help choosing ati bulbs

greg0385 · Jan 25, 2012

I recently bought a 4 bulb retro t5 kit with a icecap660. I want to use with my 250watt phoneix de 14ks. The plan is to use t5s to stage up to the halides and stage down from them too. I have a 48" blue led dimmable strip that i plan on using for nite viewing so no atintics.
My thoughts were blue+ or purple+ bulbs. Want something close to 14k color if all possible so any help would be awesome, open to any suggestions.

Thanks

Aquaph8 · Jan 25, 2012

I'd do two blue+, an aqua blue and a purple+.

firefightered · Jan 25, 2012

+1 on that. The purple + will really make your colors POP!

Aquaph8 said:
I'd do two blue+, an aqua blue and a purple+.

greg0385 · Jan 25, 2012

In what order, its going to be
t5
t5
MH 14k
t5
t5

Dowtish · Jan 25, 2012

blue plus
aqua blue
MH
purple
blue plus

Greg, are the T5's going to be on a controller or timers?

subielover · Jan 25, 2012

I would consider changing out the aquablue special for a coral plus (ATI's new bulb.)

cjilge · Jan 25, 2012

in order

blue+
purple+
aquablue
blue +

I run close to that but with 6 bulbs in this order. mine is closer to 20k and controled in pairs for staging lights on and off
blue+
Procolor almost the same as the purple +
blue+
blue+
aquablue
blue +

greg0385 · Jan 25, 2012

Timer for now, trying to cut down on hours the MH will be on(4-6 hours or so) and the t5s on before and after the halides. Hope to one day get the apex jr or win the lottery and get the apex and some mp40s. Any place you suggest to get the bulbs

Dowtish · Jan 25, 2012

I just ordered 2 of the new ATI coral plus bulbs from the BRS group buy we did. they have great prices. I'll get back to you on how they look.

I might be selling my Reef Keeper Elite for cheap...

Aquaph8 · Jan 25, 2012

Dowtish said:
blue plus
aqua blue
MH
purple
blue plus

Greg, are the T5's going to be on a controller or timers?

I was gonna say the same. Looking forward to reviews on the new bulbs.

greg0385 · Feb 10, 2012

So im getting a blue+ and a purple+ bulb from a local member this weekend. After reading a thread on the coral plus review, it seems that it has great color and great par levels.
Im going to order some bulbs today and looks like im getting a coral+ bulb and one more blue+ bulb.

Blue+
coral+
14k MH
Purple+
Blue+
Does this look right before i place my order?

ThaBeast · Feb 10, 2012

With the Phoenix I'd switch the blue+ for true actinic because the phoenix 14K has high output at 450nm but none at 420nm

Dowtish · Feb 10, 2012

HndMafia said:
With the Phoenix I'd switch the blue+ for true actinic because the phoenix 14K has high output at 450nm but none at 420nm

I agree, the coral plus has stand alone daylight potential with a little extra purple in it. So you could get away with a true actinic in there, without worrying about loss of PAR

greg0385 · Feb 10, 2012

Well the problem with that is i was going to be using the 4 t5s 3hours before the 2-250watt halides and 3hours after.
9am-12pm t5lights only
11:50am-6pm metal halides
6pm-9pm t5 lights only
9pm-?? Blue led moon lights

i really didnt want atintics because it only makes color pop but really no par.

Please correct me if im wrong or if think i need more light hours

thanks

greg0385 · Feb 10, 2012

Is that a good light schedule? And bulb combo?

KJAG · Feb 10, 2012

Was just at a buddys house yesterday whos running ATI coral +(Clearwater on R2R) The colors very nice.Drastic improvement over the ABS I ran when I had T5's.