best t5ho 2 bulb combos for supplimental lighting?

JDigital · #1 03-21-2009, 05:51 AM

I've just added Giessmann Actinic+ and True Actinic to my tank and DAMN do I LOVE them! I also have 14K MH's so I will post some photos tomorrow of how it looks with both MH's and Supplementals.

foreverfortune · #2 03-21-2009, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDigital

I've just added Giessmann Actinic+ and True Actinic to my tank and DAMN do I LOVE them! I also have 14K MH's so I will post some photos tomorrow of how it looks with both MH's and Supplementals.

please do would love to see them.

JDigital · #3 03-21-2009, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foreverfortune

please do would love to see them.

As promised. I shot these with IDENTICAL camera settings.

My Lighting Info:

Metal Halides: Bulbs - Ushio 14K (5 months old) powered by a Galaxy Electronic Ballast w/ Lumenmax3 Reflectors.

T5's: Bulbs - 1x Giessmann Actinic+ & 1x Giessmann True Actinic powered by Hagen GLO Retro Ballast w/ TEKII Retro Reflectors.

As you can see, a dramatic difference. Even more than I was expecting, but it actually provided me with the color I was hoping to get.

RuGlu6 · #4 03-21-2009, 11:34 PM

The only thing is that Actinic plus will loose its blue intensity in about 6 month. true Actinics will hold it for about 9 month

fiorano · #5 03-22-2009, 02:48 AM

i have aquaconnect 14k's with 1 54w actinic+ and 1 54w fiji purple and it looks great... much better than it did with just 2 actinic+

Myka · #6 03-22-2009, 03:04 AM

I find the Fiji Purples to actually be quite pinkish/reddish/purple. I wouldn't want to run exclusively Fiji Purples for supplemental lighting. I would go with a UVL Actinic as they have a much higher PAR than Giesemann True Actinic. Both bulbs are 420 nm. I'm not a fan of Giesemann bulbs due to poor PAR values as well the whole bulb doesn't light up, the last inch or so on each end stays dark.

JDigital · #7 03-22-2009, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myka

I find the Fiji Purples to actually be quite pinkish/reddish/purple. I wouldn't want to run exclusively Fiji Purples for supplemental lighting. I would go with a UVL Actinic as they have a much higher PAR than Giesemann True Actinic. Both bulbs are 420 nm. I'm not a fan of Giesemann bulbs due to poor PAR values as well the whole bulb doesn't light up, the last inch or so on each end stays dark.

I've got no problems hitting PAR values with my MH's, my T5's were purely for dawn/dusk and florescence w/ MHs. However I will be testing the PAR of the T5's.

As for the last inch, that's how every T5 bulb I have ever tried has been, not just Giesemann's.

foreverfortune · #8 03-22-2009, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myka

I find the Fiji Purples to actually be quite pinkish/reddish/purple. I wouldn't want to run exclusively Fiji Purples for supplemental lighting. I would go with a UVL Actinic as they have a much higher PAR than Giesemann True Actinic. Both bulbs are 420 nm. I'm not a fan of Giesemann bulbs due to poor PAR values as well the whole bulb doesn't light up, the last inch or so on each end stays dark.

yea thats the setup i may just go with and give it a shot. kz fiji purple and uri super actinic blue. read somewhere uri is uvl? or are they different manufacturer?

foreverfortune · #9 03-22-2009, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDigital

As promised. I shot these with IDENTICAL camera settings.

My Lighting Info:

Metal Halides: Bulbs - Ushio 14K (5 months old) powered by a Galaxy Electronic Ballast w/ Lumenmax3 Reflectors.

T5's: Bulbs - 1x Giessmann Actinic+ & 1x Giessmann True Actinic powered by Hagen GLO Retro Ballast w/ TEKII Retro Reflectors.

As you can see, a dramatic difference. Even more than I was expecting, but it actually provided me with the color I was hoping to get.

nice that made a whole lot of difference with your actinics it became more crisp and less yellow.