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t5 bulb pars

NYreefNoob

NYreefNoob

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ATI
357 - Sun Pro - daylight - 6000K
341 - Aquablue Special - blue/daylight - 12000K
311 - Blue Plus - blue/actinic - 20000K - 450n
137 - Actinic - actinic - 420n

Aqua Science
320 - Special - 15,000K
334 - Duo - 17,500K
302 - Blue - 22,000K

Korallen-Zucht "KZ"
342 - Coral Light - 10,000K
320 - Fiji Purple - (450nm I think...anyone know for sure?)

D-D Giesemann
325 - Midday - daylight - 6,000K
324 - Aqua Blue Plus - 60% blue/40% daylight - 11,000K
264 - Actinic Plus - actinic/blue - 450nm
157 - Pure Actinic - actinic - 420nm

UVL/URI
345 - AquaSun - daylight - 10,000K
293 - Actinic White - 50% daylight 50% actinic - 12,000K
210 - Super Actinic - actinic - 420 nm
254 - 75.25 - 75% actinic 25% tri-band phosphor - 14,000K - 460 nm

AquaZ
285 - Sun Pro - 9,000K
323 - Ocean Pro - 20,000K
266 - Blue Pro - actinic - 420nm

Current USA SlimPaq
272 - Daylight - 10,000K
252 - Actinic Blue - blue/actinic - 460nm

Sfiligoi
209 - Super Blue Actinic

GE
340 - Daylight - daylight - 6,500K

* Data supplied from The Grim Reefer's testing using 54w bulbs in a TEK fixture.

guys please reframe from saying whether true or false, not wanting this to turn into a arguementive thread, if anyone noticed at the bottom. it said who the tester was and what fixture.
i am gathering more info to put with this, just got tired last night. this is giving a round about in the par, in order for everyone to see what they are actually getting par from each bulb a ton of testing would be needed.
different ballast will will give different par, as well as different reflectors. and different temp of the bulb.
there is a few updates on some of the bulbs as KZ has some newer bulb's. for those looking at the icecap t5's, well they are uv bulb's re-badged.

ok for what i would like from members is to post what fixture you have or have had and used for atleast 6 months. what you really liked about it or didn't like, if you modded it and why and if you noticed a differance afterwards, if it is in a canopy or not also

PLEASE NO MY FIXTURE IS BETTER AND YOURS IS JUNK
or i will just ask to have the thread closed
 
Last edited:
NYreefNoob

NYreefNoob

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plus a little info for people

Recommended brands are ATI, Giesemann/D&D, Aqua Science, Narva, Sylvania, KZ, Sfigoli, GE and AquaZ. The Current USA lamps are OK looks wise but the performance is less than impressive. Helios makes a lamp called a Super Blue that is a great lamp if you can find it. Narva is the OEM for Giesemann and Aqua Science lamps and Sylvania for ATI and reportedly KZ and Sfigoli.

Types of lamps

Blue
This is where T5 lighting really shines. The blue lamps cause nice fluorescence but also produce a good amount of PAR. It is important not to confuse blue and actinic lamps. Blue is around 450/460nm in the color spectrum while actinic is around 420nm and is more Violet in color.
The Blue lamps are by brand ATI Blue Plus, Giesemann Actinic Plus, Aqua Science 22000K Blue, Narva Blue, Sylvania blue, Current Slimpaq 460 Actinic, Helios Super Blue and AquaZ Blue Pro.

