T5 Lighting May Be For You - Page 2

The Grim Reefer · #26 05/03/2005, 05:47 PM

No Pic's mothra? Those blues will need lotsa light to keep the colors up. Waterflow will make a big difference too. I have a pink cats paw coloney that was broken in half when I got it. I placed the two halfs at opposite ends of the tank and one darkened up a little but the color got much more vivid and the other went from pink to purple and then brown. I added a Seio 1500 to the tank last week so I now have it on the opposite side from a Tunze 6060 and the browned out half has already brightened up to the point I would call it purple again. Now if I just don't kill my finger leather life will be good

rjwilson37 · #27 05/03/2005, 07:04 PM

Great to hear mothra! I am starting to think that SPS are easier to keep in an established tank compared to some Soft and LPS corals.

My Clams are doing great, I have had that Blue Maxima for almost a year and a half and the Derasa for I guess about 8 months. The gold maxima is doing good but did lose a little bit of the bright gold color it had when I got it. The blue maxima still has all it's color, the gold must have come from a tank with MH and the T5 are not enough to bring out it's brilliant color down in the sand. I think if I moved it towards the top it would get some more of it's bright gold color back. The derasa has almost doubled in size in 6 months, thank goodness it was on the smaller side of things when I got it.

rjwilson37 · #28 05/03/2005, 07:09 PM

Mothra, here is a link to my 55g 1 year anniversary thread with a few nice pictures of the different area's of the tank.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=584345

Ti · #29 05/03/2005, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rjwilson37
I have great success with the following SPS - Montipora Capricornus, Montipora Digitata, Pocillopora. I have two Acropora's that are looking good, they just don't really grow much which I believe is more because my flow is a little week for Acro's. I am only pushing 17 times my water volume, where for Acro's you should really be pusing 23-25 times of indirect movement for Acro's.

I have the Derasa and 2 maxima clams which are down in the sand bed of a 20" high tank. I am running around a 3" sand bed.

odd.
I'm running the same fixture, yet just last month I caught my maxima gaping so I pushed them up 3-4"

The Grim Reefer · #30 05/03/2005, 08:19 PM

How big is your clam Ti, I have read, and I may have this bassackwards, the small ones need more light.

Ti · #31 05/03/2005, 08:22 PM

They are 2" and actually small clams need less light when small, as they grow they need more light due to the extra issue, which requires more light to be sustained.
I kept them on the sand bed for a few months perectly fine till one day I saw them starting to gape.

The Grim Reefer · #32 05/03/2005, 08:30 PM

Bassackwards, just like I said

At least I knew size mattered.

Ti · #33 05/03/2005, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Bassackwards, just like I said At least I knew size mattered.

That is what she told me too.

The Grim Reefer · #34 05/03/2005, 08:41 PM

They are a little more dependent on phytoplankton when small, the clams not her, aren't they?

I figured i wasn't able to kill a crocea in over a year so I'd try my hand at a couple of little maximas. I had ywo Croceas and the good looking one died when a little BT anemone moved in under it and I didn't spot it in time. I assume the anemone sting is what killed it.

mothra · #35 05/03/2005, 10:54 PM

Good to hear RJ. Things are looking good for you. I'm not a big picture taker, maybe in a couple months when the sps have some growth. I've got a lot misc frags right now, now that I think about it

I'm still using equal parts blue+ and sun, and liking it a lot. I wish I had a little more actinic, but they are just too purple for my taste. I'm getting good growth, everything I have was started from small frags (mostly LPS). I have a galaxea from exotic reefs that started half golfball size 8 months later is about softball size, and candy canes that have gone from 1 head to a dozen or so. Zoos multiply like crazy and some other softies that have gotten big, so I'll be interested to see where the sps are at in 6 mos.

rjwilson37 · #36 05/04/2005, 08:05 AM

That is great to hear. I opted for slower growth so I don't have to frag as much or worry about things taking over an area. Except those darn Anthelia's on the right side, I wish something would take a liking to them and gobble them up a bit.

mothra · #37 05/04/2005, 09:33 AM

Just put some aggressive LPS near the anthelias, like an echinophyllia, favia, or galaxea... that will solve your anthelia issue

I think the growth is mostly attributed to the sun bulbs, but from what I've heard the blue+ have almost as much PAR, and the aquablue (which I don't have) have more PAR than the sun, with the actinics having very low PAR (I don't have these either). Is this true to anyone's knowledge?

