T5 burn-in/seasoning question

Necrodaemus

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Yesterday I was given several, never used, Giesemann T5 bulbs from a local reefer that has had them for years (still in the packages). It was time to change out my ATI Coral Plus bulbs as they hit the 2 year mark last month. I'm fairly new to using T5....have only been running this Aquatic Life dimmable hybrid with ReeFi's since Feb of last year, so not sure what to expect or what I'm seeing with these bulbs.
That all being said....
Today I swapped out one of the Coral Plus with one of the Aquablue + (currently renamed to Aquablue Coral). I was expecting more of a light blue, very slightly purple bulb similar to that of Coral Plus but what my eyes are seeing is more of a warm-ish bulb. Is this something that changes once they are fully burned in?
All the photos I've seen of this bulb also shows it looking identical to the pinkish tone of Coral Plus. 🤷🏼‍♂️
Screenshot_20251022_003523_Gallery.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yesterday I was given several, never used, Giesemann T5 bulbs from a local reefer that has had them for years (still in the packages). It was time to change out my ATI Coral Plus bulbs as they hit the 2 year mark last month. I'm fairly new to using T5....have only been running this Aquatic Life dimmable hybrid with ReeFi's since Feb of last year, so not sure what to expect or what I'm seeing with these bulbs.
That all being said....
Today I swapped out one of the Coral Plus with one of the Aquablue + (currently renamed to Aquablue Coral). I was expecting more of a light blue, very slightly purple bulb similar to that of Coral Plus but what my eyes are seeing is more of a warm-ish bulb. Is this something that changes once they are fully burned in?
All the photos I've seen of this bulb also shows it looking identical to the pinkish tone of Coral Plus. 🤷🏼‍♂️
Screenshot_20251022_003523_Gallery.jpg
No idea why you are seeing what you are seeing.

Anyways more photos. Keep in mind cameras can distort the color from what you see in person:

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1WHuol0uRn2W7Jk-rxYWmtNgUF-lkY_VlUpAiNsMwME4/pub?pli=1
 
To answer the burn in question, that usually takes 50-100 hours of running to season the bulbs. They also need to run at 100% (if your fixture has a dimmable ballast). Also expect them to possibly flicker or seem brighter or in your case different than the color expected.

I have been running T5s since I got my 120 in 2010. I mostly do ATI. On the occasion I did Geisemann, I noticed they do change over time. Usually with about a month, the color would settle to the look you may see. I reviewed the spectrum chart for them and while you may expect to see more warm tones, there is a lot of light within the blue spectrum (400 to 480/90nm wavelength).

For my setup of 8 lights, I would do (All ATI) 4 actinic, 2 Blue Plus (similar to super purple), and 2 blue plus (similar to actinic blue). They all seemed very blue when I lift the lid, but the Blue Plus would appear more white compared to the others. Still there was a lot of blue.

Also, sometimes because of the different phosphors mixtures we will see more of the stronger light waves since these will have more concentrations than those in less concentrations. I suspect over the coming weeks (about 2-4 weeks assuming 8 hour days) you should see the phosphors burn off some and tone down to the spectrum they are designed for. This should cover the 50-100 hours needed.
 
To answer the burn in question, that usually takes 50-100 hours of running to season the bulbs. They also need to run at 100% (if your fixture has a dimmable ballast). Also expect them to possibly flicker or seem brighter or in your case different than the color expected.

I have been running T5s since I got my 120 in 2010. I mostly do ATI. On the occasion I did Geisemann, I noticed they do change over time. Usually with about a month, the color would settle to the look you may see. I reviewed the spectrum chart for them and while you may expect to see more warm tones, there is a lot of light within the blue spectrum (400 to 480/90nm wavelength).

For my setup of 8 lights, I would do (All ATI) 4 actinic, 2 Blue Plus (similar to super purple), and 2 blue plus (similar to actinic blue). They all seemed very blue when I lift the lid, but the Blue Plus would appear more white compared to the others. Still there was a lot of blue.

Also, sometimes because of the different phosphors mixtures we will see more of the stronger light waves since these will have more concentrations than those in less concentrations. I suspect over the coming weeks (about 2-4 weeks assuming 8 hour days) you should see the phosphors burn off some and tone down to the spectrum they are designed for. This should cover the 50-100 hours needed.
Thank you for the insight. I have the dimming schedule turned off so that the bulbs are coming on and going off at 100% for the next couple of weeks.
 

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