I'm new to the hobby and I just bought a 6 bulb t5. Im currently just using a LED fixture. The t5 fixture came with 3 actinics and 3 12000k with LEDs, but I'm not exactly sure how I should set the channels. The LEDs have their own channel as well. The bulbs I think are 54 watt.

TIA

Hi Matt,

Jeremy here. What do you recommend for a 10 bulb fixture? What's best for growth. For color preference, I like 14k look similar to my old Phoenix 14k halide. Not too blue though.

Front to Back: B+, B+, ABS, P, B+, C+, B+, B+ What other 2 bulbs do you recommend to add to 10?

Only those things with green fluorescent proteins will glow green. Reds are red, oranges are orange and so forth. In my tank anyway

Which bulbs in the 10 Bulb fixture are the dawn/dusk ones?

I would go with
C+,B+,B+,ABS,P, B+, ABS, B+,B+,C+ if positions 3 and 8 are the dawn dusk positions. Color preference is a personal thing though, this should be pretty white and not overly blue, at least to my eye.

Correct, there are many pigments other than green that fluoresce.

Thanks Matt! I may use my Current Orbit LED for Dawn/Dusk if I can fit into my canopy. If I want more blue than exchange what bulb? 1 ABS to B+?

Yes, that would work. If it was my combo, I would go with this:

C+,B+,B+,P+,C+,C+,P+,B+,B+,C+

That would be bluer than the one I proposed and ideally would use Fiji Purples rather than Purple+. Oh and LEDs are good for lighting your garage, not your reef:p
You have 10 bulbs of T5 goodness(A 10 bulb fixture is a nice find btw), sell the LED and use it to buy bulbs;)

What about the Giesemann Super Purple?

It's better than the Purple plus but the Fiji Purple is my favorite purple bulb

How's my combo for an all sps

blue+
blue+
Actinic+
giesemann actinic blue
giesemann tropic
giesemann actinic blue
purple+
blue+

Hi guys, I just received my Giesemann Matrixx II Dimtec 8x54W with following buls (all giesemann):
3 x Aguablue Coral
2x Super Purple
2x Actinic Blue
1x Super Actinic

I wanted to line them up as follows:
Super purple
Aguablue coral
Actinic blue
Super purple
aguablue coral
Super actinic
Actinic blue
Aguablue coral

Does this seem to be white?
The idea is to use only 6 bulbs at the same time. My tank does not need 8 bulbs and it will save changing out all bulbs at the same time.

I was thinking to replace 1 super puprle and 1 aguablue coral by a Blue Plus bulb to have it a little more blue (which I like)

Ideas are welcome

lighting help
 

Hey all, I just stumbled across this thread and was looking for some guidance before buying some news bulbs. I have an 8 bulb tek light fixture and this will be going on a 24" deep mixed reef tank. I like a some blue in the mixture but not OVERLY blue. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Bulb layout reccomendations would also be helpful!

Matt,

My 10 bulb fixture came with Wave Point T5 bulbs. Do you know anything about this brand? I like the look of the combination more on the whiter side but very bright. The previous owner had very good experience growing SPS with these bulbs so I may use these until I switch out to the ATI:

3 Wave Point “Reef Wave”
2 Wave Point “Coral Wave”
3 Wave Point “ Super Blue Wave”
1 Wave Point “Red Wave”
1 Wave Point “Blue Wave”

Now I got my ATI Sunpower 8x39w. I love it!
I have the following bulbs:
4x blue+
2x Actinic
2x Coral+
1x Purple+

What bulbs would you use for color and growth, and in what order? :-)

Its up to you and your tastes. The bulb combo can't be "too white" from the coral's perspective with the bulbs you have listed. If you went with all Purple bulbs you might have issues but there is very little difference between the spectrums of the various bulbs you list - the majority of the spectrum is blue- the other peaks are mostly for our visual enjoyment.

I think it would be fine but if it was me I would ditch the Tropic and replace it and the actinic+ with 2 Aquablue Corals or Coral Plusses.

That is really a personal preference thing- overly blue is hard to quantify. If it was me I would use the following to start:

C+,B+,B+,Fiji Purple,+,C+,B+,B+,C+

C+,B+,B+,P+,Actinic,B+,C+,B+

I don't trust any bulbs that are not produced by ATI, Giesemann, or KZ, so I haven't tried those bulbs, sorry. I would just expect to change them out around 6 months.

Any LFS sell KZ brands ulbs other than online bulkreefsupply?

Aquacave, aquariumspecialty.com, and Saltycritter also carry them.

Could I get away with a 36" 4 bulb T5 on a standard 120? 4x2x2? Any sps will be in the top 1/2 of the tank.. the rest will be lps and softies...

I think you'll be a touch on the low light side for a tank that size. You'll also be really lacking in bulb color choice with only 4. I'm sure most things would survive but if you wanted acros with great color and nice pleasing symmetrical dense growth you may be disappointed with only 4-36" bulbs. I'm running 8x54 watt sunpower on my 90 gallon


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This may have been addressed previously but I am running two 8 bulb dimmable 48 inch ati fixtures and the temp routinely sits at around 43 degrees. They have auto speed on fans. Anyone have any tips? They aren't enclosed, room isn't 85 degrees, basically a pretty standard setup. I'm running them at 100%. How can I cool them down to the recommended 35c?

I have. 150dd (36x36x27) that I have a 6x39w ati sunpower with a Kessil a360we on either side. Like this

O
------------
- -
------------
O

I'm putting together a bulb combo and this is what I am thinking. Thoughts?

Front

Kessil

Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus
Fiji Purple
Coral Plus
Blue Plus

Kessil

Back

I was thinking I could get away with another Fiji purple because of the kessils and really make the red based colors pop in the tank.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Don



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