YaY got my bulbs :)

Discussion in 'T5 Aquarium Lighting' started by HappyGillmore, Dec 7, 2009.

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  1. HappyGillmore

    HappyGillmore Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    My Geisemanns came today and I can honestly say theres a very nice difference in the coloration and contrasts of my stuff. Ill try a couple different combos of the spectrums but the Pure Actinics really do make my Teal brain, Hammer and Frogspawn pop. The AquaBlues and even the Midday I put in there just seem to emit a sharper and bolder light. What it means for growth i can only hope is as dramatic as the visible light.

    Worth the extra 2x the cost of other company's? Not sure yet, I'll have to see the growth. If these things gotta be replaced every 6 months then no, i wouldnt pay $200 for 6 48" and 4 24". Id probably get one pure actinic for both tanks and save money on the rest.
     
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  3. divott

    divott Giant Squid

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    very cool happy. glad to hear you like them. ive got my geismanns on order too. 1 midday,2 actinic plus and 3 aquablues. hope they look as good as yours. cheers
     
  4. GuitarMan89

    GuitarMan89 Giant Squid

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    What other bulbs were you using? ATI, UVL and Geismann are all basically the same price, Aqua Science has some more expensive bulbs, but they go for about $30. The GE 6500K is pretty cheap. The good news is that if properly cooled, they should last about 1-1.5 years.
     
  5. HappyGillmore

    HappyGillmore Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    Thats good news indeed :) I was using Current bulbs and TRiton over the 55 and the Ones that came with my WavePoint fixture over the MT. The light over my 55 has two fans but one is not working, going to have to replace that. But that light just happens to be less than a foot away from the window. So now that ive been airing it out down there and its 50 degrees outside its probably keeping the fixture pretty cool. The only problem with that is I actually have 1000 watts of heating in the sump to account for the extra cool basement temps and the open sump/wetdry. I wonder how much its costing me just to run those heaters. If the trade off is 30-50% longer bulb life then I probably wouldt mind the operating costs of the heaters.

    The MT's fixture has no fans but at least it has individual reflectors and the bulbs are completely encased. Im hopeing WavePoint took bulb life into account when they designed this 40lb fixture. Will its venting system be enough cooling?

    BTW that airing out the basement deal cant obviously happen when its 10 degrees out there so im gonna have to get the 2nd fan working. I wish Perfecto made a better reflector :/