aquaticlife t5 fixture

I have new 36" 4 bulb t5 fixture and already thinking about replacement bulbs. Either ati ir gieaman but what combo should i go with. I do like a blue lookinf tank but want good frowth too

 

I like ati 2 aquablue and 2 blue plus. its got a perfect amount of the blue look to it IMO

 

What about a fiji purple in the mix?

 

ive also been considering that, I think it would give it a good pop to some of the colors of the coral. I might get one this week to try it out. it looks good in all the pictures ive seen, but if you are still woundering by next week about it I will post a picture of what it looks like with the purple

 

I have the same fixture as you. Aquaticlfe 36" T5. I too had to dabble in the light department.

advice i can give:
Good choice changing out your bulbs, particularly the blues I belive there 420/460) right? anyway, they have great color and pop but those bulbs lose PAR fast. Mine after 3 months had lost almost all there blue spectrum and looked more atinic.

The white bulbs are good bulbs. Good color, plus there 10k bulbs that are pure white, which is Perfect for a balance of Growth(10K) and color (white). Most brands white bulbs are more blue. (IE. ATI Aquablue Special 15K) While these are high PAR bulbs and great for pop, 15k is not typically the best daylight bulb for growth. (lower the kelvin better the growth) UVL makes a 10k daylight bulb but it has a pinkish tint.

So what im saying is that the stock Aquaticlife daylights are great growth bulbs plus there still mainly white. The only thing is I have not seen a PAR rating for these bulbs online.

Other thing I can say is this. I would not recommend a Atinic bulb, even a fiji purple in a 4 bulb fixture not because it wont look cool because it will but the problem is, you have more important bulbs that need the slots avaliable. The main thing you want is growth and pop. heres an example of con of each configuration.

Lets say you go ATI Blue +
ATI blue special
Blu Plus
Blue Special.
Alot of people like the look of this tank but thats just it "looks". you have two 15k bulbs and two 22k bulbs,(Very blue.) and not the best for growth.. So lets say you throw in a Atinic for the blue +, well now your tank has decreased in PAR value and also will not be blue enough because you only have one "true" blue bulb in place and the slight blue hue in the Aquablue Specials is not enough to ofset this. So instead If you swap out 1 aquablue special for that atinic then you lose even more PAR and you lose growth, (only 1 daylight bulb) which is already bad becuase a 15k as stated is already not the best daylight bulb for growth. If you MUST do the fiji than I would recommend doing the 2 aquablues to make up for the lose of blue but if you can do without here is what I would recommend.

1st slot:ATI Blue +/orGiessman Atinic Plus
2nd:UVL Aquasun/or Giessman Midday/or GE 6500.
3rd:ATI Blue + or giessman Atinic Plus
4:Ati aquablue special.

Out of all the bulbs I named the GE and the UVL have the highest PAR.
If you go blue +/Aquasun/blue +/Aquablue. you will have high PAR, high growth/good amount of blue.
plus since the aquasun has a pinkish hue even though its a growth bulb, it will give you that added bonus of an atinic bulb in the colors it brings out.

All 4 bulbs look great together too.

 

Im happy with my ATIs, they are producing good growth and look great too.

 

Some really good info. But since you know how the fixture is set up so i am assuming the ati blue+ would be the blue light for dusk till dawn. Then the aquasun and and aquablue special would be the white setting. And do you think the original blue bulbs lose par cause they run for a much longer photoperiod with the factory settings?

 

you are aware you can change and configure the settings to whatever you like right?

Here is my photoperiod:
9:00am- Atinics On. (Blue +/Blue +)
10:00am-Daylights On.(Aquablue/aquasun)
8:00pm-Daylights Off
9:00pm-Atinics off
9:00pm Moonlights On
1:00am Moonlights Off

I love the way the corals glow and the tanks overall looks under just the moonlights, plus the shimmer it gives off.

That is a good point as to why the atinics may not be lasting as long because of the extra 2 hours a day they are on, However they still should last "atleast" six months under these conditions. I barely got 3 out of mine. visually I couldnt tell a diffrence in my 10ks after 3 months but that doesnt mean they didnt lose PAR as well as if I put them side by side to new ones it will probably be a world of diffrence.

 

Yes i am aware of the adjustments. Tank went through a diamtom bloom and i cut the lights back. To six hours total. 2pm actinics 3pm-6pm daylights 6-8pm the moonights on facrory settings. Diamtoms arw gone when can i bump it back up? Your photoperiod is similar except actinicts arw 8am till 11am then 11 till 7 then 7 till 8 actinics i believe