Av8bluewater
New member
That's what I have but I have my actinic and one blue + for 12 hour.
I have the actinic on front.
I'm thinking about adding Actinic led strip to replace actinic T5 and play around with other combos.
The T5 Q&a Thread - split
- Thread starter eagle9252
- Start date
I have the actinic on front.
I'm thinking about adding Actinic led strip to replace actinic T5 and play around with other combos.
Av8bluewater
New member
Anyone have experience with the BuildMyLEd actinic strip vs. Reefbrite?
I see they both mount on the Sunpower about the same. Reefbrite to me looks like a cleaner strip and cheaper. The BMLed is coming out with a new strip soon that you can adjust individual leds. Or maybe groups I can't remember. Also it has some 405nm leds on the standard version. But it does cost more. Edit.. I guess the BML is cheaper than XHO reefbrite.
I see they both mount on the Sunpower about the same. Reefbrite to me looks like a cleaner strip and cheaper. The BMLed is coming out with a new strip soon that you can adjust individual leds. Or maybe groups I can't remember. Also it has some 405nm leds on the standard version. But it does cost more. Edit.. I guess the BML is cheaper than XHO reefbrite.
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TropTrea
New member
On the BuildMyLed I see a problem on the atinic end. They offer a 405nm led and and a 450nm led. These LEDs are narrow banded so you actually end up with little or no light between between 415nm and 440 nm. I believ if your adding Atinic light the 420nm is very important compared to some of the other wavelenghts.
If you build your own you can select LED's from various sources and have 454nm, 435nm, 420 nm and 405 nm leds. Unfortunately most of the 430nm leds are not the highest quality compared to other wave length available.
The other thing to remember is while the 405 to 420 nm LED's might look much dimmer than the 470nm LED's they are actually just as bright to the corals. It is the human eye that looses a considerable amount of its sensitivity to light the shorter the wave length is especially under 570nm.
dirtycontour
New member
Hi guys, I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a six bulb ATI Sunpower fixture for my standard 75 gallon. I'm looking for advice on bulbs and bulb placement.
I'm thinking:
(3) Blue +
(1) Purple +
(1) Aquablue Special
(1) GE 6500K
I'm going for a 12-14k look. I also have no idea what order to put the bulbs in the fixture.
I'm thinking:
(3) Blue +
(1) Purple +
(1) Aquablue Special
(1) GE 6500K
I'm going for a 12-14k look. I also have no idea what order to put the bulbs in the fixture.
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
That will be nearly 10k with the Aquablue and GE. For a good 14k look go with 3 Blue Plus and 3 Coral Plus.
Blue
Coral
Blue
Coral
Coral
Blue
I really liked 4 Blue Plus and 2 Coral Plus but that may be a little blue if you are looking closer to 12k.
dirtycontour
New member
I've been reading about purple+ being good for bringing out the red in coral. What do think about replacing one of the coral with a purple?
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
I really like the Purple Plus bulb. It just warms up the tank a little.
3 Blue, 2 Coral and 1 Purple looks pretty good but can be too pink for some.
dirtycontour
New member
I'll give it a shot. Thank you for the help!
TropTrea
New member
The coral plus is a 15,000K bulb to start with. So even running all Coral plus would leave you with 15,000K. Adding any blue or purple to that would take it in the wring direction if you want to get to 12,000K.
The Aqua Blue also claims to be a 15,000K bulb but I think it is more of a 12,000K bulb. But again if you want a 12,000K to 14,000K it would only take a little blue light to kick you way out to that range into the 16,000K range.
The GE 6,500K is a 6,500K bulb. so now when you add more blue lighting your raising the K range. By therory a 50/50 split with this bulb should beiv you about 10,000K Ad a 2nd Blue and your at 12,000K and a third Blue you hitting 13,000K, so 4 Blues and a Purple with the GE 6,500K will put you real close to a true 14,000K
nexusnight
New member
are ati actinics worth using on a 60" 8bulb combo? was thinking of using them on the dusk dawn setup but they seem very dim when all the other bulbs come on? i dont have my light yet may b here next week. sill trying to decide on bulbs, so far the reccomended combo was 5blueplus, purple and 2 coral plus
TropTrea
New member
Im running about 12 hours and 7 hours. Every tank is different though and you seem to be a good starting point. Simply add 1/2 hour every other week and watch for changes. If they are positive then continue , if they are negative back then off 1/2 hour.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
+1
I've always run the main T5 tubes for around 7 hours and the rest around 10-12 hours.
Dapg8gt
New member
Anyone know if I can use the sunpower clips /sockets in the powermodule? The bulb swaps on the powermodule are really difficult to the point when I feel I can break the bulb. I figured they were maybe old and swapped them all out with the reflectors but it makes me not want to swap the bulbs due to how difficult it is..
My sunpower is really easy to swap bulbs I was just wondering if they will fit or if there is a negative as to not use then.
My sunpower is really easy to swap bulbs I was just wondering if they will fit or if there is a negative as to not use then.
Thanks for the replies guys. Time to slowly increase the duration apparently. Cheers!
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Take it slow and keep a careful eye on the corals. If you see any corals lightening/bleaching then back off slightly.
IME with T5's its best to have the main lights around 7-8 hours max to retain that deep colour...Pastel/pale colours is not my thing.
Agree. I'm at 6 hrs now for main lights so I still have some room to increase.
You were right about to blue I also added buildmyled 14K strip to it and looks good now
Front
BML 14kstrip
blue+
uv+
blu+
coral+
blu+
blu+
back
Drae
RAIDER NATION!
Aquablue special kinda washes the color out of actinic and blue spectrum bulbs. True actinic bulbs bring florescent colors out of corals and fish. Two totally different bulbs and purposes.
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