Tweaking t5 spectrum for color

[eggie]

The Blue special is more a yellowish color if you want more white and consider the KZ Coral which is a 10k bulb

I replace my bulbs and went with 2 of them and it has pump the growth in some corals

I actually ended up just leaving the 4 blue plus in until the other day, figured they’d be in use for right around a year so I swapped them out for two aqua blue special and two actinic. Not a huge change, but just enough so that with ab+ at peak and the t5 bulbs on I’ve got a fairly white look. But I also have two blue plus Orphek bars. I like the look and acros seem to like the fresh light, also lowered the fixture an inch…. But my new tank is a halide setup…. About to have all the white light I need lol

How is growth for a WD or HW under your setup if you have it? We are almost similar except I’m using 2 actinic and 2 B+ bulbs.

Here’s How I got my mini HW in May

I change Bulbs in Jun here is HW in pic in July

HW is faster then WD my frag was mess up in my friends tank and it’s getting better in my tank but its a slow recovery

 

[bubbgee]

That looks great! I did increase the run time to 6 hours. Believe my radion peaks around 75-80% plus I have the two Orphek or4. I lowered my fixture an inch yesterday from 10” to 9” so I’ll leave it be for awhile. New bulbs plus an inch closer is two decent changes in just a few days I would think, maybe not l though?

I have similar setup as you including the OR4 bars and hybrid. I reduced my radions to 40% intensity as I'm topping 1000 par already at the top of the rocks and 350 on some parts of the sandbed. OR4s are now peaking at 80% too, following sun-moon cycle. Best to get a par meter to make sure you set the lighting correctly. But with high par, you need high alk, high flow and nutrients (I run mine elevated at 0.15 to 0.2 PO4 and 20-30 NO3).

 

[spsick]

I was using this 4 bulb setup and felt helpless seeing my HW frags lose color. Right now they're just green. Kinda frustrating lol

I read a post here on r2r that ATI true actinics don't provide anything that the other blue bulbs cant provide so I decided to switch it out to coral plus as a precaution. Now the pinks and purples of homewrecker is gone and barely any lavender with the WD.

I switched back to actinics and blue plus. I hope some color is recovered in a few months but of course, have to find alternatives to actinic bulbs if this actually works.

Homewrecker is a tough one for sure. Some people it’s just green and others get glorious pink tips.

This setup is giving me ok color on Orange Passion and Pink Highlighter, but I’m sure they’d pop more with more LED royal blue in the mix. That seems key for the really bright Tenuis colors.

 

[reef’r]

I have similar setup as you including the OR4 bars and hybrid. I reduced my radions to 40% intensity as I'm topping 1000 par already at the top of the rocks and 350 on some parts of the sandbed. OR4s are now peaking at 80% too, following sun-moon cycle. Best to get a par meter to make sure you set the lighting correctly. But with high par, you need high alk, high flow and nutrients (I run mine elevated at 0.15 to 0.2 PO4 and 20-30 NO3).

Wow really you were that high? I par mapped the tank with a 510 and my highest rock average was 292 with radion at 50 and or4 bars at 50. That’s why I increased, but my meter was a rental and I increased slowly so did not recheck par once I reached my current levels. I was going to leave them be but most of my favorite acro tanks on here are 4-600 up top and ~2-300 bottom

 

[reef’r]

I have similar setup as you including the OR4 bars and hybrid. I reduced my radions to 40% intensity as I'm topping 1000 par already at the top of the rocks and 350 on some parts of the sandbed. OR4s are now peaking at 80% too, following sun-moon cycle. Best to get a par meter to make sure you set the lighting correctly. But with high par, you need high alk, high flow and nutrients (I run mine elevated at 0.15 to 0.2 PO4 and 20-30 NO3).

What is your current par?

 

[bubbgee]

Wow really you were that high? I par mapped the tank with a 510 and my highest rock average was 292 with radion at 50 and or4 bars at 50. That’s why I increased, but my meter was a rental and I increased slowly so did not recheck par once I reached my current levels. I was going to leave them be but most of my favorite acro tanks on here are 4-600 up top and ~2-300 bottom

My hybrid sits on top of my Aura-mounted OR4 bars which is about 12-14 inches from the top of the water's surface. How high is your lighting setup?

 

[bubbgee]

What is your current par?

Running at 800 at the top now at peak. I only have the HW, WD, AB, JF Solar Flare, Vivid Confetti. Pink highlighters and some brown frags there to pull out some colors.

 

[bubbgee]

Here’s How I got my mini HW in May

I change Bulbs in Jun here is HW in pic in July

HW is faster then WD my frag was mess up in my friends tank and it’s getting better in my tank but its a slow recovery

Thanks for the tip, I am looking at the bulbs right now. What is your current bulb setup?

 

[reef’r]

Running at 800 at the top now at peak. I only have the HW, WD, AB, JF Solar Flare, Vivid Confetti. Pink highlighters and some brown frags there to pull out some colors.

My fixture is only 9” above surface

 

[eggie]

Thanks for the tip, I am looking at the bulbs right now. What is your current bulb setup?

My current set up is 2 Kz Coral Light 2 Coral Plus 2 Blue Plus complemented with 2 AI Blades Coral Grow

 

[eggie]

Here is what my tank looks like