t5 54w which ones are good

[donkey77]

got an 8 bulb t5 fixture just wondering what bulbs to buy and whats a good combo

[Myka]

What type of corals? How deep is the tank? Do you prefer towards 20,000 Kelvin or more towards 10,000K?

[donkey77]

i like the blues mix reef
my tank is a shallow reef, 5 feet by 3 feet 12'' high

[donkey77]

i was thinking like 4 fiji purples and something else

[gregzz4]

IMHO, ATI and KZ are the best bulbs, followed by Geismann (not as good from what I've read)

As far as a combo goes, well, that's very subjective. Do you want a natural look, or do you want your corals to 'pop' ?

When I bought my used ATI 8 bulb 54w fixture, it came with used ATI bulbs
There were 5 Aqua Blues, 2 Aquablue Specials and 1 Fiji Pink
It made my corals 'pop', but I didn't like the overly blue look
I also rewired my fixture so I can run the 4 ballasts independantly
Regardless, this is my setup now

I now run KZ bulbs as I can buy them locally
2 actinics 420 & 460nm - Super Blue for 12 hours
2 daylights 14K - Coral Light II for 9 hours (these bulbs are white)
2 middays 10K - Coral Light for 3 hours (these bulbs look yellow, but are white light and bright)
1 more 14K, and one Fiji Purple for some red - 1 hour (to simulate that time right after 12 noon when the sun is at it's peak)

Be careful with this much light. My corals weren't getting enough food and bleached

And don't follow my pattern unless it suits you
I like the fish to wake up with actinics for an hour before they get fed
And they get a couple hours of actinics to clean up any scraps before lights out
This suits our 'around the tank' lifestyle for viewing

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by donkey77

i like the blues mix reef
my tank is a shallow reef, 5 feet by 3 feet 12'' high

You'll need to raise that fixture up high, or run it for quite a short time. Otherwise you'll bleach anything bleachable

[canadianbudz604]

I read that a good combo for a 8 bulb light is 4 super blues, 2 coral light plus 2nd gen, one Fiji purple and one 6500k ge bulb.

[KPG007]

I just picked up an 8 bulb T5 two weeks ago. Bought it with ATI bulbs. Here's the order:

Front:
Blue Plus
Actinic
Coral Plus
Purple Plus
Blue Plus
Coral Plus
Blue Plus
Blue Plus

First two and last two run 12hrs, and middle 4 run 8hrs. I'm finding it a little too blue for my taste, but corals look good, so I'm going to run it awhile.
Normally I run KZ, but these ATI's look good too.

Kelly

[Myka]

Originally Posted by donkey77

i like the blues mix reef
my tank is a shallow reef, 5 feet by 3 feet 12'' high

i was thinking like 4 fiji purples and something else

Wow, that's shallow...and wide! Do you have two fixtures to cover that width? What type of corals? I ask because bulbs are not created equal, some are much more powerful than others and you could cook corals with bulbs that are too powerful for the type of coral. Since you only have 12" depth, this is a real factor for you. If you have LPS or softies in this tank you're going to want to use much less powerful bulbs, and if you have SPS you could use the more powerful ones.

Fiji Purples have A LOT of red spectrum in them. Your tank will look more red than purple if you do this. Algae loves red spectrum too, so that could become a problem for you. I've found that many tanks can't handle Fiji Purple bulbs because of the red spectrum and the tendency to grow algae. If you aren't overly experienced at reef keeping then the threat of algae is more of a concern.

Originally Posted by gregzz4

IMHO, ATI and KZ are the best bulbs

Agreed! ATI are my favourite, but they are often hard to find. KZ is my second choice.

[gobytron]

I was having crazy algae battles until I got rid of my Fiji Purples.

Never again.

They did add some nice colour too.