GE 6500k bulb experiences

[SaracensRugby]

can anyone comment on their thoughts pro/con for the above bulb? I was told by an experienced reefer that it’s a solid bulb that helps bring out the reds in corals.
But it seems to yellow/Orange out corals in the back of the tank, where the bulb is at. I am thinking I will switch it out earlier than expected due to this.

I have an 8 bulb ati sunpower: use 6 for daytime, 2 for dawn/dusk. 6 bulb setup is: Fiji pink, purple, 3 blue plus, and ge 6500k. Too yellow/white for me and will swap one out for a blue plus here soon to get closer to 20k. The bulbs are not setup in the order I mentioned them as a FYI.

Cheers!

 

[Bpb]

can anyone comment on their thoughts pro/con for the above bulb? I was told by an experienced reefer that it’s a solid bulb that helps bring out the reds in corals.
But it seems to yellow/Orange out corals in the back of the tank, where the bulb is at. I am thinking I will switch it out earlier than expected due to this.

I have an 8 bulb ati sunpower: use 6 for daytime, 2 for dawn/dusk. 6 bulb setup is: Fiji pink, purple, 3 blue plus, and ge 6500k. Too yellow/white for me and will swap one out for a blue plus here soon to get closer to 20k. The bulbs are not setup in the order I mentioned them as a FYI.

Cheers!

How long have you had the bulb running? It will mite fluorescent colors a lot but the discrete phosphor bump in the 480-500 nm region is absorbed by carotenoids and diatoxanthin which are your red/orange pigments. May just take some time and getting used to. I use 2 giesemann tropic 6500k bulbs in my mix and wish I had gone with a 3rd or 4th even.

Old timers who have been there, done that, and gotten the t-shirt will tell you, 6500k t5’s and halides alike will smoke other bulbs in the pure growth rate and pigment developing department. It’s as simple as that. Are they the prettiest at illuminating the corals? Maybe not by most modern standards. But if you’re able to run them when you’re not home, and enjoy a blues spectrum when you are home, you will see the positives.

There have been lots of debates on this over the past few weeks on other threads, and a lot of new hobbyists who are google savvy will post graphs, charts, and diagrams until they’re blue in the face, claiming 6500k bulbs are loaded with wasted spectrum, are inefficient, and don’t grow coral. That is patent nonsense. One can theorize all day long, but experience is another thing entirely. Anyone who has actually used these bulbs for any length of time will likely present with a positive experience over higher kelvin bulbs when it comes to growth and color development. Hope that helps.

 

[SaracensRugby]

Thanks @Bpb. That helps, the person that recommended this to me has been in reefing for 20+ years, so that lines up with his experiences as well, which is why I followed it in the first place. It has been in my tank for about 9 months now. Granted this is a new tank, bringing everything over from a 2 year old previous tank, so I am not “blaming” the bulb for my colors as the only reason, just looking at different tweaks I can make when I need to swap out bulbs. I have it in the back, should I “bury” it in the middle of my lights? Where do you land on the pink or purple bulb?

 

[jda]

It can bring out colors that other bulbs cannot - pure rendering. It is not a great bulb, for illumination, so most like whiter or bluer look, but that is why you have 7 other slots.

If I was running T5s right now, I would have two pair of 6500k and True Actinic for 4 of my bulbs. These bulbs offset each other pretty well and both can do things that B+ or C+ cannot. ...then I would mix and match B+ and C+ until I found a color that I liked.

 

[jda]

It can bring out colors that other bulbs cannot - pure rendering. It is not a great bulb, for illumination, so most like whiter or bluer look, but that is why you have 7 other slots.

If I was running T5s right now, I would have two pair of 6500k and True Actinic for 4 of my bulbs. These bulbs offset each other pretty well and both can do things that B+ or C+ cannot. ...then I would mix and match B+ and C+ until I found a color that I liked.

 

[Hot2na]

If I had that fixture -I'd only be running 2 bulbs UVL-aquasun and UVL super actinic...in whatever ratio appeals to your eye...I've kept just about everything in the reef world using those 2 bulbs only over the yrs....

