T-5 Color combo

[EyeReef]

There are so many color, bulb, brand configurations out there and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. I currently have the current USA nova extreme pro lighting with its stock bulbs. But the color combo from the stock bulbs are just too white for my taste. Could anyone point me in the right direction in what is the ideal combo in terms of brand and color?

 

[pako73]

I use ATI bulbs.

You can't go wrong with blue plus and aqua blue special. Also, pro color works great for red corals. I have a 6 bulb set up and it consists of 4 blue+, 1 blue special, and 1 pro color. HTH

 

[EyeReef]

I use ATI bulbs.

You can't go wrong with blue plus and aqua blue special. Also, pro color works great for red corals. I have a 6 bulb set up and it consists of 4 blue+, 1 blue special, and 1 pro color. HTH

Do you know what those bulbs are equivalent to in terms of kelvin?
Any pictures of your tank with this bulb combo?

 

[Letsgotothezoo]

ATI Pro Color
ATI Aquablue Spezial
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue+

 

[dfladermaus]

I love the ATI bulbs, I have been running a 2:1 ratio of Blue Plus to Aquablue. If I have more space I usually throw in some actinic and a KZ Fiji Purple. Depends on the number of bulbs in the fixture. All the pictures on my sight are taken under these conditions so that can give you a feel as the the temp. Someone recently posted PAR values for these bulbs, but I couldnt tell you where. I know that the Blue plus and KZ bulbs had pretty high par values with the AB special right below them.

 

[barometer]

not to tout another site here, but if you're on RC you can ask GrimReefer (sp?) about T5 color combos, he's pretty much the go-to guy for that subject

 

[EyeReef]

Seems like this is Grims favorite mix for a 6 bulb configuration

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
UV Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K
ATI Blue Plus

Does anyone have any experience with this combo?

 

[Letsgotothezoo]

Mike, that's a great combo. But I think too much the ATI Blue Plus.
Might want to squeeze in the Blue Spezial in there.

Mike, how do you like the Nova Extreme ? I heard mix review about this fixture.

Seems like this is Grims favorite mix for a 6 bulb configuration

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
UV Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K
ATI Blue Plus

Does anyone have any experience with this combo?

 

[dfladermaus]

I would drop the UVL bulb. In my experience they are horrible.

In my 6 bulb fixtures i use

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Actinic
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus

Color is really close to 20K.

 

[Rortreefer]

That is a little TOO blue for my taste. And I would only use the Blue +. I found that te aquablue special is pretty much an actinic that will do nothing for growth, only the clot we see from the tank.

With T5 setups u have to maximize all ur options when it comes to growth!

 

[EyeReef]

I think 20k is too blue for my taste too..Im going more for the 14k look

 

[EyeReef]

Mike, that's a great combo. But I think too much the ATI Blue Plus.
Might want to squeeze in the Blue Spezial in there.

Mike, how do you like the Nova Extreme ? I heard mix review about this fixture.

So far soo good...the stock bulbs are a little to white for me..but other than that..it works and its a great setup.

 

[dfladermaus]

The ATI aquablue special is a 12K bulb. It is not actinic at all. It has a pretty high PAR value too. The Blue Plus is a pretty blue bulb, but it has a great PAR value, only the KZ bulb is higher from what I have read.

Mike, If you want 14 K, mix the blue plus and aquablue special 1:1.

 

[Raskal311]

Can someone tell me why a lot of new ATI bulbs looks used?

 

[KrazyReef]

+1 for dfladermaus. ATI aquablue special is a 12K white color and is not actinic.

 

[Rortreefer]

Sorry my bad! looked into it further and was confusing it with another bulb. You are right deflader!

I would still recommend the blue plus for the higher par rating!

 

[EyeReef]

Does any body have any pictures..or a link for reference?

 

[EyeReef]

Found a very nice t-5 tank with this combo
2x54 Watt ATI Aquablue Special
2x54 Watt ATI Blue Plus
4x80 Watt ATI Aquablue Special
4x80 Watt ATI Blue Plus

Looks like a 1:1 ratio with the blue plus and aquablue..
I really like this look

 

[mikedege]

Seems like this is Grims favorite mix for a 6 bulb configuration

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
UV Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500K
ATI Blue Plus

Does anyone have any experience with this combo?

I am on my 3rd tank with T5HO's, and I would do this if it were me... I'd tweak yours to add more actinic. (try different makers to see what you like) I always found with my previous setups, 50% actinics make the corals pop really nice. Blueplus's wont give you as much "pop" as you may think, but they will give you the "white" even tho they look blue! So no need for Aquablues.

back
Geisman Pure Actinic 03
ATI Blue Plus
ATI true actinic
GE 6500K or GE 3000K(great bulb to mix in with alot of blues)
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue Plus
front

heres a pik of my old 120 with this setup.(whe it was first setup.kinda hard to tell w/o too many corals, sorry...

my personal favorite (8bulb) is this: (Yep, no Aquablues!)

Back of tank:
1x- ATI Blueplus
1x- UVL super actinic (or equivalent actinic)
1x- GE 6500K day (or Geismann 6000K midday) personal preference.
1x- UVL super actinic (or equivalent actinic)
1x- UVL Aquasun (pinkish)
1x- UVL super actinic (or equivalent actinic)
1x- GE 3000K (love this bulb).
1x- ATI Blueplus
front of tank:

 

[mikedege]

btw, I guarantee that picture above has to be "enhanced" that combo of bulbs will be WAYYYY more white than that pic, I tried the half blueplus, half aquablue route, and it looked SOOOO white, i couldnt stand it! IMO.... (the colors were no-where near popping like that pik!!!)

heres my 4bulb setup.

back
UVL super actinic
ATI blueplus
GE6500K
UVL super actinic
front.

-Mike