T5 Bulb PAR Database?

[spsick]

I have not been able to find any database on expected PAR for any given T5 bulb when new/broken in so I thought I would document what I have perhaps if for nothing other than my own scheduling replacement of bulbs.

All reading taken with Apogee SQ-420 with immersion setting selected (I leave this on for accurate measurement of PAR in the tank) directly under each bulb with the sensor touching the acrylic shield of a 6x54 ATI dimmable sunpower. All bulbs broken in properly and never dimmed.

ATI Blue Plus 54w- 1150
ATi Coral Plus 54w- 1030
ATI Purple Plus 54w- 1030
ATI Actinic 54w- 610

Very interesting that I found Coral Plus and Purple Plus lose 100+ PAR at the bulb shy of 12 months use on bulbs running 6 hours a day. Now I see why RRC replaces bulbs every 6 months.

 

[spsick]

@Big E I’d be curious how fast your overdriven bulbs drop off!

 

[Big E]

@Big E I’d be curious how fast your overdriven bulbs drop off!

I have to replace them every 5-6 months. The visual drop off is fairly large as I can notice it immediately with my own eyes. After burn in(two weeks) I get a color and growth surge as well.

I checked with a kilowatt meter recently and each bulb is driven at 75 watts. I think I have some par numbers in my tank thread testing new and spent bulbs where I tested par 1/4" from the bulbs right in the center. You can probably find them there.............I can't remember the exact readings.

It's hard for me to part with them as they create insane red and pink colors.

I can't see this with bulbs in my Sunpower which I change every 12-14 months. They don't lose as much spectrum as the over driven bulbs.

Imo, a loss of 50-75 par is meaningless as I have never seen an acro grow or color better by moving it up or down from that small a range. I could see maybe lowering the height on a Sunpower and inch or so after 7-8 months. There is no need to swap out bulbs early like 6 months as the spectrum loss is very minimal.

 

[spsick]

I have to replace them every 5-6 months. The visual drop off is fairly large as I can notice it immediately with my own eyes. After burn in(two weeks) I get a color and growth surge as well.

I checked with a kilowatt meter recently and each bulb is driven at 75 watts. I think I have some par numbers in my tank thread testing new and spent bulbs where I tested par 1/4" from the bulbs right in the center. You can probably find them there.............I can't remember the exact readings.

It's hard for me to part with them as they create insane red and pink colors.

I can't see this with bulbs in my Sunpower which I change every 12-14 months. They don't lose as much spectrum as the over driven bulbs.

Imo, a loss of 50-75 par is meaningless as I have never seen an acro grow or color better by moving it up or down from that small a range. I could see maybe lowering the height on a Sunpower and inch or so after 7-8 months. There is no need to swap out bulbs early like 6 months as the spectrum loss is very minimal.

Awesome thanks for your response Ed.

My thought was if 3 bulbs are losing 50-100 PAR each at the bulb that’s substantial enough to matter but you make a good point just dropping the fixture an inch after 6 months may negate some of that. What’s odd is the Blue Plus bulbs don’t lose any PAR just seems like the C+ and P+.

 

[Big E]

Awesome thanks for your response Ed.

My thought was if 3 bulbs are losing 50-100 PAR each at the bulb that’s substantial enough to matter but you make a good point just dropping the fixture an inch after 6 months may negate some of that. What’s odd is the Blue Plus bulbs don’t lose any PAR just seems like the C+ and P+.

No, you are losing 50 par, you don't combine the loss or gain by the number of bulbs.

 

[homer1475]

I have measured par with an apogee on my 6 bulb sunpower at new, 6 months, 1 year, and 18 month mark.

Only saw a drop of about 60 par between new and 18 months. Keep in mind though this is a regular sunpower that is non dimmable, just simple on, and off.

Just switched to a first gen powermodule with 8T5's and 2 LED clusters and all are dimmable. I'll be curious to take reading off the bulbs that are dimmable, and if dimming them takes away from the longevity.

 

[spsick]

Follow up here, found Actinuc bulb lost over 50% of initial PAR running 11hrs/day for 6 months.

230 PAR measured at the same spot today on a bulb I installed 3/24/22. Changed out and new bulb was obviously brighter and putting out 650PAR immediately.

Purple plus also dropped a fair bit, down to 650 PAR from the reading above. Strange.

Coral plus and Blue plus seeing similar drops as last bulb change of ~100PAR

 

[A. grandis]

I have not been able to find any database on expected PAR for any given T5 bulb when new/broken in so I thought I would document what I have perhaps if for nothing other than my own scheduling replacement of bulbs.

All reading taken with Apogee SQ-420 with immersion setting selected (I leave this on for accurate measurement of PAR in the tank) directly under each bulb with the sensor touching the acrylic shield of a 6x54 ATI dimmable sunpower. All bulbs broken in properly and never dimmed.

ATI Blue Plus 54w- 1150
ATi Coral Plus 54w- 1030
ATI Purple Plus 54w- 1030
ATI Actinic 54w- 610

Very interesting that I found Coral Plus and Purple Plus lose 100+ PAR at the bulb shy of 12 months use on bulbs running 6 hours a day. Now I see why RRC replaces bulbs every 6 months.