 

[paal]

Would the overall ambiant look of
2x6500k, 2xPureAct, 4xBlue+
...be whiter than 4xBlue+ and 4xCoral+ ?

 

[jda]

Different, but close. Probably the same "whiteness" and "pop" but maybe a bit less "windexy." This is so hard to describe with words.

 

[Bpb]

Would the overall ambiant look of
2x6500k, 2xPureAct, 4xBlue+
...be whiter than 4xBlue+ and 4xCoral+ ?

Agree it will look pretty similar from a kelvin standpoint but I think it would look more pleasing. Your reds and purples will render better. I’m not overly fond of the coral+ bulb

 

[kevin_e]

If I were to remove a C+ and a Purple plus and add a 6500k and a true actinic in their place with the remaining 5 B+s and 1x C+, do you think I would benefit from a growth and color stand point? A little more whiter?

 

[jda]

Using a 6500 and an Actinic goes beyond illumination. They will actually cause your corals to have better color - real rendered color. The color of the tank wether yellow, white, windex, etc. is subjective for each person, but after a month, or so, you should see better color from your corals if you know what to look for.

 

[shred5]

I use it on all my frag tanks because it is a great bulb for growth and providing true coloration in coral...
It aint going to make your corals glow like under a black light, if you want that you can always add some other bulbs like JDA said or even some blue leds.
It is also very low priced for a daylight bulb.

 

[jda]

Here is my normal take:

Choose a light to RENDER color in coral - being near daylight is a very good place to start here.
Choose a light to ILLUMINATE them to your tastes.

There are few lights beyond a couple MH that can do both in on package. You can have both in a 6x or 8x T5 setup but mixing and matching well, or sometimes with a multi-channel LED setup that has good white/daylight options where you can run daylight more to grow and color and then blue it up to impress your friends.

Just lights that illuminate are not always great at rendering... and vice versa. I love the GE 6500k, but they are not great for looking at coral, but the coral that grow under them sure look great under other lights.

 

[kevin_e]

Will any actinic work, such as Coralife or Aquatic Life, or would we be wise to look at Geisemann or ATI still?

 

[shred5]

Will any actinic work, such as Coralife or Aquatic Life, or would we be wise to look at Geisemann or ATI still?

I use Geisemann and ATI.. Coralife is garbage.

Actinic or one of the blue bulbs is great to run with the GE 6500
I use usually run two blue to one Daylight bulb.

 

[kevin_e]

I use Geisemann and ATI.. Coralife is garbage.

Actinic or one of the blue bulbs is great to run with the GE 6500
I use usually run two blue to one Daylight bulb.

I would have 5 B+s in an 8 bulb fixture. Plus the GE 6500. The remaining two are probably the actinic and a Coral Plus. I would eliminate one coral plus for the 6500k and a purple plus for the actinic.

 

[shred5]

I would have 5 B+s in an 8 bulb fixture. Plus the GE 6500. The remaining two are probably the actinic and a Coral Plus. I would eliminate one coral plus for the 6500k and a purple plus for the actinic.

Once proper spectrum is met for the corals needs color becomes personal preference and what you like. You can add what ever you want to it.
I also like the coral plus, it also adds some reds.

 

[SaracensRugby]

Well this has great so far, I may ditch my coral Plus and Fiji purple (possibly) for the below setup, front to back. Let me know thoughts.
Current: B+, Fiji P, B+, Coral +, B+, 6500k
Proposed: B+, Actinic, B+, 6500k, B+, then B+ or thoughts on what would work? Move Fiji P to the back?

 

[CoralWealth]

So right now on my frag tank I have 4 6500k, 2 actinic and 2 blue plus and it is way too yellow for my liking (I have 4 blue plus and 4 coral plus on my DT).

I am going to be switching 2 of the 6500k bulbs to 2 more blue plus and hoping that will give me a little closer look to my DT. Any suggestions on what order to place the bulbs in the fixture?

 

[jda]

I put the 6500k and the actinics next to each other. I don't know that it matters really, but that is what I do.