Best Brand of T-5 and why!@#?

Discussion in 'T5 Aquarium Lighting' started by Beamerhack, Apr 28, 2009.

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  1. Beamerhack

    Beamerhack Coral Banded Shrimp

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2008
    Messages:
    353
    Location:
    Atwater CA
    Who do you pick and why?

    I have been turned onto UV Lighting Company recently and I would love to hear your opinion before I go spend the money.

    I want to give my tank the blue look and still want to see coral growth I have a 6 bulb t-5 setup. What would you do?
     
    Beamerhack, Apr 28, 2009
    Beamerhack, Apr 28, 2009
    #1

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  2. Screwtape

    Screwtape Tonozukai Fairy Wrasse

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2008
    Messages:
    2,289
    UVL makes good bulbs, as do ATI and Giesemann. Those are the three that I have available to me easily. I think the ATI Blue Plus bulbs are one of the best bulbs out there right now from what I can tell. They have great output and great color, they are very blue so you just have to balance that with other white/pink/purple bulbs to your taste.

    These are two setups I'll probably try out although I have a couple extra bulbs to swap around to try and get the color I like out of them.

    ATI Actinic (purplish)
    ATI Blue+ (very blue)
    UVL 12k (white with a hint of blue)
    ATI Blue+
    ATI ProColor (pinkish purplish)
    ATI Blue+

    ATI Blue+
    UVL 12k
    ATI Blue+
    UVL 12k
    ATI ProColor
    ATI Blue+

    These are some output (PAR) readings I got from another site.
    ATI
    Aquablue 336
    Blue Plus 311
    Actinic 137

    Giesemann
    Midday 325
    Aquablue 324
    Actinic Plus 264
    Pure Actinic 157

    UVL
    Aqua sun 345
    Actinic White 293
    Super Actinic 210

    Browse through the last couple days worth of threads here on 3reef, there are some good resources about what certain bulb combinations will look like etc.
     
    Screwtape, Apr 28, 2009
    Screwtape, Apr 28, 2009
    #2