Bulb colors?

[mmstillwell01]

Hello all,

It's time to replace my HO T-5 bulbs, I have a 250 gallon tank 96" x 24" x 24" reef tank.

right now I'm running two 48" 4- bulb each light fixtures.

The bulbs I have in them right now are 2-420/460 Actinic Lamps, 1- 54w 700+NM 10K daylight lamp, 1-54w 460-620 nm Purple lamp and 4 Blue LED moon lights per fixture.

I was wondering what combo of T-5 lights everyone uses to get different looks.

I would like to try something different.

I have mostly softies and an bubble tip anemone that is Hugh he never stops growing doing very well under these lights

I would love your input.

Thank you.

 

[bang guy]

My opinion is to not change all of the bulbs at once. I'd recommend changing one every 1 - 2 months.

I'm not a fan of the 460-620 nm bulbs. If it were me I would do two daylight and two actinics.

Your daylight bulbs may be fine, the actinics will lose PAR faster. If you purchase a cheap lux meter you can test to see when they begin to dim and replace when actually needed instead of going by the calendar.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I generally would replace one every one or two weeks. I'd also write the date on the bulb with a permanent marker to keep track of it.

There are some really good threads on this subject over on the big forum that you could check out.

Generally, I used either ATI or UTL brand bulbs. I liked the pink and purple coralline algae colors, so I chose to go with at minimum one bulb of Fiji Pink to bring out the colors. There's also a GE daylight bulb that is pretty good. the Coral Plus bulbs made by ATI are nice. I always went with two daylights to two blues. I never liked the look of a really blue tank.

UTL makes pretty bulbs. I really liked their 454nm bulb for actinics.

Everyone is switching to LEDs... We will just have to see where that goes. There were a lot of led units at MACNA this year.

 

[mmstillwell01]

I don't change my bulbs all at once I space them out over 2 months time, but I order them all at once so the shipping cost is down.

the last one was changed in Feb of last year.

I've done the actinics and they don't seam as bright as the 460/620 nm bulbs maybe it was the brand I used

I like the purple, I've never tried the pink

I use the Coral Plus bulbs.

I was just wondering what mix of colors makes for the prettier tank.

Snake:
I have looked into the LED lights but with a 8' tank it would mean a lot of $$ and I'm not sure how they would do in a 24" deep tank all the tanks I have seen them on where 12" to 18" deep.

 

[mmstillwell01]

Has anyone used these bulbs?

Made by ATI

Aquablue Special: Combines the properties of a full-spectrum bulb with an elevated blue color peak producing a bulb with an approximate color temperature of 15000K.
Blue Plus: Combines the properties of a blue bulb (approximately 460nm) with an actinic bulb (approximately 420nm) producing an intense blue light with high PAR numbers and a light spectrum that encourages both bluing in SPS corals and fluorescence in capable corals.
Coral Plus:Combines the properties of a Blue Plus (~50%) + Aquablue Special (~40%) + Purple Plus (~10%) producing a bulb with an approximate color temperature of 15000K+. Appears cool, crisp white to the eye.
Purple Plus: Combines the properties of a full spectrum bulb with strong red and blue components producing a bulb with excellent color-rendition that works very well for bringing out the pinks, purples and reds in an aquarium.
True Actinic: Produces a violet-blue light that is designed to maximize fluorescence in capable corals and make livestock colors pop.