OR3 blue plus vs ATI T5 blue plus tube spectrum and PAR

maxwell · May 4, 2022

Hi , I dont know if this has been asked before if you ignore cost , what would be the best light spectrum for colouration /growth , PAR and health of corals btwn OR3 blue plus led bar vs ATI blue plus T5 tubes.

Nanojoe · May 4, 2022

T5s will give you that blanket which is great for SPS. The ATI blue plus bulbs will have a better spectrum overall.
LEDs will give you that POP a lot of reefers are going for now a days and can still grow coral. The orphecks OR3 have an awsome blue spectrum from what i can see in a graph.

If you are able to hybrid them then you are getting best of both worlds.
Im running 6 bulb ATI fixture about 11.5 inches above my water surface and getting 240-300 par on top of my scape and similar par in the middle are a little deeper. Really love my T5s. They are over a red sea reefer 250.
Im actually looking into getting an OR3 to install on the fixture soon.

Head over to BRS and they have pictures of their specturms on the product descriptions. You can see the color peaks.

bobnicaragua · May 4, 2022

I run hybrid lighting with halides, T5, and OR3 bars on the edges. With orphek bars alone, the corals look great, but the back and underside of the corals are shadowed.
LED only acropora tanks tend to have more issues with shadowing and parts of the coral without living tissue. Hybrid lighting will give you the best coverage and color pop.

Oh and to answer your question, the blue plus orphek only use 2 different color blue LEDs and have a much more narrow spectrum than the blue plus T5.

maxwell · May 5, 2022

I have decided to replace the OR3 blue plus with 2 x 4' Quanta pro meso reef bars which are now ordered hopefully to assist in the shading problem in a 30'' deep tank i have the option of also removing a reefbrite xho along the front if it works

Nanojoe · May 5, 2022

maxwell said:
I have decided to replace the OR3 blue plus with 2 x 4' Quanta pro meso reef bars which are now ordered hopefully to assist in the shading problem in a 30'' deep tank i have the option of also removing a reefbrite xho along the front if it works

Let me know what you think of those quanta bars i am curious.

maxwell · May 14, 2022

Nanojoe said:
Let me know what you think of those quanta bars i am curious.

They arrive Monday 2 x 4' meso blue

minus9 · May 14, 2022

I was going to suggest the Quanta Pro’s (meso blue) over the Orpheks. I have the Quantas and they’re great bars! They replaced my Orphek OR2’s and xho’s. They out perform the Orpheks and xho’s combined.

Superlightman · May 14, 2022

I got better results from the t5 than the orphek bars,i removed them to ad the t5 again.but the orphek give more color pop

maxwell · May 15, 2022

Superlightman said:
I got better results from the t5 than the orphek bars,i removed them to ad the t5 again.but the orphek give more color pop

what about trying quanta's as they have wide lenses more leds per unit ability to run cooler on a proper heat sink and a good blending T5 look with the pop according to the write up on RB , need feedback on these

minus9 · May 15, 2022

I really like my Quantas, you could light a tank with just these bars (meso blue and tropic sun).

Big E · May 15, 2022

A quanta bar or any other led bar brand does not = a T5 blue+ bulb. The spectral distribution is not the same.
You could try to mix the bars with various spectrum and see if that works. I'm skeptical until I see some tanks doing this with a year under their belts.

I can see hedging with a mix of T5 and LED bars.

I'm speaking as a dominant Acro system otherwise its probably not an issue.

maxwell · May 15, 2022

Big E said:
A quanta bar or any other led bar brand does not = a T5 blue+ bulb. The spectral distribution is not the same.
You could try to mix the bars with various spectrum and see if that works. I'm skeptical until I see some tanks doing this with a year under their belts.

I can see hedging with a mix of T5 and LED bars.

I'm speaking as a dominant Acro system otherwise its probably not an issue.

