TropTrea
New member
It is close to what I'm running and I like it. Only big difference is I'm running one less Purple + and one more Blue +. This is personal color preference though.
The T5 Q&a Thread - split
- Thread starter eagle9252
- Start date
It is close to what I'm running and I like it. Only big difference is I'm running one less Purple + and one more Blue +. This is personal color preference though.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Coral Plus would make it look more toward 14K
DiscusHeckel
Acropora Gardener
Grim and Trop,
Thank you.
In terms of growth, would there be a big difference between the two combo?
I have a few fairly large crocea and maxima clams in my set up. I think clams, especially croceas, would require a lot more red spectrum since they live closer to reef top. That's why I thought it might be a good idea to increase the red spectrum by including an ATI coral plus bulb without making the tank look too yellow.
Is this a good strategy or would you advise a different bulb to satisfy the growth needs of clams?
Thank you.
In terms of growth, would there be a big difference between the two combo?
I have a few fairly large crocea and maxima clams in my set up. I think clams, especially croceas, would require a lot more red spectrum since they live closer to reef top. That's why I thought it might be a good idea to increase the red spectrum by including an ATI coral plus bulb without making the tank look too yellow.
Is this a good strategy or would you advise a different bulb to satisfy the growth needs of clams?
TropTrea
New member
If you want to increase the Red without dropping the over all PAR much go with a second ATI Purple Plus bulb. Some people prefer that color effect and it becomes a matter of taste. I prefer a more blue look 470nm effect than a purple look but this is my personal preference. The purple plus is basicly a Blue Plus with a spike in the red end of the spectrum, to give the more purple effect. This combo could actualy give you a little more PAR than either the Coral Plus and definatly more than the Aqua Blue Special.
I have an aquatinics TX5 36" 5 bulb fixture that I just replaced 2 Aquablue specials in. My tank is a 57G Rimless.
Bulb combo from front to back.
1.Blue Plus
2.Coral Plus
3.ATI Purple +
4.Blue Plus
5.Coral Plus
I really like the way the color looks instead of running the aquablues.
Am i gaining or losing anything from swapping out the Aquablues to Coral +'s? I mainly just have a few softies and LPS but would like to keep a few of the easier SPS towards the top if this fixture is enough light.
Input would be appreciated.
Bulb combo from front to back.
1.Blue Plus
2.Coral Plus
3.ATI Purple +
4.Blue Plus
5.Coral Plus
I really like the way the color looks instead of running the aquablues.
Am i gaining or losing anything from swapping out the Aquablues to Coral +'s? I mainly just have a few softies and LPS but would like to keep a few of the easier SPS towards the top if this fixture is enough light.
Input would be appreciated.
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
The TX5 is an OK fixture so with those lamps SPS on top of the rocks is a safe bet.
I currently have a Tek 6 bulb fixture for my 90gal four foot tank. I want to add about 5 or so more sps to the tank which is mainly lps, zoos, and palys. I am wondering if these are going to be strong enouph and at what depths. Also here are my lights which I absolutly love the look.
front
blueplus ATI
purple ATI
blueplus ATI
GE 6500
Blueplus ATI
Blueplus ATI
front
blueplus ATI
purple ATI
blueplus ATI
GE 6500
Blueplus ATI
Blueplus ATI
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
On top of the rocks only for SPS
Vipete1985
New member
IN NeeD OF THe GRIMMM REEEFERS EXPERTISE!!>>>>>Lately i been experiencing color loss in my corals with some even going as far as bleaching out from the fixture being to close to the surface of my 72 gallon bowfront (Was running 3 ati blueplus 1 ati aquabluespecial and 1 65k and one purple plus)....i have a 6 bulb ati fixture with bulbs 2 and 5 come on separtely from 1,3,4,6......i have acess to about 5 ATI blue plus one GIESMANN12k one ATI 14k one ATI purple plus one HAGEN 6500k and one ATI true actinic and i have 2 bulbs coming in the mail from UVL that were defected....they r resending me A UVL SUper ACtinic and a UVL 75.25.......with all those bulbs at my disposal what combination would u use?? AND with my tank having LPS and softies toward middle and bottom with SPS toward the top how far off the water would u reccomend i keep this fixture??
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Run the two UVL lamps you have coming with 4 Blue Plus and see what happens. They have **** PAR so hopefully with the 4 blue plus you'll have about the right amount for your critters. 4 to 6 inches above the tank for the fixture height.
Vipete1985
New member
thanks grim
What order should I put these in front - back?
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
TropTrea
New member
There are multiple ways to dcrease the light.
The most common would be to simply raise the lights higher or to reduce the cycle time they are on. Reducing cycle time will only work up to the point where the mid day lights are on for 6 hours.
The UVL will reduce your PAR as will the True Atinic will. Experiment to see how much you realy need to reduce it. I like Grims idea of swapping in the UVL but first I would swap out the GE 6,500K with a UVL 75/25 to see if that was enough, If you still need to cut back then swap out the Aqua Blue Special with a UVL Super Atinic. On a final last effort you could swap out one of the Blue Plus bulbs for the ATI True Atinic.
Unfortunaly as you go through these swaps the color will get more blue on your tank and you will loose more color on your reflective reds and yellows. This is why I prefer the first ideas of raising the lights first and secondly reducing the on time.
I have a 4xT5 lamp setup running stock bulbs for the last 8 months. I just went to a frag swap this weekend and picked up a bunch of softies and a few easy to keep SPS (montis and such).
