T5 HO lighting

[Brian Treadwell]

Hey Guys , looking to change up my lighting have only LED's now , but have a four bulb T5 fixture want to remove one of my LED lights and add the T5 and would like to hear oppinions on best bulbs to use and what every things , would like a little more blue than my current lights give me. Thanks

 

[lou dog420]

ATI blue +, ATI coral +

 

[Brian Treadwell]

You talking two of each

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

I run dual kessil 160 and 4t5. Currently ati coral+, ati blue+, and 2 zoo med 420nm I had laying around. When time to swap out the zoo med, I will DEFINITELY be snagging some more ati bulbs. Really depends on your color preference of tank.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

 

[Brian Treadwell]

Looks nice , that is what I am for a little more blue my tank is very white things are doing well , but need more blue.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

Thx. It's a little whiter in person, but I as well like the bluer look. This color combo was exactly what I was looking for.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

And everything seems to be growing quite well, which is what really mattered to me

 

[Brian Treadwell]

Ok been doing some research and thinking about 2 ati blue plus , 1 ati True actinic , and 1 ati coral plus would this combo of lights be to white are would the blue come thru.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

Blue would shine through. Even when I ran one ati blue plus and one ati coral plus still had a nice blue tint. Adding the 2 other actinic will ensure that. Maybe replace one blue with a pink or purple? That would help the Reds pop a bit as well.

 

[Brian Treadwell]

So maybe 1 blue plus , 1 actinic , 1 coral plus , 1 purple plus

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

This link may help. I have nothing to do with the video but definitely worth a look over. Helped me in my decision making of coloration.

 

[Brian Treadwell]

Good video , the colors are cool

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

It's wild how much a bulb choice makes a difference to our eyes.

 

[jadwv2210]

I have a 6 bulb fixture but I'm using 2 coral plus, 2 blue plus, 1 purple plus, and 1 true actinic and I wish I had gone for more blue personally. The combo I listed will give a slightly blue but mostly white. True actinic bulbs are not very bright to our eyes but output a lot of par for the corals. They are also very blue. I think I will swap one of my coral plus for another true actinic and another coral plus for a blue plus.

 

[Brian Treadwell]

See that is my problem , I am still going to run my marine orbit LED for sunrise, sunset and moonlight and there is I don't want say a lot but there is white in my Led fixture and that is part of my confusion , I do want more blue than I have now.

 

[jadwv2210]

See that is my problem , I am still going to run my marine orbit LED for sunrise, sunset and moonlight and there is I don't want say a lot but there is white in my Led fixture and that is part of my confusion , I do want more blue than I have now.

I switched from a Reef Breeders Photon 32 fixture to a 6 bulb 32 inch giesemann matrixx t5 fixture and I can say while the t5 is easier to use I preferred the look of the LED fixture. Only reason I switched is because I couldn't dial in the LED to get good growth. I would either bleach everything or not have enough light and they would slowly fade. Not that it's a bad fixture but not very noob friendly.

I've never seen an orbit fixture in person so I don't know how white they are. But if you're using both t5 and the led you could go as blue as you want with the t5 and probably still have enough par. I've noticed in pictures and video the lights look a lot more blue than they do in person. I was going for something similar to the photos posted above but what I got was much more white than I expected.

I think marine depot has some good bulb pairing guidelines on their site somewhere if you want a super blue 4 bulb combo.

 

[Brian Treadwell]

The marine orbit us a full spectrum system but it is pretty white , I have ordered 2 blue + , purple + and a coral+. When I get it all set up I will post what it looks like. Thanks for the help