Plainrt's shallow 80 deep blue rimless mixed reef

[plainrt]

On 5/14/2017 at 11:24 PM, tashayar said:

Agree with Weetie- where aaaarrrrrrreeeee uuuuuuuuu?  Haven't seen you in forever.  I need to come by and harass you sometime.  

 

 

Omg you are alive   How have you been Miss??? I sold off the 80 and almost all livestock as I got sick of spending the time and money on it. It's funny you showed up as my current tank I'm working on is a full softy setup. Your 10 gallon is still one of my favorite tanks I have seen.It had so much going on in a simple package

 

 

 

 

[Weetabix7]

22 minutes ago, plainrt said:

 

 

Omg you are alive   How have you been Miss??? I sold off the 80 and almost all livestock as I got sick of spending the time and money on it. It's funny you showed up as my current tank I'm working on is a full softy setup. Your 10 gallon is still one of my favorite tanks I have seen.It had so much going on in a simple package

 

 

 

 

 

Omg, must know more about this tank ASAP, pleeeeeaaaaase!!!!!!!!!!!!

[taj0930]

On 12/7/2014 at 11:52 AM, plainrt said:

Thanks. Running 2 ati coral + and 2 ati blue + on ati dimmable fixture so when see pics that's why color tends to be different on some

Been researching 4 bulb combos and your tanks have come up a couple times now! What b your pick for a 4 bulb non dimmable fixture over a 20 long. Will b lps, softie, macro dominated. Don't like a super washed out blue look. Thinking 2 blue+, coral, & true actinic at moment. Also have a sb reeflight actinic led strip for extra "pop"

[Weetabix7]

43 minutes ago, taj0930 said:

Been researching 4 bulb combos and your tanks have come up a couple times now! What b your pick for a 4 bulb non dimmable fixture over a 20 long. Will b lps, softie, macro dominated. Don't like a super washed out blue look. Thinking 2 blue+, coral, & true actinic at moment. Also have a sb reeflight actinic led strip for extra "pop"

 

OP is a friend and doesn't come on NR often lately, so he hopefully won't mind me commenting on this. 

That bulb combo will give you exactly what you say you don't want, a washed out blue look. 

I would suggest one of the following:

A.)2 Blue+, Coral+, Aquablue

B.)2 Blue+, Aquablue, KZ Fiji Purple

 

I am currently using a 24" non-dimmable 4 bulb fixture and have tried both of those above combos, both look good. 

[taj0930]

9 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

OP is a friend and doesn't come on NR often lately, so he hopefully won't mind me commenting on this. 

That bulb combo will give you exactly what you say you don't want, a washed out blue look. 

I would suggest one of the following:

A.)2 Blue+, Coral+, Aquablue

B.)2 Blue+, Aquablue, KZ Fiji Purple

 

I am currently using a 24" non-dimmable 4 bulb fixture and have tried both of those above combos, both look good. 

I've never used the aqua blue before. I've read negative reviews saying it washes out everything. Then I've heard people say they saw big improvement when they used. Is it really that strong? I've been contemplating that

[Weetabix7]

24 minutes ago, taj0930 said:

I've never used the aqua blue before. I've read negative reviews saying it washes out everything. Then I've heard people say they saw big improvement when they used. Is it really that strong? I've been contemplating that

 

It's not so much a matter of strength, it's a matter of how it blends with other bulbs. 

If you use a combination of just Aquablue and blue bulbs together, it can look washed out. 

However, if you use it in a 4 bulb combo with 2 Blue+ (which are blue but not actinic and still have pretty good PAR) and use a 4th bulb that has a slightly warmer spectrum or one that is white with just a little pinks/purples/reds in the spectrum, it works really, really well. 

I'm not sure if you've used T5HO before, but one of the really different and unique things about it is that the bulb colors can combine in ways that you wouldn't expect if you're used to other types of lighting. 

How you combine the bulbs makes a bigger difference than you might think. 

Plainrt and I both have experimented with this a decent bit, and I started experimenting again recently cause I'm starting up a new tank that will the fixture I mentioned above over part of it. 

In t5ho, actinic bulbs do not give the "pop" you are accustomed to seeing from actinic in other types of lighting. Blue+ bulbs actually do that the best. 

T5HO pure actinic bulbs are actually a little dim in appearance and have quite low PAR. 

Think of Aquablue as a cool white bulb. 

Coral+ and Fiji Purple are kinda like warm white bulbs that are good for bringing out reds/purples/pinks in the tank. 

[taj0930]

Ok thx! I'm prob gonna go 2 blue, ab, purple. 1 last bit of advice if you don't mind ?

My fixture is actually an older link" t5 aqualife. So they are technically 2 fixtures connected. What order would u put in seeing that the front 2 turn on together then the back 2 as apposed to standard outside inside channels you'd get w 1 fixture?

[Weetabix7]

24 minutes ago, taj0930 said:

Ok thx! I'm prob gonna go 2 blue, ab, purple. 1 last bit of advice if you don't mind ?

My fixture is actually an older link" t5 aqualife. So they are technically 2 fixtures connected. What order would u put in seeing that the front 2 turn on together then the back 2 as apposed to standard outside inside channels you'd get w 1 fixture?

 

Ah, that's a unique challenge. 

Ok, I'd put a Blue+ and a purple in the fixture that turns on first, and the other Blue+ and Aquablue in the fixture that turns on second. 

Experiment a little yourself with where you have the bulbs in each fixture til you get something that is pleasing to your eye. 

You'd be surprised how much of a difference moving just one bulb can make.