Well I am going to order the 3ft/4 bulb fixture from fish need it for $99.....just do it!

It has options for bulbs to get..what do you guys think?
1 white 3 blue
2 white 2 blue
3 white 1 blue
2 white 2 pink
3 white 1 pink

Color temps for the whites:
67k
10k
14k
20k

Time to get my 40b going!!

n33d picherz

Weetabix is right. I got my first zoa colonies of my tank, and they look nothing like the PC lights from the LFS.

cool guys i cant w8 till i upgrade my lights to T5s =]

I decided not to keep 2 Fiji Purples in my light combo.
The corals glowed, but they glowed TOO much, kinda like they were radioactive or something. It was hurting my eyes looking at it.
I can see how a 5 bulb combo like Masterbuilder's would work though, cause he has that extra Aquablue to balance it out.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Aquarium Specialty on how to work things out so I get the bulb I ordered, but in the meantime I have 2 Blue+, 1 Fiji Purple, and 1 of the TRU 10k bulbs that the HelloLights discount fixture came with.
It actually doesn't look bad at all like that.
My coral colors still have some POP, esp greens and reds, but they don't look like they're from Outer Space anymore.

what happened to a picture reference for the rest of us?

I'm sorry!
I did take pics, but they didn't come out very good, not totally sure why.
They weren't that sharp and didn't convey the colors very well.
If you REALLY want me to, I can post what I took anyway...

I still to need to finish my bulbs out. So Ill end up with:

front
ATI blue+
Giessman pure actinic
k figi purple
ATI blue+
aquablue special
ATI blue +

over the frag tank
ATI blue plus
k figi purple
aquablue special
ATI blue plus.

Well if you've got it easily accessable then yes, please upload. if not, no worries.

I'm undecided between 2 ATI Blue+ and 2 fiji, or 2 ati blue+ w/1 aquablue and 1 fiji..

I'll try to post the pics later tonight, I'm not at home right now.
I would personally recommend the 2 ATI Blue+, 1 Fiji Purple, 1 Aquablue.
That's what I'm gonna be doing myself.
I talked to the guy at Aquarium Specialty on the phone yesterday and he said he was shipping my Aquablue out to me then, so I'm hoping to have that in by this weekend.
I can give you a personal comparison between the two combos at that time.
The 2 Fiji Purple, 2 Blue+ combo looks cool, but it doesn't look natural.
Think of how your aquarium would look under a lighting combo that was half natural aquarium lighting and half blacklight, and that'll kinda give you an idea of the effect. It's a cool effect, but it looks kinda weird to keep it over an aquarium 100% of the time.

Can't wait for the pix weetie! I am hoping by the time the contest is over I will have a good idea of the bulbs I will order..I still want to add another power supply to seprate the 4 bulbs coming on at once

Ok, I haz pichers.
This is my 20L tank under a combo of 2 ATI Blue+ and 2 KZ Fiji Purple.
Please remember that I told you these weren't very good pics. In real life it looks a little less blue and the "glow" effect is stronger. Seriously, the corals look mildly radioactive.
Also, pls remember this tank is very new. I haven't arranged the rockwork or corals at all yet, everything is just in there.

I hear some techno going on in the background when I look at those!! Anybody have some glow sticks?! LOL

My fishneedit fixture is on the way! Soon Ill post some pics

You see what I mean????

Got my new bulbs!!! Love the new look. the fiji makes my clown look sweet, along with anything red, purple, or blue.

Before

(Back)
Current 460nm
UVL 12k
UVL Super Cactinic
Current 460nm
(Front)



Now

(Back)
UVL 12k
ATI Blue+
Fiji Purple
UVL Super Actinic
(Front)

I see what you meant weet. Thanks for the uploads. I'm anxious to see it with one less figi and +1 aquablue

Wow, thanks for the great info! I've been considering upgrading to T5HO, from my Current 2x18 Watt fixture. My only concerns are:

1. Can I get a fixture that will fit well on a 5.5G? (Or do I just need a bigger tank? )

2. Is there a fixture with independent switches so I can get a dusk/dawn effect like I have now with the power compacts?

Thanks again!

No, 24" is the smallest size where you can get a good selection of bulbs, and the 18" current lights are the smallest I've seen. Another option is a 70W MH; that's what dapellegrini has, I think.

Complete fixtures should have independent switches. Retrofit kits and others will often have two cords, so you could get timers with them, which is more reliable than flipping switches yourself.

you can but you will be very limited on bulb choices. i think the smallest they make is 18" << very few

I have considered MH, but in most cases I'd need to retrofit or get a separate fixture for actinics.

As is , its all on timers and I have the nice dusk/dawn effect going and I'd like to preserve it, but it seems that won't be easy, so I'll probably stick with my PC's until I inevitably get a bigger tank.

just move to a 10g. that is what i did. i couldnt really afford a whole new setup. everything i had in my 5.5 was enough for a 10g. gives you alittle more room while you save for a bigger tank. all i needed to do was replace the sand. now i am working on my 30g

Just got the Aquablue, going to put it in now!

well I just ordered 2 ATI Blue+ bulbs..I am going to try the combo of this
Blue+
Stock Actinic
Stock 10k
Blue+

and see how it looks. I am hoping for a 14-20k look and I am sure that should give me more par then the stock config

That might actually not be bad.
My favorite combo so far has been 2 Blue+, 1 Fiji Purple, 1 Stock 10k.

if I dont like it I am going to get a Giessman Actnic plus and a ATI Aquablue special to replace the other to stock lamps

Honestly, I think that would probably be too blue, unless you like it REALLY blue.

maybe 2 Aquablue Special and no actinic

That would probably give you like an 18-20k look.
You really should consider popping a Fiji Purple into the mix, they do an unbelievable job of bringing out reds and oranges and just giving a really nice POP to the colors.

