Bulb replacement question

jbatjr

New Member
It is now time for me to change my bulbs for the first time and all of this coloring, purple, blue, different whites are mind blowing. So with that said, I am running a 90gal reef right now with:
2 - 250w MH
4 - HO T5's
What are all of your recommendation since I am replacing them all. Size color etc?? thank you.
 

al&burke

Active Member
I run only T5HO - I like the ATI super blue actinic, Purple plus _ I think you should run all your T5's actinic, let's see what other's have to say.
 

nikesb

Active Member
what kind of mh do you have? single or double endeD?
since your daylights will be your metal halides, your t5's should be your supplemental colors. if im correct ur set up is like this
Back
t5 | t5
mh | mh
t5 | t5
Front
am i correct?
 

jbatjr

New Member
nikeSB, my MH are both double ended, 250w, and all of my t5's now are actinic, and when the MH are off all I get is a blue tint that lights up the room, I would love to have more of a natural look and something that will really show off the colors of my corals.
My light looks like:

the HO T5's are 48"s long as in the photo not the drawling/
 

nikesb

Active Member
If you've ever been snorkeling/diving, natural colors are above the 14000k range.
With that being said my recommendations are
T5-HO:
2 ATI blue+
2 Korallen Zucht Superblue
Really similar bulbs but with different spectrum charts, it will help cover alot of the range
MH:
I recommend Aquamaxx 14k. MUCH LESS BLUE than Pheonix 14k. It has awesome pop without washing out the colors.

This image is my friends tank and the photo was taken by me. The left side is Aquamaxx 14k without any kind of supplemental lighting whatsoever. the right side is reefbrite 20k, and as you can tell its bright, better pop than a 20k, and the sand is actually white!
 
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