ATI Aquablue Special - Washes out Color?

-Logzor · Aug 1, 2011

It seems like every time I pop an ATI Aquablue Special into my fixture I end up with washed out colors.

Has anyone else experienced this?

The actual corals seem to lose color, even when the Aquablue Special turns off, the colors still aren't as good as they should be.

I plan on removing the bulb and replacing it with a Blue+

The problem is then I'm running 6 Blue+ and a Fiji Purple.

Is there a bulb that is between Blue+ and Aquablue Special?

lps1212 · Aug 1, 2011

Try a different brand blue like kz I know they have a blue just cost a bit more

-Logzor · Aug 1, 2011

lps1212 said:
Try a different brand blue like kz I know they have a blue just cost a bit more

Yeah I've tried their 22k it's identical to the Blue+. I'm sure they have a comparable Aquablue Special. Not sure which one though.

AJ92124 · Aug 1, 2011

I think the same thing. Ive been looking for a replacement but cant figure out what to change. What fixture are you running?

toyencounters · Aug 1, 2011

Maybe you are running white lights for too many hours??

fab1971 · Aug 1, 2011

I was thinking the same thing on my fixture. I run 2 ati blue +, 1 fiji purple and 1 aquablue special. I'd love to swap the blue special with something but I don't want it to affect the growth and don't want my tank looking too blue either.

-Logzor · Aug 1, 2011

AJ92124 said:
I think the same thing. Ive been looking for a replacement but cant figure out what to change. What fixture are you running?

I'm running an Aquaactinics Constellation. It runs 5-6 inches above my 24" deep tank.

toyencounters said:
Maybe you are running white lights for too many hours??

Perhaps, but the bulb is not running for more than 4-5 hours. I'll have to double check.

toyencounters · Aug 1, 2011

I just got an aquatic life T-5 HO 6 bulb 24 watt fixture and I set it up front Blue+ Blue+ Fiji purple Blue+ Aquablue special Blue+ back nice colors in my tank so Far!

-Logzor · Aug 23, 2011

Small update. I finally swapped out my AB Special bulb. I was getting sick of the washed out color. Popped in an actinic - that's all I had on hand.

So far the colors are noticeably improving. I can make an apples to apple comparison because my stage 1 / 2 bulbs are the same as before - the colors are definitely better.

I had gotten some corals from WWC - one of them almost totally browned out, I can already see all of those nice colors bouncing back.

It's almost time to swap out all my bulbs. I plan on going 6 blue+ and 1 Fiji Purple. It's actually not as blue as it sounds (OK maybe it is).

I should also note that I've been feeding about 3x as much as I have in the previous 2 months. This may have also played a role.

rutz81 · Aug 23, 2011

Try the KZ New Gen...very nice bulb

-Logzor · Aug 23, 2011

rutz81 said:
Try the KZ New Gen...very nice bulb

That's what I keep hearing. I want to order one but BRS doesn't carry that particular bulb.

phi delt reefer · Aug 23, 2011

the ati actinic bulb is 100+ par less than the AB special so if your corals are improving than that it could be the coral is a lower light piece - if you can try moving it further down in your tank.

if you are running a ULNS and kept feeding like you used to then the corals will suffer. You must feed signifcantly more when running ULNS to keep things happy :).

I am running 5 blue plus, 1 ab special, 1 ge6500k and 1 purple plus. I am thinking about pulling the ge6500k and the ab special and running two uvl super actinics (higher par than the ati actinics) and they can be overdriven to 60w a pop with an ice cap 660 ballast (should the ATI ballast ever die in my unit) My other option is to pull the 6500k bulb and swap in a blue special and add a few True Violet 420nm leds along with some 455 1w Royal blue leds for color enhancement/moon lighting.

decisions, decisions....

-Logzor · Aug 23, 2011

phi delt reefer said:
the ati actinic bulb is 100+ par less than the AB special so if your corals are improving than that it could be the coral is a lower light piece - if you can try moving it further down in your tank.

if you are running a ULNS and kept feeding like you used to then the corals will suffer. You must feed signifcantly more when running ULNS to keep things happy :).

