T5 help

Alright, so I was wondering what people thought of the UVL T5 lamps - specifically, their 454nm Blue, Actinic White and Aquasun bulbs.

I got a 15% off coupon @ the frag swap for a shop that sells some bulbs, but they don't have ATI or Geisemann bulbs. Just UVL, Blueline, Current and Wavepoint.

 

wow! all i can seem to find locally is the Hagen Glow series of T5 bulbs. wish i had some choice! The Hagens are probably crap compared to all those other bulb manufacturers

 

Well, they're not quite local to me (a couple hours' drive), just close enough to ground ship in a day.

I forgot to mention, I really was considering the UVL bulbs because of the internal reflectors. My tank doesn't have individual reflectors, and no room to install spider-style ones.

 

I'm only using an Aquasun right now. It's slightly pink but puts out great PAR.
I'm not as much a fan of the actinic white, I don't think it puts out very good PAR for what it is, it's also slightly pink but not as much yellow/red as the Aquasun to my eyes. It's not a bad bulb though.
I've heard good things about their 454 blue bulb but have no experience with it. I've heard it's very similar to the ATI Blue + bulb which I love, puts out great PAR and has great blue color as well.

UVL is a good brand of bulb so I wouldn't hesitate buying their bulbs as long as you can get the color you want out of them. It's always a bit of a personal decision as to what the right color mix is.

I wouldn't buy UVL bulbs just for a 15% savings though, personally. If you buy 6 bulbs you'll pay something like $120 and save $20 or so but if they don't give you the color you want then it's wasted anyway or you'll still be dissatisfied. If you don't know how blue you like your tank or how much PAR you're going to need then this might be a good opportunity to experiment though.

I would consider using that 15% off to get an extra bulb to try out some different bulb combinations to get the color you like. Read up on some common combinations for the number of bulbs you have in your fixture and see how people like them. I tend to like at least 2 blues per actinic white/aquasun type bulb. Some people like more, some less. I would highly recommend stocking up on the blue bulbs in the 450-460nm range though, they are generally great performers with good color.

My 2c.

 

I might have to take back all my advice. I have no clue how the internal reflectors will work. Definitely not as well as individual reflectors. Are you sure you wouldn't be better off with fewer bulbs with good reflectors than more bulbs with internal reflectors?

I have no idea what your setup looks like so maybe this is your only option. The internal reflectors are much less effective. If you're not trying to keep lots of SPS you will probably still be OK but just keep this in mind.

 

I can't use individual reflectors. I'm not giving up the Red Sea Max hood and the whole look that goes with it (half the reason for getting a Max..) just for a bit more PAR. PAR isn't a big concern of mine; I have only LPS, and won't be getting any SPS at any point for this tank. I figured the built-in reflectors would be better than the sheet of aluminum across all 6 bulbs, as it is now.

So, my concern is the color. They're pinkish? lol

 

I agree with BlackRaven about not getting bulbs based on discounts. I made the same mistake at xmas, had a gift cert., bought Gmanns, later upgraded to ATI and now very happy.

As far as UVL goes, their Super Actinic combined with ATI Blue+ is bangin'.

 

Well, I wasn't going to go with the discount unless the bulbs would end up mixing to a color I was looking to get and were quality bulbs, which is why I was asking about them. I wanted a slight blue hue; definitely not bluewashed, but not white either.

 

I see, yeah then internal reflectors is better than none I believe and you're in good shape with UVL. LPS should be fine as well so you might be right in your decision/logic here.
Yeah the bulbs are pinkish but keep in mind that does not translate into straight pink light, you're not going to be looking at a my little pony tank.
They are more tinged towards the red/yellow spectrum than towards the blue spectrum IMO, is what I mean by that. Here's my pictures of these bulbs.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-of...-33g-frag-tank-system-74126-3.html#post745111

How many bulbs do you need? I'm guessing it's 4 at the most. I would probably try something like 3 454's and 1 actinic white. I don't think aquasuns are the best unless you really need the PAR and have a lot of other blue to help moderate the color and intensity they put out. Unless you don't like blue tanks then try 2 454s and 2 actinic whites, that will be much more balanced but I'm guessing (based on the comparison to the ATI Blue +) that it will turn out less blue than a lot of people like by going 1 for 1 on Blue/White bulbs.

If you need 4 bulbs I would probably get 3 454's and 2 actinic whites, then you can play around with the mix and see which one you like better. You're not saving any money but using the 15% to make sure you get the right color light that you like, if you're not already sure which direction your tastes lie.

 

I need 6 bulbs. I wanted, if possible, to do something where I could replace 2 bulbs every 5-6 months, so the light intensity has a smaller range of variance.

Right now I have 3 actinics, and 3 10k bulbs (red sea brand lol). It turns out to be approximately white, and was looking for a bit more blue.