Ti · #38 05/04/2005, 09:37 AM

GE sun has the most par so far.
The D&D sun and the 11K are about the same, the blue comes close.
I think that was how it goes.

Obi-dad · #39 05/04/2005, 10:12 AM

Some bulbs have slightly more PAR, but according to my measurements all are close to each other (within about 10%) except for the actnic, that is way down on PAR. But I still keep one acintic in my mix of 6 bulbs for the added flourescence of some corals.

The Grim Reefer · #40 05/04/2005, 12:56 PM

Obi-dad was the other one who measured PAR!

I knew it was someone lurking here

rjwilson37 · #41 05/04/2005, 08:15 PM

I have 2 Aquablue 11k, 1 Blue Plus and 1 Pure Actinic, the Actinic is just what was said earlier, to bring out the flourescense in corals. I will probably just get a blue plus to replace it when I get my replacement bulbs in another 3-4 months.

The Grim Reefer · #42 05/04/2005, 10:45 PM

Na-Na Na-Na Naaa-Naaa

I've got VHO actinics and you don't.

Oh, they are T6 and PC's, a 4 foot long, 200 watt PC and 6 foot, 160 watt T6. I fired up the PC for a bit but not on the tank. It seems pretty bright and and not violet, not blue. Sorta in between. Will post a thread once I have a chance to try them over the tank.

rjwilson37 · #43 05/05/2005, 06:46 PM

Grim.. I thought you had all T5's?

The Grim Reefer · #44 05/05/2005, 07:06 PM

I did, then I got a deal on a halide hood which allowed me to get the oak canopy out from in front of my living room window. The odd stuff is new lamps that are coming out that are being supplied to me and a few other people to try out. I got a lot of time on my hands so a guy who helps develop the lamps has sent me the stuff to play with.

I lit off a 110 watt T6 vho today. I think it is going to be a little brighter than the T5's. Nice thing about them is they can be slipped right into a VHO system with only a couple of rubber gromets to make them fit snug in the T12 endcaps. As far as a stand alone system instead of T5 it is going to depend on price. Right now you need a Ice Cap ballast to run the VHO's. They have and interesting Normal Output T6 out (big al's is carrying them) called ultimate reef. They have added infra red and UVA and B to the output of the lamp so it produces light a little more like a metal halide's.

Obi-dad · #45 05/05/2005, 07:10 PM

Infrared = heat. !

That is why I went from halides to T5

Ti · #46 05/05/2005, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rjwilson37
I have 2 Aquablue 11k, 1 Blue Plus and 1 Pure Actinic, the Actinic is just what was said earlier, to bring out the flourescense in corals. I will probably just get a blue plus to replace it when I get my replacement bulbs in another 3-4 months.

Iused to run that combo
now 2 11k ad 2 blue.

The Grim Reefer · #47 05/05/2005, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Obi-dad
Infrared = heat. ! That is why I went from halides to T5

The raw light produced inside fluorescents is infrared. That light acts on phosphores in the tube which creates the light the lamp emits. Shouldn't be an issue as far as heat goes. I haven't seen the actual lamp yet so I don't know how it looks.

Coralover · #48 05/05/2005, 07:50 PM

Quick question, what's brigther 156w of T5's or 150w of HQI?

The Grim Reefer · #49 05/05/2005, 08:13 PM

156 watts of "good" T5's would be my bet. At least to 16 or 18" depth.

Obi-dad · #50 05/05/2005, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
The raw light produced inside fluorescents is infrared. That light acts on phosphores in the tube which creates the light the lamp emits. Shouldn't be an issue as far as heat goes. I haven't seen the actual lamp yet so I don't know how it looks.

Actually, the opposite end of the spectrum. The 'raw' light inside any fluorescent lamp is UV, not infrared. The UV is converted by the phosphors lining the bulb into various frequencies depending on the phosphor. Most is converted to visible light, some is converted to infrared, some escapes as UV.

UV is higher energy light than visible light, which is high energy than infrared. When light is absobed by a phosphor and re-emitted, it is always at a lower energy level (lower frequency).