T5 lighting help

[Sammyn888]

Hello all,


I am somewhat new to the hobby about 6 months in. I have a question hopefully someone can help me with. I have a 56 gallon reef aquarium demensions are 30" W x 18" D x 24" H. On this tank is a light fixture that holds 4 24w T5 bulbs. I currently have 2 seaworld 24w 12k t5 and 2 24w actinics. I wanted to upgrade and get a bigger spectrum range to help the growth and look of my coral. I have been looking at different types of bulbs from ATI. Listed below is the 4 that i am looking at. My question is what combination of these bulbs below would be best for my tank? I have just a few corals at the moment zoas, duncans, green BTA (not a coral i know :bigsmile: ) some blue mushrooms and a kenya tree. Any advise would be well accepted!


Aquablue Special: Combines the properties of a full-spectrum bulb with an elevated blue color peak producing a bulb with an approximate color temperature of 15000K.

Blue Plus: Combines the properties of a blue bulb (approximately 460nm) with an actinic bulb (approximately 420nm) producing an intense blue light with high PAR numbers and a light spectrum that encourages both bluing in SPS corals and fluorescence in capable corals.

Coral Plus:Combines the properties of a Blue Plus (~50%) + Aquablue Special (~40%) + Purple Plus (~10%) producing a bulb with an approximate color temperature of 15000K+. Appears cool, crisp white to the eye.

Purple Plus: Combines the properties of a full spectrum bulb with strong red and blue components producing a bulb with excellent color-rendition that works very well for bringing out the pinks, purples and reds in an aquarium.

True Actinic: Produces a violet-blue light that is designed to maximize fluorescence in capable corals and make livestock colors pop.

 

[Loki]

I have 4 blue plus.

It makes my tank VERY blue. I like that though. My friend has three coral plus and one blue plus. His tank is to white for me. It depends on what you want you tank to look like.

I would not get the actinic because it produces no useful light for the coral. It is only good for making the tank look blue (like the blue plus).

If you want a tank with a little blue get two coral plus and two blue plus. The more blue you want your tank to look the more blue plus you need to go.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sammyn888]

Thank you for your help Loki! :smile:

I actually thought actinics were good lights :squigglemouth: for coral! I have lots to learn lol

 

[Loki]

No problem .