Am I crazy for thinking MH + t5 ?

[BoomCorals]

Is there 2 T5 channels, or just one cord for all 4 T5 bulbs?
Grandis.

One cord

 

[Velcro]

Is there 2 T5 channels, or just one cord for all 4 T5 bulbs?
Grandis.

My spectra had two cords for t5, but each cord did one side which was not ideal. I rewired the ballasts to do one from each side per cord.

 

[BoomCorals]

I like the idea of running T5 for start/end and off during halides. BRS screwed up and somehow didn't ship my ATI with everything else. And so far looks like even though I called today, they still haven't shipped them. If they haven't shipped then I'll cancel and just go buy some at lfs.

 

[BoomCorals]

I just realized we thoroughly hijacked this thread lol

 

[A. grandis]

One cord

Hummm... I think that is the only thing I wouldn't like about the fixture...
Perhaps I would run the halides for 6 hours and 2 Blue Plus / 2 Coral Plus for 8 hours...
But the idea of saving electricity is great!
Grandis.

 

[DSC reef]

Whoops! Sorry OP!!

 

[A. grandis]

I just realized we thoroughly hijacked this thread lol

I noticed this morning!! LOL!!
But I think everyone loves it! Haha!
Grandis.

 

[rtparty]

I just realized we thoroughly hijacked this thread lol

True but at least it's all about halides, the decision to go halides and setting up halides. Good info for all to read

 

[A. grandis]

My spectra had two cords for t5, but each cord did one side which was not ideal. I rewired the ballasts to do one from each side per cord.

That's the way it should be done from scratch.
Gradis.

 

[Velcro]

One cord

They must have changed this within the last few years

That's the way it should be done from scratch.
Gradis.

I’ll agree, but Germans can be quirky

 

[A. grandis]

True but at least it's all about halides, the decision to go halides and setting up halides. Good info for all to read

Agreed!
Fixture looks so neat!! Even my wife would agree with that! LOL!
Grandis.

 

[Velcro]

Agreed!
Fixture looks so neat!! Even my wife would agree with that! LOL!
Grandis.

They are very nice. Built like most German things, stylish and rock solid.

 

[A. grandis]

They are very nice. Built like most German things, stylish and rock solid.

I'll take that fixture in consideration when I decide to upgrade my system!
grandis.

 

[Centerline]

Ok so the old hamilton is being boxed up and sent back. Today I installed the new giesemann fixture. Remember that I am using 400W radiums with 400w luxcore ballasts, running them on the 400w super lumens selector. My T5 bulbs don't arrive until tomorrow, so for now the fixture is only running the halides.

And all I can say is WOW what a difference. These lights are bright and fantastic. I am getting 200-250 par in the far corners and 300-400 almost everywhere else. And this is with the fixture a full 18.5" above the water! This is exactly what I was looking for. And for comparison, remember that on the hamilton I was getting 300 PAR at 7" below the fixture, no matter where I put the seneye. Well, 7" below this fixture I get 1400 PAR which is what I'd expect for a properly working halide. While I realize this is 400w vs 250w, I'd expect a 250w to still put out 1000 PAR at that level. So for clarity, it's very evident something was wrong with the Hamilton fixture and it was not working correctly.

This giesemann is a fantastic fixture, and my wife said she likes the look a lot better too. (happy wife happy life ) I noticed the giesemann has no active cooling so I'm wondering if I should add a fan or two? Although it has a lot of holes for venting above/below.

I wouldn't bother adding any active cooling. The lights are designed to be ran as is.

 

[Centerline]

I have a zoa tank. No hard corals allowed in the house.
Grandis.

You should score some LEDs, that's all they need .

 

[A. grandis]

You should score some LEDs, that's all they need .

LOL!
Grandis.

 

[rockskimmerflow]

@BoomCorals I love all the T5 suggestions being thrown in there. I'll toss in my 2c since everyone else is. For fullness of spectrum and aesthetic appeal I would have gone with ABS/TA and PP/TA - that would add no extra blue but plenty of richness to the overall tank look, not to mention fill in all the weak spots in the spectrum left by the monstrous blue peak of the radiums.

