T5 Q's

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by fishytime

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+)?

54W Fiji Purples produce like 330 PAR man...

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

54W Fiji Purples produce like 330 PAR man...

But do most tanks need that much red

[fishytime]

the "red light" theory http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/aafeature1

[Snappy]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

54W Fiji Purples produce like 330 PAR man...

Ok but at what depth does their par loose penetration value?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Snappy

Ok but at what depth does their par loose penetration value?

hmm I was going to make some smart a$$ remark about T5s here, but there is something that bugs me here and because of it no one can answer your question.

it is fine to say a bulb will produce 330PAR or 400 or 800 ect.. but at what distance and through what?

T5s have a fairly rapid drop off, but is this realy true... nope, it only seams that way because of some of the stupid ways people are rating bulbs. same thing happened with MH and it lead a lot of people to thing they were getting something better than they were (IE when the DE bulbs first came out) light is light and it loses intensity with distance at about the same rate weather it is VHO, T5, MH, LED. but alot of people do measurments from 1 or 2" away from the bulb wich is useless as if you look at the loss of intensity over distance for a rough guess say it will lose 1/2 the value over 4X the distance (don't quote me on that I can't remember the exactr ration but this is for an explanation)

so if you measure the PAR at 1" and get 1000 PAR, then measur at 4" you should get 500, at 20" you should have 250 ect... so now this has been exploited by fudging the distance by different manufactures.. if I do the same measurments at 2" I would get 750 as a start, but at 8" I would get 375 which is the same as you would get in the first senerio at 8" but which one sounds better.

there needs to be a standard brought in between all bulbs MH, Flouressent, LED, ect.. and as far as I am concerned any measurment taken under 10" is useless for comparasons as the numbers are so large everything looks good.

I think a good way of measuing would be to take a PAR reading at 10", then one at 20", and one at 30" this would give you some good referance numbers for any common tank depth and give you a very good idea of the amount of drop off asociated with the light bulb.

personaly I am putting LED over my next tank.. got some of the stuff on order already.. going to cost me about 500.00 to build it but it should last 12 years or more and give me an ouput comparable or higher than a 250watt DE fixture with the consistant lighting that T5s give you. oh and I will be able to change my color with two dials. so if I get tired of 20K, I can change it to 10K, or 11K, or 12K, or maybe 12.5 ect.. you get the idea

Steve

[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?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by lorenz0

^^^
If your adding suppimental bulbs why not put something worth while in?

ah, but if were dealing with bulbs for suppimentation, then worth while is in the eye of the installer. the main point of suplementation is color and obtaining the color you like is very subjective. myself personaly I don't like a real blue tank, only ice white.. so the slightest hint of blue, the next guy might mike a real purple tank, and ome even yellowish.. Personaly I went through 12 MH bulbs and about 4 PC bulbs and 4 VHO bulbs beforI found the combo that I liked.

Steve

[burrows14]

I was just thinking about what every one has said here and I'm thinking of this mix. 1 Fiji purple 2 geis actinic plus and 1 kz coral 2 light. This reason I'm thinking of not going all supplemental light is for in the summer time I don't have to run my mh everyday and deal with temp issues. I don't want to spend the cash on a chiller just yet lol what do you think?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by burrows14

I was just thinking about what every one has said here and I'm thinking of this mix. 1 Fiji purple 2 geis actinic plus and 1 kz coral 2 light. This reason I'm thinking of not going all supplemental light is for in the summer time I don't have to run my mh everyday and deal with temp issues. I don't want to spend the cash on a chiller just yet lol what do you think?

sounds good, I would still try for an hour or two of MH if temps allow.

so set your T5's up so you like the look with out the MH, and with the MH. might take a bit more fiddling to get it looking good.

Steve