Lighting Question (yes another one lol)

[Opiy]

I will be getting a 58g Oceanic this sunday and I wanted to get some new T5 lights for it. As of right now all I plan to have in it is zoos and mushrooms (mostly yumas rics and rhodactus). I was thinking of getting a 2 bulb retro kit with the icecap 430 ballast and the bulbs blue + and aquablues. BUT since I have never had the T5s I dont really know if I should run more actinic or more daylight type bulbs. I dont know how much BLUE the actinics give off to make the color really come out.

So I know with the 430 ballast you can only run 2 bulbs and the 660 you can run 4 I think. Would I be better off getting the 660 ballast from the start and then if I want to add more actinic to help bring out the color I could just add one more, is that a good idea?

Ive been told 2 bulbs is plenty and also 4 bulbs would be good.

Im just trying to avoid buying something then later having to buy more because I didnt prepare from the start. Hope to not waste money.

Sorry I made 1 simpleish question a really long one but I hope you get the idea of what my concern is.

Thanks

 

[camz28]

i would get the 660 so that way you dont regret it later and i would do vhos instead of t5s , i have a 175 mh 14 k in my 29 and i love the color that puts out this would be my opinion , im pretty sure everyone else has there own opinion

 

[CoralNutz]

I would get an IC660 so you have more options later down the road. I would also get VHO's and not the T5's. I have yet to see any T5's or PC actinics that even compare to URI SuperActinics.

Also, with IC ballasts you can mix and match bulbs. You can run T5's and VHO's at the same time with the same ballast. So really you could get a couple 10K T5's and then a couple VHO super actinic.

Also as far as only running two bulbs on a 430, you should be able to run more than two if it's T5 because they are much lower wattage. As long as you don't go over the wattage you will be fine. You could contact IC directly or ask in their forum on RC here and they are SUPER helpful.

HTH