T5 light question

[N1Husker]

I have a Coralife "36" T5 4x39w light that I am thinking of changing out the bulbs next month. It came with the 2 10,000k white and 2 blue antinics and the two blue LED moonlights. I have been looking at the new Red Sea ReefSpec T5 bulbs as well as the Giesmann T5's, ATI and UV Intnl Lighting, but it gets quite confusing. Does anyone know which lights or had any experience, that would be better than what is in their now. I have quite a few corals, and I want to get the red corals to pop a little more. Some look red some look brown. The tank is a 50 gallon, 36x18x21. I can't afford LED's so I am sticking with the T5's. Also with all of the choices what arrangement of the bulbs, and what brands are a good choice? Thanks

 

[NanaReefer]

I've been running the ATI's for 2+yrs now. Awesome lamps! Keeping LPS and softies + a Tridacna Crocea clam.
1x Aquablue special
2x blue plus
1x True Actinic (new for me) usually run a Coral Plus but wanted to try something a lil different.
I've gotten great growth and good colors from all my corals.

 

[eww]

We ran the same combo as Nana mentions when we were on T-5's except we used a KZ Fiji Purple in place of the True Actinic. We kept anything we wanted and had no issue with a 30" deep tank at the time.

Our bulb color and order front to back was:

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple

FTS with these lights

 

[N1Husker]

Okay, that combo is what I was thinking of using. Thank you very much for your response.

 

[N1Husker]

We ran the same combo as Nana mentions when we were on T-5's except we used a KZ Fiji Purple in place of the True Actinic. We kept anything we wanted and had no issue with a 30" deep tank at the time.

Our bulb color and order front to back was:

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus
KZ Fiji Purple

FTS with these lights

What does FTS mean, in FTS with these lights.

 

[Hunter1998]

Full tank shot

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[rainydave]

I'm running the following bulbs in this order (front to back).

ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus (Wanted a KZ Fiji Purple, but couldn't find it at the time)
ATI Blue Plus

 

[N1Husker]

Full tank shot

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Thank You, I think I came up with every wrong combination I could think of.

 

[N1Husker]

I'm running the following bulbs in this order (front to back).

ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus (Wanted a KZ Fiji Purple, but couldn't find it at the time)
ATI Blue Plus

Thanks Dave, looks as if this combination is the most popular.

 

[DTECH07]

1x Fiji Purple
2x Aquablue special
2x blue plus
1x True Actinic

I've been running this combo for the last two years with great results both high and low depth with low algae. I've used the Giesmann before but i prefer the ATI.

 

[Tuku4u]

I use all T5 with just a led stunner strip that's timed to turn on first and turn off last so that I can see all the corals under just LED lighting for a couple hours. Works and looks pretty awesome and gives a nice little glow to things during the day while all the lights are on. Currently use:

3xATI BLUE PLUS
1XATI PURPLE PLUS
1XATI AQUA BLUE PLUS
1XATI CORAL PLUS.

Gives a nice little bluish tint to the tank but provides plenty of lighting for all types of corals, and a clam, and the reds all pop pretty well, but that may be because I use a stunner strip....

 

[Raamiah]

I just ordered 4 new bulbs today and went with:
2x ATI Blue+
ATI Purple+
ATI Coral+

 

[N1Husker]

I just ordered 4 new bulbs today and went with:
2x ATI Blue+
ATI Purple+
ATI Coral+

Thanks Brian, where did you order yours from?

 

[Raamiah]

I got them from Bulk Reef Supply. I haven't seen any prices that would make me shop one store or another.
As far as not shopping local I order this type of stuff online because I live in the blackhole of fish stores so it just makes more sense for me to order most dry goods online.

 

[kevnkev]

One word of minor caution about the ATI Purple+ bulbs. I just switched to T5s a few weeks ago, and bought bulbs based on the descriptions of the light published by ATI. For daylight I got two Aquablue+, and for dawn/dusk light I got a Blue+ and a Purple+. Turns out the Purple+ is much whiter than I expected, much closer to a daylight bulb in appearance than to an actinic.

So if you really want the dawn and dusk to have the corals fluorescing the best, avoid the Purple+ for that purpose. However, Purple+ makes for great daylight color.

I now have:
ATI Aquablue+
ATI Blue+
AquaticLife Actinic Blue
ATI Purple+

 

[N1Husker]

The cheapest I have found so far is from ReefGeeks.com. My main concern is to get a brighter red from my zoa's, and to keep things healthy. I enjoy my corals with all the lights on and not so much just under the blue antinics when they fluoress. I personally don't care for the deep blue look, not my preference. I appreciate the info on the purples, it sounds like the KZ Fuji pink is the better light for the reds and purples. I would love to buy locally, but prices are about $10 to $14 less on the net, but you do have to pay shipping, but still cheaper. I do have a 30% coupon for Barrier so I will check them out and see what they have.

 

[leena2674]

I haven't used the ATIs because nobody near me carries them. I'm a fan of the Geismann bulbs though, and run those in conjunction with 20,000k halides. I get great color out of my corals with them. One of these days I'll order the ATIs and see if I like them better

 

[PR_Reefer]

This is great to know information since I got to change my bulbs already...

 

[N1Husker]

I haven't used the ATIs because nobody near me carries them. I'm a fan of the Geismann bulbs though, and run those in conjunction with 20,000k halides. I get great color out of my corals with them. One of these days I'll order the ATIs and see if I like them better

Thank You, I am sticking with T5's, no metal halides for me. I am not getting anything for probably a month or two. I probably won't know until I get them, then battle with my brain if I made the right choice.