pikespeak, im eager to see your setup

Hello to all and thanks for the warm welcome.

Here are the pics let me know what you think

so i am thinking about getting a TEK 4x24 watt T5ho system... what bulbs does everyone think i should get to make my corals POP... i was thinking 2 blue, 1 white and 1 purple.. any input would be great thanks

i'm probably thinking that pikespeak's picture is actually much bluer than it actually is. ive been wanting something thats blueish but yet making the colors pop

also, what spectrum is best for growth. im going to attempt around a 18k and was wondering if this is good for growth as i like the colors from it

well with the bulb change my coarls do pop i cant beleave the diffrence and can allready see some new growth as well

Why do the colors look different in each of these pics?

Here are some pics from 2 of the best 4 bulb combo's I've seen :





2 ATI Blue+
1 ATI Aquablue
1 KZ Fiji Purple



1 ATI Blue+
1 ATI Aquablue
1 GE 6500
1 UVL SuperActinic

Well there afew things that come in to play with all photos displayed .
Color of background that a tank may have will make a big diffrence on how they look , for instance the one with the blue background .It would look diffrent with a black or clear all the way around becuse the way light reflects.

As well as the light the picture was taken in or background light reflecting on tank.....or even the color you have the walls painted will make changes to how it looks.

I run this EXACT combo and I can PROMISE you that it looks WONDERFUL. Very, very close to the pic Weetbix has here (at least on my monitor).


On my second tank, I have
UVL 75/25
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
UVL Actinic White


This tank also looks good but distinctly more white. Not a lot of yellow, but a TON of white. I kinda like it, a nice contrast to my other tank. On the down side, the corals tend to look more brown (exact same water system so it's not water quality doing the brown) and I also get a LOT more algae growth. Same water, same photoperiod, similar water flow, MORE herbivores and yet 15 times the algae growth. Mostly gha.

When the two UVL's get old I'm tossing them for another Blue Plus and Aquablue Special. This tank won't have the Fiji Purple, we'll see how it looks.

I agree.
In the pics I posted above from my tank
(2 ATI Blue+, 1 ATI Aquablue, 1 KZ Fiji Purple, the pics w/the B&W Clowns and Favias)
the tank has no background but is in front of an off-white wall, which reflects the light back.
It makes the background appear purple-blue in the pics, but the colors of the corals in the pics are very true to how they look in real life.

On the fishneedit.com 4x24 fixture, what combo works best for the included bulbs. One white and three blue, half and half, three blue and one white. Also, 10k 14k or 20k for the "white" bulb?

Do you have a link? "white" and "blue" are not precise terms, and they could mean anything. A 20000K (not the same as 20K-20 Kelvin) should not appear "white", it should appear a deep blue. Here's where you can learn more about color temperature:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-05/sj/index.php

Hence the reason for clarification, I understand color temps fairly well. More so if anyone has the fixture and has a good idea as to what they mean by "blue". Lemme grab the link

http://www.fishneedit.com/new-light.html

I would either do 1 white and 3 blue with the white being 6700k
or
2 white and 2 blue with the white being 14k.

+1 to 2 white and 2 blue (likely meaning some type of actinic) with white being 14000K.

Thanks a ton Weetabix and lakshwadeep

I wanna make a 5.5g AGA with T5's. Are there any fixtures that would work w/ this?

EDIT: I think it's 16 inches long but I am not sure.

I believe the smallest is the Current Nova Extreme 18" fixture 2x 40w T5HO...only problem is that Current is the only one that makes this size T5HO bulb and there are no new colors other than the 10k and 460nm
the good news is that they are talking about making other colors soon...altho thats been a year now since I heard this rumor

Does anyone use the ATI pro color bulb?... is it comparable to the KZ fiji purple?.. it says it brings out reds just like the fiji purple.. anyone like 1 better then the other... thanks

Hi everyone,

I don't have a nano tank anymore since I moved to a 90 gal displayed, but this thread is so good that I need to aks for your guidance. I currently have a NOVA Extreme 48" T-5 Fixture 8 x 54W by Current with stock bulbs. I recently lost 2 bulbs (One actinic and one 10K) and I thought it was time to move to a better color bulb combination. I am looking for a light blue look where the corals can really pop their colors, similar to what I have with stock bulbs only when Actinics are on.

