New T5 Review!

[Global]

Interesting read, as Im looking at replacing all the bulbs on my light when Im closer to getting
the tank up and running again.
Might have to look into these Giesemann globes.

 

[jeremy]

looking for less white. more color

Have you tried the coral plus bulb? Not as white.

 

[Diesel]

Good thread, I ran for three years the Radions and the last 10 months the pro 2.
I thought I had good color, just the growth was lacking.
Luckily for a hiccup with my 202 gal I started all over and went with the flagship from ATI.
60" of awesome T5 lights.
Include some led's to ramp up and down.
Must say now that my tank is running again for 7 weeks I have awesome growth more than with the Radions.
Colors are looking good to, might need to switch out one or two bulbs to finish that off.
Not sure the combination I run but they are all ATI bulbs.
Will post that later.

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

The 2014 Giesemann Actinic Blue T5 lamp emits almost exclusively blue light of wavelengths from 400 - 510 nm, with a maximum at 420 nm. CoralVue | AQUABLUE AZURE New Giesemann T5 lamps



If you want it narrowed down the spectrum even more to get a pure actinic spectrum you can see the Giesemann 2014 Super Actinic lamp fits that bill. CoralVue | Super Actinic New Giesemann T5 lamps

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

Here is a short CVtv video blog going over the latest T5 Lamps by Giesemann
[video=youtube;STIg8-biwbI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STIg8-biwbI#t=96[/video]

 

[jedimasterben]

Jeremy, have you seen the Aquablue Azure in person? I was interested in the D-D Giesemann Lagoon Blue and had bought some based on the 'turquoise look', but in person they had a horrid yellow tint to them, not turquoise. $50 in bulbs down the drain, don't want to have a repeat of that if the 'new' one looks the same.

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

Jeremy, have you seen the Aquablue Azure in person? I was interested in the D-D Giesemann Lagoon Blue and had bought some based on the 'turquoise look', but in person they had a horrid yellow tint to them, not turquoise. $50 in bulbs down the drain, don't want to have a repeat of that if the 'new' one looks the same.

I caught a glimpse of them at MACNA and to my eye they appeared light a bright white much like what most consider a 14-16k. I will test them out later this week and get back to you. I will try to get some photos as well or the different lamps over my aquarium.

 

[Diesel]

Jeremy, thanks for the info.
Will look into some of that for my ATI.
Btw, I did send Chris a few emails a few weeks back about the Gyre, but never got something back.
I know you guys got crazy busy after MACNA, but maybe you can remind him.

Ben.

 

[PokyReefs]

Jeremy thank you for chiming in!

That was my biggest concern about swapping to the new giesemanns was availability, So I made sure I asked before I purchased where were they readily available and how quick the turn over was for me to get my bulbs. I will say when I placed my order through coralvue I was shocked how fast they came,ordered online on a monday morning and wednesday they were here! !, That was my biggest problem with my vhos I couldnt find a replacement bulb. I wouldnt even look back at a Vho now !!!

 

[that Reef Guy]

Jeremy, have you seen the Aquablue Azure in person? I was interested in the D-D Giesemann Lagoon Blue and had bought some based on the 'turquoise look', but in person they had a horrid yellow tint to them, not turquoise. $50 in bulbs down the drain, don't want to have a repeat of that if the 'new' one looks the same.

So the Aquablue Azure is more like the ATI AquaBlue Special Then? (A White Bulb).

I thought that it would be Blue?

 

[jedimasterben]

So the Aquablue Azure is more like the ATI AquaBlue Special Then? (A White Bulb).

I thought that it would be Blue?

Not really, but according to its spectral output it is certainly not to be considered a blue bulb. A bulb that looks blue to the eye will have almost nothing past 500nm except for small phosphor spikes at 565nm and possibly 620nm.

Giesemann Aquablue Azure:

ATI Blue Plus:

Average royal blue LED:

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

So the Aquablue Azure is more like the ATI AquaBlue Special Then? (A White Bulb).

