T5 Bulb Combo for Frag growth/color

[Ultraman]

Tank is 30x30x12” and I’m trying to grow SPS. I’ve got 5 BP, 2 Giesemann Tropic and 1 CP. The look is 10K to my eyes and PAR ranges 200 on the far sides to 350ish in the middle. I also have a PP and actinic, but the tank lacked some PAR.

Any thoughts on this combo?

 

[X-37B]

I run a halide on my 36x24x12 frag system.
Before, and still in the closet, I ran a giesemann 6 bulb 3C+ 3B+ and really liked the look. Growth and color were good.
Same combo I ran on my 120 before going back to halides.
Not the best pic but the only one I could find.

 

[Ultraman]

Thanks!

 

[t5Nitro]

Those tropics really promote coral growth but agreed very white/yellow look. @Big E I think has always done 50/50 combo C+:B+ and has a lot of success with that. Right now I have 4B+, 1 P, 1 AB special, 2 C+. It looks nice but I think I will change the AB special out to another B+.

 

[Ultraman]

Thanks!

 

[Semisonyx]

Theres way more to growth than bulb combo. You could use all GE6500k or all blue+ and probably get negligible difference in growth. Start with the standard coral+/blue+ combo and tweak from there. Find something that looks good to you and gives you PAR in the growth range for sps and then move on to more important issues like flow and nutrient management.

 

[dragon99]

One of the best things about T5 is that you can't really have a wrong combo. If you are happy with the look of your current combo, carry on. I personally don't care for Tropic/6500k bulb because they are just too yellow. I'm running 4B+, 1PP, 1 CP, 2 actinic, It's a little bluer than I'd like, but I was short a CP bulb.

 

[Ultraman]

Appreciate the insight from everyone. I’m not caring about the look to my eye, just maximum growth and decent color on the frags so they’ll sell when the time comes at our frag swap. The frag tank is hooked into my 500 gallon reef that has acropora the size of basketballs in a couple colonies.

 

[jda]

More tropic, or the like, will yield better growth and color rendering, although you might have to put them under some bluer light to see it - there are photos on the last few pages of my rebuild thread of Poletti Jawbreakers that I grew under 6500k and then just put under bluer light to take photos. You can use GE 6500k - they are like 5-6 bucks and are pretty similar to the Tropics at a fraction of the price.

 

[Big E]

Those tropics really promote coral growth but agreed very white/yellow look. @Big E I think has always done 50/50 combo C+:B+ and has a lot of success with that. Right now I have 4B+, 1 P, 1 AB special, 2 C+. It looks nice but I think I will change the AB special out to another B+.

For a 4 bulb setup I highly recommend b+ & c+..... it gives you a complete mix from about 400-600nm. if you have 6-8 bulbs....... I'd opt to get more 400-420 in the mix.

This violet area is under used in most systems and the actinic will give you heavy spectrum in the 380-420nm range. To our eyes you won't visually see the vollet light but you will see colors pop in the coral itself........THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT......not fake reflective colors.

Also, it's pointless to throw in random single bulbs unless you're doing it for visual ambiance appearance. In other words if a 6 bulb go Actinic, Blue+ Coral+ and then 3 more behind it.

If you're a windex blue lover you'll never excite pigments across the board so all colors will pop. What you will get is fake view of some colors that look drab if you tone down that fake light to see what colors are really in the coral. This is very common with LED setups which very few people use enough of the 400-420 and 550-600 ranges.