My T5 lamp setup - new lamp suggestions

Discussion in 'T5 Aquarium Lighting' started by wkbrdr1661, Oct 12, 2009.

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  1. wkbrdr1661

    wkbrdr1661 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Ok, so i am trying to figure out my lighting setup. I bought all my equipment mid life so this isnt how i would have chosen to set it up...but money made the decision...

    I have two ballasts...Made by power glo i believe.

    Both are T5/HO 54 *2 - so 4 bulbs at 54 W just to be clear

    Then i have a 4 bulb, 28 W fixture that is made by current usa i think... who cares...

    Here is what ive got for bulbs right now. i think that they are all about 9 months old so i am going to be starting to change them out 2 at a time. I think that i want to shoot for a more blue look than i currently have - and im going to be leaning heavily towards SPS

    2- 54 W power glo bulbs that have no markings on them, but i think they are these :Aquarium Lighting: T-5 Fluorescent Bulbs: Hagen Power-GLO T-5 18000°K Bulb
    1 - 54W BLUE WAVE Super Blue Actinic 460
    1- 54W UV Company Super Actinic
    2 - 28W 460 nm Actnics
    1- 28W 10000k daylight
    - i keep this one off because the tank looks way too yellow with it on...

    I have 1 28W slot that is empty. So 7 bulbs total right now. There is a little bit of confusion on my part as to whether i should be considering the 54 W bulbs to be running at 54W or 85 due to HO. The person i bought them from said 85. Best case scenario i have 424 W over the tank right now, worst case i have exactly 300W.

    So two questions... what do you think of the current lamps? What do you suggest for a lamp combo as i start changing them out?

    I think i gave you enough info to give me some feedback. There are no SLR's right now but i will be putting SLRs on the 4 54W bulbs eventually. They are about 5/6 inches off the water if it matters to you....
     
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  3. oceanparadise1

    oceanparadise1 Fire Squid

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    im simple i like half regular atinics and half 10ks, i love that look
     
  4. Screwtape

    Screwtape Tonozukai Fairy Wrasse

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    I would consider ditching the 28w fixture honestly, 4 T5's with good bulbs and SLRs should be fine for most stuff in a 75g unless you want to go all SPS or something.
    I would start with 2 ATI Blue Plus and 2 10k bulbs by ATI, UVL or Giesemann.
    http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Bulbs/54_Watt/
     
  5. wkbrdr1661

    wkbrdr1661 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Im starting to lean towards 2 actinic plus' and 2 12k Aqua Blue's...both by ATI.

    All my SPS is at and will always be towards the top.

    ...i really hate my 10k bulb now so if that is any indicator i want to stay away from that spectrum
     
  6. oceanparadise1

    oceanparadise1 Fire Squid

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    i dont think i would ditch the 28 watters, what i would do is the 54 watters would be 3 whites and 1 blue and all the 28 watters i would use as atinics
     
  7. Screwtape

    Screwtape Tonozukai Fairy Wrasse

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    OK, I wrote this post in several pieces at work so hopefully it makes sense. It's kind of just a bunch of stuff I thought about thinking about your lights. :)

    Actinic bulbs in the 420nm range (like the ATI Actinic Plus) have relatively low PAR output. Their blue bulb, the ATI Blue Plus puts out over twice the PAR as the Actinic+ and gives great color as well.

    Using Actinic bulbs in a 4 bulb fixture will reduce your light by quite a bit.

    The ATI Aquablue's, even though they're listed as 12k bulbs (not 10k), are one of the highest output bulbs I'm aware of in terms of PAR, they're good bulbs so they are a relatively good balance if you really want to go with 420 actinics.

    If you really want to maximise your output you could go with oceanparadise's idea, which is a good idea, if you want to keep running all those fixtures and want to max out your light for keeping a bunch of SPS or something.

    I think if you go with 2 ATI Aquablue's and 2 ATI Blue Plus you'll be fine keeping SPS in the upper half and anything else in the lower half though, without any other bulbs.
     
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  9. wkbrdr1661

    wkbrdr1661 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    So ive been doing quite a bit of research on this here. I am leaning towards this setup.

    2 - UVL Actinic Whites 12k
    2 - UVL 75/25 14k
    2- 28W Regular actinics

    Im leaning towards UVL because i guess the new ones have internal reflectors, and if i can avoid $100 bucks on reflectors because of new bulbs i gotta buy anyways... sweet

    My question is regarding PAR. First of....WTF is it and why do i care? And second...what is the par of these lamps http://uvlco.com/t5vho.jpg

    Those graphs just look cool to me...but mean nothing
     
  10. wkbrdr1661

    wkbrdr1661 Purple Spiny Lobster

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  11. Dr.Fragenstein

    Dr.Fragenstein Panda Puffer

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    Internal reflectors is NOT going to prevent you from using SLRs.... ACTUALLY UVLs internal reflectors haven't been proven to put out anymore light that lamps without them, if anything it has been proven counterproductive.
     
  12. wkbrdr1661

    wkbrdr1661 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    ok i am getting sick of looking at bulbs and mulling over combos... haha, its rediculous how many options i have!

    I am about to pull the trigger on this and im thinking

    3 x ati aquablue 12k
    1 x ati Blue plus

    Plus i have two 28 wt 420 actinics that i will keep running.

    I am really open to ideas here. My options are Giesemann (i guess their 11k was dsigned for SPS?), ATI and UVL but for some reason im leaning towards the first two.

    I have been told that 6-8k is the best for sps growth (LFS guy)....true or false?




    I want two things: SPS growth and a blue tint. I dont care if its a whitish blue...i just dont like yellow.

    I have 4 54W spots and 4 28W spots. I really care about the 54W spots. The plan is to leave two of the 28W spots empty and run 6 lamps....just giving you all the information incase you have a better idea...

    Help me!