blue plus and 3 KZ Superblue with 2 KZ Fiji Purple on the 8 bulb fixture.

Is that not too blue?

[heritage]

Getting ready to chang bulbs and I'm thinking of trying the Geisman actinic blue. Here's what I'm thinking.
2 6x36 ati dimmable sunpower.
Each fixture
4 actinic blue
2 coral plus

Or,
3 actinic blue
2 coral plus
1 ati purple plus

Not sure with the Geisman being already heavy in the actinic is it even worth running a purple bulb ?

[shred5]

Originally Posted by heritage

Getting ready to chang bulbs and I'm thinking of trying the Geisman actinic blue. Here's what I'm thinking.
2 6x36 ati dimmable sunpower.
Each fixture
4 actinic blue
2 coral plus

Or,
3 actinic blue
2 coral plus
1 ati purple plus

Not sure with the Geisman being already heavy in the actinic is it even worth running a purple bulb ?

I like the Geisemann purple lamp.. I did not at first but now that I am used to it I would do it again.. My corals love it and my anthias just glow under it.

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by bucfan

Is that not too blue?

Surprisingly enough, no, it's pretty balanced. It definitely has a blue overtone but the colors are rich.

[heritage]

Originally Posted by shred5

I like the Geisemann purple lamp.. I did not at first but now that I am used to it I would do it again.. My corals love it and my anthias just glow under it.

Thanks Dave. Yeah I'm leaning toward my secong choice. I dont want the tank to be to blue so I think the purple will balance it out.

[bucfan]

Originally Posted by shred5

I like the Geisemann purple lamp.. I did not at first but now that I am used to it I would do it again.. My corals love it and my anthias just glow under it.

How does it compare to the ATI purple?

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by DiscusHeckel

Up until two weeks ago, I ran 5 Blue+ and 3 Coral +. I got excellent growth and good coloration. However, bias towards blue + slightly washed out non-reflective purple coloration of my Montipora monaseriata.

I have recently started to switch to the following combination:

3 Blue + 2 Coral + 1 purple +, 1 Aquablue special and 1 actinic (all ATI). I borrowed this combination from Scotty's tank thread.

I have not started to use the purple + bulb yet, but purples and pinks are more vivid and defined so far compared to my old combination.

Comparing the combined spectrums, this is actually very close to 2 purple and 6 blue. Since I had all the bulbs, I set up the Scotty combo, adjusted the camera with fixed Speed, ISO, and White Balance. This is that combo:




This is 2 purple and 6 blue:



The two combos are pretty close

[shred5]

Originally Posted by bucfan

How does it compare to the ATI purple?

Pretty close I guess. The Giesemann seems to have a little more red or pop to it.. But when I ran the ATI purple I had all ATI bulbs and a different combo of lights. .. I still run then down on my frag tanks but next order I am switching to all Giesemann


I run all Giesemann on my main tank so it really hard to say what a individual lamp is like by its self...

[Cincyreef]

Hey all. I'm deciding on switching to T5's on my 29 biocube. It will be a 4 bulb fixture. What combo of bulbs would work best/ look best for a mixed reef with an BTA? Any help is appreciated.

[kmu]

How does the Hamilton Blue 460nm bulb compare to the ATI Blue plus in color and par?

Ive always used ATI Blue plus but can get on some hamiltons for a a very nice price

THX in advance

[hobbzz]

Anyone know how many 24w bulbs I can run on an ATI or Advance 2x54w ballast?

[DiscusHeckel]

Originally Posted by mhucasey

Comparing the combined spectrums, this is actually very close to 2 purple and 6 blue. Since I had all the bulbs, I set up the Scotty combo, adjusted the camera with fixed Speed, ISO, and White Balance.

Good work. I am very impressed. Yesterday, I slightly modified the order of my tubes, i.e.:

front

blue+
coral+
actinic
abs
purple+
blue+
coral+
blue+

This combination, though it contains the same bulbs, looks slightly less white and somewhat more blue.

I will also experiment with the following:

front

blue+
coral+
actinic
purple+
abs
blue+
coral+
blue+

and

front

coral+
blue+
actinic
purple+
abs
blue+
coral+
blue+

Referring to your pictures, I think I prefer the first one. Have you tried 6 B+, 1 P+ and 1 ABS? You may get crispier look.

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by DiscusHeckel

Good work. I am very impressed. Yesterday, I slightly modified the order of my tubes, i.e.:

front

blue+
coral+
actinic
abs
purple+
blue+
coral+
blue+

This combination, though it contains the same bulbs, looks slightly less white and somewhat more blue.

