Upgrading to Giesemann bulbs, color options?

au01st

I want to upgrade the bulbs that came in my T5 Nova Extreme, and I'd like a little more blue. It currently has 2 "daylight" bulbs and 2 actinic bulbs. I think the spectrum on the daylight bulbs is 6500K, but I don't know the wavelength of the actinic bulbs.

Here's the lights I was looking at and the order in which I'd place them:

Front
Actinic Pure (420nm)
6000k Midday
Actinic + (450nm)
Aquablue + (11,000k)

Would this be too much blue? Anyone running this particular setup or anything close have pictures?

Kellsindell

I personally have not, but you can check this site to see if it has the spectrums you're going for. to each his own, and who knows perhaps it'll give you some ideas

CnidarianReef: Lamp Tests

au01st

Lol, I actually changed my plans. I was looking at the Giesemann bulbs b/c my LFS carries them, and only them. I did some research and went with a mixture of ATI and UVL bulbs, specifically:

UVL10000K AquaSun
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
ATI 12000K Aquablue Special

I need to figure out the order I want to put them in, but they all had the highest par values for their respective purposes/wavelengths. I just hope they're a little brighter and a little bluer than the current bulbs that came with the fixture. I'll know tonight because they're supposed to be here today from UPS.

I'm looking to get another 4 lamp t5 fixture, so the worst that can happen is that I'm not quite happy with these, and I'll have to order more to adjust it...

onefish2fish

do you have a tank thread where i can see a picture or could you post a picture?

i personally have 2 10,000 daylights, 2 actinic both from i believe UVL in my icecap retrofit and i like it.. however i think im going to add 1 more ballast to get 2 more lights on. so i run 3blues 3 daylights. (2 blues coming on first an hour before and after)

au01st

Not on this site. I got the lights in and really didn't care for the Aquasun, added too much pink for my liking. I put one of the old daylights back in, but I'll probably order another Aquablue Special. I'm also looking at getting another 4 lamp fixture giving me a total of 432 watts and even more lighting options.

Old lights


New Lights

onefish2fish

i like the new look, atleast from the picture.
i also noticed the powerhead changed.

i recommend more live rock.

Kellsindell

It looks like you're using more Base rock then Live rock? if so then be aware that the only rocks that are doing any filtration are the LR, if you have any. The BR isn't doing anything for your tank until it is seeded and becomes live. (just fyi)

au01st

Yes, I'm aware. There's a total of 70lbs of rock in there right now. I'm picking up another 25-30lbs of premium Fiji cured rock over the Thanksgiving break (been saving in a coffee jar for that for a while) and will get another 20-30lbs of base rock. I'm skimming a little on the wet size to make sure I pull all the waste out, about a half cup every 2 days.

Also, there is a mixture of "premium" rock and "seeded base rock". The premium has more coraline algae, but the base rock has actually had more life come out of it, lol, bristle worms, sponges, hermits, etc. I also seeded some copepods last week, about 500 from the LFS; got them in sponges then put the sponges in the tank for 3 days, so my rocks are crawling with copepods.

I'm still fighting with the powerheads...no matter how I turn them I always disturb the sand at the bottom after a day or so. I need like the next size up substrate, stupid oolites...

Kellsindell

Raise the powerheads closer to the top. it'll keep from blowing the sand bed and it'll kinda give an undertow if the powerheads are facing eachother, and it'll also add aggitation to the surface of the water which will add O2 to the tank.

au01st

It was actually worse when they were at the top. Doesn't matter now, I got 16lbs of "reef substrate" and put a thin layer over the sand. It's crushed up shells and bigger oolitic particles. No more blowing around and the hermit crabs love it, they're all crawling around.

For surface agitation I have a spray bar on the left side of the tank (overflow is on the right) and the powerhead in the middle is blowing up at the right side of the tank. I am getting good flow, I can see that when I feed them, the path of the particles in the water column, it just seemed like the sand wouldn't stay still.

Also picked up a skunk cleaner today. I haven't seen any in my local stores for about 2 months now, but one guy got a few in yesterday. The one I got was riding around on a large Yellow Tang in the "show" display tank; I let him finish his cleaning while I browsed, then got him when he came off the tang, so I know he's good to go, lol.