T-5 Bulb choices

[Puccini]

I just bought a six bulb T-5 Tek light. I have a 75Gal that is about two feet deep. I would like to have some soft corals and a nice assortment of fish. What 6 bulbs should I choose to get the best results?I also heard that when T-5's are kept cool they perform much better. Any truth in that.

Everything has been up and and running now for about 4 weeks cycling. I put in 80 pounds of live sand (Caribsand) to speed up cycling.
I am new to the reef side so any advice would be helpful

Thanks, Steve

 

[Henry Bowman]

Dude,

You should check out the T5 Q&A thread. GrimReefer and Hahnmeister are the best. I asked grim the same Q a while back for a Solar Flare. Here's his response

Front to back
Aquablue
Super Actinic
Midday
Actinic +
Aquablue
Actinic +

and here are the ttls

1 - UVL Super Actinic
1 - Geismann Midday
2 - Aquablue
2 - Actinic Plus

My light overdrives the lights .... I really like the color though.

Regarding the temps, Grim did an actual PAR experiment that indicated when the lamps get over 92 or so degrees the par decreases. The T5 thread has this info in it. Use computer type fans...

HTH

 

[mikedege]

my 6 bulb tank is like this:

Front
URL Superactinic
ATI Blueplus
GE day or Geismann Midday
ATI aquablue
URL Aquasun (pinkish tint)
ATI Blueplus
back

have fun, remember, bulb placement makes a big difference in look. If you prefer a slightly more yellow look try swapping bulbs around. maybe like this:

Front
URL Superactinic
GE day or Geismann Midday
ATI Blueplus
ATI aquablue
URL Aquasun (pinkish tint)
ATI Blueplus
back


btw, i personally prefer the ATI bulbs the best. Then Geismann. And URL for Superactinic, and aquasun. Make sure to get quality bulbs...

Keep in mind, its all personal preference, so its basically gonna come down to "whats looks good to you".

-Mike