T5 Q's

[lorenz0]

^^^
Very true, the variables in grim reefers testing of bulbs were never noted but his tests have been very useful with buying bulbs

Pure actinic's are useless. Its like walking around with a black light and seeing what they form of lighting is doing to the colors around you, only visual changes. T5 bulbs rated at 22,000k are very benifical and in my latest changes I am starting to notice my blues pop alot more. As for the DUO comments, yes they are a very white bulb for their kelvin rating but with the hint of red spectrum in them and running them for a month now i believe i am starting to notice my reds coming back. Great bulb

To the OP If i were you i would pure three 22,000k rates bulbs in and maybe a fiji purple. If your adding suppimental bulbs why not put something worth while in?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by fishytime

6-9 months is all you should expect from your T5s in a lighting unit that isnt actively cooled....I cant find the link to the actual in tank experiment where they had ATI bulbs one one side of the tank and Aquascience on the other.....flow and coral placement was mirrored on each side of the tank as closely as possible and after six months the difference in growth of the same coral species was quit noticeable.....

Fiji purps and "true/pure" actinics are a waste of a bulb IMO....great for color but not much else, and the fiji purps produce a red spectrum(algae growth) that most tanks not running a ultra low nutrient system, cant handle.......why not get some usable par out of your "color" bulbs( like the Aquascience 22000k and G actinic+)?

Ah but Doug, you use T5s as your only source for light. Of course you want PAR out of them. If your primary light source is MH you don't need high PAR from the T5s.

As far as Fiji Purples go, I do agree they have a lot of red spectrum, but something about them really makes the color pop on corals. If I have a T5 only fixture like yours Doug, I would only use one strip of Fiji Purple, but if you have MH with one or two T5s on each side, they have to be the same on one side as they are on the other or you will get different shades in the front of the tank as the back. That doesn't bother some people, but it drives me nuts. That's the only reason I would suggest more than one strip of Fiji Purple.

I have bulbs that have 18 months of use on them and their color spectrum hasn't faded as much as the AquaScience 17,500K with 6 months on them. One of these bulbs is a Hagen 18000K.

I'm also not a fan of Giesemann T5s in most situations!

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Myka

Ah but Doug, you use T5s as your only source for light. Of course you want PAR out of them. If your primary light source is MH you don't need high PAR from the T5s.

As far as Fiji Purples go, I do agree they have a lot of red spectrum, but something about them really makes the color pop on corals. If I have a T5 only fixture like yours Doug, I would only use one strip of Fiji Purple, but if you have MH with one or two T5s on each side, they have to be the same on one side as they are on the other or you will get different shades in the front of the tank as the back. That doesn't bother some people, but it drives me nuts. That's the only reason I would suggest more than one strip of Fiji Purple.

I have bulbs that have 18 months of use on them and their color spectrum hasn't faded as much as the AquaScience 17,500K with 6 months on them. One of these bulbs is a Hagen 18000K.

I'm also not a fan of Giesemann T5s in most situations!

Well in my eyes, if Im gonna use energy to drive bulbs, the light they produce might as well be useful...even if I were running MHs with T5s I would choose a T5 bulb that actually has some sort of benefit besides just color....I will be the first to agree that Fiji purps look great, but most peoples systems simply dont handle the red spectrum to well....Ive tried almost every bulb available to me at the shop, KZ, Giesemann, Aquascience, aquamedic, even ran the hagens when I first started( decent looking bulb btw)....I will continue to push and use the AS bulbs because the proof is in the puddin

[burrows14]

Sorry I started the thread but have not been able to get on here to reply. I personally think im gonna add 2 fiji purples but I dont know what the other 2 bulbs that im gonna use. I agree with what everyone is saying on this thread. I want colour but I also want some growth out of the T5's also. Right now the fixture is running 2 super antinics and 2 blue+ (54w). I find that since ive installed the hood Ive had an algae boom.

[fkshiu]

You don't need two Fiji Purples IME. One is enough.

Right now supplementing my MH (Iwasaki 15,000K) I'm running 1 x Fiji Purple (T5HO), 1 x Gman Actinic+ (T5HO), 2 x UVL Superactinic (VHO)