I thought that it would be Blue?

It is not blue. More considered like the look of a 50/50 lamp. More of a bright white with a pop of color in appearance. Here is a comment left by one of our testers:
"Aqua blue Azure is my new favorite of the bunch.. I really like it compared to the coral plus it's replacing and the temperature it puts off next to the blues is similar to a phoenix 14k imo (my favorite of the halides) .. I'm going to be adding At least 3 to the mix and the rest are going to be a mixture of the Actinic blue and possibly the super purple if the red peak isn't covered (yet to be seen). I Think regardless this will be my new white bulb of choice.. (haven't tried the aqua blue coral yet though)"

 

[jedimasterben]

It is not blue. More considered like the look of a 50/50 lamp. More of a bright white with a pop of color in appearance. Here is a comment left by one of our testers:
"Aqua blue Azure is my new favorite of the bunch.. I really like it compared to the coral plus it's replacing and the temperature it puts off next to the blues is similar to a phoenix 14k imo (my favorite of the halides) .. I'm going to be adding At least 3 to the mix and the rest are going to be a mixture of the Actinic blue and possibly the super purple if the red peak isn't covered (yet to be seen). I Think regardless this will be my new white bulb of choice.. (haven't tried the aqua blue coral yet though)"

I'm still a little leery since the spectrum is almost identical to the D-D 'Lagoon Blue' which had such a horrendous tone to it, but I might be willing to give a shot versus the Coral Plus. $50 is a hard pill to swallow on bulbs that will potentially just end up in the trash like the LB.

EDIT: And after comparing the two images overlaid in Photoshop, they are identical. These bulbs get a big 'DON'T BUY' from me if you're expecting a Coral Plus replacement.

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

I'm still a little leery since the spectrum is almost identical to the D-D 'Lagoon Blue' which had such a horrendous tone to it, but I might be willing to give a shot versus the Coral Plus. $50 is a hard pill to swallow on bulbs that will potentially just end up in the trash like the LB.

EDIT: And after comparing the two images overlaid in Photoshop, they are identical. These bulbs get a big 'DON'T BUY' from me if you're expecting a Coral Plus replacement.

Color spectrum may be similar but from what we have heard from testers is that the lamp itself appears brighter to the eye. Several of our testers also state that par readings are also higher.

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

ATTENTION ALL T5 USERS!!! Here is your chance to try the latest 2014 Giesemann T5 lamps. Enter a photo of your tank and possibly win a new set of Giesemann T5 lamps for your aquarium. So, take advantage of the Giesemann T5 photo challenge and let us introduce you to these amazing T5 lamps. Giesemann T5 Challenge = Win Free Lamps

 

[jedimasterben]

Color spectrum may be similar but from what we have heard from testers is that the lamp itself appears brighter to the eye. Several of our testers also state that par readings are also higher.

Even if the radiometric output (which implies higher total PAR) and visual brightness (which implies simply more green light and less blue), if the spectral output above is anything close to what the bulb outputs, then it will look identical give the same dull color.

This is with two 39w Lagoon Blue, driven to 0.95 power factor for 100 hours to allow sufficient 'break-in' time.

This is the tank at a previous date lit by two 39w ATI Coral Plus on the same ballast (so 0.95 power factor).

The Lagoon Blue (and if the spectral data is the same, the Aquablue Azure) looks terrible in comparison. I'd say the look is similar to the ATI Aquablue Special, which also compared to the Coral Plus is a dingy and dull light.


Btw, here is ATI's spectral data on the Coral Plus.

And the Aquablue Special.

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

The lamps that I am referring to are a complete new line of Giesemann T5s for 2014. Lagoon Blue is no longer offered with the 2014 Giesemann line up and the lamps colors are now different due to the Tri Phosphor blending and integrated with the latest T5 technology from Narva.

 

[jedimasterben]

The lamps that I am referring to are a complete new line of Giesemann T5s for 2014. Lagoon Blue is no longer offered with the 2014 Giesemann line up and the lamps colors are now different due to the Tri Phosphor blending and integrated with the latest T5 technology from Narva.

