Rate my T5 bulb setup

[Miami Reef]

It’s almost 12am and I’m not sleeping because my T5 fixtures are coming tomorrow and I’m excited and planning what bulbs I’m going to choose. I purchased more than needed so I can play around with the colors.

Anyway, it’s an 8 bulb unit and I like the tank blue (blue+), but I want the reds to come out (purple+). I also want the 420nm peak to be there for coral growth (actinics) and I also don’t want the tank too blue because the coral definition comes out with some whites (aqua blue special)

I have coral+ bulbs in my house, but I don’t think I’m going to use them because they have other bulb colors in them (50% B+, 40% aqua blue, 10% purple+) instead of wasting my remaining bulb space with more percent of blue +, I’d rather…you’ll see exactly what I’m thinking of doing.

 

[Miami Reef]

This is what I created. Will this combination translate to something that looks good to my eyes? I hope so, because I spent A LOT of research into finding the best bulb combo for me. There’s really not that much info on T5 online unfortunately.

 

[Miami Reef]

I found this tank from a BRS YouTube video on T5 lighting and I sent them an email. They responded saying that this tank is running 2 blue+, 1aquablue special, and 1 coral+.

I really like the way that tank looked in the picture. I might try that combination tomorrow and see which one I like better.
This is the BRS tank I was talking about.

 

[Miami Reef]

Ooh. Maybe I can just swap the 2nd actinic bulb for either another Aquablue or a purple plus! If I see the tank looks too dark, I can add the former, and if it’s too brown looking, I can add the latter to bring out the reds!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

This is what I created. Will this combination translate to something that looks good to my eyes? I hope so, because I spent A LOT of research into finding the best bulb combo for me. There’s really not that much info on T5 online unfortunately.

I like aqua blue special a lot. Others it looks harsh to them. Also, actinic isn’t that powerful, par wise. I would throw some coral+ in there.

I use to run this before going hybrid
B+
C+
B+
P+
Actinic
B+
C+
B+

True to life color on this combo.

Also, @ATI North America has a team member on here that has an awesome combo, but I cannot remember what it is. It used ab special bulbs and his mixture removes all harshness and his tank looks awesome.

 

[Miami Reef]

I made 2 other possible setups.

Blue+ will be the dominant color of my fixture. It will occupy 50% of the fixture (4/8 will be Blue+). Either I will go more white, actinic, or purple as secondary color.

In my opinion I think adding coral plus is just wasting my room because I already have half my fixture occupying blue+. Why would I need to add another bulb that is 50% blue+?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I made 2 other possible setups.

Blue+ will use 50% of my fixture regardless. Either I will go more white, actinic, or purple heavy.

In my opinion I think adding coral plus is just wasting my room because I already have half my fixture occupying blue+. Why would I need to add another bulb that is 50% blue+?

So you get the color range of blue, but the white in it tricks the eye to “show” a more whiter light.

 

[rtparty]

Back in the day I'd say 5 Blue Plus, 2 Coral Plus and 1 Purple Plus. Now days I start with 4 Blue Plus and 4 Coral Plus. Too white? Switch one CP for a BP.

Whatever you do, give each combo time. Don't change bulbs out every hour. Put your bulbs in, look at it a bunch, go outside, look again, and repeat.

 

[tehmadreefer]

This one minus a purple. I’d do a coral or blue plus in place of it put the actinic and purple together in the middle.

 

[Smite]

What fixtures are you using? If ATI, keep in mind the two channels and their bulb locations when you install your lamps. I always like actinic lamps and felt they helped with color even though the don't look very bright. I ran those on the two lamp channel of my ATI for sunrise, sunset.

B+ are your powerhouses so from there just add enough of the others to make it pleasing to your eye. I started with 2 P+ and 6 B+ based off what TGC was running. Their colors were great and so was growth but I ended up swapping a P+ for a C+ and adding the actinics on the 2 lamp channel. I really like that look a lot. I never tried the aqua but I could see that as a good one to try in place of C+ or P+.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Also ATI has combos right on their website.

