What T5 bulbs are you running on your hybrid fixture?

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kkiel02

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Id like to get an idea of what bulbs everyone is running. Could you post up your combos along with the led fixture and settings you are using? Pictures of course would be appreciated!
 

Crabs McJones

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Kessil ap700 with two ati blue plus and two ati actinics.

Another combination I like to recommend is two ati blue plus, an ati purple plus, and an ati coral plus
 

stevenlu

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Kessil ap700 with two ati blue plus and two ati actinics.

Another combination I like to recommend is two ati blue plus, an ati purple plus, and an ati coral plus
How do those spectrum work? I understand corals like the 400 nanometers of blues right? Why the coral plus purple plus and blue plus combo?
 

TexasReefer82

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I also run 2x ATI Blue+ and 2x ATI True Actinic 03 along with 2x Hydra 26 HD's.

The t5's by themselves give an overall blue/purple color. I run my LED's rather low - their maximum is only about 40% intensity and I control the overall white balance with the LED's. So, the T5's are blue/purple and I add white with the LED's.

Alternatively you could make your t5 bulbs rather white and add the blue with the LED's. As long as you get the necessary wavelengths shining onto the corals it really doesn't matter. I chose my configuration because I wanted to mimic nature - roughly. The kelvin/color temperature of incident sunlight changes throughout the day. It's rather low/warm/red-shifted in the morning and evening and the highest/bluest color temp is at noon and early afternoon when the sun is at its zenith. Since the t5's come on only in the middle part of the day representing the hours when the sun is at its zenith I made them blue/purple. I use the LED's for ramp up/down and dusk/dawn and I keep them rather white for the morning and evening when the t5's are off.

Do the corals care about any of this??? Probably not, haha. Who knows, maybe they do. But it's fun for me.
 

goldenhurricane2

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I only have 2 T-5s on my hybrid (sb reef lights), but just like the guys above, I have 1 ATI Blue+ and 1 ATI True Actinic.
 

Billldg

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2 Ati blue +, 1 Coral +, 1 Purple + and 2 Ecotech XR15 G4 pros
 

Daniel Waters

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Id like to get an idea of what bulbs everyone is running. Could you post up your combos along with the led fixture and settings you are using? Pictures of course would be appreciated!
You're going to find a wide range of bulb and color combinations because a lot of this is personal preference. You have already been given several excellent recommendations from other posters, so I will make general comments that might be helpful.

With a 4 bulb T5 setup with LEDs, you will generally find 2 to 4 blue type bulbs (i.e. blue plus or pure actinic type bulbs) and 2 to 0 whiter type bulbs (typically coral plus and purple plus). Some people may even use whiter bulbs such as 10k or 6500K type bulbs but this is not as common with 4 bulb hybrids because those bulbs can be so overpowering without additional T5 bulbs to combat the really white daylight bulb. Some people love the purple plus bulb. Personally, I find it a bit too much visually in a 4 bulb setup, but I would probably use one in an 8 bulb setup.

Also, in general, it's sometimes easier to use a bluer T5 setup and then tweak the color whiter with your LEDs. Trying to make the tank bluer with the LEDs does not work as well. Most people keep their blue and violet LEDs maxed already, so you can't really add in more blue. However, most people do not run their white LEDs at full power, so it gives you the ability to adjust up / down as needed. Also, it only takes a little bit of white LED adjustment to tweak the overall color, whereas it takes a lot more incremental blue LED to offset a too white color from T5's.

When I ran a 4 bulb hybrid, I ran 2 blue plus, a pure actinic, and one coral plus. I could have easily gone without the coral plus and just increased my white LEDs even more, but I felt like it was best to have the T5 providing some of the upper nm spectrum versus all coming from the LEDs.

You can't really go wrong with T5 bulbs. Just pick a setup you like. I preferred very blue setups at first, but I have gravitated to whiter looking tanks during the day. For dawn / dusk effects, I really prefer just using my LEDs as I think they do a better job than T5s. During the day, the whiter look is better to see fish coloration and show the true coloration on a lot of acros. The deep blue / actinic look is great looking for LPS and softies like zoas.
 
