Nooo, not another lighting combo thread!

Unfortunately yes it is. It's coming time for me to get some new bulbs in my T5 fixture. I still only have the stock Actinic and 12K bulbs right now. I'm looking for something to make the colors pop more in my tank. I like the look of a little more blue but not like all actinic blue, if you know what I mean. I was thinking of getting the following Giesemann bulbs

1x Aquablue+
1x Actinic+
2x Pure Actinic

I couldn't decide if I wanted to swap out the Actinic+ for another Aquablue+ or the Midday bulb or go with that combo. I do have two SPS corals right now one of which has some really colorful green polyps that I wanted to make pop. What do you guys think?

 

I recently changed my combo to ATI 2 blue+'s ATI 1 aquablue special and 1 UVL super actinic.. I love this combo. has the blue tint your looking for and my colors pop...

 

Dr. Reefenstein's mix is a great setup for 4 bulbs with good blue color. The Aquablue+ has a tendency to cause corals to brown out a bit. I would suggest getting the ATI aquablue instead. The ATI is more blue than the Geisemann to boot. Whatever you do DO NOT change out all of the bulbs at once you will light shock your corals. Change one bulb every 3 or 4 days. The stock bulbs are 20% weaker new than the Geisemanns or any of the other bulbs we mentioned.

 

Thanks for the info guys and yeah, I know to slowly phase out old bulbs. Where do you guys suggest getting the ATI bulbs from. I was going with the Giesemann ones because marinedepot has free shipping if you order four bulbs.

 

Aquacave or Reef Geeks. The ATI bulbs are cheaper than the Geisemann enough infact to save you money even with shipping at most stores.

 

Yeah, I was just looking at Aquacave now. Any reason why you prefer ATI over Gies and what kind of combo from them would you advise?

 

ATI is a little stronger on PAR and price. 2 Blue Plus, 1 Aquablue Special and 1 UVL Actinic White or KZ Fiji Purple. The last bulbs will make purples, reds and pinks show better. Put the Blue Pluses on the ends.

 

Thanks for all the help, I think I'll go with that combo then. It's not going to be an overly powerful blue hue will it? I've seen some tanks that look like they have nothing but actinics running.

 

No not that dark at all. More like 15K.