I am not really into the purple/redish spectrum..i like blue

Okay, so I've decided I'm sticking with the combo of 2 Blue+, 1 Fiji Purple and 1 Aquablue.
It still has a blueish look, kinda 16-17k I guess, but the Fiji Purple bulb really makes the colors PoP.
I'm sorry I've been slow about this, but I'll try to get pics up later today.
They may not be as good as some of the pics others have posted, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get good representative pics under this kinda light fixture.



The Fiji Purple bulb does not make the light output look purple or red at all, it just makes red, pink, orange colors on corals or fish really POP and fluoresce.
The bulbs with blue in them really make green colors fluoresce.
I only have one yellow coral in my tank (yellow zoas), but they look pretty good under the light combo I'm using as well.

I know everyone is changing bulbs to get the colors that they like, but the corals happiness is the most important part. The blue spectrum penetrates far down into the water and will bring out the greens is corals. the red spectrum doesnt penetrate as far down and brings out the reds/pinks. So think about that with coral placement and how they grow on the reefs. Weeties combo is the best ( IMO) to cover all. The blue plus has high par and a nice blue color. the figi purple along with the aquablue provides the daylight spectrum along with bringing out the reds in the corals.

Some excellent points dt, and glad I got something right on my bulb combo, since I'm still very much learning about T5!
You still need a Fiji Purple? PM me if so.

Okay, finally got pics under the new bulb combo.
As warned, these are not the best pics, still gotta learn what camera settings work best with this light fixture and I was kinda in a hurry, so sorry for that.
These are taken under: (front to back)
ATI Blue+
ATI Aquablue Special
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue+





The coral colors are actually brighter in real life under this combo than what it shows in the pics. The pics show the level of blue about right though.
For comparison purposes, here are the pics shot under the last combo, 2 Blue+ and 2 Fiji Purple:

Whatcha shooting with Weet? With so many light temperature (i.e. 10k, 14k, 20k, etc.), getting the white balance absolutely "right" will be impossible. Most cameras have very generic white balance settings like Daylight, Fluorescent, Indoor, Shade, etc. Absolutely accurate white balance is over rated anyway. You know what your tank looks like, just try a few different white balance settings and use the one that looks most accurate.

Now if you're shooting with a DSLR or some camera that lets you save images in the camera as RAW or NEF files, then Adobe Camera Raw (or your camera's RAW file utility) will give you much finer control over white balance. Just open the RAW file in ACR and use the white balance slider to produce the color that looks like reality. Good luck.

well my bulbs will be here tomorrow..so i will be posting a pic of
Blue+
Stock 10K
Stock Actinic
Blue+
I am hoping for around the 14k-20k color

well my Blue+ bulbs are in..I say it is just a litle more blue then my old tank looked when I had 14k phoenix on them..I like it. So I will probably replace the other 2 stock bulbs with a UV Aquasun 10k and a Giesemann Pure actinic so i have better lights all around..I will take some pics shortly
Stock Bulbs


With the Blue+

Have my fixture up and glowing!! Fishneedit.com 36" 4 bulb has stock lighting

2 10k
2 blue (thats all they give you about the actinics!)



My camera sucks... but tank is brand new and love my T5's !!


edit: put pics back!

some up close shots of the reflectors would be cool..I want to see how they look

Here you go!



This is were I tucked the reflector under this channel to lift it away from the bulbs, it was touching the ends.



up close middle shot

full lenth


I grabbed one of my mic's and measured it, it is .010 thick. Tool & Die we call this shim stock, LOL but this is polished pretty good. Good enough for the girls I go with! ( another tool & die quote)


edit: details.... reflector was formed in a jig. The ends are the most bent probably from being grabbed off of the jig in production and/or assembly. For the length of the bulb it is ok.

Great shots El Vulture. Is that a FishNeedIt fixture?

Yes sir!

looks nice.

That is what I needed some more info on fishneedit lights. Anymore would be great Im thinking of ordereing from them was shipping and packing good?

How many switches and cords does it have? Do you like it with the 10K? I noticed they also offer 14K and 20K for the white bulbs.

Do you think the ballast in the fixture could be swapped out easliy?

I wonder how the other white bulbs look.

I recently switched over to T5s from PCs and the diff is insane. I got a great deal on a 24" Nova Extreme SLR model and I love it. The improvement in the reflector is great! Closely matches true parabolic reflectors.

I'm running (F to R),

Blue+
Super Actinic
Aquasun
Blue +

Overall color is perfect, IMO, and the color pop is awesome.

Shipped fed ex and was packaged decsent mine came whole!


3 cords & switches. I think the 10 is fine for me. I am trying to get good growth right now. Seems that in this thread that was mentioned somewhere.



They seem like a pain, they are in a tight spot and siliconed in, you would have to make sure the other ballast you get are the right size. The ballast seem fine to me compared to other fixtures running at the LFS.

good info.Im trying to decide on what t5 light i would need to keep a rbta and crocea in a 30 breeder with good results.

36" Nova Extreme pro would do just fine..or a 36" TEK fixture with 4-6bulbs

do you think a 4 bulb would be enough?for clam and rbta?I prob just better off getting the 6.