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kkiel02

kkiel02

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This is what I ran in my 6 bulb fixture but it was 10 years ago now. I was happy with that combo but quickly upgraded that tank to a 375 gal(which we left in the wall when we sold the house) where I used mh. Then swapped to radions but didn’t like the disco effect.
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus

So this time I plan on running the 2 kessil 360x’s with the new fixture aquatic life comes out with. So it looks like I’ll have 2x blue + with at least one actinic. That’s my plan anyway, just hoping the fixture is still on track for around the 1Q of next year.

Thanks for all the responses! It seems that the crew at BRS really loves this combo.
 

Daniel Waters

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This is what I ran in my 6 bulb fixture but it was 10 years ago now. I was happy with that combo...
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus

So this time I plan on running the 2 kessil 360x’s with the new fixture aquatic life comes out with. So it looks like I’ll have 2x blue + with at least one actinic.

With two blue plus and one actinic, you will definitely need a white type bulb to get similar to your previous bulb combo. The daylight bulbs you used previously I believe have a bit more yellow in them, so if you like that, the coral plus and purple plus bulbs may not quite give that same tint. You might prefer want to use a GE 6500K, Giesmann Tropic 6500K, or aquablue special type bulb. But that's typically a lot whiter than most people go with in their 4 bulb T5 setups. 2 blue plus and 2 coral plus might be a good combination based on your previous bulb setup. No good way if knowing till you start trying some combinations!

By the way, the kessils pair nicely with the T5s. It subdues the shimmer and color blends great, so you shouldn't notice any disco ball like you did with the radions (kessils have no disco ball to begin with).

If you're buying the new kessils, just be sure to check that the aquatic life hybrid fixture will support the new 360s. I don't think the old 360 brackets work with the newer X kessil model. But I'm not familiar with new hybrid fixture coming out.
 

Crabs McJones

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How do those spectrum work? I understand corals like the 400 nanometers of blues right? Why the coral plus purple plus and blue plus combo?
Corals do like the blue and deep blue spectrum, but are also able to utilize the red and white spectrum. The Coral plus and purple plus add in some white and UV, otherwise the tank would be completely blue.
 

Daniel Waters

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Corals do like the blue and deep blue spectrum, but are also able to utilize the red and white spectrum. The Coral plus and purple plus add in some white and UV, otherwise the tank would be completely blue.
@Crabs Mcjones is on target. And those bulbs can help bring out certain colors in the tank. And if paired with other bulbs, the combinations can do even more! Here's an example of a rose bubble tip anemone I had under just a purple plus and blue plus bulb combo for a short while. The purple plus really makes the color pop on that anemone! I attached another picture of the anemone in my tank (far right) under different lighting.

DSC_0085.JPG


20171230_143108.jpg
 
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kkiel02

kkiel02

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I'm running 2 ati blue+ 1 coral plus, 1 actinic. With kessil 160. Over a IM fusion 40
Might have to try this out. Sounds like a good color combo. I’ll grab an extra actinic and maybe one more color so I can play around with it a little.

I’m waiting for the one cord, dimming fixture they talked about on here. Sounds like the 360x should fit by then.
 

shred5

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Personally I like royal blue from leds and run leds with more blue. I also feel the t-5 do better with reds and greens than led so I run the t-5 with more of those colors.

So I run two blue t-5s and two t-5 with some red and green like a 6500k lamp or KZ new Generation etc.
 

Vin's Reef

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3 AI Hydra 52HD's and 3 ATI Blue Plus and 1 ATI Coral Plus in an Aquatic Life 72in fixture. Get about 420 par at the surface 190 in the middle and 90 in the sand. No reds or greens in any of my LED settings.
 

Firemanreefkeeper

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2 blue plus, 2 coral plus. Ap 700 in the middle. And I'm stuck with the t5 bulbs since mine melted to the clips. I hope they fix this issue too since I'm upgrading to a new tank and want to use this fixture again, just the 4 foot one.
 

Coastie Reefer

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2 blue plus, 2 coral plus. Ap 700 in the middle. And I'm stuck with the t5 bulbs since mine melted to the clips. I hope they fix this issue too since I'm upgrading to a new tank and want to use this fixture again, just the 4 foot one.
They have. New fixtures come with bare metal clips. You can contact them and they will send you replacements I believe. If not you can use a razor and cut the coating off the clips.
 

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