Actinic+ or Pure Actinic

Looking at getting some giesemann T5HO replacement bulbs. Which of the 2 would you guys recommend?

The Actinic+ or the Pure Actinic? They are going on a fixture that has 2 x 150watt 14k bulbs. Also a why you'd recommend the one you did would be great.

I really love it when the corals appear to be flourescent, and they glow. So if either one of those does it better without affecting anything else, that's a HUGE bonus.

cheers.

 

I would get the pure actinic if you feel the MH are enough for the corals. Get the actinic+ if you feel you need more light. Or get a mix if you are not sure on the previous scenarios.
The pure actinic you most likely will not notice except for the fluorescing the cause. If you want blue you can see the get the actinic+.

 

So the pure actinic isn't visible light?

EDIT...I've looked at some sample pics on google, and I think I'll try a combination. With my light schedule, I need a good visible blue. My MH lights are only on for about 4 hours. Corals love it, as I am getting a great amount of growth.

I'll probably go pure actinic/actinic+ combo in each.

 

Pure actinic is visible but very faint when used in conjunction with white light.

Great choice since you only have the MH on 4 hours.

 

The best "actinic only" bulb is the UVL "Super Actinic". It puts out more par than the rest of the purely actinic bulbs. Get one of these if you can. I've tried the Geisemann "pure actinic" bulb and it didn't have much par. The Giesemann Actinic + are good though, but they are very blue and don't fluoresce as much as standard actinic. Could be good though if you are looking to fill in part of a missing spectrum, though most folks running a supplement to MH lighting would only run standard actinics as a supplement.

 

ATI blue plus or UVL super actinic
"blue" "purple"

 

hmmm, looks like I'll be walking away from the Geisemann's and trying the UVL super actinics.

Would is be a good combo to run one ATI blue plus and one UVL super actinic per fixture?

 

I would try a UVL 454 if you just want coloration from the bulb. Those bulbs make your colors fluoresce quite a bit, since they're 15% actinic 03 and 85% actinic blue, a perfect combination IMO. Another full actinic 03 might be nice, too.

 

definitely a lot of par there, I think that would be a very nice bluish/ fluorescent combo, if that's what you're going for.... How many T5's are you going to have total? you may want to consider a "pink" bulb in the mix like a KZ fiji purple...

 

I have the fishneedit fixture. 4x 39w actinics, and 2x 150w 14K MH. I'm very happy with the growth I've gotten with what I have. And my corals love it, as they are growing as if on roids. I just love the way in some pictures you can really see the flourescence of corals. I think I'll do the ATI blue plus and UVL super actinic in one fixture to see how things react, and leave the actinics in the other one for now. I'll play with different combinations til I (and obviously the corals) are happy with the result. It'll be a time consuming process, as I don't wanna keep replacing bulbs if I don't have to, lol.