I like that you're using the Aquablue special to get the crisp white addition the visual element. They are a highly underrated bulb for growth as well, I actually prefer them to the coral plus when pairing with the Blue plus for pure growth bulb arrays. I do think you were remiss to not add at least 2 True Actinic bulbs. The radium is an excellent bulb and hits the 450nm peak beautifully, but it sacrifices a bit down low in the 400nm range. Everyone seems to chase PAR and forget that spectral fullness added by True actinic lamps is a big component in achieving activation in some of the less common fluorescent pigments that don't express as well under the usual royal blue pop effect. Purple plus is also an excellent choice for adding a bit of violet and the far red spectrum. You should play around with a few other bulb options and see what you like best, you won't know til you get it over your tank.

I think you've got some serious overkill with the 2 x 400w plus the T5s. Even 2x250w radiums running at their HQI wattage would've been more than enough to max that tank out in terms of growth. If electricity is cheap and you've got a cool basement then by all means I love the overkill effect haha

 

[A. grandis]

@BoomCorals I love all the T5 suggestions being thrown in there. I'll toss in my 2c since everyone else is. For fullness of spectrum and aesthetic appeal I would have gone with ABS/TA and PP/TA - that would add no extra blue but plenty of richness to the overall tank look, not to mention fill in all the weak spots in the spectrum left by the monstrous blue peak of the radiums.

I like that you're using the Aquablue special to get the crisp white addition the visual element. They are a highly underrated bulb for growth as well, I actually prefer them to the coral plus when pairing with the Blue plus for pure growth bulb arrays. I do think you were remiss to not add at least 2 True Actinic bulbs. The radium is an excellent bulb and hits the 450nm peak beautifully, but it sacrifices a bit down low in the 400nm range. Everyone seems to chase PAR and forget that spectral fullness added by True actinic lamps is a big component in achieving activation in some of the less common fluorescent pigments that don't express as well under the usual royal blue pop effect. Purple plus is also an excellent choice for adding a bit of violet and the far red spectrum. You should play around with a few other bulb options and see what you like best, you won't know til you get it over your tank.

I think you've got some serious overkill with the 2 x 400w plus the T5s. Even 2x250w radiums running at their HQI wattage would've been more than enough to max that tank out in terms of growth. If electricity is cheap and you've got a cool basement then by all means I love the overkill effect haha

I used to ignore True actinic bulbs and actually published the only bad review for tat bulb.
The fact that Blue Plus gives more PAR doesn't really mean much in this case, I agree... Specially with all the PAR from the halides.
First time I've tried the True Actinic I had my 8 bulb ATI old Powermodule T5 only fixture with only one True Actinic in the game. I removed and placed a Blue Plus only because of the known PAR measurements.
After I searched a little and also found so many people saying good things about it I bought only one True Actinic for my 6 bulb fixture and reconsidered, to give it a try for a year. Now I can tell that there is actually an evident difference in zoa morphology and pigmentation. It's just amazing and I'm thinking of trying to add actually 2 bulb when I change them in December...
There are pigments that only appeared after placing that bulb. Really nice!!!
There is also a reflection of the light which actually turns some of the polyps vivid as many call the "pop". I'm not sure if I'm looking for that exactly, but I can se it specially when my kids take cell phone pictures of the tank. Before the bulb was placed in the combo the pictures were different.

I'm not a fan of the Purple Plus. It has too much red/purple for my taste. I've tried more than once for couple months with different combinations and didn't see anything useful nor pleasant to my eyes... But some how many people enjoy it. Perhaps that's why I like Coral Plus over the Aqua Blue Special. Another thing I've noticed about the latest is that after 6 months the spectrum changes and it becomes real pinkish. I didn't like that at all...

I agree with the overkill, specially because Boom has like 6" of water under that fixture! ;Wideyed
But he is able to get some 250Ws and change the settings of the ballast.. There is no need for 400W... 250W is more than plenty.

