New T5 light debate is over for me

[labman]

I have a 72" Aquatincs fixture with 14x39 watt bulbs so light upgrade time is stressful for me sps dominated tank par is important. I have gone back and forth with many bulb combos I finally decided tonight and ordered them.
I can't wait to see how they look on my tank! only about $284 sweet deal

6x Korallen Zucht Coral Light 39 Watt T5 Lamp

Especially developed for reef tanks. This 10,000k with red spectrum is well suited as main lighting or in combination with Fiji Purple or metal halides HQI. Red spectrum Ca. 5-6%, wich is very important for small polyp stony Corals. Novel spectrum especially made for SPS. Longevity, high quality ...

4 x Korallen Zucht Coral light II 39 Watt
T5 Coral Light New Generation 24 W, 14.000 K.
Perfect mix for fantastic colors with Coral Light and Fiji Purple

4 x Korallen Zucht Fiji Purple 39 Watt T5 Lamp
Novel T5 high performance tube with blue-red spectrum. We recommend to use in proportion of 1:2 to our Coral Light.Stony Corals enhance colors after 14-20 days especially in pink, purple and red. Growth of Algae will not be increased.

 

[Amphibious]

Post pics when you get the light up and running.

Thanks

Dick

 

[Big D]

Agreed... I'll be watching for some pics. I'm running six 80W ATI's over driven by IC 660's and two 54W ATI's on a spec ballast on my 180gal. It's SPS dominant as well and I'm getting great growth, but I've heard some good things about the Zucht lamps.





D

 

[chadfarmer]

i hagve the 14k kz and fiji purple over my tank

 

[oceanparadise1]

man cant wait to see what those look like!

 

[labman]

just waiting to give them a little burn in time I am really starting to like the fiji but I do miss the actinic look then again I tried adding a couple of my blue bulbs and quickly took then back out they were the blue specials.

 

[Saltysteele]

hey, now that you say that, dave, are they more intense, less intense after burn in?

i've been meaning to ask that. also, how long does it take to burn in?

 

[Pitcom]

There was a guy who posted pics of his tank last year on rc who had all fiji purples and coral lights. His tank color looks really good. I run the fiji purples and coral lights in a combination with some geisemann actinics. I really like the coloration, the fiji purples make orange, red and pinks pop.

 

[Big D]

All right... we need visuals. I've got great color with my setup, but I'll be due a bulb change soon and I'm always looking to upgrade. Here's my current setup:

Here's the tank:

Post some shots of bulb arrangements and tanks shots...











D

 

[Burks]

Wow! Was that all grown under your T5's or did you start with MH's?

I'm leaning more toward T5's as of late for my next project.

Can't wait to see how the tank looks with the combo you posted labman.

 

[dough]

David, I've just changed over to all T5 because of you and mufret! I'm not sure I would change your set-up. If you want to try KZ you can pick them locally here in Atlanta.

I'm thinking that the KZ combos with give a more pale color to corals, but that is only a guess as well as looking at other websites.


Labman do you have any pictures yet?

 

[coral88]

All right... we need visuals. I've got great color with my setup, but I'll be due a bulb change soon and I'm always looking to upgrade. Here's my current setup:


Here's the tank:

Post some shots of bulb arrangements and tanks shots...











D

I have a 75 I just started working on. I have a tek 8 bulb fixture but I'm still playing with the bulbs. I'll get some pics up in the next week or so.

Now my real question. Is that red cap at the top really that color ???

 

[Big D]

Wow! Was that all grown under your T5's or did you start with MH's?

I'm leaning more toward T5's as of late for my next project.

Can't wait to see how the tank looks with the combo you posted labman.

Sorry for not getting back with folks earlier, 13 hour days at work really BITE!


The tank was started up and has been running T5's for about a year and a half now. I actually put an Aquamedic sexy fixture over it for about 6 hours one day and hated the color so I sold it.

Here's some growth shots and a shot of the tank under halides:






This is the tank a few days after everything was added

This is 2 months after setup

Four months in, added my Yellow Milli and several other corals (Doug, that's your clam)

8 months in... too many corals, had to add more rock

11 months in... already had too many corals, but kept adding more

About a year into it, swapped out 54W spec retros with 80W IceCap retros, added a couple more huge clams to help kill my cal/alk

About 6 months ago, everything started to really color up well under the IC's

About 2 months ago

Here's the tank on halides, didn't do anything for me although the bulbs weren't broken in yet

D

 

[Big D]

One more... it wouldn't fit in the previous post. :biggrin:


Here's the most recent shot I've got, I've since scrapped the glass clean :

D

 

[Big D]

David, I've just changed over to all T5 because of you and mufret! I'm not sure I would change your set-up. If you want to try KZ you can pick them locally here in Atlanta.

I'm thinking that the KZ combos with give a more pale color to corals, but that is only a guess as well as looking at other websites.


Labman do you have any pictures yet?

Glad you changed out Doug, hope you like them... I think you will :biggrin: and I'm sure you won't miss the heat.




David

 

[Big D]

Now my real question. Is that red cap at the top really that color ???

The last picture I posted with my trigger in it (the most current pic I've got of my tank) is pretty much true color as it looks, but it does glow more than in the pic.



D

 

[MarkL]

big d your tank is pimp.