Actinic
Actinic light causes corals with fluorescent properties to glow. Actinic lamps have a peak output in the 420nm spectrum but also have Ultra Violet range light most other lamps lack so there are colors, mostly green, that will glow under actinic but not the blue lamps. The Actinic lamps by brand are ATI True Actinic03, Giesemann Pure Actinic, Sfigoli Actinic Blue, UV Lighting Super Actinic and Current Slimpaq 420 Actinic (Current also calls their blue lamp actinic so it is important to distinguish between the 420 which is a true actinic and the 460 which is blue)

Daylight or Sun lamps
This is where you normally expect to get a large increase in PAR but that isn’t always the case with T5 lamps. The 50/50 daylight actinic combination lamps have as much or more PAR output as many of the daylight lamps. What the daylight lamps will do is provide the red and yellow spectrums needed to balance out the heavy blue spectrums most of us prefer, The Daylight lamps include ATI Sun Pro, Giesemann Midday, UVL Aquasun, AquaZ Sun Pro, Aqua Science 15000K Special, Current Slimpaq 10K, GE 6500K Daylight.

Daylight/Actinic Combination and Specialty
The Daylight/Actinic combination lamps tend to be white with a slight hint of blue in the look and have very good PAR. They are very good as stand alone lamps or for fish only tanks where a bright light is desired. The Combination lamps include the ATI Aquablue, Giesemann Aquablue, Aqua Science 15000K Duo and AquaZ Ocean Pro.
[SIZE=+0][/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]The UV Lighting combination lamps have a pink or “pepto” tint to them. While that can be a disadvantage if you are looking for a white lamp to run as a stand alone lamp it can be an advantage if you want to broaden the spectrum you are providing when ran in conjunction with blue lamps. Adding a lamp with a decent amount of red in the output seems to help deepen the colors of SPS corals kept under T5 lighting. It is particularly effective at bringing out the color of coralline algae on the rocks and pink and purple corals. The UVL combination lamps are the actinic white and the 75/25 Aquablue.

As far as the lamps with more in the red spectrum there is the ATI pro Color which has some output very deep in the red spectrum and the GE 3000K which look a little more orange indicating a little more yellow in the spectrum. While the Pro Color has PAR output that is very low the GE 3000K is among the higher rated lamps. Neither of these lamps are a good choice in a system with less than 6 lamps as they tend to over power the other lamps and produce a purple look to the light some people don’t care for [/SIZE]

http://sites.google.com/site/tfivetesting/bulbs

http://sites.google.com/site/tfivetesting/par
 
jaa1456

jaa1456

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NYreefNoob said:
ATI
357 - Sun Pro - daylight - 6000K
341 - Aquablue Special - blue/daylight - 12000K
311 - Blue Plus - blue/actinic - 20000K - 450n
137 - Actinic - actinic - 420n

Aqua Science
320 - Special - 15,000K
334 - Duo - 17,500K
302 - Blue - 22,000K

Korallen-Zucht "KZ"
342 - Coral Light - 10,000K
320 - Fiji Purple - (450nm I think...anyone know for sure?)

D-D Giesemann
325 - Midday - daylight - 6,000K
324 - Aqua Blue Plus - 60% blue/40% daylight - 11,000K
264 - Actinic Plus - actinic/blue - 450nm
157 - Pure Actinic - actinic - 420nm

UVL/URI
345 - AquaSun - daylight - 10,000K
293 - Actinic White - 50% daylight 50% actinic - 12,000K
210 - Super Actinic - actinic - 420 nm
254 - 75.25 - 75% actinic 25% tri-band phosphor - 14,000K - 460 nm

AquaZ
285 - Sun Pro - 9,000K
323 - Ocean Pro - 20,000K
266 - Blue Pro - actinic - 420nm

Current USA SlimPaq
272 - Daylight - 10,000K
252 - Actinic Blue - blue/actinic - 460nm

Sfiligoi
209 - Super Blue Actinic

GE
340 - Daylight - daylight - 6,500K

* Data supplied from The Grim Reefer's testing using 54w bulbs in a TEK fixture.
Click to expand...
Where did you get these #'s from? All of these #s change depending on which fixture you run them in.
 
NYreefNoob

NYreefNoob

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ok here is another part of it using a different ballast

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer
OK, Here's the latest readings taken with the lamps running on a triad ballast. The numbers are only good for comparison here. Previous readings I took were with a different ballast and reflector so don't try to compare the two.

