Actinic+ or Pure Actinic

Discussion in 'T5 Aquarium Lighting' started by kookie_guy, Oct 27, 2010.

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  1. gabbagabbawill

    gabbagabbawill Pajama Cardinal

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2010
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    1,401
    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    Sounds like a nice fixture. I think you're going in the right direction with it... I believe that the MH bulbs will provide all the spectrum you need for growth, while the more actinic bulbs you have, the more they will fluoresce.

    Since you're running your MH for such a short photo period, you may even want to consider running a single bulb of something like an ATI Aquablue Special, just to extend the "daylight" viewing time of the display...

    this is what I would try, if it were me:

    UVL Super Actinic
    ATI Aquablue Special
    MH MH
    ATI Actinic +
    UVL Super Actinic

    This way, you'll get plenty of Actinic and blue light spectrum, with the addition of a bluish-white daylight bulb to extend the daylight viewing time...
     
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  3. JJK

    JJK Teardrop Maxima Clam

    Joined:
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    As was said above, you are looking at blue vs. purple. Contrary to popular belief, blue bulbs do not make coral colors "pop". Purple (actinic) bulbs do. However, the blue bulbs have much more PAR than the purple bulbs. If you are running MH bulbs as your primary source of PAR, and you want pure flourescence, I would run mainly actinic bulbs as your T5's. If you have room for only 2 bulbs, I would use both UVL superactinics. If you have room for 4 bulbs, I would go 2 superactinics, 1 blue, and 1 fiji purple/ATI purple plus. With this combo your colors will be amazing.
     
  4. blackraven1425

    blackraven1425 Giant Squid

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    4,780
    There's a difference between a purple bulb like KZ Fiji, and an actinic 03 bulb that emits UV.
     
  5. kookie_guy

    kookie_guy Spaghetti Worm

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2007
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Newmarket, Ontario
    I have 4 T5 bulbs.

    My current light schedule is as follows....

    T5HO actinics on at 8am
    HQI on at 12pm (noon). The actinics remain on during MH cycle.
    HQI off at 4pm
    T5HO actinics off at 10pm

    I guess I'll be trying out different combinations for all the suggested bulbs. We'll see what works the best. Thanks for everyone's input.