Groundfury
T. B. R. C. Member
I am looking for what kind of T5 bulb I need to use, what I'm looking for is something in the purple range I guess, I want to give my corals that black light effect.
T5 bulb help
- Thread starter Groundfury
- Start date
Groundfury
T. B. R. C. Member
I will take a look at them.
Toolguy942
New member
Any of the 460nm bulbs will give you the blacklight effect. Fiji Purple will not. It's higher up in the spectrum with a lot more red in it.
Groundfury
T. B. R. C. Member
I am using Current 460 bulbs right now and they are not even close to giving the glow effect i'm looking for, so is there that big of a difference in bulb makers?
Groundfury
T. B. R. C. Member
Yes I am using 36" 39w bulbs and I would love to try before I buy 
Got any old 14k 250w DE around
Got any old 14k 250w DE around
Groundfury
T. B. R. C. Member
Mine? I have not bout any bulbs yet i'm running off the stock bulbs that came with my lighting system.
http://www.current-usa.com/outerorbithqit5ho.html I have the 1079 big boy
http://www.current-usa.com/outerorbithqit5ho.html I have the 1079 big boy
I run actinic 420 and 460 - they give off a very cool nightglow fluorescence. However actinic's still look very different from a true blacklight (which really only works well with no other white light on#... try www.wildfirefx.com for a blacklight setup or #tis the season# try a Halloween store - biggest issue will be getting the lights in a good fixture - the Halloween fixture setups don't come with any reflectors so you lose a LOT of the light #if you don't put it into another fixture).
I run actinic 420 and 460 - they give off a very cool nightglow fluorescence. However actinic's still look very different from a true blacklight (which really only works well with no other white light on#... try www.wildfirefx.com for a blacklight setup or #tis the season# try a Halloween store - biggest issue will be getting the lights in a good fixture - the Halloween fixture setups don't come with any reflectors so you lose a LOT of the light #if you don't put it into another fixture).
John is having a 10% off bulb sale so now is the time to buy no matter what you get.
The 14k 250 phoenix is a much better looking bulb than the current stock 14k in my opinion. Of course your corals will need time to color up to the bulbs so don't expect perfection the first day. Also looks like you are running 10k. I would think you would like the phoenix 14k and the price is right. I don't even run actinics and I get good colors. When you see your coral colors start to shift it's time to replace the bulbs. For me it's 5.5-6 months. I am there now and getting a new bulb today.
The 14k 250 phoenix is a much better looking bulb than the current stock 14k in my opinion. Of course your corals will need time to color up to the bulbs so don't expect perfection the first day. Also looks like you are running 10k. I would think you would like the phoenix 14k and the price is right. I don't even run actinics and I get good colors. When you see your coral colors start to shift it's time to replace the bulbs. For me it's 5.5-6 months. I am there now and getting a new bulb today.
