A new reef arises

[iwan]

Originally posted by Dudester
Every 6 months eh? That seems pretty frequent for T5's. Have you noticed problems if you try to use the lamps for a longer duration?

YES!
When the T5 technology was introduced in Europe, one has spoken of 18-24 months life time. The argument: T5 are more cheaply than MH is from this time.
The bulbs for certain burn 24 months and longer. But the spectrum changes considerably faster. The blue bulbs lose her spectrum quickly.

[hahnmeister]

Why do you say that the blue bulbs lose their spectrum quickly? Is there a test or something, a link, etc? The testing I have done on ATI blue+ vs. AB+ shows that B+ bulbs hold their spectrum longer, and are less sensitive to heat than AB+ actually. Of all the T5 bulbs, the blue+ by ATI and actinic+ by Giesemann are the longest living, and least heat sensitive of all. Still, what is your T5 cooling solution? I could see what you are saying if your T5s arent getting enough cooling. Then I can see 6 months w/o fans being the 'deadline'.

6months seems very short. With thermal sensing ballasts (OSRAM/Sylvania Quicktronic for example) and a good deal of air being blown across the bulbs, 18-24 months should be fine for your bulbs. Sure, there is a 10% drop in the first month or two... thats true of everything, but from there it levels out and the bulbs stay strong for many many months.

Do you have any pictures from setting up your tank that show how you arranged the rocks... in particular the ones that hide the tunzes, and how they hide the tunzes?

[iwan]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
Why do you say that the blue bulbs lose their spectrum quickly? Is there a test or something, a link, etc? The testing I have done on ATI blue+ vs. AB+ shows that B+ bulbs hold their spectrum longer, and are less sensitive to heat than AB+ actually. Of all the T5 bulbs, the blue+ by ATI and actinic+ by Giesemann are the longest living, and least heat sensitive of all. Still, what is your T5 cooling solution? I could see what you are saying if your T5s arent getting enough cooling. Then I can see 6 months w/o fans being the 'deadline'.

6months seems very short. With thermal sensing ballasts (OSRAM/Sylvania Quicktronic for example) and a good deal of air being blown across the bulbs, 18-24 months should be fine for your bulbs. Sure, there is a 10% drop in the first month or two... thats true of everything, but from there it levels out and the bulbs stay strong for many many months.



Do you have any pictures from setting up your tank that show how you arranged the rocks... in particular the ones that hide the tunzes, and how they hide the tunzes?

If you change your bulbs every 6-8 month you will see the difference. It's enormous!!!! Light is life. My target are very colorful SPS. There is no space for compromises. Might be that SPS receive enough light for growing (with the same bulbs after 12-24 month ). But I am sure that for an high level of chromoprotein synthesis much light as possible is necessary.

[hahnmeister]

Do you run fans so your bulbs get alot of cooling?

[iwan]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
Do you run fans so your bulbs get alot of cooling?

YUP the lighting has built-in fans.

[hahnmeister]

Thats odd... the bulbs should be lasting longer then... alot longer. Some of the best colors I get are still in the 9-18 month mark.

[iwan]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
Thats odd... the bulbs should be lasting longer then... alot longer. Some of the best colors I get are still in the 9-18 month mark.

Here an interesting article:
Although the test compares two manufacturers. I find the statement about the decline in performance very interesting.

http://www.korallenriff.de/downloads/T5-1.pdf

Quotation from a German article to the same topic:

"Abschluss des Röhrenvergleiches zwischen ATI und Fauna Marin
Ende Mai meldete sich Christian Krill vom Korallen-Keller Goldbach, daß es nun Zeit wird die Röhren auszutauschen. Die Farben der Korallen hatten nachgelassen wovon ich mich dann auch am 09.06. bei Saskia und Christian selber überzeugen konnte. Die Brillianz war komplett weg. Farben waren sicher noch vorhanden, aber sie waren kein Vergleich zu den ersten Monaten. So möchten wir zum Abschluss des Tests der beiden Röhren festhalten das man T5 Röhren nach ca. 9 Monaten tauschen sollte,"

Translation:
Completion of the tube comparison between ATI and fauna Marin:
Christian Krill of the coral cellar Goldbach reported, that at the end of May time becomes now to replace the tubes. The colors of the corals had decreased. The brillance of the colors was completely gone. Colors were for certain still available, but they were not a comparison to the first months. So we can say at the end of this tests that one should change T5 tubes after approx. 9 months,

"Wie lange halten die jeweiligen Röhren, bevor sich die Korallen farblich verändern?
Wir würden Korallenliebhabern nach dem Test als Maximum 9 Monate Haltbarkeit mit auf dem Weg geben. Gehalten hätten die Röhren sicherlich noch länger. "

Translation:

How long do the respective tubes hold before the corals change in color?
We recommend to all coral-enthusiasts a durability of maximal 9 months. The tubes surely would have held still longer.

