First Impressions of a T5 Conversion

[dougchambers]

We completed the conversion of our lighting system from VHO to T5 last evening. At this point, I'm very disappointed. The lights are very bright, but under our current configuration, the colors aren't looking very good.

Configuration: 65k/Blue - 65k/Actinic - 65k/Blue - 65k/Blue
65k = GE Starcoat
Blue = ATI-Blue
Actinic = ATI-Actinic

Here are a couple of initial thoughts. Realize that I am not a lighting expert and I’ve only had the bulbs running a short time. I’ve had enough people ask that I thought I would post some updates for those interested. What I hoping for is that others running T5’s could lend some insight into their experience and bulb combinations.

-The GE Starcoat 65k bulbs appear to have a definite green hue to them. I've heard that the ATI-Sun bulbs aren't as heavy in the green band.

-The ATI Actinic bulbs don't look anything like the URI 03-Actinic! The Blue is definitely more muted to the eye and don’t seem to fluoresce the corals as much. (I'm short one Actinic )

-The greens in our open brain, green slimmer, and Montiporas are very dull looking.

-The purples and blues in some of our Acros look great!

-The pinks look more in the brown family now.

-The bulbs definitely run warmer. You don’t want to touch them like you can the URI VHOs!

-There is a definite color shift as the bulbs warm up.

-The Dawn/Dusk transition I used to run with strait URI-Actinic is no longer a rich blue/purple, but rather a crisp pale blue.

Now I’ve seen some beautiful German tanks that claim to be running 100% T5 so I know it’s possible. I’m really questioning the GE bulbs, as I don’t think they are going to meet “my” color preferences. Really it’s what is important for the corals so I will continue to play with different combinations and see if the bulbs burn-in a little.

I've posted a couple of "Before" pictures on our website and will shoot some "After" tonight.

Doug

[dougchambers]

Update:

I got home this evening and looked over the tank and it's inhabitants. The clams are WAY happy. I haven’t seen mantle extension like this in a long time. However, some of the SPS look like they got burned a little. Some of their branches have white patches on the tops and are sloughing off. I had left the photoperiod the same, but blocked about 40-60 % of the light thinking it would be enough to start the transition. Looks like I was wrong…

Part of this could be due to the standard of thinking, "If a little is good, a lot must be better". Bumping from 6VHO to 8 T5s may not have been too smart...

To recover, I’ve left the blocking panels in the top of the tank and switched bulbs around so I could change the lighting photoperiods. The main lights (65k – Actinic - 65k – Blue) are going to run their standard 12hr period. I changed the second set of lights (65k-Blue-65k-Blue) to only 2 hours at the peak of the day. We will see how things go and start increasing the secondary lights more throughout the weeks.

It would have been so much easier to just buy new VHO bulbs!

Doug

[dougchambers]

As promised, here is the first picture of our tank with T5 lighting. It's very confusing because the tank doesn't look nearly as good in person...



There are more pictures and details on our website.

[almostdiva]

Gosh doug, on film this looks FABULOUS....

I took a peek on your site yesterday afternoon, too.

Be curious to hear continued reports...

GOOD LUCK!

Rebecca

[dougchambers]

Rebecca,

Thanks... I'm looking for a pair of the 60/40 bulbs and an Actinic. We don't have anything close.

I'll keep the webpage updated and let you know where we end up.

Doug

[dougchambers]

Picture Upate:

My LFS swapped out some Actinics from his system and I brought them home to play with. I definitely like the look with more Actinic, but I've found that we really need to balance the bulbs over the hood. With only 4 bulbs, there are distinct zones to the lighting. If I can find some of the ATI-AquaBlue (60/40) bulbs, I think they may balance up the lighting better.

Here are a couple of shots:

Combo #1: 03/65k/Blue/03


Combo #2: 03/Blue/03/65k


The irridescent colors pop much better with the Actinic bulbs.

There are more pictures on the website if you are interested.

-Doug

[Barry N.]

Doug,

Your tank looks awesome

Barry

[dougchambers]

Thanks Barry,

Needs more clams... Maybe the next tank.

Doug

[Northman_with_reef]

Looks great!

Your Corals and stuff will look a bit pale for some time, but dont worry.
After they adapt to the new lightning they will be even more colourfull.

[dougchambers]

Northman,

Thanks for the encouragment. I've heard that part of my problem may be the GE 6500K bulbs. I'm looking for some of the ATI-Sun 6500K bulbs. The ATI's don't have as large of peaks in the Yellow and Green spectum which could help me get rid of heavy yellow look.

Doug

[Northman_with_reef]

You Should also Check out Dellux, they make some good actinics, dont know about the Daylight spectrum though...