Is this enough light?

[nikesb]

well since this is referring to ATI and Korallen Zucht products, I recommend Reef Geek, since they now carry the full lines. Aquascience has stopped making bulbs and isnt a factor anymore from where I purchase my bulbs. I stocked up on Aquascience when premium aquatics and reef geek marked them half off. now I'm running a full line of ATI and Korallen Zucht bulbs and there is nothing that can compete. in my tank, I have yet to find the right hieight for my ATI Sunpower fixture. At 14" above water surface, SPS corals still get bleached even on the sand bed! keep in mind that my fixture has alot to do with it.
I will have my hands on a PAR meter soon to show the difference in quality and strength with the right fixtures and bulbs. Dont get me wrong, I'm a sucker for metal halide when it comes to Radium bulbs, but T5 done correctly cant be touched even by leds. You can create the spectrum you want and add whatevers missing, which is why I'll be using LED's + T5 very soon.

 

[meowzer]

Aquascience doesn't make bulbs anymore

WOW...I bought the new bulbs for my 29G MONTHS ago.....thank goodness....they need to get changed in April

 

[nikesb]

i might be wrong about aquascience not making any bulbs, but i dont know anyone that will carry them once their stock has been sold.
aquascience bulbs are HIGHLY underrated in this hobby and often overlooked because of their price. FYI, aquascience is about on the same level as ATI and Korallen Zucht. with higher prices, it was hard for them to establish themselves in the t5 game in america. In germany, theyre still up there along with ATI. with the ATI blue+ bulb much cheaper than Aquascience's equivalent 22,000k. The 22,000k is my favorite blue bulb to date. theres a different pop that it creates. I remeber reading somewhere the AS 22,000k is five band compared to ATI blue + which is only 3 band.

 

[meowzer]

Well in my 29G I use 2 ATI blue plus, 1 ATI aqua blue special, and 1 aquascience 15000K
HMMMM....I believe you recommended them

....I love the look, and I bought more when I saw them on sale a few months back.....I will change them in April, and be okay for another year......then I guess...I will be contacting you LOL

 

[1guydude]

indeed nike i will be needy of ur knowledge as well lol mines like
Front
10000k
actintic blue
actintic blue
10000k
back
remeber these r oddyseas and the ballast are set to where they run the 2 front and the 2 back?!@?!!?@!?!
the blue ones dont even tell me if there 420s or 460s or anything they just say actintic....

 

[1guydude]

jeez just went to the reefgeeks and theres so many choices for 24w omg thank you but so many choices so many choices!

 

[nikesb]

lol meowzer, i only have the 24w ones. if i run out, i will be calling family in germany to find them.

right now, theyre in my reserve and i'm using the following combo
Front
KZ superblue
ATI blue+
ATI purple+
KZ superblue
KZ fiji purple
ATI blue+
Back
I'll be switching out some of my blue bulbs to add 420nm strips to lessen the PAR of my fixture. The 460nm bulbs removed will be replaced with either 90 deg optic royal blue leds or no optics at all. I'm really trying to add color without adding par.
1guyDude, odyssea would be a fool to use 420nm actinics because true actinic bulbs have SUBSTANTIALLY less par than 460nm bulbs. with their bulbs already being low quality, they cannot market using 420nm.

 

[kiefers]

Everyone here is right. Nonetheless, if indeed you are getting a 20 long well, thats not to deep (IMO) the t-5's would be okay. You can get lights (ATI) in a variety of K's ( ie. 10,000K, 12,000K) almost anywhere. IMO I would use caution personaaly with MH in a shallow tank. You may get bleaching of some of your corals. However........ MH are the best for bigger and deeper tanks. I would stick with the T-5's. Meowzer has a great lighting system for her 29. We have a 20 long and our T-5's are great for that shallow tank.
Good luck and happy seaching.

 

[1guydude]

Quote:
1guyDude, odyssea would be a fool to use 420nm actinics because true actinic bulbs have SUBSTANTIALLY less par than 460nm bulbs. with their bulbs already being low quality, they cannot market using 420nm.
u lost me lol??? so u would recomend wat combo? You guys dont include the daylight bulbs because ur combo kinda creates the daylight effect???am i correct? So much to learn ahhhh im going to bed. ttytommorw pps!

 

[nikesb]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiefers http:///forum/thread/384875/is-this-enough-light/20#post_3373525
Everyone here is right. Nonetheless, if indeed you are getting a 20 long well, thats not to deep (IMO) the t-5's would be okay. You can get lights (ATI) in a variety of K's ( ie. 10,000K, 12,000K) almost anywhere. IMO I would use caution personaaly with MH in a shallow tank. You may get bleaching of some of your corals. However........ MH are the best for bigger and deeper tanks. I would stick with the T-5's. Meowzer has a great lighting system for her 29. We have a 20 long and our T-5's are great for that shallow tank.
Good luck and happy seaching.
What people need to realize is that it does not depend on whether its mh, t5, or led. it depends on the quality of the reflectors or leds+optics. I wouldnt hesitate running a 250w Metal halide on my 12" tall aquarium at all. If i were to do it, i would choose a Lumenmax-elite reflector and hang it 2ft above my tank. Even then, I'm still pretty sure my T5's are stronger than a 250w mh right now. I had a 250w over my tank for a couple of weeks during a rebuild, and nothing bleached. I get this ATI sunpower and everything bleaches ASAP. even clams on the sand bed started becoming clear.
T5's are perfect for nanos because most people end up choosing fixtures like aquaticlife, wavepoint, or current usa. Its more friendly when it comes to heat as well. The problem here is that the OP is asking about odyssea lights with a single flat reflector. I'm still looking for the par numbers but they are no where near PAR numbers of contoured or SLR fixtures. like i said, less than 25%. while some would say SPS high up, SPS wouldnt even get enough lighting in a 12" tall tank with the flat reflectors. Point is get a good fixture that matches your tank. TEK lights are great too and top the fixtures in its class (current novas, aquaticlife, wavepoint)

 

[juanro]

Ok, so basically T5s are good, ATI and KZ being the best for bulbs, and for fixtures just not Odyssea.
Btw, I noticed that the brain coral I got as a gift that I gave to a friend (since his lights are much better) no longer has the 'hairs' it used to have in between ridges, does this mean it's dead? Still has color in it.

 

[nikesb]

if theres color and you dont see tissue recession, its still alive. im not sure what hairs you are talking about

 

[juanro]

guess the hairs would be its tentacles?
when I first got it they showed all the time, and after a week or so it looked different and I noticed that there were no more tentacles showing

 

[nikesb]

just acting differently in your tank. its still alive though

 

[kiefers]

brains and some other corals can be a tad pissy after a move. Some times they stay closed for some time. My brain did not show anything for 3 weeks when I got it. And yes... T-5's would work out nicely for your needs. I have a 56 col. and I would love to have MH but funds are tight and I really don't want to spend (safely speaking) a week to acclimate.