Bulb recommendations ATI

[afish70]

I have a 90 gallon soon-to-be mixed reef with a 6-bulb 48" T5 fixture. It has 3 bulbs that are controlled together and another set of 3 bulbs operated together. Right now I have 2 ATI Blue+ and 1 True Actinic that come on together and the second set are 1 Coral+ and 1 Purple+. What should I use for the third bulb to go with the Coral+ & Purple+??


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[bobt2]

6500 for growth and looks imo.

 

[SDboatguy]

Another Blue+

 

[cubsFAN]

Another Blue+

That's what I'd do.

 

[Toby_Kourtney]

Depends on the coral you want. I really dislike blue tanks. It just doesn't look natural to me. I run a 6 bulb ati and for a 10k look I run
Blue +
Coral +
Purple +
Actinic
Tropic 6500k
Blue +

 

[The Kahnasaur]

Another Blue +

 

[bobt2]

I,m with toby 2x 6500 2x actnic 1xblue 1x blue plus. looks more like a shallow reef and great coral growth

 

[ReefCowboy]

IMO best combo color and excellent growth: 3xBlue +, 2x Actinic, 1x Purple+

 

[JohnnyHildo]

the best balance i've found with my ATI is to always keep 1/2 of your fixture filled with blue+ and never use more than 1 coral plus as they're very bright.
i have an 8-bulb but if i had to buy bulbs for yours i would buy 2 blues and an actinic for channel 1 and a blue, a purple and a coral+ on channel 2 so you have some options.

 

[jayball]

You are going to get a million answers asking without giving what you are looking for in the end.

I would add another Coral+ but I like a crisper white with blue touch. If you want it bluer than add a blue+. They are both the right answer depending on what you want out of it in the end. They will both provide about the same amount of PAR and will both grow coral.

 

[jacksonpt]

I like a whiter look to my tank than most, so on my 4bulb setup, I've run 1 blue, 1 purple, and 2 whites (I forget what ATI calls them... I think it was 2 coral+, 1 blue+ and 1 purple+) and it worked fairly well for me. Growth wasn't great, but my corals (mostly LPS, some SPS) did well and I liked the appearance of my tank.

I've recently switched to a more blue spectrum (supposedly better for growth) with Giesemann bulbs (it's what I can get from my good, local LFS). I now run 2 blue, 1 purple, 1 white.

For yoru 6 bulb setup, I'd probably lean towards 3 blue, 2 white, 1 purple, but again... I like a whiter look to my tank.

Ultimately I don't think there is any wrong answer here. More blues seems to be the only common response, so I'd get 3-4 of those... then 2-3 whites and 2-3 purples. Then you can swap bulbs around until you find the combo you like. Whatever you don't end up using becomes a spare/replacement bulb for when the times comes.

 

[GSMclowns]

Very hard to give advises on lighting combo because it is too personal. Some people like bluer tank, some like a more whiter tank. You may want to look at the ATI website and use this as a reference? http://www.atinorthamerica.com/faq.php

Anyway, What do you want to keep in your tank? SPS, LPS, softie?
If it is SPS, you would want a higher par bulbs such as B+, C+, Aquablue Special, Purple+. Avoid the Actinic since it doesn't produce as much par.

If this was my tank and I want to keep sps, then I would go for this combo:
Front:
B+
Aquablue Special
P+
B+
C+
B+
Back:

 

[afish70]

Very hard to give advises on lighting combo because it is too personal. Some people like bluer tank, some like a more whiter tank. You may want to look at the ATI website and use this as a reference? http://www.atinorthamerica.com/faq.php

Anyway, What do you want to keep in your tank? SPS, LPS, softie?
If it is SPS, you would want a higher par bulbs such as B+, C+, Aquablue Special, Purple+. Avoid the Actinic since it doesn't produce as much par.

If this was my tank and I want to keep sps, then I would go for this combo:
Front:
B+
Aquablue Special
P+
B+
C+
B+
Back:

I am going with LPS like Frogspaw, Hammers, Torch and some Ricordeas. Right now this is my set up:

Front (channel 1 first 3 bulbs)
Blue+
True Actinic
Blue+

Channel 2
Purple+
Coral+
Purple +
Back




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[d2mini]

I don't know why everyone always wants to go all ATI.
Yeah, they have some nice bulbs but so do other manufacturers like Geisemann and Korallen-Zucht
I hate ATI Blue+ with its weird green tint. The KZ superblue is a nicer bulb IMO.
And Geisemann's Super Actinic beats anyone's elses bulb in that spectrum.
G also has some other great bulbs.
Broaden our horizon!

 

[bobt2]

ok, I,ll ask. why doesn't anyone but me use some 6500 k natural sunlight bulbs?

 

[Potatohead]

I don't know why everyone always wants to go all ATI.
Yeah, they have some nice bulbs but so do other manufacturers like Geisemann and Korallen-Zucht
I hate ATI Blue+ with its weird green tint. The KZ superblue is a nicer bulb IMO.
And Geisemann's Super Actinic beats anyone's elses bulb in that spectrum.
G also has some other great bulbs.
Broaden our horizon!

I would like to try other bulbs but they're hard to get up here, ATI is easy.

I currently have;

Front
Blue+
Coral+
Actinic
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+
Coral+
Blue+
Back

When I need to get new bulbs again I will probably switch a coral for another blue, or maybe try another brand for a couple bulbs depending on availability.

 

[Toby_Kourtney]

ok, I,ll ask. why doesn't anyone but me use some 6500 k natural sunlight bulbs?

I think most people are scared it's going to be yellow.

 

[bobt2]

when I used to frag for $$$[before sandy wiped out my tanks] 6500's gave me the best softy and lps growth