What type of Actinic or Lighting should i use to make my corals glow/pop?

Kaiser · Jul 15, 2016

I'm currently using a hamilton hood with four 24 inch T5HO bulbs, 2 of which are coralife 10k, and the other 2 are coralife actinics. I don't get much glow from my corals, including my hammer, especially towards the end of the day when my actinics get hot (even when i turn the 10k off). I'm wondering if I am just using the wrong bulbs. Any suggestions for the type of actinic or company i should use? Could it also be supplemented by my 10k washing out the blue? I really want to make my tank look good and I feel like i won't get the colors i want without LED. Thanks

Bronc · Jul 15, 2016

I added a blue LED strip on the bottom of my T5 hood. It definitely makes the corals glow more.

Nihilus · Jul 15, 2016

I asked this very same question last night and somebody recommended the Giesemann Super Actinic bulbs.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/super-actinic-t5-giesemann.html

Kaiser · Jul 16, 2016

Nihilus said:
I asked this very same question last night and somebody recommended the Giesemann Super Actinic bulbs.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/super-actinic-t5-giesemann.html

Have you tried it yet?

ngvu1 · Jul 16, 2016

How tall is the tank? T5 does not show glow as much as LED. T5 will show less effect than LED for sure. I have tried ReefBrite, BuildMyLed or even panorama pro LED and they all show pretty good coral pops. I only had the ReefBrite Tech, not XHO type and the BuildMyLed's color looks less dark blue than the RB. I like the BML better, but that might be just personal preference. The Panorama is similar to the BML in term of color.

Kaiser · Jul 16, 2016

Its a 20H Aqueon but i've basically pimped the heck out of it. The size is 24.3" x 12.5" x 16.8"

that Reef Guy · Jul 16, 2016

Kaiser said:
I'm currently using a hamilton hood with four 24 inch T5HO bulbs, 2 of which are coralife 10k, and the other 2 are coralife actinics. I don't get much glow from my corals, including my hammer, especially towards the end of the day when my actinics get hot (even when i turn the 10k off). I'm wondering if I am just using the wrong bulbs. Any suggestions for the type of actinic or company i should use? Could it also be supplemented by my 10k washing out the blue? I really want to make my tank look good and I feel like i won't get the colors i want without LED. Thanks

Coralife Bulbs are Terrible.

Get ATI Blue Plus T5HO Bulbs.

Corals will Look Better but if you want them to Glow you Need Blue LED.

I have seen a ton of Blue Lights but the Shade of Blue comes from the Kessil A150 Deep Ocean Blue Actinic LED.

Second Best would be the Kessil A160

Nihilus · Jul 16, 2016

Kaiser said:
Have you tried it yet?

No, not yet. They're definitely on my list though. I've already tried the ATI Blue Plus bulbs and the Hagen Actinic bulbs and they look ok, but they just don't give the corals that pop that the VHO Actinics do. I'm also using a 175 watt MH bulb in combination with the T5 bulbs and I really don't want to change things up too much. Adding a blue LED strip light would just clutter things up in my case. If those Giesemann bulbs don't do it then I'll just stick with what I have. GL.

Kaiser · Jul 29, 2016

Does anyone have any recommendations for blue led strips that could work in my case? i'd like to be able to use them along with my T5 so that i could get the growth rate from the t5 and the looks from the LED? Also should i be using more blue bulbs than i use 10k? I have 2 Coralife 10k bulbs, and 2 coralife actinics, so when i upgrade, should i be using some purples? what would you recommend my bulb arrangement be? thanks

Kaiser · Jul 29, 2016

also my hood is passively cooled, it doesn't have a fan or anything to keep it from getting hot, so at the end of the day, my current actinics look almost white since they are hot, will that be an issue with these higher quality bulbs, or is it just because coralife bulbs don't have as nice a coloration.