T-5 Combo question

[aquaman3680]

I am setting up a 40 breeder for zoanthids. I plan on using 4 bulbs overdriven by a 660 ballast. I know there are bulbs out there that are like red enhancers and others that enhance certain colors. I have been searching for theses bulbs but cannot find them. Does anyone know where I can find them?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[mofrags]

are you talking red in your corals or red in your lighting? if your talking bulb color it is all about k value. 6500k red 20000k blue. red for quick growth bad color. blue for slower growth good color. 10000k-15000k somewhere in the middle. most people run half and half t-5 with daylight and blue spectrum bulbs if your just going t-5.

 

[Pitcom]

Fiji Purple bulbs by KZ really help sps colors of red, pink, purple and orange stand out. I'm not to sure about zoas or other lps. I run these bulbs and have been very happy with them.

 

[aquaman3680]

I mean if i have a red coral, there are bulbs that will enhance the red coloration in the coral. I have had trouble finding a company that has these. I guess what i am asking is where would I find quality T-5 bulbs. I am new to the T-5 end of things so any advice would be great.

Mofrags- So does that mean that a yellow bulb enhances red color?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Pitcom]

Korallen Zucht Fiji Purple

Product Description

Novel T5 high performance tube with blue-red spectrum. We recommend to use in proportion of 1:2 to our Coral Light.
Stony corals enhance colors after 14-20 days especially in pink, purple and red. Growth of algae will not be increased

They reccommend using thier coral light which i use to run but i just replaced the bulbs and ended up going with a Geisemenn because my LFS had them.

These bulbs are designed specifically to help bring out red spectrum colors in sps. These are good bulbs with good par rating too.

I'm not sure if any of our sponsors sell these bulbs but if your itnerested on checking out the sitesend me a PM and i'll let ya know where i was able to order them from.

 

[aquaman3680]

Awesome! Thanks for the info!

 

[Poseidon]

THe ATI Pro Color also is reddish/pinkish...

I run one of those on my tank.

 

[storrisch]

Pro Color also helps bring out the reds/pinks/oranges. Right now I am running 2 AquaBlue, 2 Blue Plus, 1 ProColor, 1 actinic in my 6 bulb Tek. I am thinking of pulling the actinic and running 2 Pro colors and using the BluePlus for morning and night cycle.

 

[aquaman3680]

ATI is reef geek right? What would you recommend for a good bulb combo. I want a little bit bluer look with red enhancements. What do you all think about this combo- 1-Procolor 1- Aquablue and 2- actinic. Also another question with the aquablue, from what I have read, is about a 14K right? And what is the difference between a Blue Plus and an Actinic?

Thanks for the input!

Matt

 

[Poseidon]

Actinic bulbs are not much on PAR but the Actinic + is actually quite high in PAR. Also, the Actinic + is BLUE, not really actinic. Confusing huh?

 

[aquaman3680]

Actinic bulbs are not much on PAR but the Actinic + is actually quite high in PAR. Also, the Actinic + is BLUE, not really actinic. Confusing huh?

Just a little bit! So if I want good growth and color I would go with the actinic +? On a 40 breeder would 4 T-5's overdriven with 2 660 ballasts be too much light for zoanthids?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Pitcom]

I have zoas up high in my tank under the 6 bulb tek fixture. Most zoas can handle the light, ive only run acrossed a couple that needed to be placed near the bottom of the tank. I think you will be fine.

 

[Poseidon]

You would only need 1 660 to drive all 4 bulbs, unless you want to do dusk to dawn, then you would need both.

As for a balance of growth and color, I would do:
1 Geismann Aquablue + (Which is white)
1 Geismann True Actinic
1 Mid day bulb (Either GE 6.5K or Geismann)
1 Actinic Plus

That is a balanced spectrum, and works well for me and all my SPS. As for Zoa's, I only have a few and they seem to doing very well under those lights.

 

[aquaman3680]

Pitcom, my problem with the zoas in where they are at is they are getting too much light. I just dont want to run into the same problem. Also pitcom what size tank do you have? With a 40 being shorter I wont have much room to move them down

Poseidon, I wanted to over drive the bulbs for that extra growth and light. I will also be keeping acans in this tank so that will also need to factor in. Man T-5's are confusing, so an aquaBLUE is actually white? So with that bulb arrangement the overall look should be about a 14K correct?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Poseidon]

Yup, I overdrive my t5's too. You can run up to 16ft of bulbs on the 660, I have 4x54W on mine. (It drives them to 80W.)

And, YES, an Aquablue + is actually white, I would say that bulb is about 14K by itself. So overall, with the bulbs I mentioned, you end up with 2 whites and 2 blues, and yes I think the overall light is about 12-14K. Here is an old FTS of mine with just those 4 bulbs.

And a not so good picture of the bulbs/reflectors:

From the top:
Actinic +
GE 6.5K
Aquablue +
True Actinic

Hope that helps...

 

[aquaman3680]

That helps alot!

So if I was going to switch one out for the Pro Color would the one thats the most comparable be the 6500K?

 

[Poseidon]

I would say yes, but the 6.5K has a LOT more PAR then the Pro Color. That may have something to do with the pro colors spectrum, in the red range though.

I have since added a 5th bulb to my tank, just for the dawn to dusk effect, it is on a Workhorse 5 ballast, and it has a True Actinic bulb, so no real par from that.

My newest front to back goes like this:
True Actinic
True Actinic
Pro Color
Aquablue +
Actinic +

So I have 3 blues, a "red" and a white. The color looks almost identical to the picture above.

 

[aquaman3680]

I think that I will probably start out with what you have and experiment from there.

You were saying that you were overdriving your bulbs with just one 660? So if I just ran 4 36" bulbs off one 660, would this over drive them? And if so to what wattage?

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!

Matt

 

[Poseidon]

Yes, a single 660 will drive all four bulbs, and yes it will overdrive them. I am not sure to what wattage though, I never looked at 36" bulbs.

Make sure you get either Ice Cap or TekII reflectors, I like both of them, some prefer the Ice Cap though.

No Problem with the help, I hope you like T5 as much as I do, it has worked well for me, and it reduced my lighting wattage from 610 to 374W!

 

[aquaman3680]

Ok cool! I will try a single 660 and see how that works and if need be buy another ballast!

Matt