Best ATI Bulb Combinations for Your 8 Bulb Fixture - ATI North America

It’s easy to spend hours deciding which T5 bulbs to use over your tank. It’s challenging to visualize how your combination of bulbs will look in your fixture. While a lot of aquarium lighting is based on personal preference, here’s a general guide to help you select bulbs for your 8 bulb...

www.atinorthamerica.com

 

[Tamberav]

Everyone is going to have their opinions. I run half B+ and half C+ since that seems to give the best results coral wise looking at others tanks and I like the natural white. Really brings out the colors of fish. Evening is blue pop time which the LED bar does better anyway.

 

[Miami Reef]

@Smite

Do you ever worry about your bulbs prematurely degrading when you run certain bulbs on a sunrise/sunset schedule?

I have the option of having this feature with my dimmable fixture, but I don’t want to deal with the hassle of having to worry about changing bulbs earlier than others now. I’d rather worry about all the bulbs one time together.

 

[Smite]

@Smite

Do you ever worry about your bulbs prematurely degrading when you run certain bulbs on a sunrise/sunset schedule?

I have the option of having this feature with my dimmable fixture, but I don’t want to deal with the hassle of having to worry about changing bulbs earlier than others now. I’d rather worry about all the bulbs one time together.

I no longer run t5, I'm currently LED but I'm going to change that on my next build.

I didn't worry about it too much. I had it an hour on both sides of my light cycle so the difference wasn't that large. A while back BRS did a study on t5 lamps and whether they actually need to be swapped at 9-12 months. The par drop was around 10-13% if i remember right after 9-12 months use. That was only a few % lower than after the first month of use where they drop off the most. They even did spectral graphs and the spectral change would not be noticeable to the eye. I think t5s probably get changed way more often than need be. Same goes for MH, theres a shop near me who's waiting for his existing mh lamps to burn out before swapping to led and they've been on the tank for years. Still has colorful and healhty sps in there. I wouldn't worry about a few hours difference on the lamps.

Also take from that video the par drop after a months use. You actually don't want to swap all lamps at once. It will be a decent bump in par to change all lamps at once. Change a few lamps at a time. Make a chart or mark the date of install on the lamp's edge with a sharpie.

 

[Reef - Tripp]

Mine
B+
B+
Act
C+
C+
Act
B+
B+

 

[N3mo]

Don't know if this helps. But I ran 3 x blue plus and 3 x aquablue special here. Led were added after this for LPS colour pop.

 

[Miami Reef]

Don't know if this helps. But I ran 3 x blue plus and 3 x aquablue special here. Led were added after this for LPS colour pop.

That looks just like the BRS tank that I liked! Thank you so much! I might use this combo.

 

[twhit030]

What did you end up going with? I’m the same up at 2am looking at bulbs haha I was planning on going with the brs recommended

4 b+
2 actinic
2 c+

then I messed up and watched some video on YouTube and realized I loved the look of purple plus so I’m back to the drawing board. Would love to see the combo you came up with and what it looks like

 

[Miami Reef]

What did you end up going with? I’m the same up at 2am looking at bulbs haha I was planning on going with the brs recommended

4 b+
2 actinic
2 c+

then I messed up and watched some video on YouTube and realized I loved the look of purple plus so I’m back to the drawing board. Would love to see the combo you came up with and what it looks like

I tried that combo but my tank looked green. I needed purple plus. That’s my favorite bulb from ATI. It balances the green look and makes coralline algae and the reds from corals come out.

I use

Blue plus
Purple plus
blue plus - (channel 1)
Actinic
Blue plus
Purple plus (channel 1)
Purple plus
Blue plus

I never run all 8 bulbs together because I was having over 500 par. I use the channel 1 for dusk/dawn. I get around 350 par on the top and 150 on the bottom.

 

[Miami Reef]

Here’s my tank. Please note that pictures make every tank look more blue than what it actually is. I would say my lights are 16K-18K. It looks good to me.