I figure this is a great time to buy a few new bulbs. What would be the best combo to maximize my ability to grow SPS in my 55g? I'm also not a huge fan of the pure actinic look, so perhaps a daylight bulb in there as well? I'm okay with spending about $25 per bulb which would get me top of the line from what I understand. Thanks for your help!
I figure this is a great time to buy a few new bulbs. What would be the best combo to maximize my ability to grow SPS in my 55g? I'm also not a huge fan of the pure actinic look, so perhaps a daylight bulb in there as well? I'm okay with spending about $25 per bulb which would get me top of the line from what I understand. Thanks for your help!
TropTrea
New member
The Monit's are not necessarly low light SPS corals so they will have to be close to the surface.
With only 4 bulbs I would go with 2 Blue Plus, 1 Purple Plus, and 1 Aqua Blue Plus. I would not rcomend you use the GE 6,5000 since you only have 2 Blue Plus bulbs and the yellow produced by the GE 6,500K would not be balanced out and could give you a little yellow look overall.
medicreefer
New member
A couple of questions for the experts on here...
I'm upgrading from my 20g nano to a 50g (36x18x18) and I'm debating my lighting options now. I'm still flip-flopping between LED and T5, but that's a topic for a different thread. If I ultimately decide on T5, here are my questions:
I'm looking at the ATI dimmable 6x39w vs dimmable 8x39w vs Aquaticlife 6x39w. I'm leaning towards the Aquaticlife fixture based on price and availability (ATI is near impossible to find in Canada). Do you think I will need the 8 bulb fixture (in which case there is only 1 option), or would a 6 bulb fixture be sufficient? With the price of the Aquaticlife fixture being significantly cheaper, if you think that will provide sufficient light to keep just about anything then I'd like to stick with that, but I'm open to changing my mind and spending more cash if there's a compelling reason why ATI is much better than the Aquaticlife. I'd like to be able to keep some SPS on the rocks and perhaps lower light specimens lower down and on the sand or at the ends. The only things that will be moving from my 20g to the 50g will be a GBTA that has quadrupled in size under my current T5 lighting and a frogspawn that is outgrowing the 20g.
My current T5 lighting on the 20g is 4x24w in a Current USA fixture. The lighting combo as suggested by rtparty years ago, which I totally love the look of, is:
-Gmann Actinic Plus
-KZ Fiji Purple
-Gmann Aquablue
-GMann Actinic Plus
For the 6 bulb fixture, which 2 bulbs would you suggest I add to keep the overall look the same (I'm OK with a bit whiter but not too much)? I was thinking a GE6500 or GMann midday and another GMann Actinic Plus, though I'm not sure of the order I should put them in.
Thanks
I'm upgrading from my 20g nano to a 50g (36x18x18) and I'm debating my lighting options now. I'm still flip-flopping between LED and T5, but that's a topic for a different thread. If I ultimately decide on T5, here are my questions:
I'm looking at the ATI dimmable 6x39w vs dimmable 8x39w vs Aquaticlife 6x39w. I'm leaning towards the Aquaticlife fixture based on price and availability (ATI is near impossible to find in Canada). Do you think I will need the 8 bulb fixture (in which case there is only 1 option), or would a 6 bulb fixture be sufficient? With the price of the Aquaticlife fixture being significantly cheaper, if you think that will provide sufficient light to keep just about anything then I'd like to stick with that, but I'm open to changing my mind and spending more cash if there's a compelling reason why ATI is much better than the Aquaticlife. I'd like to be able to keep some SPS on the rocks and perhaps lower light specimens lower down and on the sand or at the ends. The only things that will be moving from my 20g to the 50g will be a GBTA that has quadrupled in size under my current T5 lighting and a frogspawn that is outgrowing the 20g.
My current T5 lighting on the 20g is 4x24w in a Current USA fixture. The lighting combo as suggested by rtparty years ago, which I totally love the look of, is:
-Gmann Actinic Plus
-KZ Fiji Purple
-Gmann Aquablue
-GMann Actinic Plus
For the 6 bulb fixture, which 2 bulbs would you suggest I add to keep the overall look the same (I'm OK with a bit whiter but not too much)? I was thinking a GE6500 or GMann midday and another GMann Actinic Plus, though I'm not sure of the order I should put them in.
Thanks
TropTrea
New member
First off the 8 bulb fixture is noce because it will give you a lot more flexability to tune it to the liking of the corals and your personal taste. The 6 Bulb ATI will be sufficient but I would not pay the extra money for the dimmabile option.
On your present fixture it is not an over powereing blue to start with. If yu want to keep it where it at or go slightlyt whiter this is what I'd do.
Front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Puple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500 K
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple plus
If you go with 8 bulbs
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Puple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500 K
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aqua Blue Special
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple plus
Remember we are worrid about getting too blue with thius set up and my normal recomendation would be much bluer combination.
TropTrea
New member
Do your math on this. Calculate initial cost, electrical usage, and bulb replacement over 5 years. I think on a new system start up the from scratch it is now much more economical to ge with LED's. But for an existing system to switch over it is not always the economical path.
medicreefer
New member
Sorry I miised a part in my last post... I'm ok going a bit whiter OR a bit bluer but not much. I know I just said a bit whiter earlier but I meant either, in fact I'd be more ok with a bit bluer than whiter.. So if you were to go a bit bluer what would you suggest? ATI bulbs are hard to find here but I think I've figured out all the GMann equivalents. Also, the reason I like the dimmable ATI option or the Aquatilclife is the built in timer allowing for a dawn-dusk cycle without needing 2 seperate power cords and timers. Do you think I could keep just about anything with the 6-bulbs? Does anyone know the PAR difference between the ATI and the Aquaticlife running the same bulbs?
Similar threads
