6500k T5 bulb - pros and cons ?

[Yanir34]

Hello everyone, I'm using giesemann tropic 6500k T5 bulbs in my SPS reef. it's full spectrum bulb.
I would like to hear your experience with this bulb , or similar other full spectrum bulb.
what is your opinion on this type of bulb ?

 

[bradreef]

6500 will be very yellow. That is what we ran 20 years ago and colors like blue, or yellow scroll corals will look great. I think you could run one of those with like 3 or more blues to balance out.

 

[Yanir34]

6500 will be very yellow. That is what we ran 20 years ago and colors like blue, or yellow scroll corals will look great. I think you could run one of those with like 3 or more blues to balance out.

Right now my bulbs combination is :
6 blue plus
1 tropic 6500k
1 actinic
1 fiji purple
1 coral plus

 

[bradreef]

Right now my bulbs combination is :
6 blue plus
1 tropic 6500k
1 actinic
1 fiji purple
1 coral plus

Should work well. It's like running 10-15% warm whites on a radion.

 

[Yanir34]

Thanks !

 

[paal]

In my 8xT5 (39W) + 300W LED fixture I used to run 2x 6500k with 4x blue and 2x actinic.
Non-blue LEDs very low and overall LED power turned down, so no more than 100W total I'd say.

Really liked the look. From what I can remember, no major difference in growth when compared to any other combo I used to run.

 

[paal]

Found the old pictures. Already 5 years old (!) Time flies !

These were actually "giesemann midday 6000k" I got them cheap as they were discontinued bulbs even back in 2019, replaced by the "giesemann tropic, 6500k".

 

[Yanir34]

Found the old pictures. Already 5 years old (!) Time flies !

These were actually "giesemann midday 6000k" I got them cheap as they were discontinued bulbs even back in 2019, replaced by the "giesemann tropic, 6500k".

looks great!
are this Reefi LED's ?
did you run them a low power ?
also , how high did you hang the lights above the water surface ?

 

[paal]

lamp is a Pacific Sun - Pandora Hyperion S.
I guess I've had it anywhere from 10-30cm above the water, depending on how much light spill the wife tolerates.

Quite funny that you asked, as literally 1 hour ago I received 3d printed parts to a "lamp shade" to avoid the spill. Fixture now hangs at about 25cm over the surface.

EDIT: Lamp has been running for 8 years.
No problems except the fans were a tad loud for my liking, so I replaced them with some custom ones running at low power/speed

 

[spsick]

Giesemann tropic or GE 6500k are a great single bulb addition to boost intensity and growth. True blue and purple Acropora will really shine with one of these in the fixture.

 

[Yanir34]

lamp is a Pacific Sun - Pandora Hyperion S.
I guess I've had it anywhere from 10-30cm above the water, depending on how much light spill the wife tolerates.

Quite funny that you asked, as literally 1 hour ago I received 3d printed parts to a "lamp shade" to avoid the spill. Fixture now hangs at about 25cm over the surface.

EDIT: Lamp has been running for 8 years.
No problems except the fans were a tad loud for my liking, so I replaced them with some custom ones running at low power/speed

Do you some pictures of the SPS with this lighting setup ?

 

[paal]

Found some oldies on google pics. (I should take a new one too I guess.) Most these corals are generic boring frags given to me by other reefers. I do not have anything fancy. They all thrive though, even to the point of spawning (see last pic)
The closest fish store is 2x6 hours drive away. Most are 2x 7-10. I used to order online, but always just got the "leftovers" on each shipment.

As of today, no stores in Norway will ship fish because of regulations. Really not a good place to be a reefer :|
Almost all the local reefers I know have quit already.

Anyway, enough crying. Some pics.


From August 2018:

From April 2021:

From August 2022:

SPS Spawning:

 

[paal]

I cannot tell exactly which bulbs were in the different pictures, but I typically aim for about the same overall color temperature "look". I just adjust the LED color depending on the T5 combo.

Pics looking different I think has more to do with the camera than the actual color.

 

[Yanir34]

Found some oldies on google pics. (I should take a new one too I guess.) Most these corals are generic boring frags given to me by other reefers. I do not have anything fancy. They all thrive though, even to the point of spawning (see last pic)
The closest fish store is 2x6 hours drive away. Most are 2x 7-10. I used to order online, but always just got the "leftovers" on each shipment.

As of today, no stores in Norway will ship fish because of regulations. Really not a good place to be a reefer :|
Almost all the local reefers I know have quit already.

Anyway, enough crying. Some pics.


From August 2018:

From April 2021:

From August 2022:

SPS Spawning:

wow that is nice pics !
and the fixture is almost touching the water

 

[Anxur]

@Yanir34 with t5 how we can chose combo to have the same Kelvin of the first meter of the light in the natural reef?

 

[SeaDweller]

I’m running an 8 bulb ATI with one GE 5600k bulb. Personally, I like it cuz it rounds out the spectrum more and gives a nice, clean natural look. I’m running 2 custom LED strips in the ATI, B+ and actinics, only one bulb is 5600k

 

[Yanir34]

@Yanir34 with t5 how we can chose combo to have the same Kelvin of the first meter of the light in the natural reef?

in 8 bulb fixture it means at least 3 bulbs of full spectrum , 3 blue bulbs , 1 purple a 1 actinic to my opinion

 

[alfieohalfie]

in 8 bulb fixture it means at least 3 bulbs of full spectrum , 3 blue bulbs , 1 purple a 1 actinic to my opinion

I was looking for something similar on my 4 bulb fixture. My bulbs were ready for a swap. So I ordered 2 blue plus and 2 aqua blue special. And it’s a very nice full spectrum that looks and feels very well balanced.

 

[Reefahholic]

 

[Anxur]

For you, it's good..
4 blu plus
2 6500?