Best 4 bulb t5 combo?

rjmayes34

rjmayes34

New member
hello,
I have a 60" tek 4 bulb-86 watt each i believe- and i was wondering what the best 4 bulb combo is?
I have heard- 2 white and 2 blue; 2 50/50s and 2 blue ; 2 50/50s and 2 whites.

I would like a nice crisp color. Im afraid the 4 blues will be to much? What do you think? But i like the way the blue makes it POP.

Right now i have 2 50/50s, 1 figi purple and a 10k i think(its a yellower bulb)

I def want the yellow one out!
O and also i am going to be putting in one new bulb a week to let the corals adjust, is that enough time?
Thanks for any input!
 
There are so many choices. Get the best you can afford, ATI, Geisemann and see what colors suit you and still satisfies your corals light requirement! I am using 2 actinics (each outside bulb) and an actinic + and an aquablue or pink (Geisemann). Check your local store. ABC in Syr. demo'd the bulbs for me. They have different combinations in different tanks to show the color differences. Easy to make a decision that way!
Good luck
 
yeah ill have to see what they have on their tanks. I plan on buying top of the line bulbs, i did last time. Seeing the diff colors without having to buy the bulbs would be nice though!
 
Great! There is such a difference in quality. I had a Nova Extreme that came with stock bulbs. I replaced them with the same wavelength Geisemann's... What a difference! I might be looking to some blue led's to highlight what I already have. The colors that they brought out on specific corals was amazing!
 
I would recommend ATI bulbs 2 Blue Plus, 1 Purple plus and 1 Aquablue special. If you prefer a bluer look swap the aquablue special out for another Blue plus.
 
nice, yeah i will have to look when i go to the LFS,in the next couple days.

I have one row of blue leds across the back,connected to my fixture. I have been pondering adding one to the front. I just have to build or buy a canopy first so its is not a sore sight!

Since i already have my purple i can play with that and some of the blues to see what i like better before i commit to buying my 4th bulb. Then ill know if i want the purple in the mix or not.


And then is 1 bulb a week an ok time frame, without having to worry about corals bleaching? I have had these lights for about 14 months now so i gotta think theor will be a big difference in par.
Or can i add new bulbs faster, or should i add them even slower than 1 a week?
Thanks so far!
 
I replace 2 every 6 months. It just worked out that way. I don't know if you have to worry as much with the T5's as you would with MH, but I just shortened the day cycle, actinics on first, then the others for only 4 hours in the middle of the day, then finish with the actinics, for a total of 8 hrs I also raised them a few inches higher. Now, I have it at about 10 hours for actinics and 6 hours for the others. But what you have in mind certainly wouldn't hurt anything!
 
ok, i like the 6 month idea. Break it up and then you know you always have 2 mint bulbs in doing their thing.
 
We recently changed out to 2 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI Aquablue specials, we gave the tank a couple of weeks and noticed that while it was very crisp it was also kind of cold.

We switched out one of the Aquablue specials for a purple bulb (off the shelf locally). We were warned it would take a week or two for the bulb to affect anything. A month later and I can see the difference in the corals, LPS and Zoas are all showing good growth and good polyp extension. The Hammers and Frogspawns have almost doubled, most of the regular zoas are showing lots of new polyps and even the more expensive named zoas have new polyp growth.
 
So I bought new bulbs and my old ones were as followed, front to back
Ati Blue+
Figi Purple
GE 10K I think,yellow-ish bulb
Ati Blue +

New Bulbs,front to back(all giesemann bulbs)
Aqua Blue +
Pure Actinic
Actinic +
Aqua
Blue +.

So Both Aqua Blues + are on one switch and the other two are on another switch.

It looks great!!! I thought the Giesemann Aquablue + was like the ATI Blue +; but it is not as blue at all. Still thought i have plenty of color and it looks clean.
With the one yellow-ish bulb out it really makes the tank as a whole look better! Not as washed up, and now the reds and certain greens really pop!! I also like the way the Pure Actinic looks as opposed to the Figi Purple, cleaner looking purple IMO

Ill try to remember to update this in a month or so and see what i think about growth, if its slowed or faster or what not.

Thanks for all the input!!
 
I've always wondered if I could ditch the two 10k's I run for something that gives more efficient growth. Sounds like I would benefit from a change. Right now I just run 2 10k and 2 actinic.
 
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