[gobytron]

just an FYI, all the bulbs with the exception of the midday came with the fixture.
Receipt from JL shows 4 months old.

I looked at the fixture and saw that I essentially had 4 actinic bulbs and 2 50/50 or 15k's...

Thats why I put the Midday on for the time being, JL told me the Giesemann Midday bulb is the brightest on the market.


I'm not married to any of these bulbs and I appreciate all suggestions here.

This is a trial, my halides/VHO are sitting in front of the tank as we speak and could go back on anytime.

I just picked this T5 up for a great deal, and I wanted to see what all the mystery is about.
So far, I'm already leaning back to my HQI/VHO set up but I'm defnitely going to try some other combos befor I put the T5 unit up for sale with all fresh bulbs.
Maybe t pick up an 8 bulb unit as I agree with previous post those 2 extra bulbs would really allow for some better combinations of colour and par.


And yes Myka, 24" deep.
Myka - I was told by the good people at JL (you know who you are) that the 454 t5's do not even come close to the 454 VHOs for "pop"...is this true?
I have a Maxima on my sand and it actually seems very happy since the switch, this is the animal I am watching the closest for signs of light deprivation.
Also, so far, my Euphyllia are loving life right now.

I was in the middle of doing some serious maintenance in the sump room and actually had lights off for 5 days when I just happened to see this t5 unit f/s so I think I may have avoided a little shock from an abrubt change there.