The catch is that I would like to keep at least 4 stock bulb (I have 3 Actinic and 3 10K bulbs to choose from)and buy another four. What bulbs do you recommend me and in what order they should be mounted in my fixture?

To give you a better idea I like the combinations of fishez4alivin (last pic on the page) and GobylnPeace

Thanks for your help.

I have seen both bulbs in person and I strongly prefer the Fiji Purple.

I have tried the procolor and the fiji purple. Go with the fiji,

Never used nor seen a Pro color. I have the Fiji and like it, and it puts out crazy amounts of PAR.

Ok guys i think im finally almost decided for my bulbs. i have it down to two options

2 ATI Blue +
1 Aquascience 22000k
1 Aquascience 15000k

or

2 ATI Blue +
1 Aquascience 22000k
1 ATI Aquablue Special

I am looking for a kind of blue tint in the water. I dont know how much of a difference 15000k or 12000k will make but heres a pic of the first option provided by 05XRunner

anyone here thinks 6x39W is enough for a 100gal tank 40x20x30 with 24" water height?

at first i was thinking of running MH, but then want to save some money on energy bills, i opted to go with the higher initial start up cost and use T5HO. the reflectors available locally to me are the icecaps reflectors and they are 2.5" wide. this only allows me to add the most 7 bulbs. ATI are 2 inches wide i can add 8 bulbs to my tank, but i would have to order from somewhere because they are not available here. and doing so will only drive up the cost

i emailed reefgeek and they told me for my dimensions, 6bulbs would be enough if i carefully plan the locations of my corals, probably meaning SPS near top, LPS and softies down bottom. i just wanna hear your opinion on this. i would proably go with 7 bulb just to be on the save side.

also, if i do go with the 7 bulb config. what i have in mind is in terms of bulb combo is:

ATI blue +
ATI blue special
ATI blue +
KZ fiji purple
ATI blue +
ATI blue special
ATI blue +

--or--

ATI blue +
KZ fiji purple
ATI blue special
ATI blue +
ATI blue special
KZ fiji purple
ATI blue +

im not sure if 1 KZ fiji would be enough for the tank, and in worried 2 might be too much...

disaster999 if your worried 1 fiji purple won't be enough I believe you could do a UVL Actinic White which would give you more pop than the fiji other than that the 1st combo sounds fine, you could also drop one of the ATI Aquablue specials and do a GE 6500 for better color if you have any yellow corals in your tank.

thanks for the advice, i'll look into the UVL actinic white. i dont believe i can get GE 6500 here in hong kong.

do anyone think i would have enough light for my tank if i use 7 bulbs?

What is the life span of A T5HO? I am thinking of getting a ATI Sunpower, but I just read people are replacing their bulbs betwn 2-4 months?

Not sure who or why they do that, that's worst than replacing power compacts lol which t5's last much longer, t5's only need to be replaced about every 10-12 months at least.

I change them once a year. One bulb at at time, though--- stagger it out. No need to acclimate corals to the new bulbs, and you ALWAYS have some fresh bulbs in there instead of a bunch of old ones at the end of the year.

Hi i'm looking for a VERY high PAR setup for my 24" sundial I want a nice crisp blue color any bulb suggestions? I was intrigued by the picture awhile back of someone who had nothing but aquablue specials, i was wondering if anyone else has this setup and has pics? ( because i know how much different lighting looks with different camera settings )

I'm asking because i'm going to be moving the fixture from my 20L 12" deep to my new 40 gallon oceanic hex which is 20-21" deep and i want the most par possible out of my bulbs. I may also add my Tek retro to this setup should it need it.

Thanks!

Here is a combo i was thinking about it's similar to Gobyinpeace's setup except the last bulb is a blue+ instead of actinic for higher par. I calculated the average par to be 324.5 off the online numbers for each bulb.

Anyone have this exact combo? I would love to see it.

1 ATI Blue+ 311
1 ATI Aquablue special 336
1 GE 6500 340
1 ATI Blue+ 311

=324.5

what do you guys think of this setup ( I'm waiting to buy a fixture from fishneedit.com):

-back
-kz 14k
-(antic or kz fiji)
-kz 14k
-(blue+ or kz 14k)
-front

also what bulb do you think would be best the antic or kz fiji? I'm thinking a pinker bulb would be better, give it more of a warm color

im also running same bulbs as gobyinpeace and thought of doing what you want to.Please post pics if do lol.

