t5 54w which ones are good

[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