# What Kelvin is the T5 Arcadia Plant pro?



## sanj (22 Apr 2010)

Any ideas?

They used to state the rating of thier Freshwater tube at 7,500k, but I cant find information on the Plant pro, only that it is some combination of the Original Tropical and the Freshwater.


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## George Farmer (22 Apr 2010)

I don't think it's public knowledge for some reason.

It doesn't really matter anyway.  Why do you want to know?

They do have a definite pinkish hue to them, so I don't like them on their own.  I mix mine with JBL Natur 9000K which is great for green/blue, so the combination is excellent.

When mine are due replacement I will use cheap T5s from Lamp Specs.  They cost a fraction of what you'll pay for aquarium-branded lighting, but grow plants very well too!


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## Mark Evans (22 Apr 2010)

yes, they are warm, but over the 5400 range i reckon, way over. 

mixed with a osram 880, tones things down some what.



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> I mix mine with JBL Natur 9000K



that's a green tube mate isn't it!

i've just ordered another 2 osram 880, so I'll be running 4 x 880 without mixing them.


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## GreenNeedle (22 Apr 2010)

As a guide the Original Tropical was 4000K and very very pink veering towards the very dark and not very bright (to our eyes  )  That never stated the K either 

AC


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## sanj (23 Apr 2010)

> They do have a definite pinkish hue to them, so I don't like them on their own. I mix mine with JBL Natur 9000K which is great for green/blue, so the combination is excellent.



Hello, the reason really was to get an idea of what they look like. I bought 8, i loved the Freshwater whihc they seem to have discontinued, but then was under the impression that plant pro were perhaps a bit pink from the few photos i had seen. I did ask on another thread about the 9000k jbl bulb as i could not find it on uk websites. However i had already seen the 8800k Osram bulb from lamp specs which i would guess is close ish and i have seen Jame's photos.

Some of what you have said is really what i wanted to know, Plant pro on its own or would it look better with a higher k bulb. I had initally thought plant pro woild be fine as it was supposed to be a combination itself. What ratio did you use?

I guess i could purchase four Osrams and play around.


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## GreenNeedle (23 Apr 2010)

the freshwater and original tropical are still being sold but have been rebranded for some stores.  I think the freshwater is now called 'natural daylight' or something like that.

Some stores still have them by their original names.  No idea why this happened.

The Plant Pro plus is a 'specialist' tube and unnecessary IMO as the freshwater produces great results and I would agree with you that it's output in terms of the tank appearance under it is one of the best available.

AC

AC


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## Mark Evans (23 Apr 2010)

SuperColey1 said:
			
		

> The Plant Pro plus is a 'specialist' tube and unnecessary IMO as the freshwater produces great results and I would agree with you that it's output in terms of the tank appearance under it is one of the best available.



lets not forget, it's about personal preference. 

The plant pro is a great tube and enhances reds brilliantly. Thats not to say they make red plants redder, they just look red under that K rating. IMO any tube around the 8000K is best(appearance wise), but then that's what I like.

i think i may do a test with different bulbs a post the images. as good as jamesc test is, IMVO it's inaccurate.


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## sanj (24 Apr 2010)

> i think i may do a test with different bulbs a post the images. as good as jamesc test is, IMVO it's inaccurate.



That would be great for an update and to see some of the mainstream tubes used in the hobby.


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (24 Apr 2010)

sanj said:
			
		

> Any ideas?
> 
> They used to state the rating of thier Freshwater tube at 7,500k, but I cant find information on the Plant pro, only that it is some combination of the Original Tropical and the Freshwater.



Sanj 

You are right regarding the K rating for the plant pro tube - see attached short cut for info.
http://www.aquascape-boutique.fr/epages ... s/ECTC-018

Regards
Paul.


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## GreenNeedle (24 Apr 2010)

So if the Plant Pro is 7400K and the Freshwater is 7500K what is the difference?  If it is pinkish as stated above then it is most definately not 7400K as stated on the site linked to!!!

From a quick scour over a site I know which stocks a lot of Arcadia it seems that in their T8 section they have Original Tropical and Freshwater 4000K & 7500K with no Plant Pro Plus whereas in their T5 section they have the Plant Pro Plus and no Freshwater.

If the Freshwater and Plant Pro Plus are indeed only 100K apart have Arcadia discontinued the Freshwater in T5?  Was there ever a Plant Pro Plus in T8?

Seems strange to me!!

This is what the T5 Orig Tropical blurb states:
_Designed to be used on its own or in conjunction with the Plant Pro lamp_

This is what the T8 Freshwater blurb states:
_we recommend the use of the Arcadia Original Tropical and Arcadia Freshwater lamp together_

From the above 2 I can say that the latter used to match the former in that the freshwater used to say it was designed to be used with the Orig Tropical and vice versa which seems to suggest they have dropped the freshwater now in favour of the plant pro plus which is............more expensive than the freshwater was even though the K is the same.

Lol at me for getting carried away over 100K

AC


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## Mark Evans (24 Apr 2010)

All though tubes state a certain K rating, there not accurate. for example, the ADA NAG green rated @  8000K, has green tinge to it added by the ADA lab. but it's certainly different to a osram 8000K , but you'd think they should be the same both being 8000K


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## ceg4048 (24 Apr 2010)

Mark is absolutely right in pointing out this obvious inconsistency. Folks need to get real about Kelvin ratings of bulbs. They are strictly an illusion and are completely meaningless. Instead of swallowing the rubbish being fed to us by lamp vendors we should instead try to understand just what is Kelvin in the first place. Take a look for example at wikipedia's black body radiation

Even if you don't have the energy to actually read the article, just have a look at the Kelvin strip on the right edge of the page. That's what Kelvin number should approximately be, which I can guarantee look nothing like most of the bulbs of the so-called Kelvin ratings. Vendors try to make you feel good about handing over your hard earned cash to them. The marketing approach is to suck you in to some pseudo-scientific explanation of why their bulb's K rating is superior to other's. None of this is real. Do you actually think there is a laboratory somewhere staffed with Arcadia scientists, dressed in white lab coats, "designing" a bulb specifically for plants? More than likely, they travel to Guangzhou, China and buy bulk quantities of the bulbs on contract. The only designing that goes on is for the web page or for the packaging.

So when you see a Kelvin rating of a bulb you should only think of this as a MODEL NUMBER and you should not compare it to any Kelvin rating of any other bulb. That information won't tell you anything.

Cheers,


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## Mark Evans (24 Apr 2010)

very true clive.

I've gone through a few images, but dont have the right ones to show the point.

here's my 60 with an acradia 5400K tube.with camera set to 5400K inn the kelvin setting.it does show rather warm tones.






and here's the same tank with the bowens flash, which is rated @ 5400. and probably the most accurate light there is. bowens, probably did spend millions on correct W/B


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