LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
http://www.quantumhort.com/quantum-triphosphor-lamps.html

I'd be curious to know what the Spectrum look like on their lamps.
MelloKitty sent them to me in a PDF, and I can't figure out how to transfer into a file that I can post. The grow bulb has a decent spectrum. Small 420 peak with a big blue range- small green peak and a small red. The Bloom is not too good, most due to only being 2900K. If it was 10-12K it would be good. For the small price difference toward UVLs/ Wave Tech Coral waves, I see no point. Alas, I bought 8 each Quantums prior to be schooled by the Pr0f. kiss-asshth
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
UnderCurrentDWC: Very professional set up.

BB: Try adjusting the bulbs. I find the distance between the female recepticals is a bit to long, making it hard to get the bulb pins to make a solid connection. Also, I have to turn the light on/off to check. Simply making a proper connection does not automatically make the light go on. hth
 

organicbynature

Active Member
This was a very interesting thread! It makes perfect sense. I think I will try this for my next lighting purchase.

Right now I'm settling into a Magnum Plus LED panel in a 4x4 tent with a single T5 attached vertically in each corner. They've got the default grow tubes that they came with right now, but I wonder if I should switch them for actinics or another aquarium T5. Coral Waves maybe? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

The Mag Plus has: "11 dialed in spectrums emitted through PAR AMP lens configurations essential for big bud production! (420nm/439nm/469nm/483nm/3000k-3500k/642nm/667nm/680nm/720nm)"

I'm not sure what the exact ratios are, but it's got 4 rows of blues and whites (17-18 and 5-6 respectively, per row) and 6 rows of reds with a total of 7 UV LEDs mixed in to the red rows.

Seems like Prof did a pretty good job on his T5 spectrum, going by this.

I'm really curious to see how the color of light put out by these T5 arrangements compares to the Mag-Plus. They look quite similar from where I'm sitting. Could get a lot of this T5 wattage for the price of this LED panel.
 

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
MelloKitty sent them to me in a PDF, and I can't figure out how to transfer into a file that I can post. The grow bulb has a decent spectrum. Small 420 peak with a big blue range- small green peak and a small red. The Bloom is not too good, most due to only being 2900K. If it was 10-12K it would be good. For the small price difference toward UVLs/ Wave Tech Coral waves, I see no point. Alas, I bought 8 each Quantums prior to be schooled by the Pr0f. kiss-asshth
Open the pdf and use snipping tool !!! or if you have a mac use command+shift+4
If your too stoned use
http://pdf.my-addr.com/free-online-pdf-to-tiff-convert.php
 

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
Wssup pr0 im new to riu and i wil be starting my first grow soon. I have a 4' 4 54w tek light fixture that i had on one of my reef tanks. Right now in this fixture I have 3 blue plus (one is a spare), 1 aquablue special, and a 12000k actinic white (50/50). Can i use any of these bulbs to veg? Or should i get rid of them all and go with this set up (fiji, 454, UVL 75.25, Fiji) that u recommended to another person? And is my fixture good enough to veg and flower 2 plants?
Use the blue and the 12k and 2 fiji's you should be good! ;)
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
UnderCurrentDWC: Very professional set up.

BB: Try adjusting the bulbs. I find the distance between the female recepticals is a bit to long, making it hard to get the bulb pins to make a solid connection. Also, I have to turn the light on/off to check. Simply making a proper connection does not automatically make the light go on. hth
I had the same problem with 2 of my bulbs. the wiring was fine. i just bent the recepticals a little at one end and its been good. I can even hit my head on it when I stand up and the bulbs stay on every time that happens or even when it rocks.
 

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
UnderCurrentDWC: Very professional set up.

BB: Try adjusting the bulbs. I find the distance between the female recepticals is a bit to long, making it hard to get the bulb pins to make a solid connection. Also, I have to turn the light on/off to check. Simply making a proper connection does not automatically make the light go on. hth
Again the BB lights.. Check all of your connections.. open her up UNPLUGGED and check all connectors.. they dont wire them very well. I would prefer soldering to join all connections.. but alas everythings made in china!
 

