T5 Bulb PAR Comparison
 

FECK! I hit a wrong button and deleted the $&%@#%#@% thing!! Damn long nails... Ok, try number 2... :mad:

Not sure if this is the right forum?

I'm doing this for me as much as you guys. The information for all of this is in multiple threads on Reef Central, so I'm putting it all together here. All PAR readings are done by TheGrimReefer on Reef Central, so they should be accurate at least in comparison to eachother.

PAR rating - name of bulb - what type of light in bulb (when avail) - Kelvin and/or nm

ATI
357 - Sun Pro - daylight - 6000K
341 - Aquablue Special - blue/daylight - 12000K
311 - Blue Plus - blue/actinic - 20000K - 450n
137 - Actinic - actinic - 420n

Aqua Science
320 - Special - 15,000K
334 - Duo - 17,500K
302 - Blue - 22,000K

Korallen-Zucht "KZ"
342 - Coral Light - 10,000K
320 - Fiji Purple - (450nm I think...anyone know for sure?)

D-D Giesemann
325 - Midday - daylight - 6,000K
324 - Aqua Blue Plus - 60% blue/40% daylight - 11,000K
264 - Actinic Plus - actinic/blue - 450nm
157 - Pure Actinic - actinic - 420nm

UVL/URI
345 - AquaSun - daylight - 10,000K
293 - Actinic White - 50% daylight 50% actinic - 12,000K
210 - Super Actinic - actinic - 420 nm
254 - 75.25 - 75% actinic 25% tri-band phosphor - 14,000K - 460 nm

AquaZ
285 - Sun Pro - 9,000K
323 - Ocean Pro - 20,000K
266 - Blue Pro - actinic - 420nm

Current USA SlimPaq
272 - Daylight - 10,000K
252 - Actinic Blue - blue/actinic - 460nm

Sfiligoi
209 - Super Blue Actinic

GE
340 - Daylight - daylight - 6,500K

* Data supplied from The Grim Reefer's testing using 54w bulbs in a TEK fixture.




I would like to update this thread with a list of suppliers for each brand of bulb. Please help me by posting which Canadian suppliers carry which bulbs. This info is a bit harder to find.

Bulb Suppliers

J&L Aquatics - Burnaby
UVL/URI
AquaScience
Korallen Zucht (just Fiji Purple)
Giesemann

Ocean Aquatics - Delta, BC
Giesemann
ATI
Current USA
UVL/URI

Gold Aquariums - Calgary, AB
AquaScience
Korallen Zucht

Red Coral - Calgary, AB
AquaScience
Korallen Zucht
Giesemann

Marine Aquaria - Edmonton, AB
AquaScience
Korallen Zucht

Excellent information...thanks Myka!

No problem...more for myself than anything. :D :p Now I'd like to include a list of suppliers for each brand.

*cough*

The following Albertan retailers carry both AquaScience and KZ bulbs:

Calgary

Gold Aquariums
Red Coral

Edmonton

Marine Aquaria

OK, excuse my ignorance, what is PAR and how do I read/understand the info posted?

I presently have 2 Giesemann Midday and 2 Pure Actinics on my tank, As per Wendell's recommendation. I like them, but I know no different yet

albert dao: Thanks for the info. I will add it right away (and contact them about placing an order! :D). Do you know what other T5 bulbs those retailers carry???

PAR = Photosynthetically active radiation, which basically means it's a rating of the output of light that is photosynthetically usable. Generally speaking, the higher the better for reef tanks. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosy...tive_radiation

I have learned to become lesser of a fan of the Giesemann bulbs. There are bulbs out there that produce equal or more PAR and don't have the dark ends like the Giesemann bulbs do. That's really my only complaint though. There are still decent lamps.

Hi

We have the UVL/URI in 75/25 the balance are coming next week.



Wendell

Thanks! I will add it, I didn't know the 75/25 existed! :o Now we need PAR ratings for it. Are you going to be carrying the rest of the UVL fleet?

I assume this is the info from http://tfivetesting.googlepages.com/ ? As such it would be a good idea to specify that the data is from 54w bulbs running in a TEK light.

The PAR measurement for a 75.25 is 254

Aquarium Illusions in Edmonton carries Giesman and UVL

No, I got the info from hunting through TheGrimReefer's posts on Reef Central. Now if I woulda known he had a website with it all neatly laid out I would have just bookmarked it instead of making this thread!! :lol:

In my case, I don't care what size the bulbs are or what fixture they're in. I'm looking at numbers relative to eachother. As long as they're all tested in the same unit, all should be relative. :)

Thanks for the link!!! :D

I knew the ATI bulbs I originally had were better then my current Giesemann, especially the 450nm ones.

I even find that the ATI 12k look a lot better then the Giesemann 11k.

Good info.

I'm currently running Giesemanns too, and I'm not happy with them either. I will be happy to change them in the next little while here.

no PAR readings on KZ new generation bulbs from grim reefer yet eh? If the 10k's are at 342, I wonder what the new generations are at.

Ya!!! I'm very interested!!!

question for you myka, if I am running a 250 watt 14k halide over a thirty, what T5 bulb would you reccommend? Tank is in the process of being switched from lps and softies to sps. My main goal is to have the spectacular colors.

Personally, if I was running a 250w over 30g I wouldn't be overly concerned about the PAR of my actinics because your PAR should be fairly high already - depending hugely on what brand and type of ballast you're running though! So I would probably go with a pure actinic and use the UVL Super Actinic, or possibly the KZ Fiji Purple (not pure actinic) depending what color preference you like. Both will make the colors of your corals pop, probably the KZ a bit more so. If you want to pull the light bluer than that I would suggest the ATI Blue Plus. It's all personal preference when choosing color though.

Side note...if you're wanting an SPS dominated tank, I would suggest not having softies in the tank. Softies release toxins as a way of chemical warfare, and SPS are particularly sensitive to it. You can run a bunch of carbon to absorb the toxins, but large amounts of carbon seem to decrease polyp extension in SPS. So it's kind of a catch 22.

Alright thanks a bunch I will look into both those bulbs. I bought a no name MH fixture how do i know if the ballast is giving off good PAR. I will be switching the bulb to a phoneix 14k soon tho. And thanks for the advice on the corals, i am slowly trying to remove all the softies and lps. Just a bit pricy haha.

What kind of ballast is it? Electronic or magnetic? It should have a brand of some sort written right on it somewhere with all the numbers and schtuff. If it's not a ballast that's familiar in the reefing world (you may be surprised how many are) then the only way for you to tell is to use a PAR meter, but by far the best method is "Eff the PAR, how are the corals doing?!" :lol:

Well the corals are doing good, they grow and look nice, I just notice a huge color difference from my thirty gallon tank compared to my nano. My nano gives off gorgeous vibrant colors, and it has 70 watt MH sunpod over it. So I wanted to switch all the bulbs in my thirty to help get nicer coloring in my corals. So far I have learned I should get a 14k or 15k MH, and those T5HO that you reccommended, instead of my PC actinics.

Ya, that should definately help you out. :)

Are ati worth the extra dough ? I can afford the giesmann and uvl but ati is a little steep. What is equivalent to blue plus and aqua blues plus with uvl and giesmann

Actually ATI bulbs are cheaper. I order mine from bulkreefsupply.com. 39W are only $19.99 and even cheaper if you have preferred customer status. You do have to take shipping into account but I usually do a large order every year so shipping doesn't affect price too much. I used to use Giesmann equivalents (Giesmann Actinic+ = ATI aquablue+, Giesmann Aquablue = ATI Aquablue special) but they were costing me ~$25 each locally and they have lower PAR than the ATI bulbs.