[fishstein]

I have to pick up 4 T5 54W bulbs for a Tek II retrofit kit for a new planted 125H gallon tank. Would you go with with 4 Midday 6000K, OR mix 2 Midday 6000K with 2 Aqua Flora?

What color visible light does the Aqua Flora throw?

Based on my experience with a great combo of T8 bulbs I had been using (Phillips ADV850 Advantage 5000K and Phillips Aquarelle 10000K), I'm guessing the combo of Midday 6000K and Aqua Flora will look very nice and work very well.

Also, how does the Aqua Medic Planta bulb compare with the Giesemann Midday and Aqua Flora? Which Giesemann bulb is it closest to? Does it last as long as the Giesemann bulbs? What color visible light does it throw?

 

[gravy9]

I have the combination of Midday and AquaFlora for my tank and works great. Be sure that you're supplementing the tank with CO2 and ferts.

Here are the links to the Giesemann Light Spectrum charts for T5HO bulbs: Midday and Aqua Flora.

 

[Newt]

Hi Fishstein,

I'm not sure what the color of the light is from either the AquaFlora or Planta bulb. The Aquaflora until very recently has been very had to get hold of. The Planta bulb by AquaMedic has been described as a bit pinkish when compared to the Midday which are white. This could be true as the Planta has a very small green spike. The Planta is listed as 5000K. The AquaFlora does not have a kelvin value. At least nowhere I have seen. I would choose the Planta as the red emissions are up around 650-660nm as compared to the AquaFlora at 625nm - plus its less money. The AquaFlora does appear to have stronger blue emissions.

Planta bulb:

AquaFlora:

Midday:

 

[fish dork]

I have Aquamedic Planta in my tank, they are 6500K as per the bulb. They look pink... even to look right at them they look pink. The red plants look great under them! They do need to be paired with some kind of midday bulb... or something that is 'whiter'. Mine are paired with 6500K Sunblaster bulbs (they make everything kind of green/yellow). The sunblasters are local. Apparently the plantas look good paired with the midday 6000K from what I've read, but I haven't tried it myself. I can't say much for the longevity of the plantas either as I haven't had these for long. Check out the colour in my tank pics

 

[Newt]

You achived a nice balance of light in your tank, fish dork. Healthy looking plants, too.
Is the substrate Eco or Flourite Black?

You could be correct about the Planta but I got the 5000K from Aqua Cave:
http://www.aquacave.com/planta-t5-lamps-by-aquamedic-982.html
http://www.aqua-medic.com/t5_bulbs.shtml

I googled Aqua Medic and searched their website and found that they make an Aqualine T5 Plant Grow light in a 6500K. It does not have the same spectral output as I posted above. It is quite different (less intensity thru the spectral output).

http://www.aqua-medic.de/freshwater/en/24/T5 set 24W/

 

[fish dork]

They came from here http://http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1436

I'm going to have to bookmark aquacave, that's a good price for those! And yes, it turns out these are the aqualines, not the plantas as advertised! Nice catch I hadn't even noticed. At any rate the plants like them, they're looking nice (in combo with the other bulbs) and I'm seeing the space between nodes on the stem plants are getting shorter.

 

[fish dork]

The substrate is just black gravel. It's capping a mix of peat moss, sand and clay (kitty litter).

 

[fishstein]

I have the combination of Midday and AquaFlora for my tank and works great. Be sure that you're supplementing the tank with CO2 and ferts.

Here are the links to the Giesemann Light Spectrum charts for T5HO bulbs: Midday and Aqua Flora.

gravy9, since you are using both Giesemann bulbs, can you tell me:

1) Would you describe the Giesemann Midday as throwing a white-blue light or a white-yellow light? I'm not a big fan of yellow light and one guy in my local aquarium club wrote he thought the Middays threw a little yellowish light

[he uses Coralife 6700 and 10000K 28w (non-HO) bulbs and lets the Tek ballast overdrive them - after running out of spare bulbs he thought he'd give the Coralife ColorMax bulbs a try. He thought the pinkish Colormax in a photo looked like the GE 9325 AquaRays].

2) How would you describe the color that the Aqua Flora throws? I ask because the visible light thrown by a bulb may not match its kelvin chart.

3) Which bulb do you find grows plants better/faster (which is better for photosynthesis), the Aqua Flora or Midday? I've tested bulbs I've mixed separately to know their effects - my old T8s both were excellent, one was good for lateral growth and the other for height.

 

[fishstein]

You achived a nice balance of light in your tank, fish dork. Healthy looking plants, too.
Is the substrate Eco or Flourite Black?

You could be correct about the Planta but I got the 5000K from Aqua Cave:
http://www.aquacave.com/planta-t5-lamps-by-aquamedic-982.html
http://www.aqua-medic.com/t5_bulbs.shtml

I googled Aqua Medic and searched their website and found that they make an Aqualine T5 Plant Grow light in a 6500K. It does not have the same spectral output as I posted above. It is quite different (less intensity thru the spectral output).

http://www.aqua-medic.de/freshwater/en/24/T5 set 24W/

Hi Newt, what color do you find the Aqua Medic Planta 5000K throws? Does it look white-yellow, white-blue or pinkish? Again, asking because the visible light thrown by a bulb can be surprisingly different from its spectral chart.

Also, how does the Planta perform compared with your other bulbs?

What kind of growth do you get with them?

What kind of bulbs do you pair them with?