Hi , i fully appreciate that no led will = T5 blue + and that the spectral distribution is not the same but its as close as for my needs . I have a fully sps tank and i use 3 x Atlantiks , 2 x OR 3 reefbars , 1 x reefbrite xho and a radion pro and am looking to try to improve shading and the quantra has wide lenses and more leds and increased PAR so must be an improvement in my eyes but wont know until i try . I have tested the bars i have at 18'' high dry show a hot spot spread of approx 9'' acrox the length of the bar at a PAR of 176 , i have the quantra's coming tomorrow and will do the same test . I am not looking at what bars are better than other just to see if they do a better job for me if not its back to the drawing board . If you can assist in anyway it would be appreciated . Bill

oreo54 · May 15, 2022

Best spectrum depends on what you want.
The blue plus has limited range of color but " crisper" in its range. Somewhat counter intuitive.
Basically a rgb (rgamber fit the t5) light vs a more full spectrum in multi colored led arrays.
There is no led diode that has such a narrow green spike as the mercury bulbs.
A seemingly little difference with a heavy impact on visuals.
The need of a large blue spread goes without saying.
.

Big E · May 15, 2022

maxwell said:
Hi , i fully appreciate that no led will = T5 blue + and that the spectral distribution is not the same but its as close as for my needs . I have a fully sps tank and i use 3 x Atlantiks , 2 x OR 3 reefbars , 1 x reefbrite xho and a radion pro and am looking to try to improve shading and the quantra has wide lenses and more leds and increased PAR so must be an improvement in my eyes but wont know until i try . I have tested the bars i have at 18'' high dry show a hot spot spread of approx 9'' acrox the length of the bar at a PAR of 176 , i have the quantra's coming tomorrow and will do the same test . I am not looking at what bars are better than other just to see if they do a better job for me if not its back to the drawing board . If you can assist in anyway it would be appreciated . Bill

Gotcha, yes a lot depends on what you're trying to do.......supplementing is a different application vs trying to create an array of bars instead of tubes. That could take some trial and error and I'm not sure the mix will be the same.

I was strictly speaking if you were trying to do a one to one replacement in reference to losing the 550/580 and lesser 400nm. There are no bars that can do that singly on top of the actual mix.

maxwell · May 16, 2022

Big E said:
Gotcha, yes a lot depends on what you're trying to do.......supplementing is a different application vs trying to create an array of bars instead of tubes. That could take some trial and error and I'm not sure the mix will be the same.

I was strictly speaking if you were trying to do a one to one replacement in reference to losing the 550/580 and lesser 400nm. There are no bars that can do that singly on top of the actual mix.

Yes its going to be trial and error if i can eliminate some shading i will be happy as im limited with the tank being 30'' deep , I have the Reefbrite xho at the front facing down and slightly in then a Or3 blue plus ( 90 degree lenses) then 2 x Orphek gen 4 v2 in series then another OR3 bar ,the a radion g3 and Orphek gen4 v2 in series along the back. With lots of sps i get growth across the middle that causes the shading i have already trimmed out as much as i can without stripping down and rescape or changing full lighting rig im looking at a easier option if possible as im in my mid 70's and this is my last tank so trying to keepit going as long as i can before leaving the hobby.

maxwell · May 16, 2022

2 x quantra's have just arrived , i have removed 2 x OR3 a blue plus and a violet actinic and a reefbrite xho its midday here so other lights are at peak daylight settings so will know better tonight . A quick check with a seneye out of tank approx 16'' off the floor and the PAR levels were roughly the same but the spread was what i wanted , the OR3 had peak PAR at the centre hot bar approx 6'' wide and at the end of this a fall off of >60PAR to approx 130. Will do further test as it goes. This is my opinion not a scientific comparison of the benefits of each light but a personal guide for me to see if i can rectify a issue in my tank as each tank is different .

maxwell · May 17, 2022

is this near to a T5 look with quanta's on tonight.

Victor Guyton · Mar 28, 2023

Superlightman said:
I got better results from the t5 than the orphek bars,i removed them to ad the t5 again.but the orphek give more color pop

That's amazing. I have hybrid with Ai hydra 52HD and t-5 supplements. I an think about changing t5s for orphek Blue Plus OR3. I am not sure if it's a good idea.

Victor Guyton · Mar 28, 2023

Big E said:
Gotcha, yes a lot depends on what you're trying to do.......supplementing is a different application vs trying to create an array of bars instead of tubes. That could take some trial and error and I'm not sure the mix will be the same.

I was strictly speaking if you were trying to do a one to one replacement in reference to losing the 550/580 and lesser 400nm. There are no bars that can do that singly on top of the actual mix.

I am supplementing. I run my t5 for 5 hours a day. I have hydra 52HD as primary light. I am debating on changing my t5 to orphek Blue Plus OR3 LED Light Bar. So I don't have to keep replacing my t5. My question is will I loose par and if do by how much?