T5 lighting k question

[Mrfresh]

Quick question.

My tank was 84 degrees, so to try and not let the tank get so hot I killer half of my t5 lights.
My blue white Fiji pink and blue., lights. My other 4 are all blues.
This past week I have been really busy so I haven't payed to much attention to the tank.
Right now looking at it the corals look to be doing really well and I'm even noticing some newer/ fast the normal growth.

Here's the question:
Can I run just blues on my tank? (As in replacing the other 4 bulbs and just using 8 blue bulbs)

The reason I ask is I didn't think blues had enough par for coral alone.

 

[Mrfresh]

No one?

 

[NanaReefer]

Do what I did. Just $8 at Snyder Drugs :) Keeps all heat from my lights totally outta my tank!!

Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

[Mrfresh]

I've been doing that.
I'm not to worried about heat anymore.

I just want to know if I can run just blue t5s

 

[Mike J.]

Sure you run all blues if you like that color.

 

[Mrfresh]

Well I want to make sure there enough light.
Maybe I'll just run 7blues and one white, ill drop the Fiji pink.

The corals have only gone a week with just blues, I know it would take a few weeks before the corals would die bc on low lighting.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yes, you can run just the blues, thats all they need, thats what penetrates the water best.

 

[Mrfresh]

Good to know.
What part of az r u from reefing madness.
Me and the wife are heading out there this weekend to look at some land

 

[KoleTang]

Blue T5 bulbs are different than actinic bulbs.

Reef Aquarium Lighting - Lamps and lamp combinations

 

[Mrfresh]

Great artical but I wish they would show the bulbs on. A pic is worth a thousand words...

 

[Reefing Madness]

Im up in the NW Valley

 

[Reefing Madness]

Great artical but I wish they would show the bulbs on. A pic is worth a thousand words...

There are many, many people out there running just Blues now, with no whites.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Agreed. A lot of the "blue" bulbs have some of the highest par of any T5 bulbs out there. You are not necessarily losing par by going all blue.

You may have trouble getting certain colors to show through using all blue bulbs though. Reds are one example, and getting a true yellow is going to difficult as well. The extra spectrum in the other bulbs really help those colts come out.

 

[KoleTang]

Mrfresh, what type of blues are you using?

Great artical but I wish they would show the bulbs on. A pic is worth a thousand words...

Tanks on a computer and tanks in person look very different. ;)

Even if he took the time to edit every picture to look like it does in person, the pic could look completely different on another computer screen.

Agreed. A lot of the "blue" bulbs have some of the highest par of any T5 bulbs out there. You are not necessarily losing par by going all blue.

You may have trouble getting certain colors to show through using all blue bulbs though. Reds are one example, and getting a true yellow is going to difficult as well. The extra spectrum in the other bulbs really help those colts come out.

Good point. There are some bluer bulbs that can help with this like purple plus, fiji pink, etc.

 

[Mrfresh]

Most of them are ati blue plus.
Some are random bulbs that say 460nm blues

 

[Mrfresh]

So which is better in:
color
par?

True actinic
Or
Blue plus?

 

[cmaxwell39]

Blue plus by far. The true actinic puts out very little par and most of the time is overpowered in the mix when other bulbs are on with it.

How many bulbs are you running?

 

[Mrfresh]

It's an 8 bulb fixture