Plz help with color balance

cpllongjk · Mar 2, 2016

Ok, I got my 24" Giesemann Spectra in the mail with all the bulbs finally.

Front

ATI Actinic
AB Special
Radium (250w)
Purple+
ATI Actinic

Back

I feel that this combo looks very good when all the bulbs and mh are on but when the MH is off it feels dim/too purple. What should I do?

mcarroll · Mar 3, 2016

The Radium is all the light you need color-wise.

What's your goal for the T5's? Night light/sunrise type of thing?

cpllongjk · Mar 3, 2016

My goal with them is for a longer viewing period. I only plan on running the radium for a max of 4-6 hours. The t5s are for supplement and to extend viewing period to 10 hours.

buzzword · Mar 3, 2016

Try putting a Coral plus inplace of the Aquablue special. Should lighten it up a bit.

cpllongjk · Mar 3, 2016

Coral plus is brighter? I thought it was dimmer.

buzzword · Mar 3, 2016

Coral plus is a bulb with a 15K look. More white light than Blue plus which is a 20K or higher look, lots of blue. I removed one Blue plus and now have 2 coral plus in my * bulb fixture and love the color. So do the corals.

LostInTheDark · Mar 3, 2016

The actinic are low par bulbs. The Aquablue is a lot brighter then the coral +. A good compromise would be to switch out the a tunics with blue +. It still gives a nice sunrise/sunset but will brighten up your tank. I use an actinic/blue+ for sunrise/sunset because 2 a tunics were too dark and purpley.

cpllongjk · Mar 4, 2016

Thanks guys. After much thought and reading your advice I think the only real way to know what I will like is to get extra bulbs and test it myself. It really sucks because I'll be wasting bulbs but at least I will know what I like.

LostInTheDark · Mar 4, 2016

Not really a waste. Save them for your bulb changes in the future. I bought 3 extra bulbs when I ordered my fixture just so I could try different variations. My wife got into the different combos and had the final say on what she liked.

buzzword · Mar 4, 2016

Yeah don't worry about it. I have 3 extra bulbs as well. I have 3 bulbs ready for my bulb change and I can replace them one or 2 at a time and don't have to spend $200+ to buy all the bulbs at once.