T-5 bulbs, PAR rating, what bulbs to use, etc....

MarvinsReef

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First and foremost... here's a helpful link... thank the guys on the thread for helping us find the link...
http://tfivetesting.googlepages.com/



can someone do a write up on this? I'm sure it'll help out a lot of people, including me... ;)


bulb PAR ratings
when to use a bulb... i.e.: to highlight blues; greens; reds; etc....

or any other helpful info about T-5's...


Thanks...
 
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johnanddawn

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here is a link to grimreefers tests
gives you an idea about PAR values for many dif lamps

tfivetesting - PAR

doesn't really speak of the other part of your question though which i would be interested in as well - what color lamp highlights which color in color. i remember reading an article a long time ago about the different flourescing pigments and how actinic/uv excite them, but i don't remember where

also a while back in the sps forum at rc there was a big discussion about the japaneze method of using colored spotlights to highlight different coral color - i may have to try to find that again too
 

m and m

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Sonny from that "other site" know all the in and outs of coral placement for bulbs. I such as what colors make what colors pop. To be honest i think its its all about the color wheel. Like either its opposite or its the to colors next two it.
 

eggie

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Ill say there is so many combinations that the best way to get one is trying out

Marvin if you need diffrent combos I got 8 diffrent combos for 6 bulbs that you could try
 

TANKSALOT

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Thanks for the link to tfive-testing
I have a 6 lamp tek and plan on replacing all of the lamps in December. Now I have a better idea of what to try.
 
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MarvinsReef

MarvinsReef

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thanks for all the info guys... so far, here's what I'm understanding...

similar ( = sign )

- ATI blue + = 22k AquaScience ----- can be used for actinic supp but has more PAR
- ATI blue special = 12k-14k bulb ----- more for growth
- KZ Fiji Purple = ATI Pro Color ----- suppose to bring out more pink / red...
- ATI True Actinic 03 ----- dunno what colors it's suppose to bring out more?
 

benny z

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i have seen a lot of people state that the kz fiji purple is the "same" as the ati pro color. i have them side-by-side and to me they are not anywhere close to the same color. the fiji purple is purple and the ati pro color is red...
 
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MarvinsReef

MarvinsReef

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i have seen a lot of people state that the kz fiji purple is the "same" as the ati pro color. i have them side-by-side and to me they are not anywhere close to the same color. the fiji purple is purple and the ati pro color is red...
hmmmm... interesting.... I should have ordered an ATI Pro Color also... :)
 

holdyourlight

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pro color is a harsh looking bulb very red, fiji is much better, much more white and POP's the heck out of fish..i will give you a demo when you come by marv

i dont think the 03 bulbs are good for anything. they have very little par and dont pop anything like the 20k B+ or 22k AS do

i think B+ has more par than an aquablue if i remember correctly!!!
 
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MarvinsReef

MarvinsReef

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here are my favorite bulbs atm... just need to get the right 6 bulb combo that will help showcase the dominant green, red, and orange colors in my tank.... ;)

per this tfivetesting - PAR

AquaScience 22k = 302
ATI Blue + = 311
ATI Blue Special = 336
KZ Fiji Purple = 330
 

holdyourlight

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man i thought i read somewhere that Grim re-tested or Sanjay Joshi re-tested and found that the B+ had the most par out of any bulb
i will see if i can find it somewhere............

but hey you know my reccomendation 5 B+ (22K) they are the exact same thing!! 1 FP

i was at the same stage you were last spring i ordered a bunch of diff bulbs and tried them out for a few weeks at a time and this one stuck for the last 6 months and i dont think i would ever change it ever!! (unless i added a radium to the mix but thats for the next tank)
 

eggie

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Marvin

Fiji purple is a white bulb with a slight pink tint it pops more the red colors

Procolor is a bulb that ranges from 650nm to 720nm its an orange red bulb

Actinic is a bulb that ranges in the 420nm more purple this bulb dont have haigh par but the bring out colors on lps pretty good

Blue plus, UVL 454 and the AcuaScience 22 is a bulb that in the 460nm range wich is more blue this bulb is really good for growth,supplement and colors it has a high par for bieng a blue bulb

Aqua Blue Special is a 50/blue and 50/white it has a high output

Kz new gen is a 14k bulb its like a 40/White and 60/Blue it also has a high par good for growth and color

Kz Coral color is one of the best bulbs for growth its a 10K bulb very white bulb

I got all these bulbs ill try to get pics so you could see the difrence
 
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MarvinsReef

MarvinsReef

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man i thought i read somewhere that Grim re-tested or Sanjay Joshi re-tested and found that the B+ had the most par out of any bulb
i will see if i can find it somewhere............

but hey you know my reccomendation 5 B+ (22K) they are the exact same thing!! 1 FP

i was at the same stage you were last spring i ordered a bunch of diff bulbs and tried them out for a few weeks at a time and this one stuck for the last 6 months and i dont think i would ever change it ever!! (unless i added a radium to the mix but thats for the next tank)
yup... I'm sure to test out that combo... I like the colors of your corals... :)
 

holdyourlight

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marv-
i found the info i was reffering to

this is a quote from Grim who is the king of T5's on another forum



"ATI Blue Plus

The Quantum PAR meter I use under reads blue spectrum. I always figured that meat a basically white lamp with a lot of extra blue added like the Aquablues probably were the highest PAR lamps. They may be but according to people who attended a conference where Sanjay Joshi spoke when he did his PAR tests on T5's using a spectrometer he found the ATI Blue Plus had higher PAR than the UVL Aquasun which was the highest PAR I had seen out of the current selection of lamps"
 

eggie

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marv-
i found the info i was reffering to

this is a quote from Grim who is the king of T5's on another forum



"ATI Blue Plus

The Quantum PAR meter I use under reads blue spectrum. I always figured that meat a basically white lamp with a lot of extra blue added like the Aquablues probably were the highest PAR lamps. They may be but according to people who attended a conference where Sanjay Joshi spoke when he did his PAR tests on T5's using a spectrometer he found the ATI Blue Plus had higher PAR than the UVL Aquasun which was the highest PAR I had seen out of the current selection of lamps"

It will depend on a lots of things to get PAR readings reflector, ballast, distance to bulb but yeah Blue plus has a high PAR
 

johnanddawn

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