Growth Rate
- Thread starter SWBeginer
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lokii_37
New member
I think there are a lot more factors than just the bulb selection. I have heard that some zoas grow great under only actinic but there are other corals that need to have more of the spectrum then the actinic provides. I would do a combination of bulbs.
Will this be for primary lighting or supplementation? How many bulbs do you plan on running?
Will this be for primary lighting or supplementation? How many bulbs do you plan on running?
Dapg8gt
New member
Blue Plus for sure. Actinic is a lower par bulb and used primarily for coral color and it's peak in I believe 420nm range. I think lately it's been used to drop par in fixtures that have too much light. And to give the pop it's Def not a stand alone bulb as its missing most other parts of the needed spectrum.
From what I've been reading in the T5 thread and experienced The blue + has the most beneficial light overall for coral out of ATI ' s line up. I use only b+ and a few coral + in my fixtures. I will be adding a Actinic to my new fixture as the par is going to take some getting used to by my corals. I'll eventually have at least 5 b+ and the other 3 are for what I think look good to my eye color wise.
If you haven't checked out the t5 Q&A thread on rc check it out. Some serious knowledge on the bulbs in there.
From what I've been reading in the T5 thread and experienced The blue + has the most beneficial light overall for coral out of ATI ' s line up. I use only b+ and a few coral + in my fixtures. I will be adding a Actinic to my new fixture as the par is going to take some getting used to by my corals. I'll eventually have at least 5 b+ and the other 3 are for what I think look good to my eye color wise.
If you haven't checked out the t5 Q&A thread on rc check it out. Some serious knowledge on the bulbs in there.
ReeferItIs2
New member
You ran 4 blue bulbs 24/7?
zeroinverse
New member
I think reef bass (ken) means he ran that configuration all the time. Not 24/7. That is just nuts!
Maybe you t5 the can chime in here. What bulb would do what LED's struggle to? I've read that LEDs struggle to produce true uv and other parts in the spectrum a lot of corals need. I'll be mounting two kessils in a ati fixture and gutting all but two bulbs. I was thinking I would run the two a350's along with a blue+ and possibly a atinic. But maybe I would be better off with a purple plus and atinic? Or even two atinics?
Dapg8gt
New member
Def blue+. It's gonna cover the spectrum across the board to help with growth and a coloration. You won't really need any Actinic or daylight bulbs as your kessils have those covered.
Last night I finally think we convinced a friend to add t5 to his sol lit tank. The tank and system is mature and is awesome just lacking on coloration. Im excited to see the results over the next few months =).
Dapg8gt
New member
Since they came out =). Years.. He gets decent growth but colors are just blah. He was over last night and dead set on changing over to t5.we convinced him to add some let dual fixtures on his tank and just run the ai's length wise. His tank is a 180 tall with close to 300gls in the system. Par #s are great it's just color and growth of certain species is seriously lacking.
He was surprised at the difference of growth rate and color in coral I got from him less than a month ago under the t5's with similar parameters water wise. It's gonna be a good example because his system and husbandry are top notch I totally believe he will be all good after adding the b+ to his sol's .
He was surprised at the difference of growth rate and color in coral I got from him less than a month ago under the t5's with similar parameters water wise. It's gonna be a good example because his system and husbandry are top notch I totally believe he will be all good after adding the b+ to his sol's .
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