Jestersix

Suggestions for replacing my T5's

kinetic

kinetic

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I've been getting some ugly algae growth, and it's been about 1.5 years since I changed out my lamps, so I believe it's time to try to change them out.

I'm getting new Phoenix 14K 250 watt DE halides, but for the T5's I'm not sure yet.

I'm thinking of:
2x54watt ATI Blue Plus
2x54watt something else

The lighting schedule is:
Pair A of T5's on
Pair B of T5's off
Halide A on
Halide B on
Halide A off
Halide B off
Pair A T5's off
Pair B T5's off

I'm thinking of putting Blue Plus lamps in each pair, but unsure of what the final T5s should be. They're on for a bit of time, so I'd rather not have them totally blue.

Any suggestions?

Thanks guys H)
 
I run 4 T5s over my small frag tank, and besides always having 2 Blue+, the other 2 bulbs I've used have been from this group:
Aquasun
Figi Purple
UVI or Geishman (sp?) actinic

The Aquasun has a high PAR and if you have SPS it's worth seriously considering, but it's about 12K and lessens the visible blue. When I have 1 that's actinic I can't notice it much since it gets overpowered by the others, the Figi purple is supposed to bring out the reds, but I don't see much difference with my eyes, which aren't 100% color accurate anyway.
 
My suggestion UVl Super Actinic bulbs, you get that deep purple look + actinic pop that is noticeably different than the blue plus pop.

Get 3 distinctive lighting/color schemes, tre' cool :D
 
but when they're on without the halides, does it look super blue? The t5's are on by themselves for awhile, and not sure I want to turn the whole living room blue for that time.
 
when it's only actinics, its that purplish look
when its actinics + blue plus it is noticeably blue, however more like a really deep sea blue than artificial blue.

for me t5s are used as a supplemental form of lighting, as such I don't want white in them, that's my halides job.
 
I agree with what Mike said about T5 being supplimental lighting and not needing to add more white since you have MHs as primary source. Right now I'm running 2 Blue +, 1 super actinic and 1 Fiji purple & blue Reefbrite LED. If you want to see what the T5s looks like with our w/o reefbrites on PM me and you can stop over, or I'm happy to take a pic but colors aren't always accurate in pics.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. With the Phoenix 14K lamps, I'm actually pretty happy with how it looks without too much supplement. My use of the T5's are more for slow sunrise / sunset reasons. I know it doesn't really help much, but I like it =) That's why I'm trying to get more than just actinic supplement out of them.

It might look ok, though, with just blueplus and some actinic...

Thanks for the suggestions so far!!! you guys rock.
 
Try a pair of Giesemann Pure Actinic (not the Actinic + ) for sunrise / sunset, that is best 420 peak T5 lamp, your tank will have crazy sunrise/sunset look & fluorescent pigment popup when you lit with them.

Use a ATI blue plus & a ATI blue special to ramp it up & supplement the MH, combine of these two will have 14K looking close to your Phoenix.

You can turn off pair of Gman pure Actinic when other pair of T5 & MH is on, cause they are much stronger source, will overpower the pure actinic & the fluorescent effect from 420 is not there any more.
 
I currently use a 14k phoenix with 2x blueplus, 1x super actinic and 1x purple plus. Love it. insane glow in the dark action with the MH off, and really good color, without being insanely blue with MH on.
 
Gomer said:
I currently use a 14k phoenix with 2x blueplus, 1x super actinic and 1x purple plus. Love it. insane glow in the dark action with the MH off, and really good color, without being insanely blue with MH on.
Click to expand...

do you feel like it's too blue without MH?
 
Thanks guys, I consolidated everyone's suggestions and got this:

2 x 250W 14000K+ Metal Halide Bulb (Double-ended) (PEC0007) by Phoenix = $119.90
1 x 54W Super Actinic T5 HO Fluorescent (UVL0021) by UV Lighting = $21.95
2 x 54W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent (ATI1113) by ATI = $41.90
1 x 54W Purple Plus T5 HO Fluorescent (ATI1129) by ATI = $21.95

Ordered from ReefGeek
 
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