 

[gravy9]

gravy9, since you are using both Giesemann bulbs, can you tell me:

1) Would you describe the Giesemann Midday as throwing a white-blue light or a white-yellow light? I'm not a big fan of yellow light and one guy in my local aquarium club wrote he thought the Middays threw a little yellowish light

[he uses Coralife 6700 and 10000K 28w (non-HO) bulbs and lets the Tek ballast overdrive them - after running out of spare bulbs he thought he'd give the Coralife ColorMax bulbs a try. He thought the pinkish Colormax in a photo looked like the GE 9325 AquaRays].

2) How would you describe the color that the Aqua Flora throws? I ask because the visible light thrown by a bulb may not match its kelvin chart.

3) Which bulb do you find grows plants better/faster (which is better for photosynthesis), the Aqua Flora or Midday? I've tested bulbs I've mixed separately to know their effects - my old T8s both were excellent, one was good for lateral growth and the other for height.

Hi,

1) The Midday bulb throws a very white light and the difference I saw since switching to T5HO has been tremendous. I decided on this combination based on my discussion with another member Niko in this forum. I really like the output from this bulb. As for the yellowish light, I'd have to disagree with it as I feel that it's bright white.

2) Aqua Flora throws a light pink on its own and in conjunction with the Midday does not show any significant color difference with the Midday. I use the Midday bulb in the front to minimize the impact. That said, I have not tried the Midday in the back.

3) I do know that the plants grow extremely well with this combination and Niko uses two Midday bulbs and I think he might be the right person to answer this question. One thing with the T5HO bulbs, I would recommend that you have the right amount of CO2 and fertz to maximize the growth. I've only had these bulbs for about a month and am not the right person to answer this question and will defer it to the experts.

Hope this helps.

 

[niko]

I don't have experience with the Giesemann AquaFlora.

So it all down to either using Giesemann Midday by itself or mixing bulbs. The Midday bulb gives the best combination of warm and cool light in one single bulb. The green plants look very green and the reds in the fish and plants are not washed out. They do not appear exagerated but rather natural, as they should be. I don't think there is a need to mix that bulb with any other.

The only way to increase the reds would be to add a warm bulb of course. But once you see the colors that the Midday reveals you will not want anything else. Unless AquaFlora really, really makes the reds pop out.

--Nikolay

 

[fishstein]

2) Aqua Flora throws a light pink on its own and in conjunction with the Midday does not show any significant color difference with the Midday. I use the Midday bulb in the front to minimize the impact. That said, I have not tried the Midday in the back.

You don't find that the pinkish Aqua Flora helps pop the red plants and fish at all?

What did you mean by "minimize the impact?"

 

[gravy9]

The problem I have currently is that I've been procrastinating on removing my UGF from the tank since I started it this June. I'm planning on redoing it over the next week. I would have to attribute the slow growth to the UGF. Comments?...

By "minimize the impact" I meant that putting the Midday bulb in the front to present the tank with a whiter light than the pinkish light in front. Not sure if it makes any difference at all.

 

[niko]

I forgot to mention something. I think it's important because I see that for whatever reasons people seem to tend to mix bulbs.

Back when I got my first Giesemann Midday bulbs I was very, very worried about their 6K rating. I thought that they would produce light that is reddish because all the stupid and now obsolete Power Compact bulbs appear reddish unless they are above 6700K. So I ordered some of the 11K Giesemann Aquablue to mix with the Midday.

That was a foolish mistake. First off the Middays don't need any supplementation with either a blue or a red bulb. Of course if someone really wants to make the reds pop they can do it. And here's what I want to warn about;

Example set-up:
With the individual reflectors a T5 bulb produces a rather narrow beam of light. Over one of my tanks I have one Midday bulb (front) and one Aquablue bulb (back). The distance betwen the 2 bulbs is about 2 inches. The front half of the tank appears beautifully lit (Midday bulb) and the back half (AquaBlue bulb) appears idiotic blue.

Suggestion:
If you want to mix the T5 bulbs DO NOT use the individual reflectors because then the light doesn't really mix. By not using the individual reflectors you will loose a lot of light but you will get what you want - tweak the appearance of the light to what you want it.

--Nikolay

 

[gigi]

Ok,
Next month I" wish buy 3, Giesemann Aqua flora end 3 ,Midday T5
You consider , to deserve this fluoroscents tubes put my aquarium plants ?
You know also better fluorescent tubes from aquarium plants?

 

[fishstein]

Niko, thank you for that one - I just checked the thread after returning from business travel just before ordering the bulbs - I was worried about the reflector effect and mixing bulbs - given that I'm staggering 4 4 ft. T5s with Tek II reflectors over a 5 ft. tank, think I'm going to stick with all Middays this time. Later I can always add another red-popping bulb like the Planta + reflector in the center, if I think it will makes things look that much nicer.

Thanks everyone for your very helpful advice.

 

[gravy9]

Any updates on your decision, fishstein?

 

[Newt]

I just got my 4x54w TEK fixture w/ Midday bulbs from Reef Geek. Free shipping on all items and that included the box with the brackets. Plus some free candy - Yahoo. Excellant packaging, too.
Reef Geek does offer discount prices for buying bulbs in bulk. I dont have that info with me (at work) but if anyone wants it just ask for it with a post in this thread and I will post back with the info.

I will be ordering some Planta AquaMedic bulbs thru AquaCave. Reef Geek has the AquaFlora now but the Planta has a better peak in the red and is less costly. I will wait until I read of some feedback on the Giesmann AquaFloras before trying them.

I'll be running the Planta bulbs in the middle 2 slots and the Midday on the outer 2 banks.

 

[Newt]

I've had my new Tek lighting (4x54w) with Midday running for over a week now and what I have observed is an increase in pearling but my Rotala indica and water primrose are not nearly as red as with the Philips CF PLL950s.

 

[supersmirky]

Newt - Did the Planta Aquamedic bulbs not help with the reds?