t-5 actinic, your favorite

[e-dog]

I'm ditching my pc's for t-5's. I want to supplement my 250 MH 14k Hammy with some actinic t-5's what is a good brand. And I like blue not anything that is purple like some vho's I have seen. Oh yeah my tank is a 36" 65 gal.

 

[e-dog]

Or some pics would be cool if you have a similar lighting setup.

 

[hahnmeister]

Well, those bulbs that look blue are not actinics really. Actinics peak at 420nm, or purple. If you want a blue supplimentation, you want a blue+ bulb by ATI or actinic+ bulb by Giesemann.

My favorite actinic? Giesemann true actinic03... it even puts out some UV-A which really colors in the corals very well.

 

[Avast Marine]

vho

 

[hahnmeister]

From L to R:
G-man aquablue/11,000K
UVL superactinic
G-man true actinic
G-man blue+
UVL dayactinic
GE 6500K

 

[McCrary]

I use Giesseman True Actinics (420 nm) and the look is pretty purple (when only the actinics are on), but it does complement my slightly yellow 10K Ushios and create a nice white/blue color.

hahn- Sweet collection of bulbs, very useful.

 

[hahnmeister]

Yeah, its been in my gallery since early last summer, so its a bit dated. The GE 6500K is a different bulb now I hear (more white, less yellow), and I dont have any of the ATI or Aquascience bulbs in there. I have to take another pic it seems.

 

[jag1979]

I like the ati blue +, they are really blue and have a good amount of par too (I think in the 320 range)

 

[hahnmeister]

yeah, if you want a bluer bulb, that would be the way to go. ATI makes the blue+, G-man changed the name from blue+ to actinic+, and Aquascience makes a blue as well. They are all good bulbs.

I have a friend who runs 3x14,000K Ushios over his 150g with 2 rows of blue+ bulbs... simply stunning combo.

 

[e-dog]

hahnmeister - Great display of t-5's that helps alot.

 

[jag1979]

hahn, I noticed that those bulbs are about 6" off of the water? Mine are about 13" how much par do I loose w/ that distance? Not a huge deal b/c they are my supplements to mh's but just curious.

 

[hahnmeister]

In that pick of gipsy's tank, the lights are raised up a bit most likely because of coral acclimation. The lower to the tank, the better, as long as you are getting the coverage you need with the halides (too close means you might not get the spread you want).

13" is a bit much unless you are running something that warrants it. Its not always PAR loss as it is intensity loss. The intensity you lose might be made up for with better dispersion.

With the 150g tank above, Im sure JD was trying to make sure his lighting reaches the bottom on that 30" tall tank, so Im sure the fixture ends up lower than that even. From what I remember, JD (gipsy here) had some corals freak out in the process. The previous lighting was 2x250watt 20,000Ks at the ends, and a 400watt radium in the center, with two rows of 6' VHO actinics. The tank was blue... too blue. The current light, being less wattage, actually is brighter.