supplemental T5s, which bulbs (1 Viewer)

[Nezw0001]

so on my 450 I have three 400W MH, 4 radions G3, and 8 48" T5. The MH and radions alternate down the center of the tank and the T5s are to the outside around the perimeter. Right now im running 4 coral+ and 4 blue+ but its time to switch out T5s. The MHs are Radiums. I would like a little more fluorescent pop. Should I go with 8 blue+ or 4 blue+ 4 actinic? the tank is 30deep. Will the actinics contribute enough to make a difference?

 

[DarkSky]

I do 4 b+, 3 actinic, and 1 c+. I get nice pop and like the color I get.

 

[Davy Jones]

so on my 450 I have three 400W MH, 4 radions G3, and 8 48" T5. The MH and radions alternate down the center of the tank and the T5s are to the outside around the perimeter. Right now im running 4 coral+ and 4 blue+ but its time to switch out T5s. The MHs are Radiums. I would like a little more fluorescent pop. Should I go with 8 blue+ or 4 blue+ 4 actinic? the tank is 30deep. Will the actinics contribute enough to make a difference?

Although not the question,

Why not use the LED's for the actinic pop and the t5's for growth? If it were me, I would do 6b+ bulbs and 2 purple plus or coral plus, and set the radions to blues only.

 

[Nezw0001]

So heres the tough part. the tank is 36 wide so the T5s are in pairs around the perimeter. For example, two on the left front, two on the right front, two on the left back, two on the right back. There is 30 inches between the pairs so doing any combo where the lights aren't paired will result in different coloring around the tank. That why I was thinking a B+, B+ combo on each pair OR a B+, actinic combo on each pair.

DarkSky, I have that combo on my ATI powermodule on the basement frag tank and love it. just can't see how it would work with the way the T5s are spread around my big tank


This is what it is like
48in T5 48 in T5
48 in T5 48in T5

Radion MH Radion MH Radion MH Radion

48 in T5 48 in T5
48 in T5 48 in T5

obviously the spacing is even on my tank, not like above.

Davey Jones, The 400W MHs are probably providing most of the growth. I have been using the T5s to keep par up at the outside edges but most of the SPSs are in the middle. Maybe i should just get rid of the T5s??

 

[Nezw0001]

PS thanks for the tips so far. I really appreciate it. The T5s are kind of a nuisance to work around.

 

[Davy Jones]

Davey Jones, The 400W MHs are probably providing most of the growth. I have been using the T5s to keep par up at the outside edges but most of the SPSs are in the middle. Maybe i should just get rid of the T5s??

Maybe turn them off for a week-2 and see if there are any negative responses from the coral. Leave them in place incase you need to turn them back on but it would be a good way to do things if you are thinking of removing them all togeather

 

[Nezw0001]

Good idea. I amped up my radions a bit to see if I can get a little more pop.

 

[Nezw0001]

After a little more testing and moving the current T5 bulbs around to get 2 blue+s in one quadrant I have decided the T5s don't add anything if the halides are on. I think i will probably remove them as they are such a pain to work around.