# T5 bulbs?



## TDI-line (6 Mar 2008)

Ok, i have 8 x 39w T5's, all of them are Giesemann aquaflora (come with the units). I have ordered 4 x Giesemann Midday T5 to give a more even colour band.

I was just wondering what would be the best configuration. I have 4 razor edge units, 2 joined together long ways, spanning 2 metres. So 2 + 2.

eg. at the rear 4 x Aquaflora, then 4 x Midday at the front.

or

at the rear 2 x Aquaflora + 2 x Midday, then 2 x Aquaflora + 2 x Midday at the front.

What do you think.

At present they all come on at the same time.


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## ceg4048 (6 Mar 2008)

Gosh TDI, the color combinations really are going to depend on what your planting arrangements are and what you want to emphasize.  If you've got red plants in the back for example then putting the redder light in the back will help show it off better. I've got orangy colored bulbs from lampspecs and they do a good job of picking up the yellows and orange tints in the crown of some stems that reach the top.

I don't tunr all on at the same time because I'm paranoid about having the right CO2 concentration for the given light demand. The most important time in the photoperiod is at the beginning. If you throw megawatts at the plants when CO2 is less than max you actually create a carbon limited condition at the worst possible time. The drop checker has such a long lag time I'm never really sure what the CO2 concentration is at Lights ON, even though gas is ON an hour before.To give myself some cushion by turning on only 100 watts worth or so for the first hour and then the rest later. Have had pretty good luck with this strategy. Again, this is a strategy for a big tank so may not apply for small volumes where the "inertia" is much lower.

Cheers,


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## Themuleous (6 Mar 2008)

If it helps I find the midday very green compared to say the plantpro.

BTW what unit is that, if it came with Giesemann tubes already installed?

Sam


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## TDI-line (6 Mar 2008)

There D + D razor edge.

As for co2, it is regulated on a ph controller (i know, i know), so co2 is umm pretty much on 24 hours.

At the moment i'm running all 8 aquaflora's which is very very green.


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## ceg4048 (6 Mar 2008)

TDI-line said:
			
		

> As for co2, it is regulated on a ph controller (i know, i know), so co2 is umm pretty much on 24 hours.
> 
> At the moment i'm running all 8 aquaflora's which is very very green.


O..kay...[scratches head while reaching for a Boddingtons] Why not throw in a couple of the sylvania Grolux or the Osram 840's from lamps specs? That out to balance things out a bit.

Cheers,


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## Themuleous (6 Mar 2008)

Yeh good idea Clive.


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## TDI-line (7 Mar 2008)

Ceg, when you say balance things. what do you mean, and also how would you guys do it. (beer anyone?)

Thanks.

Also what time period would be best? One long one or two short ones?

Also i have noticed some of my plants have white tips around the edges, mainly glosso and bacopa. I am dosing TPN+ each week, around 60-70ml.


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## ceg4048 (7 Mar 2008)

Hi TDI,
            Sorry, what I mean is simply the mix of colors. If things are too green then adding magenta, orange or red tends to neutralize the overpowering green. You could put these in the middle row so that they are flanked by the aquafloras. A reddish bulb like Grolux is dim to our eyes so if you put it in the front row it might tend to give a "hollow" effect. If you've got 4 rows you just do an alternating pattern starting from front to back aquaflora-grolux-aquaflora-grolux.

Once the photoperiod starts, I would never shut it down until the end of the day. This 
Grand Illusion about "siesta simulating thunderstorm" must be another result of the Dennerle marketing machine working overtime.

Think about this for a second: When lights go off plants re-configure their chemistry to stop using CO2 and to instead to consume oxygen. Is that good for your fish, especially if the CO2 is still being injected during the siesta? The CO2 level then  rises while oxygen levels drop. This means a loss of CO2 stability which only encourages algae. Then the lights go on again and the plants have perform another reconfiguration to go from oxygen respiration to CO2 consumption. Another slight edge to algae which can perform this re-configuration in a fraction of the time it takes for higher plants. Once again the CO2 level drops as their consumption ramps up - CO2 stability takes another hit.

Short term changes in environmental conditions always favors the much less complex algae whose response reactions are quick. Long term stability favors the higher order plants. Just because plants experience thunderstorms and the resultant periodic loss of light in the rain forest, it does not automatically mean that they necessarily _welcome_ this instability. What plants _prefer _and what they are _capable of enduring_ are not always the same thing.

White tips and edges normally mean calcium or boron. Bacopa is normally bulletproof. The TPN ought to rule out boron. If you are using hard tap water that would rule out calcium. The only thing left is CO2. Add more mate.

Cheers,

PS: Wouldn't it be cheaper to just use dry powders?


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## TDI-line (8 Mar 2008)

Thanks Ceg, that has made things very clear. I'll change the light time to later on, so it will  have one long setting going into the evening, for viewing of course.

I have thought about dry ferts, i know they would be cheaper, will look into this soon. At present i have a 5000 ml bottle of TPN+ to burn through. I thought maybe dosing this daily too, instead of 70ml in one go.


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