Looks beautiful though!!!
This has become a great thread!!

Grandis.

 

[rockskimmerflow]

I used to ignore True actinic bulbs and actually published the only bad review for tat bulb.
The fact that Blue Plus gives more PAR doesn't really mean much in this case, I agree... Specially with all the PAR from the halides.
First time I've tried the True Actinic I had my 8 bulb ATI old Powermodule T5 only fixture with only one True Actinic in the game. I removed and placed a Blue Plus only because of the known PAR measurements.
After I searched a little and also found so many people saying good things about it I bought only one True Actinic for my 6 bulb fixture and reconsidered, to give it a try for a year. Now I can tell that there is actually an evident difference in zoa morphology and pigmentation. It's just amazing and I'm thinking of trying to add actually 2 bulb when I change them in December...
There are pigments that only appeared after placing that bulb. Really nice!!!
There is also a reflection of the light which actually turns some of the polyps vivid as many call the "pop". I'm not sure if I'm looking for that exactly, but I can se it specially when my kids take cell phone pictures of the tank. Before the bulb was placed in the combo the pictures were different.

I'm not a fan of the Purple Plus. It has too much red/purple for my taste. I've tried more than once for couple months with different combinations and didn't see anything useful nor pleasant to my eyes... But some how many people enjoy it. Perhaps that's why I like Coral Plus over the Aqua Blue Special. Another thing I've noticed about the latest is that after 6 months the spectrum changes and it becomes real pinkish. I didn't like that at all...

I agree with the overkill, specially because Boom has like 6" of water under that fixture! ;Wideyed
But he is able to get some 250Ws and change the settings of the ballast.. There is no need for 400W... 250W is more than plenty.

Looks beautiful though!!!
This has become a great thread!!

Grandis.

Haha I'm actually embarrassed for you putting up a bad review of the True Actinic bulb without giving them a fair shot. They are honestly the most potent T5 bulb for producing coloration in corals after basic PAR needs are met with Blue plus, Corals plus, or AB special bulbs. I recommend at least 1 and ideally 2 True Actinics in every 6 bulb T5 fixture unless you're going for absolute maximum growth. I run some 8 bulbs with 3 TA, 4 BP, and 1 PP. There's still plenty of PAR on those fixtures and I find the look much less washed out than in tanks running only Blue plus and coral plus T5s. I agree the Purple plus is a hard bulb to love. Some tanks people like the look of 1 in a 6 bulb, but I usually recommend no more than 1 in an 8 bulb even since it adds such a reddish hue. Purple Plus bulbs do make fish look really good though if you want to highlight some of the non fluorescent pigments that dominate most of what we see in our fish. We tend miss out on a lot of our fish's vibrance with LED and blued out T5 setups.

 

[A. grandis]

Haha I'm actually embarrassed for you putting up a bad review of the True Actinic bulb without giving them a fair shot. They are honestly the most potent T5 bulb for producing coloration in corals after basic PAR needs are met with Blue plus, Corals plus, or AB special bulbs. I recommend at least 1 and ideally 2 True Actinics in every 6 bulb T5 fixture unless you're going for absolute maximum growth. I run some 8 bulbs with 3 TA, 4 BP, and 1 PP. There's still plenty of PAR on those fixtures and I find the look much less washed out than in tanks running only Blue plus and coral plus T5s. I agree the Purple plus is a hard bulb to love. Some tanks people like the look of 1 in a 6 bulb, but I usually recommend no more than 1 in an 8 bulb even since it adds such a reddish hue. Purple Plus bulbs do make fish look really good though if you want to highlight some of the non fluorescent pigments that dominate most of what we see in our fish. We tend miss out on a lot of our fish's vibrance with LED and blued out T5 setups.

I was really embarrassed too, specially after the 4 - 5 month mark using the Ture Actinic.;Shamefullyembarrased
I'm very sorry for the bad review!! The bulb is impressively active on pigments and health of cnidarians, as many posted.
Living and learning... I'll try 2 of them for the next year... very good bulb!
Cheers!
Grandis.