I will also experiment with the following:

front

blue+
coral+
actinic
purple+
abs
blue+
coral+
blue+

and

front

coral+
blue+
actinic
purple+
abs
blue+
coral+
blue+

Referring to your pictures, I think I prefer the first one. Have you tried 6 B+, 1 P+ and 1 ABS? You may get crispier look.

Yep, I used that combo for a while but there was a slight yellowish brown that I dint like as much as with the purple and blue only.

[swk]

Originally Posted by DiscusHeckel

G

Referring to your pictures, I think I prefer the first one. Have you tried 6 B+, 1 P+ and 1 ABS? You may get crispier look.

In my 6 bulb, I'm currently using the geisseman equivalents of these, I think...

4 actinic blues
1 super purple
1 aquablue azure

It's the best combo I've used so far in my t5 "career". It's the first time i added a purple bulb and the corals responded almost immediately and alk demand shot up fairly dramatically. Suppose I could just be a coincidence, but i truly don't believe it to be the case. I think sps like the spectrum in a purple bulb.

[DiscusHeckel]

Originally Posted by mhucasey

Yep, I used that combo for a while but there was a slight yellowish brown that I dint like as much as with the purple and blue only.

I wonder if it is due to aqua blue special. I might swap it with another coral+ just for the sake of experiment as I have plenty of spares. I am a big fan of coral+.

Originally Posted by swk

In my 6 bulb, I'm currently using the geisseman equivalents of these, I think...

4 actinic blues
1 super purple
1 aquablue azure

It's the best combo I've used so far in my t5 "career". It's the first time i added a purple bulb and the corals responded almost immediately and alk demand shot up fairly dramatically. Suppose I could just be a coincidence, but i truly don't believe it to be the case. I think sps like the spectrum in a purple bulb.

I was not keen on purple+ in the past when I used it as part of my dawn-dusk setting (i.e. the second tube from the front in a 6-tube combo). My tank looked too purple to my liking. However, in my latest configuration is it behind abs, which masks the purple hue.

Purple+'s blue peak is the same as that of blue+ so I am not surprised that you noticed increase in coral growth. In my T5 "career" (lol), the best combination for coral growth was 5 blue+ and 3 coral+. I could not keep up with the growth in some corals (especially staghorns). It was ridiculous. However, the overall spectrum lacked something in that purples looked slightly "washed".

As for Giesemann, I tend to use ATI tubes only because of their longevity. I used my last batch of eight tubes for 11 months. I detected spectrum shift after this period though in PAR terms I still got very good readings.

A recent research suggests that Guisemann tubes lose their PAR sooner than ATI tubes.

[swk]

Good to know. Not a big issue for me. I start replacing tubes at 7 months

[Chris Abbott]

Lots to read to catch up, new to t5. So far most things appear to be liking the change to t5.
mY question is about SPS under t5. With 4 quality bulbs four inches off the water how far down into tank can I expect decent par for SPS?

Can I expect the Strawberry shortcake acro that's 4 inches down to get what it needs?

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by Chris Abbott

Lots to read to catch up, new to t5. So far most things appear to be liking the change to t5.
mY question is about SPS under t5. With 4 quality bulbs four inches off the water how far down into tank can I expect decent par for SPS?

Can I expect the Strawberry shortcake acro that's 4 inches down to get what it needs?

This all depends on the fixture you are using. An ATI Sunpower or Powermodule can easily put out 300+ par at the bottom of a 24" deep tank.

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by Chris Abbott

Lots to read to catch up, new to t5. So far most things appear to be liking the change to t5.
mY question is about SPS under t5. With 4 quality bulbs four inches off the water how far down into tank can I expect decent par for SPS?

Can I expect the Strawberry shortcake acro that's 4 inches down to get what it needs?

A coral 8" from the bulbs may be getting roasted, seriously.

[Vincee78]

Hello all ,

I have a powermodule Hybrid with 4 bulbs but i dont know which bulbs take.
Can you help me ?

[Chris Abbott]

Thanks, I'll get a par meter and check things out asap.

[mhucasey]

Originally Posted by Vincee78

Hello all ,

I have a powermodule Hybrid with 4 bulbs but i dont know which bulbs take.
Can you help me ?

I suggest using the blue LEDs only. For the bulbs I'm not used to four bulbs as the mix but perhaps 2 coral plus and 2 blue plus? Take a look through the thread for 4 bulb combos.

[Stylo328]

How effective for growth would this combo be?

4 B+
3 True actinic
1 ABS or Coral+

Thinking of switching from my current combo, which is.

FRONT TO BACK*
BLUE+
BLUE+
CORAL+
BLUE+
AQUABLUE SPECIAL
BLUE+
PURPLE+
BLUE+

Not overly impressed with growth after two years of the same combo; colors aren't that great either. Most seem washed out.

Thanks!