Need help building a t5/led fixture

[rustyjames]

I'd like to switch from all led to t5 with led supplementation over my 20 long. My initial plan is a LET 2 x 24 watt retro with a strip of leds mounted to c channel between the two tubes.

Will a blue plus/aquablue special give me "full spectrum" needing only royal blue/neutral white for the leds? Or will I need other color/spectrum tubes/leds?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[tdb320reef]

I'd like to switch from all led to t5 with led supplementation over my 20 long. My initial plan is a LET 2 x 24 watt retro with a strip of leds mounted to c channel between the two tubes.

Will a blue plus/aquablue special give me "full spectrum" needing only royal blue/neutral white for the leds? Or will I need other color/spectrum tubes/leds?

Thanks for any advice.

I am doing something similar. I am doing all royal blues and letting the halides handle the white. In your case I think Royal Blue LEDS, aqua special and coral plus would look great IMO.

My setup will be for a 320 so I will have 96 RB's, 8 54watt T5's and 4 250 Radiums.

initially I will go all Blue plus mainly because-they came with the Retro but eventually will be replacing them with Aqua special and coral plus to get more of a 14K color.

I have a frag tank with 8X80W and I think the corals look and grow much better under the Aqua Special and coral plus channel than the Side where the Aqua Plus are.

 

[rustyjames]

Similar but on a much larger scale

So you think blue plus, coral plus and all royal leds?

 

[bdevillier]

one think to take note of is that seeing how you are using the light over a 20 long, and you will only have 2 t5 bulbs, if you mix the bulbs you will see a color difference between the front and back of the tank. on my 20 long i had a 4x24w t5 and i tried a blue plus and true actinic and there was a noticeable color difference between front and back. i'd go with a coral plus front and back. thats what i'm doing when i get my t5/led fixture going. but my fixture will be led supplemented by t5.

 

[rustyjames]

Interesting, I didn't think of using two of the same color bulbs. How about two blue plus, high par, then a mix of royal/white leds?

 

[bdevillier]

You could do that. Its really what looks best to you. If you like a blue tank then run a blue plus with royal blue, blue, and neutral white LEDs. Or you could possibly run coral pluses and only use royal blue LEDs? Just a suggestion, I don't have me light in hand yet to play with the possibilities. My light will be a mix of 4k whites, royal blues, blues, cyans, limes, reds, and probably 2 coral +. Figure I can make any color I want at that point as long as I have the right controller