Kaneda215 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Well, I suck and didn't research enough during the first purchase.... and another $40 down the road I finally have the lighting I like. Pic 1 - Stock biocube lighting Pic 2 - 15 Jan replaced with an Actinic White and Dual Actinic. This combination is definitely brighter than stock, and I actually did notice that the corals were responding happily. The only downside is that the Actinic White, is actually a pinkish white and it added a really warm look to the tank. The light reflecting off of my floor was a light pink and the ambient light emitted throughout the room had a pinkish hue. I did not like this, because I'm fond of the look of a crisp, blueish reef tank. Pic 3 - Took out Actinic White and replaced with the Combo bulb. Without customizing the lighting (just replacing the bulbs) this is by FAR the best thing you can do to my knowledge and I am extremely pleased. This combination of bulbs really showed off the flourescent greens and what not of the corals. The 1 strip of Actinic white (pink) still added a good amount of 'white' light, while bringing out the pinks and warmer hues of certain colors. It is not overwhelmingly blue either. The ambient lighting is a light, crisp blue, and I love coming into my room with this. Since adding the PC-Rs 2 weeks ago, I HAVE noticed growth in my corals as you can see below (besides the frogspawn which is deceiving, one of the heads was splitting and the polyps never really extended like the used to/do now). I know some have questioned how good these bulbs are and I can attest that they are a spectacular purchase if you don't want to tear apart your setup to toss LEDs in... or deal with increased heat and evaporation with metal halides. Again, definitely more growth as you can see... and the color is awesome. Note: These pictures are not 100% accurate. Pic 1 I was still dealing with algae that has gone down since the additions, 2 is really close, and pic 3 may seem a little darker than in real life. I hope this helps out with all future purchases. Any other questions, feel free to ask. Link to comment
Kaneda215 Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Bump due to thread move. Any thoughts? Link to comment
paratiddies Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I like the color of pic 3 the best too. I ordered the actinic white and dual actinic and overall am very happy, but like you've said, I would prefer a more blue color than that combo gives Link to comment
nlm2889 Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Dude, PC-Rs are so awesome!! I have 3 (2 actinic whites, 1 dual actinic) and after looking at your pics I'm thinking perhaps I should replace an actinic white with a combo. I like the look now, but it's a little....pinkish.. Did it come stock with 2 bulbs? BTW the 'scape is really awesome Link to comment
Spencerx Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Looks great. I wish you had done this 6 months ago when I was debating on going that route (ended up going MH on my BC14) Link to comment
rb1685 Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I like what you've done here. Where did you get these? Link to comment
Kaneda215 Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 I like what you've done here. Where did you get these? nanocustoms/nanotuners. Link to comment
brandon429 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Just saw your other update. You have steered this reef into clarity and low algae it looks very clean. corals look happy, I can't see the algae anymore it looks perfect nice job in keeping substrate clean it all looks balanced to me. Link to comment
will25u Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 What do you mean by combo bulb? Link to comment
Flying_Hellfish Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I'm looking into something similar. Are you running two of THESE now? I really like that look and I agree that I would like to avoid the pinkish hue. Link to comment
reeftankguy Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 What do you mean by combo bulb? The UVL PC-R 50/50 Link to comment
Matsu49 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Good thread and I like the pictures for comparison. I noticed that Nano Tuners no longer have the 24w combo bulbs for sale. I'm kind of bummed now because I liked that color blend in your 3rd picture the best. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 They will be back in stock soon. Just waiting to hear back from UVL on availability. Link to comment
rovster Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 They will be back in stock soon. Just waiting to hear back from UVL on availability. Bump. I was really interested in the blue/combo for my bc14. Link to comment
jrose40 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I am looking to add these to my tank as well..would it be ok to go with two combo bulbs? I found them at this site since nano tuner is no longer selling to the public. http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/Power_Com...orescent/Bulbs/ Let me know any advice I need to know which combo is the best since I am still a noob. Link to comment
basser1 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I am looking to add these to my tank as well..would it be ok to go with two combo bulbs? I found them at this site since nano tuner is no longer selling to the public. http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/Power_Com...orescent/Bulbs/ Let me know any advice I need to know which combo is the best since I am still a noob. What size tank do you have? I believe those you linked to are too big for our tanks. I have a BC29 and I use the 36 watt ones. If you will check this out, InTank should be getting them in soon! http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=286366 Link to comment
StevieT Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Received in today, hopefully on the site tomorrow. Got in all the options for the 18W, 24W but the 36W are the ones that have to be made and had a lead time. Think I only got some of the 12ks in. Link to comment
supernip Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 no wais you got them in from uvl? #### nanocustoms, a sad sap story every few months. let me throw you some monies stan smith. Ive been waiting a long time (as soon as you get in some 50/50 24w bulbs) Link to comment
StevieT Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 no wais you got them in from uvl? Yep, evil capitalist business man called them direct let me throw you some monies stan smith. (as soon as you get in some 50/50 24w bulbs) Those are in, on the site ASAP Link to comment
basser1 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Well Darn!! Let me know when the 36 watt combos come in. Link to comment
StevieT Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Bulbs are on the site Link to comment
basser1 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Bulbs are on the site Yeah.... But not my 36 watt 50/50 combo!! Link to comment
jrose40 Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 What would you get if you were going to replace the Bio cube lights with the PC-R lights, which combo.. Would you get the 50/50 lights or just get one all white and one all actinic? Link to comment
dougm Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Thanks Kaneda215! Your research and post saved me time and money! I replaced my bulbs with the same combination you ended up using- one combo / one actinic pc-r's.... LOOKS GREAT! I was using the standard UVL bulbs before and I agree with you- the white was very pink, now it's crisp white/blue and brighter. Thanks again for the post and pics! Doug. Link to comment
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