I understand your approach, but for those who want to worry about T5s and PAR to the extreme... It's 100% unnecessary. T5s are the easiest way to light your reefs in every way! LOL! Just change your bulbs every 12 months and you will be more than safe! Not like LEDs!!! Make sure your reflectors are in good shape and that your photoperiod/spectrum is right for the animals you have in the system, not ONLY your personal preferences! The most important thing to achieve optimal results using T5s, independent of "photosynthetic" organisms you have, is to know 3 things:
1) Plan to cover the whole (or most of the) surface area of your system, and your tank needs to be less than 24" high. T5s won't be as effective when used over tanks taller then 24", if you want the animals on the bottom of the tank to thrive as they should optimally.
2) Make sure the fixture is properly maintained, keeping fans clean/working, reflectors in top shape and lamps protected using a clean shield...
3) Change your bubs every 12 months.
T5 users are the happiest reefers because they always have great growth and amazing coloration!
PAR from a T5 fixture will depend on so many variables that make someone's numbers basically impossible to be used for every situation. It is very interesting to compare the numbers using the same sensor/fixture though!!
This can develop into a great thread, nevertheless!!!
Thanks for sharing!!! T5 rocks!!!
Please fill this thread up with some amazing pictures of your corals under those T5s lamps!! That is what's most important!
Cheers!

 

[spsick]

@Big E how is your use of actinics going?

 

[Gungo]

Could someone tell me if rust on ATI fixtures should be a concern?

 

[Rmckoy]

I have been asking here and looking for this exact topic for years . And have always been assured no need to test t5 bulbs

that being said has any experiment been done with a 8 bulb configuration of 4blue plus and 4 coral plus at different depths ?

for example . My bulbs are 6” above the water , and the top of my rocks are 12” below the water line .

 

[Rmckoy]

Could someone tell me if rust on ATI fixtures should be a concern?

I believe only if the reflectors are corroded it could reduce the light that’s reflected towards the water .

 

[Gungo]

I believe only if the reflectors are corroded it could reduce the light that’s reflected towards the water .

Reflectors are fine, but the fixture has some corrosion on the inside near the fans. Idk how it happened as the shield is always on the fixture and I don't have any fish splashing water around.

 

[spsick]

I have been asking here and looking for this exact topic for years . And have always been assured no need to test t5 bulbs

that being said has any experiment been done with a 8 bulb configuration of 4blue plus and 4 coral plus at different depths ?

for example . My bulbs are 6” above the water , and the top of my rocks are 12” below the water line .

I don’t have an exact number but I would guess you’re getting somewhere around 500 on the top of your rocks

 

[Rmckoy]

Reflectors are fine, but the fixture has some corrosion on the inside near the fans. Idk how it happened as the shield is always on the fixture and I don't have any fish splashing water arround.

My fixture is a old industrial fixture .
no fans , no Shield
But the reflector is clean and in tact .
I’ve never had issues growing anything until I transferred everything to the current 230 gal ( 27” deep

 

[Rmckoy]

I don’t have an exact number but I would guess you’re getting somewhere around 500 on the top of your rocks

Other than a par meter . Is there a rough way to calculate how much light is loss through every 1” water ? And assuming the numbers provided from each bulb ?

 

[Rp8]

Following along, my new fixture arrives on the 21st!

 

[spsick]

Other than a par meter . Is there a rough way to calculate how much light is loss through every 1” water ? And assuming the numbers provided from each bulb ?

None whatsoever. Fixture differences, tank size, water clarity, meter calibration, etc.

That being said properly functioning ATI fixtures will usually be in the same ballpark I’ve found.

Your industrial fixture will probably put out substantially less especially on a big tank.

example: an 8x54 Sunpower on a standard 120g will have more PAR than in a 220g due to light refraction.

 

[Rmckoy]

None whatsoever. Fixture differences, tank size, water clarity, meter calibration, etc.

That being said properly functioning ATI fixtures will usually be in the same ballpark I’ve found.

As long as the ballasts power the bulbs , is there any difference with bulb output depending on different brand fixtures ? In theory they should all produce the same light ?

 

[Gungo]

I've tested PAR in my tank with a BTM 3000. The tank is 40 x 21 x 21 and I have a 36 inch 8 bulb Sunpower with 4 blue plus, 1 coral plus, 2 actinic and 1 6,500k. PAR with new bulbs is around 200 in the sand and 300-400 in the whole tank. At 12 months I've noticed about a 20-25% decrease in PAR and about a 30% total PAR reduction at 18 months. What I've noticed is that the big decrease in PAR is in the first 12 months, after that you could easily get 2 years out of a bulb without losing much par but the main concern at that bulb age should be spectrum shifts.

I love LEDs but recently I tried achieving the same par results over my tank with 3 XR15 G6 PROs and at 100% intensity, they only hit about 100 par at the sand. I took them down and installed my T5s again. You could probably achieve the same PAR results with maybe 4 or 5 XR15s or 2 XR30s but now you're looking to spend around $2k+ in lighting.

Market trends are trying to stay away from T5s, maybe because they don't own a T5 company yet, but people on a budget should seriously consider them.