is there a T5 combo that will equal MH for coral coloration?

[jeremy K]

There have been umpteen posts about T5 bulb combinations. Most of these have involved which combinations look the best. What I have noticed is that SPS tanks with MH (especially 15-20K MH) yield MUCH better SPS coloration than any T5 tanks I have seen (including my own). Don't get me wrong, I've seen many beautiful T5 tanks on TOTM, but even there the SPS don't have the distinctive coloration that MH gives.

My question - has anyone discovered a way to use T5 to get the same coral coloration as MH? One tip I've discovered is to add an actinic bulb to the mix to add spectrum that isn't otherwise there - this improves the greens in the tank IMHO. But still not same as MH...

 

[Michigan Mike]

Color is subjective, I'm sure there are a lot of people who think you get better color with T5.

 

[YoungREEFA]

IMO t5 colors up corals much better. Now speaking in terms of Radiums for color, you will need a heavy set of actinics really. so on a 6 bulb i would go 3 ati actinics, 2 blue plus, and one 65k GE

 

[jeremy K]

I agree totally that color is subjective, so let me be more specific. I find that under MH lights, corals present multiple colors whereas with T5 they tend to be one single pastel color. For example, an ORA red planet can look totally red or pink under T5, but under MH will be strongly green base with strong red tips. Tricolor acros tend to be more truly tri-colored rather than one color. That's what I guess I mean when I say that MH colors up better IME.

 

[sahin]

My LFS has a 10 tube T5 unit over a VERY LARGE and deep tank. They use a combo of ATI Coral Plus, ATI Blue Plus, ATI Actinic, ATI AquaBlueSpecial. The unit was the ATI Sunpower-not even the Powermodule.

I cant recall the exact number of each tube variety used, except that they had only 2 blue+. This tank used to have 20K halide (NOT Radium-I checked) (3x250w) with T5's on each side of the Halide bulbs, before the ATI Sunpower.

I returned around a month after I saw the ALL T5 unit. My god...the COLOUR WAS AWESOME. Honestly, it was easily the best SPS coral colours I had ever seen.

I 100% doubted that the colours would improve so much.

Here is the thing; the overall appearance was 12-14K: like I said above, they didnt go overboard on the Blue+ like most T5 users do. With MH's we are pretty much restricted to the spectrum of the halide bulb. But with T5's too many people use excessive Blue+ tubes.

I think that the use of quantity of white and blue tubes matters; as the spectrum shifts too much to the blue side and perhaps there isnt enough of the other spectrums?

Anyway, even with the 12-14K appearance, the coral colours are superb. Coral florescence was amazing too. - Again something I didnt expect such a whitish appearance.

I am due to change my T5 tubes next month. At the moment I have:

ATI Blue+
ATI ABS
ROYAL Blue LED's
ATI Purple+
ATI Blue+
ATI Blue+

Notice that its too much of the Blue Spectrum.

For my new bulb lineup I am going with:

ATI coral+
ATI Actinic
ROYAL BLUE LED's
ATI coral+
ATI Actinic
ATI coral+

The Radium 20K bulb even though it is a very blue bulb, it actually is a FULL SPECTRUM bulb. Hence why so many people get good colour out of their SPS when using this bulb. Have a look at the Spectral plot of this bulb, it is truly a FULL SPECTRUM bulb.

 

[YoungREEFA]

sahin, if i were you throw in a ge 65k where the middle coral plus is, that will really dive into the red and yellow part of the spectrum, colors up very nice, but not sure how it will affect the desired kelvin.

 

[sahin]

sahin, if i were you throw in a ge 65k where the middle coral plus is, that will really dive into the red and yellow part of the spectrum, colors up very nice, but not sure how it will affect the desired kelvin.

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually have a couple of GE 6,5K chucked away somewhere. I used to like the overly blue spectrum and bought them, and never used them. So I will definitely try one tube for a month or so and see what happens. :thumbsup:

 

[Michigan Mike]

So you basically want to recreate the radium look with your 6 bulb Sunpower & 2 reefbrights, or without the reefbrights? You should be able to get it pretty close but I have no idea with the added reefbrights.
Its easier when you have the halide on to look at and change out the T5 bulbs until you get it close.
I do like the ge6500 too, but it does need a blue plus or 2 to offset its strength.

 

[sahin]

There have been umpteen posts about T5 bulb combinations. Most of these have involved which combinations look the best. What I have noticed is that SPS tanks with MH (especially 15-20K MH) yield MUCH better SPS coloration than any T5 tanks I have seen (including my own). Don't get me wrong, I've seen many beautiful T5 tanks on TOTM, but even there the SPS don't have the distinctive coloration that MH gives.

My question - has anyone discovered a way to use T5 to get the same coral coloration as MH? One tip I've discovered is to add an actinic bulb to the mix to add spectrum that isn't otherwise there - this improves the greens in the tank IMHO. But still not same as MH...

Do you have a 6 or 8 tube T5 unit?

If its a 6 bulb this is the combo I'd recommend: 2x ATI Blue+, 2xATI Coral+ and 2xATI Actinic. You should get good colour with that.

 

[kissman]

I just bought 4 ATI Blue +, 1 Coral +, and 1 Purple +, and I love the combo