T5 color question

[Cjtabares]

I am not happy with the color of my t5 bulb mix. I want it to be bluer. I was playing with the bulbs I have and have decided to remove the actinic whites. It looks a lot beter with out them but I want to see if I can get it a little bluer. I was thinking of switching it to Fiji purple or aquablue special. What do you think?

And if I can find a old t5 bulb will the color still be the same?

 

[JohnK]

Nope, you want blue plus if anything.

Figi purples are, well, purple. The aquablue specials are kind of similar to the actinic whites. Blue plus are very blue and have very good PAR.

Edit, adding pic;

This doesn't really capture the contrast between the bulbs very well (it's a lot more in person), but this is, from left to right;
Aquablue sp (white/slightly pink)
Blue + (Blue)
Figi purple (purple)
blue +
GE 65k (white / yellow)
Blue +

 

[deb b]

^ +1

 

[Sportsmann]

try pure actinoc
that did it for me
sun up sun down b4 the metal halides come on NICE

 

[JohnK]

The catch with that is that actual "actinic" lamps generally have dismal PAR and comparatively short lifespans.

They work great as supplemental light to go with MH lights, but with T5 only set ups they are not a popular choice.

 

[Cjtabares]

So you think I should go with 10 blue+ and 2 midday sun? So what effect would the Fiji purple have on my mix?

 

[pesto]

In my 8 bulb - T5, I have the following bulb combination:

Bulb Order:
KZ Fiji Purple (Ideally this bulb should be placed over the majority of your red and pink colored corals)
ATI Blue Plus
UV Lighting 12000K Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
ATI 12000K Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

I am really happy with the color. I am in Seekonk so, if you want to take a look PM me and we can set something up.

 

[NeverlosT]

I run two halides and my (2 bulb now, soon to be 4 bulb) actinic lighting is all blue +. As mentioned above, I used to use True Actinics but the terrible PAR and lack of addition to visible supplemental lighting made me go with all blue +.

If you are using Just blue plus in a 10 bulb configuration, I would suggest Actinic + (geisemanns blue +) in 7 slots with 3 other bulbs being a mix of fiji purple, 10000K and 6500K.

 

[afboundguy]

Nope, you want blue plus if anything.

Figi purples are, well, purple. The aquablue specials are kind of similar to the actinic whites. Blue plus are very blue and have very good PAR.

If you want bluer bulbs these are def the way to go... They have the same PAR as some daylight bulbs and just look amazing... Check out this post with some PAR numbers (scroll down about halfway for the full list to post 15 he orig forgot a few) http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=918935

try pure actinoc
that did it for me

Only problem with these are they're more purple IME than blue and as John mentioned they have horrible PAR...

So you think I should go with 10 blue+ and 2 midday sun? So what effect would the Fiji purple have on my mix?

I love blue tanks but I think that would be too blue. I have 2 blue plus and 2 Geisemann 11k's and I have the blue plus coming on an hour before and and hour after the 11k's go on/off and it is pure blue (waaaaaaay more so than 20K bulbs IMO) and I think that combo of 10 blue plus and 2 daylight would be too blue. If it were me I'd go with 5-6 blue plus and the rest mainly 12-14k bulbs (UVL and ATI ones 12k and ones 14k I'm not sure off the top of my head which is which) I do like the Geisemann 11k's but I'd go with the others as IMO they loose a little blue as they age and aren't blue enough for me...

But if you have 12 bulbs it wouldn't hurt to throw in a few super actinics for that exta "pop." You could do something like 1 super actinic, 1 fiji purple and 5-6 blue plus and the rest the 12-14k daylights...

The main problem with T5 combos is there are just sooooooooo many different combos you can go with (esp with 12 bulbs ) that you'll go broke trying to get the perfect combo unless you're rich...

 

[FOXYB]

If you want bluer bulbs these are def the way to go... They have the same PAR as some daylight bulbs and just look amazing... Check out this post with some PAR numbers (scroll down about halfway for the full list to post 15 he orig forgot a few) http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=918935

Only problem with these are they're more purple IME than blue and as John mentioned they have horrible PAR...

I love blue tanks but I think that would be too blue. I have 2 blue plus and 2 Geisemann 11k's and I have the blue plus coming on an hour before and and hour after the 11k's go on/off and it is pure blue (waaaaaaay more so than 20K bulbs IMO) and I think that combo of 10 blue plus and 2 daylight would be too blue. If it were me I'd go with 5-6 blue plus and the rest mainly 12-14k bulbs (UVL and ATI ones 12k and ones 14k I'm not sure off the top of my head which is which) I do like the Geisemann 11k's but I'd go with the others as IMO they loose a little blue as they age and aren't blue enough for me...

But if you have 12 bulbs it wouldn't hurt to throw in a few super actinics for that exta "pop." You could do something like 1 super actinic, 1 fiji purple and 5-6 blue plus and the rest the 12-14k daylights...

The main problem with T5 combos is there are just sooooooooo many different combos you can go with (esp with 12 bulbs ) that you'll go broke trying to get the perfect combo unless you're rich...

very true the best thing to do is look at peoples tanks find a color that is pleasing to your eye/ corals and start from there

 

[Cjtabares]

About 3 month ago I put in 8 blue +, 2 actinic white, and 2 midday sun. After seeing ronnies softy tank I started playing with my set up. At dawn 4 blue+ come on then a hour later the rest. The result of all my lights was a verry cool white. First I removed the midday suns, idk still to white. Then I took of the actinic whites, it looked anlot better. For test purpose I turned on just the actinic whites, the color is almost orage. So I want to replace the 2 actinics with another bulb. If I use 2 more blue+ it will be 10 blue+ and 2 midday suns. Right now I am running it with ten bulbs 8 blue+ and 2 midday sun, it is missing something for me. Ronnie said to try the aquablue special, and I wanted to see what the Fiji purple would do.

 

[afboundguy]

If you want blue'er and your already running 80% blue plus I'd def say go with the higher rated K daylight bulbs from ATI or UVL...

 

[TomD]

I just went with 2 UV 454's, 2 Atintic white, 1 fiji purple, 1 super atintic. I love the look.

 

[jackthestrat]

I run:

(front)
blue+
abspecial
blue+
fiji
GE 6500
blue+
(back)

And it looks awesome. I tried it with the GE switched for a fourth blue+, but it lost a certain something.

Color is really subjective, you are just going to have to screw around with bulbs until you figure it out.

 

[Cjtabares]

Ok I think I am going to try;
4 rows of ATI blue+
1 row of Giesemann midday sun 6000k
1 row of ATI Pro Color

Do you think this would look good?

 

[Cjtabares]

Well after playing around with diffrent bulbs I think I am going to go with 8 blue + and 4 Fiji purples.

(Front)
blue+
Fiji purple
blue+
Fiji purple
blue+
blue+
(back)

 

[TomD]

Really? Even with my two white bulbs my tank looks comparable to a radium 20K or similar so it was perfect for me.

 

[Cjtabares]

Yeah, right now I have 8 blue+ and 2 Fiji purple and it looks good, but when I added two more Fiji purple I think it looks realy good.

 

[IPWitan]

Where do you buy the GE 6500? Do they sell that at Home Depot? I didn't see it on BRS' website.

 

[Cjtabares]

Where do you buy the GE 6500? Do they sell that at Home Depot? I didn't see it on BRS' website.

I dont use them but you can get them here:
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...aylight_T5_HO_Fluorescent_by_General_Electric