[hahnmeister]

Sure, I am very familiar with korallenriff.de, meerwasserforum.com, etc. I have seen that article.

Perhaps its time to get out the spectroradiometer (I have an Ocean Optics) and compare the outputs on a month by month basis of a few 'common' T5 bulbs.

[iwan]

The main arguments for a change after 9 months are not a measuring of a spectrum or intensity!
The argument is the decreasing of coral-colors.
This is also the only argument for me.

[Elliott]

well, it's hard to argue with success. nevertheless, it would be nice to know why. hahn, please post your results.

iwan, very inspiring tank, thank you.

[iwan]

Some new pics

[hansmatt]

Beautiful reef and pictures! Do you do a double exposure of all your (reef) pictures for more intense lighting? The thought had never occured to me before, but I guess you would get better true coloration of the non-moving and not blurr the moving fish. I guess you get a few extra fish out of the picture too!

[hahnmeister]

One thing that helps capture the colors better is to turn down the 'light/darkness' level a bit on the camera (not aperture or exposure directly). Considering most of our tanks are providing tropical light levels, the saturation can be a little much and wash out many of the corals colors when we take a picture. So I turn my Nikon about 1/2 the way down... this also increases the 'shutter speed' if you will, since less light is needed, and so fish dont blur, and you tend to get more detail. The results are slightly darker, but the colors are not as washed out with all the bright light, esp when you consider how many of the corals 'reflect/refract' light off their more colorful spots.

Then, because the colors are there already, the picture is much easier to manipulate in photoshop if you want. Its easier to bring up the light level (luminance) when the photo has the color information already(chromninance). Its alot harder to take a saturated picture and bring up the colors though (without making it look odd). Think of old B&W movies that are 'colorized' and you know what I mean.

It depends on the Camera as well. In my use, Canons have always done a better job with color than Nikons. Nikons tend to be more detail oriented (sharpness), but its harder to get the colors right with them sometimes unless I underexpose and then manipulate the photo later. Canons seem to pick up colors, esp red and green, much better. JMO.

[hansmatt]

I agree...but I believe these are double exposures, as there are multiple fish that are repositioned as they swim. Longnose hawk, yellow tang, etc. I had not seen that technique before (though I'm not a pro photog either)

[iwan]

Originally posted by hansmatt
I agree...but I believe these are double exposures, as there are multiple fish that are repositioned as they swim. Longnose hawk, yellow tang, etc. I had not seen that technique before (though I'm not a pro photog either)

This is not a double exposure. It is a mirror effect on the front glass.

[hansmatt]

ahhh, I thought I stumbled across a new crazy way to take picts of my tank....anyway, you have a stunning tank that anyone would be proud of.

[jnarowe]

Your tank is fabulous as always Iwan. very inspirational.

[jpa14]

Iwan,
Great looking tank.... Is their a way to see your light set-up or a thread where i can read on your lighting. thanks for any help.

[hahnmeister]

Yeah, most of the earlier pics from this thread have been removed.

[iwan]

Originally posted by jpa14
Iwan,
Great looking tank.... Is their a way to see your light set-up or a thread where i can read on your lighting. thanks for any help.

Pure T5!
6x80 watt ATI B+
6x80 watt ATI AB spec.

Here a nice pic from my old tank. The lighting was the same. Here you can see the ATI powermodul with 8x80watt.

[Dudester]

Iwan, it looks like your Powermodule was hung quite high above the tank in that photo. How far off the water do you traditionally keep the fixture?

[iwan]

Originally posted by Dudester
Iwan, it looks like your Powermodule was hung quite high above the tank in that photo. How far off the water do you traditionally keep the fixture?

The distance was extended for the photo. I usually put the lighting at the surface of the water as near as possible.

[jpa14]

Iwan,
Thanks for the pic of your light. i think im going to try the sfiligoi 12*80 watt stealth over my 220 72*24*30 now the problem will be what lights to use.

[hahnmeister]

Iwan, do you have any pics of when you were setting up the tank of how you did the rockwork... before you added the corals?

[iwan]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
Iwan, do you have any pics of when you were setting up the tank of how you did the rockwork... before you added the corals?

Unfortunately, I have not made any pictures of the construction.