T5 lighting combination

[richardhmc]

I recently bought a 6-bulb tek light and I have never owned a t5 fixture before.

2 cords - one for the two outside strips and the other for the four on the inside.

What is the best combination of bulbs? I want a 20k look, and then a real blue look as well. Hopefully I can get both with the right bulb combination. Thanks!

Also, the aluminum reflectors, how do I clean them? just water?

 

[strgazr27]

Drop jerl77 a PM. He can answer your questions about T5 combos.

 

[adamt]

20,000k IS really blue. What are you trying to grow in your tank? If your looking for an sps tank

front
ati blue+
ati aquablue special
ati blue+
ati purple plus
ati blue+
ati aquablue special

this should give you a crisp 14,000k look with all lights on and a nice solid blue 20,000k for dusk and dawn

If your doing lps and softies and want a bluer looking tank with nice flourescence all day long try

front
ati blue+
ati purple plus, or kz fiji purple
blue+
ati aquablue special
blue+
purple plus
if you want it even bluer you could swap out a purple plus for a blue plus or a regular ati actinic (Ihave one of these in my 8 bulb and love it) which will give you a ton of flourescence and sufficient par for lps softies

 

[richardhmc]

I'm going to keep everything!.. If that's possible which I heard it is.
SPS, a clam, softies, anemones, LPS.

I guess I'm trying to mimic the color of a metal halide which I'm not sure if its possible.
But I do want a dawn/day/dusk combination

 

[strgazr27]

What color MH? The original MH's were a 10K color and IMO still look the most natural though a lot of people are really into the 14K and higher look. 10K's will give higher PAR values watt per watt usually but some people feel they are to yellow in color and don't make the corals "Pop" so to speak.

 

[richardhmc]

What color MH? The original MH's were a 10K color and IMO still look the most natural though a lot of people are really into the 14K and higher look. 10K's will give higher PAR values watt per watt usually but some people feel they are to yellow in color and don't make the corals "Pop" so to speak.

20k is what I'm looking for. The bluish looking color.
14k is like a yellowish tone?

 

[strgazr27]

14K is Blue.... 20K is IMO rediculously blue.

Here are a pair of 14K MH's. Bulbs are 175 Watt and have less than 20 hours on them. I will be selling these shortly as they are WAY too blue for me. As you can see 14K's are definitely NOT yellow Lol.

 

[richardhmc]

14K is Blue.... 20K is IMO rediculously blue.

Here are a pair of 14K MH's. Bulbs are 175 Watt and have less than 20 hours on them. I will be selling these shortly as they are WAY too blue for me. As you can see 14K's are definitely NOT yellow Lol.

Ahhh that looks great :scratchch :tongue1:

So what lighting combination should I be?

@Adamt

ati blue+
ati aquablue special
ati blue+
ati purple plus
ati blue+
ati aquablue special

this should give you a crisp 14,000k look with all lights on and a nice solid blue 20,000k for dusk and dawn


I guess I'll have to toy with this combination.

 

[richardhmc]

Right now I have
Actinic+ - 3
Pure Actinic - 1
Aquablue+ - 5
Midday - 1

All of the are Giesemann. What is aquablue special?

 

[mbg75]

Drop jerl77 a PM. He can answer your questions about T5 combos.

Like strgazr27 said, talk to jeremy, his 8 bulb lighting looks incredible! i think it has alot to do with bulb brand also.

 

[richardhmc]

Ahh... I finally have a chance to talk to the guy with the disturbing avatar nice

 

[adamt]

since you have all of those geissman bulbs Id go 3 aquablue+ and 3 actinic+ from there you can tweak it to taste. The aquablue is going to be your main daylight bulb you could swap one out for the midday if you find that 3 and 3 is too blue. The other thing you could do is swap out 1 actinic + for one pure actinic to bring out more of the reds and greens. there is a huge diff in par between the actinic + and the pure actinic with the actinic plus being the stronger of the two. Basically you wanna go with three "daylight" bulbs that are basically some shade of white and 2-3 blue bulbs and no more than one pure actinic.

 

[jerl77]

wow i help you and you dont like my avatar lol ha ha ha
i love my avatar

Ahh... I finally have a chance to talk to the guy with the disturbing avatar nice

 

[jerl77]

and thanks guys but it took me 2 years to find the bulbs i like
and richard i hope i help you

 

[richardhmc]

and thanks guys but it took me 2 years to find the bulbs i like
and richard i hope i help you

yup you did lead me in the right direction but I have a question
So you said these bulbs right?
1 aquablue special
4 blue +
1 fuji purple

What do you mean by aqua blue special?

Which kind of bulb gives the highest amount of PAR? I want to keep SPS and a clam so I don't want to sacrifice looks for lighting power

 

[strgazr27]

Ahh... I finally have a chance to talk to the guy with the disturbing avatar nice

Hey it could be worse.......

 

[qy7400]

yup you did lead me in the right direction but I have a question
So you said these bulbs right?
1 aquablue special
4 blue +
1 fuji purple

What do you mean by aqua blue special?

Which kind of bulb gives the highest amount of PAR? I want to keep SPS and a clam so I don't want to sacrifice looks for lighting power

Aquablue special is an ATI bulb, http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...54W_Aquablue_Special_T5_HO_Fluorescent_by_ATI

Thats a lot of blue, IMO like 20K or more; thats 5 blue bulbs and 1 15K bulb.

Jerl77 you have a full tank shot?

 

[NYreefNoob]

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/equipment/89249-t5-bulb-pars.html

 

[richardhmc]

What is the best brand of bulb? I thought it was Giesseman?

 

[qy7400]

I think it ends up personal preference as both ATI, Geismann and aqua science all make good bulbs; it was UVL that started having QA issues but not sure if they were corrected.