T5 users, please post you bulb combination!

[A. Grandis]

I'll have to order bulbs towards the end of the year, so...
I just wonder what is going on today with the T5 users.
Would be interesting to see some bulb combinations and the results.

Please post.

Grandis.

 

[YoungREEFA]

Blue plus
Blue plus
Fiji purple
Blue plus
Coral plus
Uvl actinic white

But what im going to change into is
Blue
Fiji
Blue
ge 65k
Blue
Actinic plus

 

[jdraider75]

Sps taank
Blue plus
Purple plus
Blue plus
Blue plus
Ge 6500k
Blue plus
Coral plus
Blue plus

Zoa and lps tank
Actinic
Blue plus
Coral plus
Blue plus
Good growth and color on both combos probably gonna pull coral plus on zoas and add another blue plus.

 

[TylerHaworth]

Blue Plus
Blue Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus
Purple Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

I think I may need to change the center Coral Plus out for an Actinic or possibly a KZ Fiji...

 

[Saltwatercoral2]

4 blue plus, coral plus, and purple plus.

 

[Lateralus]

Coral+, blue+, purple+, blue+, coral+, blue+

 

[that Fish Guy]

Nobody uses Aquablue Special Anymore?

I remember that it used to be that everyone used Aquablue Special and Blue Plus Bulbs only. What happened?

I see a lot of Coral Plus's being used in this Thread.

I want to try them but nobody has a PAR Reading for them yet.

"Grim Reefer" the T5 Expert never answers my posts.

Blue Plus and Aquablue Special both have been proven to have very high PAR.

But with ATI Actinic Bulbs getting only 127 PAR vs. 330 PAR on the other two ATI Bulbs I am scarred to use an unproven new ATI Bulb.

If the Coral Plus is over 300 I will use them but I do not want to get them and kill my Coral because their PAR is closer to 127.

Can somebody please give us some PAR Values on the Coral Plus so we will know for sure how good of a light that it really is or is not.

 

[ThaBeast]

4 blue +, superblue, 2 coral plus, one purple plus

Coral plus is supposed to have similar output par to blue plus but I don't have exact numbers

 

[A. Grandis]

Blue plus
Blue plus
Fiji purple
Blue plus
Coral plus
Uvl actinic white

But what im going to change into is
Blue
Fiji
Blue
ge 65k
Blue
Actinic plus

Thanks for posting!
I like your 2nd choice better, but I would change the actinic plus for a blue plus...

Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

Thank you all for participating.
That's just great!!

Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

Nobody uses Aquablue Special Anymore?

I remember that it used to be that everyone used Aquablue Special and Blue Plus Bulbs only. What happened?

That was long ago, before the KZ coral light.

I see a lot of Coral Plus's being used in this Thread.

I want to try them but nobody has a PAR Reading for them yet.

KZ Coral Light is a very good bulb and many say it's very similar to ATI Coral Plus! Good PAR (~342).

"Grim Reefer" the T5 Expert never answers my posts.

The last time I've talked to him he wasn't dealing with T5s anymore and trying out some LEDs. That was years ago... It's a shame. LOL!!! Just kidding.

Blue Plus and Aquablue Special both have been proven to have very high PAR.

But with ATI Actinic Bulbs getting only 127 PAR vs. 330 PAR on the other two ATI Bulbs I am scarred to use an unproven new ATI Bulb.

PAR number will depend on how you measure.
The last time I've talked to GrimReefer he posted this values from his own measurements:

ATI Blue plus = 311.
ATI Actinic Plus = 264.
ATI Pure actinic = 157.
ATI Aqua Blue = 324.

He didn't know about the new bulbs back then.

I would expect the ATI Coral Plus would be somewhere between the KZ new generation (~330) and KZ Coral light (~ 342), better than the ATI Aqua Blue.

If the Coral Plus is over 300 I will use them but I do not want to get them and kill my Coral because their PAR is closer to 127.

It's all about adaptation. Not a big deal when you do the right way, very slow, one bulb at a time...

Can somebody please give us some PAR Values on the Coral Plus so we will know for sure how good of a light that it really is or is not.

It would be great if someone would do that, but we would like the comparison to other PAR numbers using the same method, instrument and with new bulbs, please.

