t5 bulbs

[txg8gxp]

What bulbs to buy. Giesemann, Ice Cap, ATI. Seems like most people run ATI for the actinic bulbs, but what about for 10-14k?

[cbianco]

I run...

ATI blue plus 3
ATI aqua blue 2 (12000)
KZ purple 1

...in my fixture. Needless to say, my tank is BLUE.

ATI makes some nice quality, high par bulbs but I regret not getting an actinic. It's time to change out bulbs so I'm currently researching bulbs too.

Christopher

[Europhyllia]

I think a lot of people base their buying decisions in part on info from here:
http://sites.google.com/site/tfivetesting/

[Gseclipse02]

if you want to do an order for bulbs I'm putting one together if i can get 95$ dollars its free shipping

[Regric25]

I talked to a guy online that told me exactly what bulb combo I should use to get the results I want and when I get my fixture im getting

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus

Check out this link this really helped me understand T5 bulbs http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/home/

ALOT of people seem to be happy with his help.

[FireWater]

I also like UVL. I run ATI Blue+, UVL Actinic White, ATI Aquablue and Aquablue Special, along with UVL Aquasun

[BIGBIRD123]

best place to get ALL the info you can read about T5 bulbs and configuration...the guy the named Grimreefer is an expert.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1677547

[HoppyBunny]

I agree with BIGBIRD123, TheGrimReefer is great and his thread on RC has tons of information. I am pretty sure that the link Regric25 posted is TheGrimReefer's website.

[Regric25]

best place to get ALL the info you can read about T5 bulbs and configuration...the guy the named Grimreefer is an expert.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1677547


Thanks Julia! The link I provided above is to Grimreefers web page. Shoot him a pm or an e mail and he will help you out. He is VERY helpful!

[FireWater]

Agree to the above about Grim. He helped narrow down my choices for the 90g. With t-5 bulbs half the fun is getting a couple extra to play with and then decide what is the best color for your liking. For quality I personally like ATI and UVL the best. You can also tell which bulbs Grim prefers by looking at what he recommends the most. ATI is at the top of that list

[Gseclipse02]

ive learned a lot already from grim ... ill be changing my order around
Lamp placement and combinations

Most people prefer a blue look to some extent so it is important to have a blue or actinic lamp at the front. An Aquablue will also work. Actinic lamps or the red ones listed above that are mainly used to provide a visual effect should be placed far enough forward that the majority of the light strikes the viewing side of the corals if only one is used. You also want to make sure blue or actinic lamps are in your Dusk/Dawn slots or a combination of the two. Another Dusk/dawn combination I like is one of the reddish lamps with a blue, cool effect. Other than that try to place the lamps to provide a somewhat even spread of light across the tank. Try not to bunch your non blue lamps in one spot. If you are placing clams on the sand bed make sure there are some higher output lamps towards the front to insure they get enough intensity.

[GoneReefing]

I'm currently running 2 - ATI Blue Plus and 2 - ATI Aquablue Special on my 75g and love the color. On my 20g, I did follow the recommendation for a 4 bulb from the google pages site & grim reefer suggestions with the 2 blue plus, UVL super actinic and 10000k, and it looks good and growth is good but much prefer the 2 blue plus and 2 blue plus specials, not too blue not too white, just right :)

If an group order gets started let me know, I want to replace the actinic and the 10k bulb in my 20g with the aquablue specials

[Gseclipse02]

I'm currently running 2 - ATI Blue Plus and 2 - ATI Aquablue Special on my 75g and love the color. On my 20g, I did follow the recommendation for a 4 bulb from the google pages site & grim reefer suggestions with the 2 blue plus, UVL super actinic and 10000k, and it looks good and growth is good but much prefer the 2 blue plus and 2 blue plus specials, not too blue not too white, just right :)

If an group order gets started let me know, I want to replace the actinic and the 10k bulb in my 20g with the aquablue specials


im waiting to see what kind of discount we can get so far were at 5% off

[Europhyllia]

guess we all linked to the same guys findings then... ;)
http://sites.google.com/site/tfivetesting/par

[Regric25]

HAHA yea this Grimreefer has quite the reputation!

[txg8gxp]

Great links.. I'm thinking about these combo's
3 ATI blue +
1 UVL super actinic
1 UVL actinic white
1 KZ fiji purple
This might be too blue for me so I might get an extra bulb for this combo

2 ATI blue +
1 UVL super actinic
1 UVL aqua blue
1 UVL actinic white
1 KZ fiji purple

[Regric25]

Great links.. I'm thinking about these combo's
3 ATI blue +
1 UVL super actinic
1 UVL actinic white
1 KZ fiji purple
This might be too blue for me so I might get an extra bulb for this combo

2 ATI blue +
1 UVL super actinic
1 UVL aqua blue
1 UVL actinic white
1 KZ fiji purple

You should post pics of both bulb configurations when you get them.

[txg8gxp]

Will do. There will be plenty of pics on this tank build.



You should post pics of both bulb configurations when you get them.