Suggest ATI T5 bulb that wont grow algea.

[A. grandis]

I dunno, whats the point if the owner isn’t visually satisfied? Agreed:, different goals: growth is always one primary goal but I’m not sacrificing my aesthetics to get another inch per year...corals have some waggle for light adaptability, I’ve done 6500k across, probably was enough blue in it anyway...Corals were ugly brown but growth wasn’t bad

This thread was initially about what bulbs would grow less algae: Purple Plus or a "blue" bulb, if that's the case. If we ignore the nutrients' factor, a Blue Plus bulb will most likely contribute to less algae growth than a Purple Plus bulb would.
Keep using your Purple bulb because I have no business choosing the bulbs for your tank. You should use what pleases your visual satisfaction the most, if that is your main goal, of course. I have absolutely no problem with that.

 

[chicago]

Good Feed back guys... I get the visual aspect for sure.. I have a lot of leds above this tank.. here is a pic.. ... I guess I should have followed up with... does the atinic bulb do more for sps than the Blue plus.. Thanks again all..

 

[blasterman]

Algae is composed of nearly the same chlorophyll as coral. As such, algae growth only cares about PAR and not spectral weighting. The "red light grows more algae" crowd are also members of faked moon landing and 9/11 conspiracy forums.

A light with 'X' PAR at 420nm will grow the same algae as that same PAR level at 630nm.

Find somebody that actually cured a tank algae problem by changing the color of their lights.

OP...be warned. You're taking advice from people who also claim LED's can't grow corals and microwaves and infrared contribute to photosynthesis.

 

[Bacon505]

Help me out.. I have banks of LED one my tank.. looking to hit some T5 bulbs.. What T5 ATI bulbs limit or are the least likely to gown algea. I have some going now like the purple plus and blue .. but thinking they are right now contributing to my algea outbreak i have going on right now..

Lighting is just one variable for algae growth. I know a lot of reefers complain of over run by hair algae when they run only radions at 40%. If you’re skipping the basic, doesnt matter what light you use, algae still grows

 

[Bacon505]

My T5 slots are too precious to waste with a purple bulb IMO. I just think the value of a T5 bulb in a combo is in what they actually do to the corals, not my visual preferences in the first place. This is the way I see lighting. I prefer to "like" more what the corals will use the best.
But I also understand that everyone thinks differently and have different goals for their tanks.
Your corals don't see the way you see.

This tank run on 2 purple plus one coral plus and 3 blue plus.

 

[Crustaceon]

If you’re having an algae outbreak, that’s not a lighting issue. I’ve always found that as my rocks become mature and covered in coralline, nuisance algae has a much harder time taking root. This was the case when I started with dry rock. I ran 10ppm nitrates and around .08 phosphates and had some surface algae on the rocks (not clumps or HA thankfully). That algae pretty much died out and was gradually taken over by coralline. Now I still have to clean my panels weekly with a credit card, but I never have to touch my rockwork. IME, biological competition for that realstate is what solves the problem.

 

[HuduVudu]

Help me out.. I have banks of LED one my tank.. looking to hit some T5 bulbs.. What T5 ATI bulbs limit or are the least likely to gown algea. I have some going now like the purple plus and blue .. but thinking they are right now contributing to my algea outbreak i have going on right now..

Broken ones.

 

[A. grandis]

Algae is composed of nearly the same chlorophyll as coral. As such, algae growth only cares about PAR and not spectral weighting. The "red light grows more algae" crowd are also members of faked moon landing and 9/11 conspiracy forums.

A light with 'X' PAR at 420nm will grow the same algae as that same PAR level at 630nm.

Find somebody that actually cured a tank algae problem by changing the color of their lights.

OP...be warned. You're taking advice from people who also claim LED's can't grow corals and microwaves and infrared contribute to photosynthesis.

Corals do not contain chlorophyll, but the zooxanthellae inside of the corals' cells contain chlorophyll.
I can put a 54W purple bulb in a place of one of my higher PAR Blue Plus bulbs and see algae growing in my tank in 2 to 3 days. Did that many times in different situations just to make sure and that's what happened. You don't have to look further, you have found someone that can avoid algae by changing spectrum alone with higher PAR bulbs. Have you tried yourself?
One can have the "pleasure" of purple bulbs over any reef if they can balance the system with lower nutrients. It's the balance that matters.
LEDs can grow corals "just fine", as many have said here.
UV and IR contribute to the health of corals in nature and in any closed system as well.
Trust whoever you want, cause I don't care about that part!

 

[homer1475]

This tank run on 2 purple plus one coral plus and 3 blue plus.

I run the same bulb combo!

 

[A. grandis]

This tank run on 2 purple plus one coral plus and 3 blue plus.

Do you like it? Do the same then. It's very colorful indeed. Beautiful!

 

[A. grandis]

I run the same bulb combo!

Show your pictures, please. Many may follow the example.

 

[Bpb]

Old old old pic. Final shot of the tank before I took the T5’s down

Bulb combo was
3 - 6500k
1 purple-+
1 true actinic
3 - blue+

Nutrient load was around 20-30 ppm NO3

PO4 was around 0.05-0.1 ppm

Foxface and an urchin kept the tank spotless

 

[homer1475]

Show your pictures, please. Many may follow the example.

Hate taking pictures of my tank, because I suck at taking pictures. lol

 

[A. grandis]

Both tanks are very nice on the pictures!
Like I've said before... can't go wrong with T5s!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[ryshark]

This tank run on 2 purple plus one coral plus and 3 blue plus.

Very nice! So only 6-bulbs in? I thought you said 8 in your video thread. What is your total photoperiod? thanks

 

[Tamberav]

You simply added more PAR by adding T5 which benefited the algae... you could have added more led and it still would have been more PAR.

Instead of trying to control your lights, control your nutrients or get more CUC.

 

[Bacon505]

Very nice! So only 6-bulbs in? I thought you said 8 in your video thread. What is your total photoperiod? thanks

They were mostly under 6 bulbs then 8 towards the end before the crashed. I run them 8h

 

[Gswink]

This tank run on 2 purple plus one coral plus and 3 blue plus.

I'm thinking about running that color combination on my tank. Are you using any led strips?

 

[Bacon505]

I'm thinking about running that color combination on my tank. Are you using any led strips?

Yeah i used to run 2 reef brite lumi lite but now i run 2 reef brite xho