Help with 4 bulb t5 combo

skiergd011013 · Dec 28, 2017

I have a 4 bulb t5 fixture on my 30 gallon reef. Front to back is blue plus, purple plus, blue plus, blue plus. I like really blue tanks, and sometimes when i look at the tank i think the purple is overpowering the blue. Could i replace the purple plus bulb with an actinic? As far as i know, they look purple as well, just dimmer. Anybody doing this, or advice?

dragon99 · Dec 28, 2017

You certainly could, but there'd be a slight drop in PAR (if that matters). You could also try a coral+ which I personally like. It adds a little white crispness to the blue.

skiergd011013 · Dec 28, 2017

dragon99 said:
You certainly could, but there'd be a slight drop in PAR (if that matters). You could also try a coral+ which I personally like. It adds a little white crispness to the blue.

im not really worried about par. I have 3 blue plus bulbs which are high in par, and mostly softies. Whats a good actinic bulb? Preferably purple, but dimmer.

dragon99 · Dec 28, 2017

ATI True Actinic or Giesemann Super Actinic

Velcro · Dec 28, 2017

Have you thought about keeping the purple and adding a blue LED strip to the fixture?

skiergd011013 · Dec 28, 2017

Yeah, i did. I looked up those reefbrite ones and they are pricey. Ill try the ati true actinic bulb for now for 20.00.

Velcro · Dec 28, 2017

skiergd011013 said:
Yeah, i did. I looked up those reefbrite ones and they are pricey. Ill try the ati true actinic bulb for now for 20.00.

Those things are overpriced. You can get TWO of these 24” bars for $99 (the non-dimming version). I have a pair and prefer them over the reefbrites. I returned my reefbrite and kept these :)