T5 Bulb PAR Comparison

[littlesilvermax]

Originally Posted by Myka

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



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

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.

[Myka]

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.

[kwirky]

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.

[Myka]

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

[cdhollan]

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.

[Myka]

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.

[cdhollan]

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.

[Myka]

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?!"

[cdhollan]

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.

[Myka]

Ya, that should definately help you out.