Hey, I'm new to T5HO, I just got my first fixture, its a TEK 36'' 6-lamp. I like a nice BLUE spectrum. I am currently running this combo

front
actinic+
blue+
actinic
actinic+
blue+
actinic+

Its still a bit "white" for my taste. I'm thinking of changing out a blue+ for an actinic+, or another pure actinic. My tank is 14'' and I will be keeping SPS(high placement) and crocea clams (mid-lower placement) Will I be able to make that change and still produce enough light for my stocking selections?

all lamps are geissman.

Are you only shooting for giesemann bulbs, if so yeah I'd drop a blue+ for another actinic +, you don't want to do to many pure actinics if your planing sps there have really low par, you'll get enough actinic with the actinic +.

not limiting to only giessman, but thats what my LFS sells.

I am thinking about ordering these bulbs with my 4x24 Tek Fixture:
ATI Aquablue Special
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special

I don't want the color to be too blue or dark. What do you think of this combo?

is the aquablue special different from the aquablue?

are you running 1 "white" bulb?

ATI only makes an "aquablue special" (which are ice-white bulbs). Some people shorten it to "aquablue".

I haven't tried this but I suspect it would work.

An even better combo for what you want might be what plainrt and GobyInPeace are using:
1 ATI Aquablue
1 ATI Blue+
1 GE 6500
1 UVL Super Actinic

They both seem to get pretty good colors without it looking overly blue.

What about this combo (36'' TEK fixture, 6-lamp):

ATI blue+
geissman blue+
giessman pure actinic
ATI Blue+
geissman actinic+
geissman actinic+

will this combo be sufficient for the most light demanding specimen I'm planning :
- SPS located at the top of the rock structure
- Crocea clam located mid to low

The aquarium is 14'' deep.

That sounds very blue/purple. Are you sure you don't want any less blue lights? The blue pluses (at least for ATI) are a deep blue, and I can only expect the pure actinics to be even darker.

Anyone have any comparisons between only 2 bulbs? Are you pretty much limited to a Actinic and a blue?

Well, I currently have:
2 Aquablue
3 actinic + lamps
1 actinic lamp

This combo is still just a tad too white for me. Prehaps removing another aquablue will result with a spectrum that is just to blue. I ordered two ATI blue lamps, so I am going to give it a try.

I like the look that they have, but I am wondering if the PAR would be lower then I would want for SPS? From what this thread says, UVL Super Actinic has low PAR. Hmm, I wonder.

Okay just to help clarify whats going on cause I think there's some confusion:

ATI Aquablue Special = Giesemann Aquablue Plus

ATI Blue Plus = Giesemann Actinic Plus


Now there not exact but they are very close to same color.



If your worried about the PAR just drop the UVL Super Actinic and use a ATI Blue+

Yea, I was using incorrect name of bulbs - just figured that one out. So what I have - with accurate names (and descriptions)

Current
Front:
Giessman actinic+ (blue)
Giessman blue+ (crisp white)
Giessman actinic+ (blue)
Giessman pure actinic (purple)
Giessman blue+(crisp white)
Giessman actinic+ (blue)

after proposed changes
Front
ATI blue+ (blue)
Giessman blue+ (crisp white)
Giessman actinic+ (blue)
Giessman pure actinic (purple)
ATI blue+(blue)
Giessman actinic+ (blue)

It is my understanding that the ATI "blue" lamps produce far more PAR then their Giessman counterparts. So I feel comfortable that I will have a high enough PAR value to satisfy the more "light demanding" specimen I wish to keep, unless someone can refute this?

With that combo you should be fine, ATI Blue+ push about 311 par compared to the Gmann Actinic + pushing about 264.


My only concern with this combo is it may look really really white, which is fine if thats what your looking for, but I perfer more blue myself.

I am wanting more white, but with the blue+ and the fiji purple, I am hoping to get the slight blueish tint I am looking for.

Any pics of this combo would be greatly appreciated.
2 ATI Aquablue
1 ATI Blue +
1 Fiji Purple

that would look really white.

most people run 2 blue+, 1 blue special and 2 kz purple and that gives off a nice white color with slight blue tint.
here my tank as an example. ive set the white balance pretty close to real life