T5 full spectrum bulb combo question

ATXreefer

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Quick question here…. Would a 50/50 mix of blue plus and AB special give the same or close to a coral plus bulb? I know that the ATI website says that they are on paper, but curious if anyone has seen/personally used exclusively coral plus bulbs or the B+/AB special combo before.

thanks in advance!
 

A. grandis

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Quick question here…. Would a 50/50 mix of blue plus and AB special give the same or close to a coral plus bulb? I know that the ATI website says that they are on paper, but curious if anyone has seen/personally used exclusively coral plus bulbs or the B+/AB special combo before.

thanks in advance!
No, it would be different.
I personally would use a 50-50 of ATI Blue Plus and Coral Plus.
There is nothing that will substitute a Blue Plus bulb in any way.
If you read about or see the Coral Plus and AB Special you can decide what to choose from according to your preferences, using either one or both with Blue Plus bulbs.
In the end they are all great bulbs to be used in different applications and most likely for your personal taste.
You just can't go wrong with ATI bulbs!
The only bulb I don't recommend after trying numerous times is Purple Plus. It's that part of the spectrum that was made purely for aesthetic purposes. I prefer to have other bulbs in that slot to get better out of those slots. Second I would pass is the AB Special.
Have fun!
 

bruno3047

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How many bulbs in your fixture? I have a four bulb fixture with (front to back) AB special, blue plus, coral plus, blue plus. If I had a two bulb, I would go coral plus, blue plus.
 
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ATXreefer

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I forgot to mention tank inhabitants will be magnifica anemone and clams. I know both animals prefer more of a daylight color temperature and want to make sure something like a C+/B+ mix won’t be too blue.
 
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ATXreefer

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How many bulbs in your fixture? I have a four bulb fixture with (front or back) AB special, blue plus, coral plus, blue plus. If I had a two bulb, I would go coral plus, blue plus.
Don’t currently have t5, but looking at 6 or 8 bulb power module (the one with leds included)
 

t5Nitro

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Coral plus and blue plus in 1:1 is a great spectrum. Not an issue for sps or clams.
 

bruno3047

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I forgot to mention tank inhabitants will be magnifica anemone and clams. I know both animals prefer more of a daylight color temperature and want to make sure something like a C+/B+ mix won’t be too blue.
Don’t currently have t5, but looking at 6 or 8 bulb power module (the one with leds included)
With the Magnifica you’re going to need par, so the aqua blue special would be the best for that. But you don’t wanna go just that and blue plus and neglect the red spectrum altogether. You’re going to want to go with at least one or two coral plus or maybe a coral plus and a purple plus to get even more red.
 

t5Nitro

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I almost think it looks close to my old phoenix 14K halides, without the halide shimmer.
 

t5Nitro

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You could swap one of the coral plus bulbs out for a geisemann tropic 6500K. Its very white spectrum and sometimes overpowers the other bulbs.
 

A. grandis

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Don’t currently have t5, but looking at 6 or 8 bulb power module (the one with leds included)
My suggestion to you is to get the SunPower, non-dimmable, very simple straight T5 only system going. Cover all the tank's suface area and you can use the Blue Plus/ Coral Plus bulbs (50-50) absolutely without any fear. Cover the entire surface area of the system with the T5s.
 
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ATXreefer

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I’m going to derail my own thread and ask about 8 bulb t5 vs 150w halide plus 2 t5 supplement bulbs. It’s about the same overall wattage, only reason I haven’t considered the halide option more is the heat. Living in Austin, TX I just don’t have a tolerance for something that is going to heat up my home office unnecessarily. Thoughts?
 

bruno3047

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I’m going to derail my own thread and ask about 8 bulb t5 vs 150w halide plus 2 t5 supplement bulbs. It’s about the same overall wattage, only reason I haven’t considered the halide option more is the heat. Living in Austin, TX I just don’t have a tolerance for something that is going to heat up my home office unnecessarily. Thoughts?
You pretty much said it all as far as MH. I think you had the right idea with the T5 plus LED fixture. LEDs definitely have something to offer as far as shimmer and iridescence and florescence under blue lights. You don’t want to deprive yourself of that. Especially if you’re going to use sunrise and sunset settings on your timer. That’s where the blue LEDs really shine.
 

A. grandis

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I’m going to derail my own thread and ask about 8 bulb t5 vs 150w halide plus 2 t5 supplement bulbs. It’s about the same overall wattage, only reason I haven’t considered the halide option more is the heat. Living in Austin, TX I just don’t have a tolerance for something that is going to heat up my home office unnecessarily. Thoughts?
I live in Hawaii, my house is hot and I run 2 X 250W halide bulbs and 4 X 54W T5s over a 75gal. Just make sure you put a fan between the fixture and the water surface to cut the heat transfer and you will be fine. I would have to run chiller no matter what to keep my tank at it's perfect temperature range, so I have one. The ATI Sunpower will be the easiest option and more forgiving than a metal halide system in any case, as long as the height of the tank is up to 24". Halides will help the production of some natural pigments that the T5s won't be able to give simply because of the extra intensity and amount of UV emitted. You want to go very easy get the T5s. You will also have great colors and great colony formation!
The main difference, to help you choose is shimmer or no shimmer.
I like both results and enjoy either types of technology over my reefs.
 

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