Spectrum is spectrum. Two lights emitting the same spectrum will be identical in color, hue, and characteristics. If the spectral graph of the Aquablue Azure on the Coralvue website is correct, then it matches the spectral graph of the D-D Lagoon Blue and is identical in appearance.

 

[Diesel]

Deal Jeremy,
This tank got some rewards but I was running on 5 Radions pro for three years.
Since the last two months I had to rebuild this tank and ditched my Radions, got the ATI 60" Power Module above it.
Love that unit, not so much the heat but we were running MH and T5 for years and accepted the heat.
Tank looks better than before.


https://www.facebook.com/REEF2REEF/...41407129805/10152710392614806/?type=1&theater

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

Spectrum is spectrum. Two lights emitting the same spectrum will be identical in color, hue, and characteristics. If the spectral graph of the Aquablue Azure on the Coralvue website is correct, then it matches the spectral graph of the D-D Lagoon Blue and is identical in appearance.

I asked Giesemann about the spectral plots and to get a further understanding of the differences between the AquaBlue Azure and the old Lagoon Blue lamps. This is the response I received.

Firstly it's important to realise that the spectral plots provided and being discussed are standard or 'low resolution' block plots for general use. ( ie what you can feasibly fit on the outside of the tube sleeve. They aren't scientific or manufacturing grade plots. For obvious reasons most manufacturers don't supply 'exact' plots because they don't want competitors matching their exact blend on all lines. So the plots provided are there as a guide within a reasonable range of accuracy. Or to be more precise...to give the user a reasonable representation of where the spectrum is weighted in comparison to other lamps within the range and so that the dealer can show the plot to a customer who doesn't understand lighting technology and talk them through the basics, ie this lamp will be bluer than this one, and this lamp will offer a more even natural sunlight look etc etc..


As such it's highly likely that when two companies supply two tubes manufactured at the same factory ( in this case Narva in Germany with very similar but slightly differing distributions, such as the lagoon blue and Azure blue, that they will quite feasibly look virtually identical on a low resolution plot.


Visually however, the two lamps may appear to the naked eye very different even with very subtle variations in the actual per-frequency intensity, especially in the peak visual mid band at 555nm and above and below that point by about 60nm either way to the point we are below 20% of the sensitivity at 555nm to the human eye. ( in short it's not just the green band that can affect 'visual' appearance of brightness. It's a whole chunk of the central spectrum we work with on aquaria.


If you've spent enough time around halides this phenomena will be normal, where two 10k lamps having almost identical plots will appear very different, and even more so to several different people with slightly differing spectral sensitivity.... One will say it's a crisp white, the other will say it's a slightly yellow white and so on and so forth..10 different people will give 10 different answers even though there are in reality only two lamps and two very close spectral plots with less than a few % difference on any given frequency.


As such there is always a degree of personal taste included in what combination each user will finally end up with, which is why there are the main tubes colours, plus the additional colours such as the Azzure and Super purple so that people can tweak their set ups to their own personal preference...not all tubes will meet favour with all people under all circumstances.


As a general rule, the most common combination ( or safest bet visually and biologically) if it's your first time on t5 when looking at say an 8 tube unit, would be 4 x aqua blue coral, 2 x actinic blue and 2 x actinic super. This is pretty much a default mix..similar to the old 10k halide + Narva blue t5 combination that was the mainstay of successful reef lighting for many many years..Use that combination and if your corals are still struggling then start looking somewhere other than your lighting.


From there, some users may wish to swap out say one of the actinic supers for a purple or Azzure or try additional combinations. In fact some people who are more growth than colour demanding, may even be inclined to swap out one or more of the aqua blue coral lamps for tropics to deliver a larger degree of punch at the red end for shallow water corals and to simulate a more natural upper reef light field..


I hope this information will be of assistance to you.


Simon Garratt
Giesemann US/UK technical support.