Please keep posting your observations...
It's so good to talk about the T5s!

Thank again,
Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

4 blue +, superblue, 2 coral plus, one purple plus

Coral plus is supposed to have similar output par to blue plus but I don't have exact numbers

The ATI Blue Plus has a PAR ~311, by GrimReefer.
I would think/hope that the ATI Coral Plus would be around 342+, similar to the KZ Coral Light.

Let's see if anyone here has any numbers for us...

Grandis.

 

[songwvq]

Thank you all for participating.

 

[Big E]

The ATI Blue Plus has a PAR ~311, by GrimReefer.
I would think/hope that the ATI Coral Plus would be around 342+, similar to the KZ Coral Light.

Let's see if anyone here has any numbers for us...

Grandis.

At what height are those numbers?

For my combo I run 2 blue+ and 2coral+

 

[ReefCowboy]

After debating for a while on the coral+, i got the combo 4Blue+,1 coral+, and1purple+ like some here. I must say it brings a beautilful look. I just switched from 3 blue+ 1 purple+ and two 10ks. Its too early to tell how my acros and sps will react, but i dont see how it wouldnt be ok. Some of my acros had gone from 2" frags to some at about 8" now, so i always thought the lower k was needed for them. What made me switch was tanks of other reefers in the 20k range having not only the growth i had, but also much better color rendition.
I was wondering par on coral+ as well, so will be tagging along if anyone has that info...
If that helps, here is a pic of before and after the switch. The bluer combo, even though looks dark in the pic( its hard to capture the real colors with my camera), in person is much brighter, and the contrast is amazing.

 

[Fishypapa]

An offshoot question (yes related to the post):

I see a lot of you are using the 6 bulb fixture and was wondering if this has a significant advantage over the 4 bulb one. I have a 4 over a 38g tank.

Thanks..(now back to our regularly scheduled topic)

 

[ThaBeast]

At what height are those numbers?

For my combo I run 2 blue+ and 2coral+

One inch, no reflector. Grim's numbers were for bulb comparison only

 

[ReefCowboy]

An offshoot question (yes related to the post):

I see a lot of you are using the 6 bulb fixture and was wondering if this has a significant advantage over the 4 bulb one. I have a 4 over a 38g tank.

Thanks..(now back to our regularly scheduled topic)

The amount of bulbs is relevant if you have a deeper tank.
I have read an article stating you should have 1 bulb per 3" of tank depth( from front to back). In other words, if a tank is 24" deep, considering this rule, an 8 bulb fixture should cover it well. However, in practice, by raising the fixture a bit, you can achieve the coverage with less bulbs. My 6 bulb fixture covers my 24" deep tank very well. Many reefers have had success with a four bulb fixture in 18" deep tanks, however, remember that the more you raise the fixture up to cover the less bulbs, the more the tank bottom will lose in PAR. A 4 bulb fixture in a 38 gal should be plenty IMO

 

[Big E]

The amount of bulbs is relevant if you have a deeper tank.
I have read an article stating you should have 1 bulb per 3" of tank depth( from front to back). In other words, if a tank is 24" deep, considering this rule, an 8 bulb fixture should cover it well. However, in practice, by raising the fixture a bit, you can achieve the coverage with less bulbs. My 6 bulb fixture covers my 24" deep tank very well. Many reefers have had success with a four bulb fixture in 18" deep tanks, however, remember that the more you raise the fixture up to cover the less bulbs, the more the tank bottom will lose in PAR. A 4 bulb fixture in a 38 gal should be plenty IMO

Just fyi........# of bulbs only will affect width not depth. More bulbs does not = more par or depth penetration.

If each bulb is 300, 4 bulbs is 300 as well & 6 bulbs are also 300. 6 bulbs will have a wider coverage and hit a coral from wider angles so it may help it grow/color better as it's covering more area of the coral......especially corals that would fall outside the range of a 4 bulb set up versus a six bulb set up.

6 bulbs will look brighter than 4 bulbs because coverage and overlap is better, but it doesn't create more par.

 

[Big E]

One inch, no reflector. Grim's numbers were for bulb comparison only

Thank you Beast