ATI

Sun Pro 357
Aquablue 336
Blue Plus 311
Actinic 137

D&D/Giesemann

Midday 325
Aquablue 324
Actinic Plus 264
Pure Actinic 157

AquaZ

Sun Pro 285
Ocean Pro 323
Blue Pro 266

Helios

Daylight 309
Super Blue 225

Current Sun Paq

Daylight 10K 272
Blue 252

GE Daylight 340


From what i have read in numerous posts and tests the par number for the kz line is as follows:

-New gen is 330 a true 15,000k bulb that burns into a little whiter after 6 months
-coral light was 343 the highest par of any t5 bulb i have seen but a bit yellower then the aquablue from ati (10,000k)
-superblue ia 310-320 about the exact same as the ati blue plus and look pretty similar (20,000k)
-fiji purple is 325

Again depending on the fixture used the age of the bulb and test variables its going to varry but the kz bulbs have been proven to have the around the same par as ATI.
 
NYreefNoob

NYreefNoob

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In a growth test done on reef builders aqua science t5's had signifcantly better growth and color then ati.

-Aqua science 15,000k (more like 11,000k) is about the same as an aqua blue or kz coral light
- Aqua science 17,500k duo (is more like 15,000k with a tiny bit of visble red/pink to it) par is around 320
-Aqua science 22,000k is just like the ati blue plus or the kz super blue but maybe a tiny bit more blue to it but not much of a difference at all. par is around 320 as well.
 
NYreefNoob

NYreefNoob

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poughquag, ny
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ok i will start with a few of the fixture's i have owned. btw i have been using t5's about 5 of the 6 year's i have been in the hobby.
first was a retro sunlight supply kit with total of 6 bulb's, this worked very well for me, was pretty easy to wire and mount, dislike was there is no type of shield ect so reflectors got salt splash and corroded somewhat. all of these fixture's have been 36" and have been inside a canopy, but i do have alot of ventilation in my canopies as well as 2 4" 125 cfm fans

next was a icecap retro with a 660 running 4 bulbs and a 430 running 2 bulbs. loved the brightness of this, same as pretty easy to mount and wire. dislike was once again no splash shield and with over driving the bulbs the life span was shortened {btw even though you can use the 660 and 430 these were not designed for t5's but for vho's }

next was a current nep 6 bulb, well being this was my first real t5 fixture i loved it at first, but was no where near as bright as my previous 2 fixture's, dislike, not true individual reflectors and just wasnt as bright as previous lighting { given ic was over driven }

next was a tek 8 bulb fixture. this one i really liked, i had even added 2 fans into the top of it to help with cooling, really had no dislikes, wish the elite was around then so i didnt have to add the fan's

next was my ati sunpower 6 bulb fixture, this one i really really liked, fiixture itsself was very nice looking and built well and was as bright as my 8 bulb tek fixture.

and last but not least and is my current fixture and last unless i go led's again is my ati 8 bulb powermodule. well what can i say, built like a tank, very nice looking fixture and bright as heck the 4 fans keep the fixture in a proper range of operation temp wise. this has by far been the best t5 lighting system i have owned, the body aluminum which would almost make you think it is light but is is far from that.

i know people have different view as why to go with t5's or not too, but here is why i have always went back, i have had pc, mh and leds.
i love being able to have a wide variety of bulbs and temps to choose from, being able to get most of the color temps is nice as well as there is no shading in my tank ect directly under some rocks, with not having the spot light effect of my or led it allows for light spill through out the tank. does help tank run cooler { will go into this a little more later } my electrical saving is nice as compared to 2 250w mh and supplimental lighting.

ok will add more to this later
 
NYreefNoob

NYreefNoob

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Location
poughquag, ny
Rating - 99.4%
168   1   0
wasn't taken inside of tank, these are dry numbers from my understanding, in tank sure there would be other factors added, someone with heavy top flow would give erradict numbers as the water movement ect
 
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