Best T5 bulbs for the money

From what I have read and experienced - the ATI line of bulbs are great value. The Blue plus is a great bulb for the price and very popular. The have the Purple plus which is basically a 20 dollar version of the 34 dollar KZ Fiji purple.

If you had a 6 bulbs -You could do worse then 2 ATI blue plus, 2 ATI blue special and a ATI Purple Plus / ATI True Actinic 03 bulb.

Do some searches - "best 4 or 6 bulb T5 combination" and you'll find a plethora of other opinions.

Hope this helps. These bulbs can be had $18-20 from BRS during a group buy. Which we have one coming up in Early May.
 
I second the ATI blue+, they are great bulbs, give really nice coloration. And if your lighting system allows just some bulbs on in addition to all on, just having blue on produces a beautiful effect.
 
I just replaced my bulbs. I hate the atinic look personally. I used them one night. If you decide to buy 2 atinics, PM me first.
 
gdub,

Which actinics due you hate? 460 or 420 ?

These are the ones I bought/hate. Not really hate....I just don't like them as much as the blues. I used them for 3 nights and then took them out. I will be doing a LED now anyways. So basically I spent $100+ and will not be using them.

ATI 48 Inch 54W True Actinic 03 T5HO Fluorescent Bulb
 
I have 2 400w 10k MH and 4 T5's. After reading the comments on the ATI bulbs, I just switched out the Hamilton Actinics I had to 4 blue plus bulbs. Love the look, colors really seem better. In fact with the brighter bulbs I now enjoy the tank with just the T5's on.

Joe
 
+1 on the ATI bulbs, Blue +, AquaBlue Special, Purple Plus, all great ATI bulbs. Very nice PAR and great spectrum. I had them on my 5-bulb and 4-bulb fixtures when I ran T5's and loved them all.
 
T5 HO lighting from sylvania and G.E. 54w are they safe for corals?

T5 HO lighting from sylvania and G.E. 54w are they safe for corals?

my bad
 
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