How blue do you think this combo would be?

Front to back

ATI Blue+
ATI True Actinic
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue+
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue+


I want the tank to have a blue hue to it, but not an over powering blue. More like a 400W 20k halide.

 

It would give you a nice Blue look for sure! Believe it or not the Aquablue specials will whiten it up quite a bit but you should have a good balance with your bulb selection. I have a 4X39 watt TEK with: (2) ATI blue plus. (1) aquablue spec, and (1) uvl super actinic. Pics can be foune below in my build thread.

 

I've run a very similar combination. I ran 2 ATI Blue+, 1 Geiseeman 11k (almost the same as ATI's Aqua Blue special, 1 UVL 12k and 2 UVL Super Actinics. I liked it for a while, but I felt it washed out some colors.

 

I think that would be around 16 to 17K

 

Which colors washed out? I read that the Geisemann can cause colors to wash out.

 

Any way I can up it to 20K, but still have PAR producing bulbs? from what I have read the Aquablue specials are 15K and the Blue+ are 20k.

 

you should get a lot of par out of that combo... if you want reds and yellows to "pop" a little more, without making your tank too washed out looking, you may want to consider a "fiji pink" or "purple plus" bulb in there instead of one of the aquablue specials.

 

The fiji purple I purchases about 8 months ago always burned red instead of a purple red. I'm unsure about ordering another one.

 

yeah, they look more pink than purple to me... I'm use a UVL Aquasun right now b/c I can get them locally, it's basically the same as fiji purple...

I like running one of these bulbs and the colors they bring out of my pink/ red sps corals and yellow fish.

 

Also, it's worth mentioning... for a pure actinic bulb, the UVL is supposed to have more par than any others including ATI and geisemann