NRF's 75, My upgrade finally up and running :0) Options

[Needreefunds]

I dunno know about the ge6500. I pulled that sucker out, I hated it.

Really? Hmmm, din't care for the look or algal / coral health issues?

lovin' it.

Hey DH!

Mee too!!

Thanks buddy.

Once again bulbs are about personal preference, however I try to pick bulbs that make and the corals happy.

Understood, gotcha.

Very true.

Always a balance to be found between growth and health of the coral and the "POP" of the eye candy we all would like to see in the tank.

oh and I got myself the sammy adams winter sampler 12 pack tonight.

Chit, drove right past there and forgot about it.

I would like your thoughts on that as well.

( don't have to pound them all tonight though, I can wait )

Unless ya feels like gettin' sloppy, then have at it.

[dtfleming]

yea looking through the t5ho thread is a good idea to save you some money. I spent money on a variety of bulbs and Im now happy with the following combo and my corals seem happy.

3 ATI blue +
1 ATI aquablue special
1 figi purple
1 actinic

[ap123]

I can't say enough how impressed I am, all the way around.

I like Weetie's idea #1. I the Blue+ bulbs.

[Needreefunds]

Thanks so much Anne. It has been an enjoyable build after I relaxed and just let it be.

yea looking through the t5ho thread is a good idea to save you some money. I spent money on a variety of bulbs and Im now happy with the following combo and my corals seem happy.

3 ATI blue +
1 ATI aquablue special
1 figi purple
1 actinic

See, this is really great stuff.

Many of the "popular" NR T5 combos seem to involve many of the same bulbs with one bulb swapped here or there. So buying one extra bulb to "test" is much better than having to swap out an entire array of T5's that I decided to try on a whim.

Love the input guys, really. Definitely should save me $$ in the long run. Also by going with bare bones retrofit kits I din't waste $$ on a NEP fixture that everyone pretty much says comes with "junk" bulbs. Canopy should be sexier too

Next decision is how high to mount my lighting.......

This post has been edited by Needreefunds: Nov 18 2009, 07:54 PM

[dtfleming]

I can tell you that when I move my TEK down to 4" above, I bleached alot of my corals. I moved my light back up to 8" above and run all 6 bulbs. All corals seem to be happy.

[got2envy]

I run on my 125g...I was running all 6 bulbs but all I have are softies and they seem happier with just 4 and I have glass tops on too.
2x blue +
1 aquablue
1x 10000k

I had taken the fiji out cause it washed out the colors in my tank
when I first started I had
4x blue +
1x fiji purple
1x aquablue

next bulbs I will get will be more like my 29g

2 x blue +
1 x ge 6500
1x super actinic


my bulbs are staggered as they are 60" 80w

HTH buddeh

This post has been edited by got2envy: Nov 18 2009, 11:23 PM

[Needreefunds]

Maria, my diyreef order came in today. Thanks for the hookup on them.

I don't know the story as to why they are going out of business, but they certainly did conduct themselves in a professional manner. Confirmed my order in minutes, updated it to processing early the following morning. Emailed me an update later with UPS tracking info. Well packaged and best of all-very good prices.

I always try to support my LFS and our sponsors, but when the savings is this great, well, we all need to save a buck when we can right?

Thanks for the bulb thoughts and for sending me the diyreef link.