Help picking 4 T5 bulbs for my 65 gallon

[grbspecb]

I have a 36" Sundial Current USA t5 4 bulb setup.

I am way overdue for replacement.

I am very confused on what to get. I have hard and soft corals in the tank, as well as some fish and shrimp.

The current coral did very well with 460nm and 10k bulbs that were stock, although the coral never had much flouresnce to them.

Any help would be appreciated, I was going to get the default slimpaq but they are out for a while.

Thank you

George

 

[jceli728]

ATI 2x Blue plus & 2x Aquablue Special, you might also want to experiment with the Pro Color. Can't recommend anything else since my experience is only with ATI bulbs.

Hope that helps...

 

[qwik]

You should pm Jerseywendy or wait for her to reply . She runs one of the nicest T-5 tanks and has the bulb thing figured out .

 

[curt]

i tried ati aquablue special,uvl super actinic,uvl 75.25,and i found 2 ati blue+ and 2 uvl aquasun(10k)to make the zoas (only thing i keep) look the best for me.
cost me 4 extra bulbs to find what works for me but it was well worth it cause the zoas haven't looked this good since I set these lights up(about 4 months now)
I'd try what jceli said with your setup though more t-5 users might chime in (i hope)
you could check out Wendy's tank thread she uses t-5s
hope this helps

 

[Henrye718]

ATI 2x Blue plus & 2x Aquablue Special, you might also want to experiment with the Pro Color. Can't recommend anything else since my experience is only with ATI bulbs.

Hope that helps...

I have this combo on one of my tanks looks really good also its the highest par value of any combo of lights your gona get and still have a nice flor glow going on.

Have a look here click the3 pictures to see a larger image..

Here are some par values for the more popular bulbs, hope this helps

Aquascience
Special 15K 320*
DUO 15K 334*
22000K Blue 302*

AquaZ
Sun Pro 285
Ocean Pro 323
Blue Pro 266

ATI
Sun Pro 357
Aquablue 336
Blue Plus 311
Actinic 137
(Old Style)
Pro Color 215 vs 300 for a UVL Aquasun in a later test

Current Sun Paq
Daylight 10K 272
Blue 252

D&D/Giesemann
Midday 325
Aquablue 324
Actinic Plus 264
Pure Actinic 157

General Electric
GE Daylight 340
GE3000 319*

Helios
Daylight 309
Super Blue 225

KZ
Coral Light 342*
Fiji Purple 330*

UVL
Aqua sun 345
Actinic White 293
Super Actinic 210
75/25 "Aquablue" 254 vs 300 for an Aquasun in a later test.

 

[Henrye718]

Sorry this is the site I ment to link click the pictures here to see a bigger image..


http://www.atiaquaristik.com/index.php?id=146,0,0,1,0,0

 

[JerseyWendy]

ATI 2x Blue plus & 2x Aquablue Special, you might also want to experiment with the Pro Color. Can't recommend anything else since my experience is only with ATI bulbs.

Hope that helps...

Ditto! LOVE that combo with a passion.

 

[grbspecb]

Thanks Everyone.

Going to try the following:

ATI 2x Blue plus & 2x Aquablue Special,

Good PAR values, way better than what came with my light.

Now to find them, if anyone knows anyone local in central NJ i'm there!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Aquatic Obsessions in Avenel sell ATI bulbs.

 

[Henrye718]

Aquatic Obsessions in Avenel sell ATI bulbs.

Its where I bought mine too! I went there for something else and I saw them. I couldnt believe a local fish store had these. I was a day away from ordering them online.

 

[jceli728]

You could get them from http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Bulbs/

 

[redfishbluefish]

Hey, I’m a newbie and ask this question out of ignorance.  Why not include actinics?  I’m currently running actinics (UVL’s), and they make things pop.  Would this suggested combo of ATI’s Blue Plus and Aquablue Special cause the corals to POP?  I certainly like the improved PAR!

By the way, I'm currently running 2 UVL Aquasun 10K and 2 UVL Super Actinic 420nm. Again, I like the PAR for the ATI's, and would consider changing if I still got the pop.

 

[rgarofalo]

This is what I ran in my 4 bulb
It gave a nice color and decent growth from back to front

UVL 24"Super Actinic
ATI 24"Aqua blue
UVL 24"Aquasun
ATI 24"Aqua blue

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hey, I’m a newbie and ask this question out of ignorance. Why not include actinics? I’m currently running actinics (UVL’s), and they make things pop. Would this suggested combo of ATI’s Blue Plus and Aquablue Special cause the corals to POP? I certainly like the improved PAR!

By the way, I'm currently running 2 UVL Aquasun 10K and 2 UVL Super Actinic 420nm. Again, I like the PAR for the ATI's, and would consider changing if I still got the pop.

IMVHO Actinics aren't a "must". If you grow mostly LPS and zoos, and want that super pop, by all means knock yourself out with some Actinics.

 

[evoIX]

i was wondering the difference between these two bulbs?

54W 75/25 14000K AquaBlue T5 HO Fluorescent
54W 12000K Aquablue Special T5 HO Fluorescent


sorry i'm a n00bie and don't understand the lighting difference at this moment (will start reading as i type).

i plan to go with the for mentions 2x aquablue 2x blue plus

 

[redfishbluefish]

The big difference is the PAR value…the amount of light you get from these bulbs. According to the info above, the UVL Aquablue bulb puts out 254 PAR, while the ATI Aquablue puts out 324. Big difference.

The above recommendation for the four bulb setup was to first use ATI bulbs because of their PAR output…and the ATI bulbs suggested were 2 Aquablue Specials and 2 Blue Plus. I can tell you that AO carries these bulbs…just picked some up a last week.

 

[evoIX]

unfortunately, i'm nowhere close to those and prefer to have it delivered.

thanks! but what's the difference between 12k and 14k

 

[JerseyWendy]

unfortunately, i'm nowhere close to those and prefer to have it delivered.

thanks! but what's the difference between 12k and 14k

The UVL 75/25 or 14k have a pinkish hue to them, while the ATI Aquablue Specials are a very crisp white.