t5 bulbs question

[reefermike1]

looking at t5 bulbs and never actually used t5 so i dont really know whats what. looking into a 4x 54w tek kit. do u generally just do 2 actinic 2 10k, or whats the deal with the geisman powerchromes? says a standalone bulb 11k thats 60% actinic which doesnt make sense.. i always thought of actinics as supps for daylight, so how can a daylight bulb be 60% actinic? wouldnt that be more of a 50/50? but they say standalone or 2;1 ratio with actinics for sps growth... anyone use them? im just looking to grow softies and lps,

anyone care to comment, or to advise me of a good bulb configuration?

[Wiskey]

Umm.

If I liked a slightly bluer look I would go with 2 11K's and 2 atinic "Blue" bulbs,.. or atinic Plus I think there called. The true atinic bulbs put off about half the par of the atinic blue, and the True atinics look purple, where the atinic blues look blue, and brigher to the eye.

I personally use one atinic blue, one 6,000K and 2 11K's,.. I like it, but it's pretty white, most people don't like that look and prefer the blue.

Whiskey

[hng]

Like Wiskey said. Choosing bulbs depends on the color of light that you want to achieve and the amount of PAR that your corals need. Some people like the bluish white look (like me) and they tailor their bulb selection to get that.

[crvz]

Yeah, it really just depends on your color preference. In terms of how much PAR each bulb puts out, I've found this link (scroll down to the middle of the page were he adds the UVL bulbs to the list) to be a great source of comparing bulb output. It should only be used as a comparison, as each application will yield different results, but it's a great reference and helped me chose bulbs when I last bought them.

[Wiskey]

Thanks for shooting that link out there Crvz,.. I don't have that bookmarked at work only at home,.. now it's in both places.

Whiskey

[hng]

Ahhh, yes, the Grim Reefer. Very knowledgeable guy over there (and actually one of the nicest major posters too, IMO). That's a very helpful link. Mike - what kinda look are you going for, what corals do you have, and how deep is your tank?

[reefermike1]

i like a white color with a blue tint. not blue, but definately not yellow. tank is 22" deep, and im planning mainly zoas, rics, leathers, xenias, but also want a torch and frogspawn in there. maybe even a monticap up top. mainly i want this tank to be less maintenance than the "hard-coral" hex tank... i dont want to have to monitor calcium and alk as closely, really dont want to have to dose anything besides some kalk in topoff water. tank is a 55gal now, but will eventually be upgraded to a 125, same height though.

[reefermike1]

thanks for that link crvz

[crvz]

My pleasure. I wanted a bluer look to my tank, so here are the bulbs that I chose. Maybe this will be a springboard for helping you pick your bulbs (this should be the equivalent of a 14k bulb). This may be a little too blue for me though, and I may switch out one of the BluePlus for an AquaSun. We'll see, I dont have it on the tank just yet and it's easy to swap out bulbs.



Bulbs from top to bottom, which are on Icecap 660 ballasts.

UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
GE 3000k
ATI Blue Plus
UVL AquaSun
ATI AquaBlue
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic

[Wiskey]

Oh,.. Pictures now eh?

Bulbs off:


Bulbs on:


My tank with MH:


Same tank 30 min later with T5:


Whiskey

[crvz]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

Oh,.. Pictures now eh?

Bulbs on:

And these are which bulbs?

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by crvz

And these are which bulbs?

Lol,.. Umm.

Ok top to bottom
Gisman 11k
Gisman atinic plus, or atinic blue or whatever,.. the atinic and 11K mix one.
Don't remember (D$D or something?) 6K daylight
Gisman 11K

My memory is rather like a monarch butterfly remember?
Whiskey

[reefermike1]

those are some nice setups. whiskey is that a 55gal?

[ckusnierek]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

Oh,.. Pictures now eh?



Whiskey

Hey Whiskey, are your fish afraid of the dark? I see you have night lights for them