braydonosu
Member
I broke 4 of my 6 36" T5 bulbs. I still have an actinic marine glo and I have a power glo, but need 4 new. I have heard the giessmann and ATI make great bulbs, but what about UV? Please help me pick my 4 bulbs.
braydonosu's 40 gal
- Thread starter braydonosu
- Start date
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cmaxwell39
Guest
ATI, Geisman and UVL all make good T5 bulbs. I don't know what color you are looking for from your lighting set up, but there is a thread in the Lighting, equipment and DIY section that has par numbers and pictures of various T5 bulbs that might help you make your decision. In my 6 bulb fixture over my 50 breeder I am running Geisman bulbs.
Front to back:
Pure actinic
Aquablue+
Aquablue+
Aquablue+
Pure actinic
Aquablue+
It is not a bad mix, although the pure actinics are a little purple for my taste. They do make the greens pop in my sps. I am thinking about changing them out, but not sure yet.
BTW--I purchased the fixture used and this was the bulbs setup that was in it. The bulbs were less than six months old so I am using them for right now. Still not sure that I will keep them the way they are or change a couple of bulbs around.
Your tank build looks good. I know how frustrating it is to just need a few things and yet still be so far away. It will be worth it once everything is up and running though. Great job so far.
Front to back:
Pure actinic
Aquablue+
Aquablue+
Aquablue+
Pure actinic
Aquablue+
It is not a bad mix, although the pure actinics are a little purple for my taste. They do make the greens pop in my sps. I am thinking about changing them out, but not sure yet.
BTW--I purchased the fixture used and this was the bulbs setup that was in it. The bulbs were less than six months old so I am using them for right now. Still not sure that I will keep them the way they are or change a couple of bulbs around.
Your tank build looks good. I know how frustrating it is to just need a few things and yet still be so far away. It will be worth it once everything is up and running though. Great job so far.
braydonosu
Member
Thanks for the reply - do you have any fts of your tank so that i can see the color that yours puts out? I'm just looking for the normal noontime sun look - bright with a little bit of blue.
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cmaxwell39
Guest
Here you go, this one is from about a week ago. Tank is just a few months old and am finally getting some life in it. Have just three fish so far but none that out and about a whole lot.
scottallert
Active Member
looks good theres alot of rock in there, what are the dimensions
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cmaxwell39
Guest
If you were talking to me the dimensions are 36x18x18. It is a 50 gal and is going to be an sps dominated reef.
braydonosu
Member
Your tank does look very nice - I was a little hesitant thinking that the tank would appear too blue for my taste, but yours looks good. I ended up going with UVL bulbs - I found a great deal on them (4 bulbs for $67)
So my final layout from front to back will be.
Hagen Power Glo (18000 K)
Hagen Marine Glo (Actinic)
UVL Actinic White (12000 K)
UVL Super Actinic (Actinic)
UVL Aquasun (10000 K)
UVL Aquasun (10000 K)
All individually reflected - hopefully I will be able to keep anything under these lights.
So my final layout from front to back will be.
Hagen Power Glo (18000 K)
Hagen Marine Glo (Actinic)
UVL Actinic White (12000 K)
UVL Super Actinic (Actinic)
UVL Aquasun (10000 K)
UVL Aquasun (10000 K)
All individually reflected - hopefully I will be able to keep anything under these lights.
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cmaxwell39
Guest
That bulb selection will be decent. You may want to get rid of the two Hagen bulbs for some more UVL, ATI or Geismann bulbs, but try it and see how you like that combination. That is the beautiful thing about T5s is the many different looks we can create with different bulb combinations.
braydonosu
Member
The 2 hagen ones will be gone in a matter of a few months (they are about 12 months old now) I just figured why spend an extra $30 when I didn't have to yet.
braydonosu
Member
Big tax return comes in this weekend (thank god they give you a lot of money back if you pay for college) so i am going to hopefully buy the rest of the supplies online and then get the wood to make 2 side tables for the tank - 1 will house 2 10 gal tanks for water changes and ATO, and the other will hold all of my food, testing equip, etc. I found this sweet site that i'll get $250 worth of supplies on the dr's site for $175. Korilia 3's for $28 - i haven't found anywhere cheaper.
braydonosu
Member
Like I said, I am putting in an order this weekend for a few things - among them 2 maxijet 900's and a korilia 3. I already have a ~500 GPH return pump, a ~500 GPH closed loop pump, and a ~250 GPH closed loop pump. Does anyone think that the flow that I already have combined with the +- 1200 GPH that I am adding in PH's that I should go ahead and get the mod package for the MJ's? I know that I can get a lot more out of them with the mods, but do you think that I will need it? They are going to be on the overflow pointing out towards the side of the tank behind the rock to keep stuff from accumulating back there.
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cmaxwell39
Guest
I wouldn't think that you would need to mod the maxi jets especially since you are going to be using them to keep stuff suspended behind the rocks. Even without the mod package you are going to be pushing close to 60X turnover if i did my math correctly. I would think that would be plenty of flow.
braydonosu
Member
Thanks for the reply - and that's what I thought.
So the IRS pushed back the date that i get my return to next friday, so the supply order will have to wait until then - Not too big a deal.
I am heading to Lowes tonight to get the wood I need for my ATO/Waterchange cabinate and my storage cabinate. I am also going to get some silaone to seal my overflow - hopefully by monday I can run a full leak test.
So the IRS pushed back the date that i get my return to next friday, so the supply order will have to wait until then - Not too big a deal.
I am heading to Lowes tonight to get the wood I need for my ATO/Waterchange cabinate and my storage cabinate. I am also going to get some silaone to seal my overflow - hopefully by monday I can run a full leak test.
bmkj02
Member
I like!!!
Reflectors came out good. I need to make my own and like how you used the wood to frame out the reflectors. I saw the same thing at Lowes but didnt think it was shinning enough. Im going to call a local metal shop to see if they sell the High Reflective metal sheets. If I cant find any then I will go that route. Either way nice job.
braydonosu
Member
Thanks, I looked for the high reflective stuff but could not find any. I'm sure if I did a little bit more foot work i could have found some (uncle in the construction business) But hopefully these work as well as I hope.
braydonosu
Member
Put my custom overflow in and sealed it yesterday. I also framed out my 2 side cabinates. Hopefully I can get a leak test done today or tomorrow, finish out my plumbing, and finish the side stands by this weekend. I'll try to get some more pics this week of the progress.
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cmaxwell39
Guest
Sounds like it is coming along. Keep us updated. Won't be long and it will be all set up and then the real waiting begins.
braydonosu
Member
Thanks for the encouragement, hopefully it'll be done this time next week. I am getting new sand, probably one bag of the live stuff and the rest simple aragonite. My live rock has been in a rubermaid container since I tore the tank down with weekly water changes so hopefully I'll go through the owrlds smallest cycle. I snapped a few shots last night - my leak test went south (I forgot to put some silicone on one side of the overflow - took care of it)
braydonosu
Member
Back plumbing - almost done
One of the side cabinates (I know I keep changing around my power plant, but hopefully it will stay here)
Custom overflow - not the prettiest thing in the world, but it will work
One of the side cabinates (I know I keep changing around my power plant, but hopefully it will stay here)
Custom overflow - not the prettiest thing in the world, but it will work
braydonosu
Member
The cabinate is not done - it will be trimmed and stained when I cut the wood, and the overflow will be covered in front with a sweet skull-like piece of LR with a flat piece on top for a clam shelf and/or a monti shelf.