Best 6bulb combo ?
- Thread starter toky916
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Tweakes182
New member
Here is one opinion... From Marine Depot Article.
http://blog.marinedepot.com/2014/08/reef-aquarium-light-color-guide.html
http://blog.marinedepot.com/2014/08/reef-aquarium-light-color-guide.html
Pico1
New member
Glad you found that marine depot article, I did a LOT of research on T5s combos and that was the most helpful thing I ever came across. I also agree with the above recommendations though. You can throw in a lagoon blue for one of the blue plus bulbs if you want more of a 14k look and more variety in spectral peaks.
This Is for another tank I still have the hydra 52 over the 65
they hydra is really nice no complaints yet.Thanks guys for the chart. So most of you are going 20k that's not too blue ?
Who around town has that set up and would not mind me stopping by to take a look before I make the order.
I am about to order new bulbs and will like to know if you rearranged your bulbs prior this order you have them now??? I ask because i remember the recommendations of the subject matters allways said that the strongest spectrum bulb must be in the middle of the combination. In this case the Coral+.
At this moment i have that same combination but in different order and have noticed that my yellow, some greans and brown corals seem pale and don't know if the order of the bulbs can be a factor. My order is B+, B+, C+, P+, B+, B+. So B+ and P+ are Dawn/Dusk.
Thanks in advance...
At this moment i have that same combination but in different order and have noticed that my yellow, some greans and brown corals seem pale and don't know if the order of the bulbs can be a factor. My order is B+, B+, C+, P+, B+, B+. So B+ and P+ are Dawn/Dusk.
Thanks in advance...
ayobreezie
New member
Personally like a 10k - 14k look. All that blue looks too fake but to each his own. Plan to do a 14k 6 bulb combo but replace a coral plus with a aquablue special.
silentscream
New member
I used this combination for a while, but with my shallow tank, found it too intense. I replaced two blue pluses with actinic bulbs and have been real happy with the color of all 6 bulbs on.
ayobreezie
New member
Wcharon, you should try a different order first.. B+, p+, B+, b+, c+, b+.
Ok.. I will give that a try and report back...
Current - B+, P+, B+, C+, B+, B+
Option 1 - B+, p+, B+, b+, c+, b+
Option 2 - C+, B+, B+, B+, B+, P+
Current - B+, P+, B+, C+, B+, B+
Option 1 - B+, p+, B+, b+, c+, b+
Option 2 - C+, B+, B+, B+, B+, P+
I am not a T5 person but from an aesthetic perspective I would think your full spectrum bulbs would want to be as close to the front as possible while avoiding banding. The idea would be that the reflectance angle is minimized showing the broadest color to the viewer. This is similar to why our corals look so much better from the top in most tanks (including mine). From that viewpoint, the reflectance angle is nearly 0.
Ok.. Just to inform my decision...
Tried option 1 (B+, p+, B+, b+, c+, b+) and it really made a huge change in the look of the tank and corals with the P+ and C+ as Dawn/Dusk. Now i can see the 2 tones of colors of my Hammers, the Green Finger looks neon and my Duncans pops great as well.
Tried option 2 (C+, B+, B+, B+, B+, P+) overall is Ok but not spreaded as option 1 and i don't like 2 B+ as Dawn/Dusk.
I went further and inverted the C+ and the P+ of Option 1 and really like it better and i think that is because the mayority of my corals and rock placement are more in front to middle of the tank. So thats why the full spectrum bulb is probabbly glowing better in the front.
Thanks to all for your help and advise. Really made it and confirmed that bulb placement does make a huge difference.
Tried option 1 (B+, p+, B+, b+, c+, b+) and it really made a huge change in the look of the tank and corals with the P+ and C+ as Dawn/Dusk. Now i can see the 2 tones of colors of my Hammers, the Green Finger looks neon and my Duncans pops great as well.
Tried option 2 (C+, B+, B+, B+, B+, P+) overall is Ok but not spreaded as option 1 and i don't like 2 B+ as Dawn/Dusk.
I went further and inverted the C+ and the P+ of Option 1 and really like it better and i think that is because the mayority of my corals and rock placement are more in front to middle of the tank. So thats why the full spectrum bulb is probabbly glowing better in the front.
Thanks to all for your help and advise. Really made it and confirmed that bulb placement does make a huge difference.
ayobreezie
New member
Glad that worked out for you.
