Thinking of getting t-5's? Read this...

[ret25yo]

Here are all the basics of t-5 lighting you might need to know...

tfivetesting - T5 Lighting Reviews

one stop research...
Whats PAR - The expression Photosynthetically Active Radiation, often abbreviated PAR, designates the spectral range of solar light from 400 to 700 nanometers that is useful to terrestrial plants in the process of photosynthesis
-wikipedia
and par rating per bulb:
ATI

Sun Pro 357
Aquablue 336
Blue Plus 311
Actinic 137

D&D/Giesemann

Midday 325
Aquablue 324
Actinic Plus 264
Pure Actinic 157

UVL

Aqua sun 345
Actinic White 293
Super Actinic 210

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

[charlie]

Thanx Kyle, I will look into reading it after the race to see if there are any PAR values attached. I didn't see any in a preliminary look thru.

[SouthBayPhoto]

Interesting. At least they talk about PAR rating rather than watts per gallon. LOL

[ret25yo]

there you go..

[charlie]

Can you provide a link to that info Kyle? Also, at what depth were those values obtained?

[Bullet]

Thats some good info. The grimreefer also has another writeup on another forum I frequent. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of his expanded writeup from him. In fact he built my t5s for my 135. Hes a knowledgable guy.

[The Grim Reefer]

That website is still a work in progress. Those PAR readings are only good for comparing the different lamps with each other, not other lamps or types of lighting.

Its hard to line up fixtures to do head to head comparisons. My current tank is 22" tall. I run a 7 lamp Aquactinics constellation fixture over it sitting right on the frame. Running 4 blues, one actinic, one low output red lamps and a 75/25 Actinic/Daylight combo (not exactly an impressive mix for PAR output but looks killer)I am getting PAR readings at the sandbed in the 280's. A friend did a PAR reading over 2 halide tanks. 24" tall with 175 watt 10K halides with spider type reflectors and lamps about 14 months old did in the 50's (as in 5 0). A 30" tall with 20K's on HQI ballasts (not sure if they were radium lamps or not) that was doing in the 280's.

Your mileage will vary.

[charlie]

Thanx for your input Grim!!!!!

Now. do you have any pics of what your tank looks like for the folks around here??

[The Grim Reefer]

Pics of my algae farm

I had an issue with poisoning my tank using ice melt for magnesium additive and have been fighting the nasty green stuff ever since. When I lived in Missoula I used tap water and never had algae issue. Now I have a killer RODI and the crap just thrives Most of what is in the tank now is zoos. The plan is to let them take over the rocks then put corals over them. Should look cool when I am done.

Let me play with the camera settings to see if I can get a somewhat accurate picture of what the light looks like. Here's a couple shots to give you an idea of what it looks like
This is with an ATI Pro Color and a UVL 75/25 lamp running. Pretty close to what it looks like in person.


This is adding in 1 Blue Plus and 1 Actinic lamp. It isn't even this blue with the other 3 blue lamps on


I'll get some close ups of the corals and try to get a shot that shows what the light looks like with everything on.

[charlie]

Hey, I do believe we have met!!!! How are things going, besides the algae in your tank???

It doesn't look all that bad, just a little patience and the zoos will outgrow it all.

[The Grim Reefer]

Yeah, I bought a few frags from you. My wife came in and got them cause I am gimped and cant do stairs real well. We BSed out in your front yard for a while while I sat in the truck.

Good to see more Montana folk discovering each other. I sent bullet over from the monkey cause I knew there were a few MT guys over here. You guys should throw up a club forum on the other BB's that supply that service. There are other Montanans scattered around. Better if you guys can all find each other.

I am outside Denver now. Its really amazing the level of support around here. Used equipment prices are insanly cheap too.

[Andezzzy]

hey guys i have t5 lighting with my 55 gallon tanks 3 (10000k) and 3 blue....is that too much?

[Poseidon]

Hi Andezzy,


As for if your tank has to much light, that depends on what you are trying to keep. Do you have any pictures, and more detail in your tank, that would be helpful.

[Andezzzy]

yea heres a couple









ive had the tank going for about close to 8 months. it seems like the coral line algae isn't really growing that quickly. i put purple up in once a day and everything. as for the corals i add calcium daily, and liquid gold every other day. also add trace elements once a week. And of course water changes

[Poseidon]

Purple Up is a waste, don't buy that again. HAve you tested for Ca and Alk levels? ALWAYS ALWAYS test first b4 adding anything.

[Andezzzy]

Ca and alk levels are good.. the reason i added it was because i was told that corals go thru alot of calcium. as for the purple up it hasn't showed me anything promising. also ive been seeing that my corals arn't as full as they should look..salinity, nitrate, are all stable, ph last checked was at 7.8, how do i lower that? sorry about all the questions. also do you think it would be a good idea to get a uv sterilizer? thx by the way for the advice

[Poseidon]

Your pH is already low, you would want to raise it, shoot for 8.3 or so... To raise pH, you could add kalkwasser to your top off water, that will also help with your Ca and Alk levels.

I use a UV myself, but I feel that you need a large one, nothing like a 8W unit, I have a 90, and I use a 57W unit.

Oh, you say that Ca and Alk are good, but what exactly are they?