I am running 5 blue plus, 1 ab special, 1 ge6500k and 1 purple plus. I am thinking about pulling the ge6500k and the ab special and running two uvl super actinics (higher par than the ati actinics) and they can be overdriven to 60w a pop with an ice cap 660 ballast (should the ATI ballast ever die in my unit) My other option is to pull the 6500k bulb and swap in a blue special and add a few True Violet 420nm leds along with some 455 1w Royal blue leds for color enhancement/moon lighting.

decisions, decisions....

Quite true on the PAR levels regarding the Actinic vs AB Special. The things is, though, I am running a fairly low amount of light over my tank. It's a 150g 48x30x24 and I'm running a 7 bulb T5 fixture about 6 inches over the water. Some of the corals in question are at the bottom of the tank...others are at the top.

In my previous stock system, where I didn't run any AB Specials I had fantastic color, in this system all of the corals were no more than 12" from the light fixture. I'm not convinced it was too much light that was causing the problem.

Regarding ULNS, I wouldn't say I am trying to run one, but it's hard not too with only 4 fish i guess.

iani · Aug 23, 2011

So you are running basically all blue/actinic lighting with exception of the fiji purple? Of course your tank is going to look great with that kind of lighting. The aquablue special was just making the lighting in your tank look more "normal".

-Logzor · Aug 23, 2011

ianiwane said:
So you are running basically all blue/actinic lighting with exception of the fiji purple? Of course your tank is going to look great with that kind of lighting. The aquablue special was just making the lighting in your tank look more "normal".

The tank is simply less white than before. It's not like I took out my AB Special then all of these "abnormal" colors appeared. I have owned some of these for 4 years and I am very familiar with how they look under various bulb combinations.

The colors are coming out over time, through either the reduction in overall PAR, change in spectrum, or my increase in feeding.

As I mentioned before, my lights come on in three stages, 1,2, and 3. Stages 1 and 2 are completely unchanged. When viewing in stages 1 or 2 the corals are visibly less brown and are developing their original colors.

Wankel · Aug 23, 2011

So what lights did you run in your previous tank?

-Logzor · Aug 23, 2011

Wankel said:
So what lights did you run in your previous tank?

I typically ran only 5 of the 7 bulbs, using a combination of Blue+ and Fiji Purple.

Wankel · Aug 23, 2011

I ran 3 blue+ and 3 AB specials with ice cap reflectors over my 75g for years and have always battled with pale colors. I finally got tired of it and decided to try and add more fish and feed more. Got 9 fish now (5 anthias, 1 tang, 2 clowns, 1 blenny) feed pellets/flakes and oysterfeast 2x a day. I also added a fiji purple and replaced 2 Aquablues with a blue+ and a KZ new generation, very nice bulb..btw. Colors are better but growth has really improved.

It definitely seems like you have to feed more when running aquablues to keep colors from going pale.

-Logzor · Aug 24, 2011

Wankel said:
I ran 3 blue+ and 3 AB specials with ice cap reflectors over my 75g for years and have always battled with pale colors. I finally got tired of it and decided to try and add more fish and feed more. Got 9 fish now (5 anthias, 1 tang, 2 clowns, 1 blenny) feed pellets/flakes and oysterfeast 2x a day. I also added a fiji purple and replaced 2 Aquablues with a blue+ and a KZ new generation, very nice bulb..btw. Colors are better but growth has really improved.

It definitely seems like you have to feed more when running aquablues to keep colors from going pale.

That's great, glad to hear that you have been able to solve the issue. Definitely sounds like the AB Special bulbs were part of the problem. I have had a very similar experience with them.

Anxur · Sep 17, 2024

-Logzor said:
Fantastico, sono contento di sapere che sei riuscito a risolvere il problema. Sembra proprio che le lampadine AB Special facessero parte del problema. Ho avuto un'esperienza molto simile con loro.

t5 ab spezial simply lightening and show the real color without tricks..

For me the real t5 natural bulbs are the 6500 kelvin..