About to order new t5 bulbs/change in color ??

[cracker]

Hello, well it's been a year & think it's over due time to order a new set of bulbs. so At ATI.com they have a chart with 3 combinations. One is whie the 2nd white with a hint of blue the 3rd more blue.
https://www.atinorthamerica.com/faq.php scroll down to bulb combo's.
Last time I went with the mid range package. 12 to 16 k range. This round I want to go with the 16 to 20k ,more blue package. there is only a one bulb difference.

So to my question, What impact will this more blue color change have on the neighbors?
Will the blue promote coral growth ?

Never was real crazy about the look of really blue tanks. how ever it's just one bulb to change if I can't stand it. Just looking for opinions. Thanks !

 

[Bpb]

You didn’t say how many bulbs you run

 

[cracker]

It's an ATI, 4 ft & 6 t5, bulbs . I'm sticking with the packages Ati Suggests.
Thanks for the reply

 

[cracker]

OK ,

 

[Bpb]

The 4 blue 1 coral 1 purple is a good look. And it’s one of their suggestions

 

[Tautog]

I too need to order, it’s been a year. A have a 8- bulb ATI 5’ long. I have good coral growth with these bulbs, and don’t have a very blue tank. Don’t put similar bulbs next to each other. I run 3 Blue +, 3 Coral +, 1 Purple +, 1 True Acitic. My Blue +, 2 bulbs only, run from 8 am to 10 pm, and all bulbs from 10 am to 5 pm. I asked Jason Fox, and he runs full lights for 6-7 hours, but starts and ends with blues for a much longer time. It seems to work fine for coral growth

 

[cracker]

Ok I ordered bulbs last night, "finally" I ordered what Bpb suggested & is the ATI suggested package.
I will bw sure to put 2 blues blue + in the 1st program these are spread out & will be on the longest.
Also Tautog, have You ordered ? How long is your tank?

 

[Tautog]

Ok I ordered bulbs last night, "finally" I ordered what Bpb suggested & is the ATI suggested package.
I will bw sure to put 2 blues blue + in the 1st program these are spread out & will be on the longest.
Also Tautog, have You ordered ? How long is your tank?

I haven’t ordered yet, but I’m only coming up on a year. My blue + get the most time /day -14 hrs. Full lights are on 7 hrs / day, and I’m hoping 18 months before full light bulb change.
I have a 180 gal — 2’ x 2’ x 6’ long — ATI 8- bulb 60”. 12” above water
My lighting bulb arrangement doesn’t look blue, but my corals color seem to be as good as ever, just not that very blue overcast look. It’s overall look is clearer, but not white out at all.

 

[cracker]

Ok Cool, I like t5's & considering them over my 180 also.

 

[Tautog]

I had LEDs, orbits (4) , great for LPS, but Acros and Chalices prefer the T-5’s. The LEDs were too blue, but I know a lot of reefers like to watch their corals glow. The Blue +, aren’t as blue, and with the arrangement of bulbs, full lights doesn’t wash-out any color. The 5 ft unit, 8-bulb, 80 watt, ATI Sunpower. I guess it’s a personal view, but my DT always looks clear, even with just the Blue +. My corals stopped dying, and surged in growth almost immediately. Some corals exploded in growth. Don’t worry about shadows, there are none, period. Even stuff that’s not under direct light grow well. I couldn’t be happier........for now!

 

[Dana Riddle]

Re: Will the blue light promote coral growth? As with most any question concerning living organisms, the answer is not a simple yes or no. Instead, it is 'it depends.' Chlorophylls within zooxanthellate certainly absorb blue light. At low light intensity (say, 100 micromole/m2/sec), photosynthesis occurs unabated but as the intensity increases (usually around 300 to 400 micromole/m2/sec, but depends upon the type of zoox and their host) protective xanthophylls acting as regulators begin to shutdown photosynthesis. But xanthophylls do not have unlimited ability to protect, and if light intensity is really high, damage occurs and it is a foot race to repair damage before the next photoperiod. If damage isn't repaired in time, the animal suffers and at best its growth is stunted and it lives a miserable existence. Worst case - it dies. I'll end my rambling by saying biological systems tend to confound us.

 

[jda]

An easy rule of thumb is more daylight spectrum for true color rendition and then blue to illuminate them to your liking.

I would have a pair of 6500k and True Actinic in every T5 fixture of 6+ bulbs... they offset each other pretty well and the daylight and more UV can really bring out and pop colors better than the mid-range bulbs like Coral Plus and Blue Plus.

 

[Medic56]

I’m fairly new to the T-5 fixture. I have a 210 gallon reef tank with a 60” ATI 8 bulb fixture and a 60” SBar true Actinic. I have 4 blue+, 2 purple + and 2 coral +. Is there a better combination I should be running? And I have mostly all softies in my tank.

 

[cracker]

Nice tank ! Also,really like the coverage You have on the ends ! Reason is, I'm already thinking about better lighting over my 180,which I swore would be fish only. We all know how that works ! I have 165 watt black boxes now and I have the old metal halides in storage.

 

[Medic56]

The SBar is not mounted on the fixture in the last picture. It is here.

 

[cracker]

Medic, I really like the 1st pic. Nice,crisp"not too blue" color !
I finally got 1 bulb changed with of course a blue plus. Got the same nice crisp not too blue ! I suppose I need to post a pic. Ok this isn't tank of the month !