cannawizard

Well-Known Member
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So when i decided to grow i started with a 400W hps and MH conversion bulb. I put up my tent and it was problem after problem. With the generous help from the people here i decided to throw away my setup and start from scratch. I purchased the Quantum Badboy 8 lamp T5. I started with the standard 6500k bulbs with some success. I wanted to buy an LED light but didnt have the money. So... i was at my buddies house and he has a LARGE aquarium and he showed me his bulbs..it clicked.. corals need light too and his lights produced the EXACT spectrum corals need to live and are capable of penetrating 3'+ of water. well corals and plants are very similar as they use the EXACT same light spectrum. Digging deeper i found bulbs that produce 410-460nm and 620-660 nm light.. That is also Exactly what LEDs put out..now putting one plus one together i decided to do a small test.. i bought 2 2' t5 lights ATI AND UVL Blue plus and Super Actinic. Explosive growth followed. i couldent believe my eyes. I was told on 4 different forums that actinic bulbs DO NOT WORK FOR plants boy were they really wrong!. i ahve since gone 100% T5 with various bulbs producing only yhe light spectrum that plants need. As you can see my plants are doing AMAZING for being grown with Actinic bulbs.2 of my bulbs are missing as they were broken upon arrrival. I will be changing out some of the blue bulbs with the deep red ones i found for flowering..they produce ONLY 630-660nm light. no other spectrum so i get 100% PAR. top that with MH...now i know what your thinking these lights are not bright at all... well its not about lumens.the human eye response isView attachment 1101463photosynthetic is View attachment 1101468, so your eyes do not see ALL the light these bulbs output. hardcore believers will flame me but let the math and the facts be known.HPS BULBS View attachment 1101469 Anyone notice a pattern here???? Lumens are not the ending factor to bud growth or you could not grow with LED. my sample grow i netted 1oz on a plant with only 116w. If your still in disbelief consider this, chect the spectrum charts for your coveted 3000k bulbs and overlay it with your chlorophyll response charts.. youll notice MOST of the light these bulbs prodice is outside the chloraphyll A+B peaks... now place the spectrums of my lights and overlay them...100% match.. seems to me im doing something right?:joint:
**excellent read, --subd :)
 

Lucius Vorenus

Well-Known Member
Seems the Badboys are having some Quality Control issues. Can someone recommend a next step up in brand? I'm using the Home Depot lights right now and they seem OK thusfar but they come on at full power and im sure that's hard on the bulbs.
 

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
My big plant is now ~ 48" tall X 30"+ circumference (shaped like a christmas tree), with bazillions of bud sites. I am running out of height to raise my fixture. No way to take a pic from the top, though that would be awesome.

Aq Specialties still does not have UVL Super Actinic, but they have all my other bulbs. After a bit of shopping around for the UVL Super Actinics (with reflector), Marine wants $20 handling charge + shipping; others you have to call to get shipping, so I decided to go with 2 ATI True Actinics (non reflector), close enough for hand-grenades. All being shipped from Aq Specialties, so I save a bunch of money with one shipping charge. They finally got 2 Red Lifes in (one a N/C replacement), so I grabbed the other one, just in case another one dies.

Hopefully I will have them by Friday. I need more red/far red and the Quantum Blooms ain't cutting it.

BTW, the file MelloKitty sent me is Word, not PDF. Also, I have a Dell Dudes. Does that change anything?
 

organicbynature

Active Member
Nobody has had a suggestion yet for the single T5s in the corners of my Mag-Plus tent, but upon further reflection I'm thinking the Fiji's might be the bulb to use, as the Mag-Plus has a pretty comprehensive spectrum and so it makes sense to add more to the "base" colors.

But having read through this entire thread the other day, I see that the spectrum graph believed to be for the Fiji's is actually for another bulb that is no longer produced. What makes us think at this point that the Fiji is worth the money? Is anyone leaning towards a different "base" bulb with the uncertainty surrounding the Fiji's spectrum?
 

Myles117

Well-Known Member
i use 3000ks as my base and super actinic and sun reds to boost. thats a base for a flowering room though.

professor, i got 6 sun reds, 2 super actinics and 6 3000k in my flowering room now....is that a good mix for flowering? I dont plan on having veggers in the room at all so thats why i am leaning more towards the orange/red spectrum.
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
Nobody has had a suggestion yet for the single T5s in the corners of my Mag-Plus tent, but upon further reflection I'm thinking the Fiji's might be the bulb to use, as the Mag-Plus has a pretty comprehensive spectrum and so it makes sense to add more to the "base" colors.

But having read through this entire thread the other day, I see that the spectrum graph believed to be for the Fiji's is actually for another bulb that is no longer produced. What makes us think at this point that the Fiji is worth the money? Is anyone leaning towards a different "base" bulb with the uncertainty surrounding the Fiji's spectrum?
I've been braining out on side lighting too. I'm thinking of mounting 4ft 2 bulbs n the sides with a fiji and coral wave on each

link to graph
http://www.practicalcoralfarming.com/t5spectrums.html
 

organicbynature

Active Member
I've been braining out on side lighting too. I'm thinking of mounting 4ft 2 bulbs n the sides with a fiji and coral wave on each

link to graph
http://www.practicalcoralfarming.com/t5spectrums.html
400+ watts, that's some serious side-lighting (at least if you're in a 4x4 like me)! :)

Have you thought at all about 2 or 3 footers for the corners instead? I feel like they might be a little more optimal height-wise, but then they basically cost the same as the 4 footers...Or are you even running them vertically?

Find a good deal somewhere for 2 bulb fixtures?
 
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