I just purchased a used 36" t5/halide combo for my 65 gallon tank. I want to purchase all new bulbs and wondering what you guys recommend as far as colors for the t5's and brands for all. I want a little more blue than what I have now so I was thinking 2 ATI blue + and two true actinic bulbs. As far as the halide I have no idea. Thanks in advance for your help.
T5/halide bulb help
- Thread starter chrisj83
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If you like the crisp blue look I'd check out Hamilton's 20k bulb. I recently switched from ATI to giesemam T5 bulbs and I really like the look. I run 2 blue actinic and 2 super actinic, same as blue plus and actinic by ATI. Welcome to R2R
Bpb
2500 Club Member
Questions. I’ll give some recommendations of my own based on a few things.
Is the halide portion mogul or DE?
Are the t5ho bulbs able to be staged 2 at a time or are all 4 connected to the same switch?
My tastes will differ from yours. But if it were my fixture. And it were a mogul orientation I’d do the following.
Ushio 10k for the halide. And I’d run it for 4-6 hours per day
For the t5ho I’d do 2 blue+, 1 True Actinic, 1 purple+ and I would run that all day but begin 3 hours before and end 3 hours after the halide portion.
I believe there is real benefit in growth and pigment development by using a bright warmer spectrum daylight bulb.
I like the t5ho arrangement because after trying dozens of bulbs and bulb combos, I believe this to be the best bulb arrangement for displaying fluorescence and beautiful colors.
The 10k is too much for most new reefers though. In which case I’d suggest a 20k bulb if you can’t handle it, but your color development will be different in that case. Speaking of color developments, these are changes that can take months to materialize. So you can’t slap a bulb combo up and expect your tank to look like that forever. Coral Colors shift over time based on light input
Is the halide portion mogul or DE?
Are the t5ho bulbs able to be staged 2 at a time or are all 4 connected to the same switch?
My tastes will differ from yours. But if it were my fixture. And it were a mogul orientation I’d do the following.
Ushio 10k for the halide. And I’d run it for 4-6 hours per day
For the t5ho I’d do 2 blue+, 1 True Actinic, 1 purple+ and I would run that all day but begin 3 hours before and end 3 hours after the halide portion.
I believe there is real benefit in growth and pigment development by using a bright warmer spectrum daylight bulb.
I like the t5ho arrangement because after trying dozens of bulbs and bulb combos, I believe this to be the best bulb arrangement for displaying fluorescence and beautiful colors.
The 10k is too much for most new reefers though. In which case I’d suggest a 20k bulb if you can’t handle it, but your color development will be different in that case. Speaking of color developments, these are changes that can take months to materialize. So you can’t slap a bulb combo up and expect your tank to look like that forever. Coral Colors shift over time based on light input
Last edited:
Breadman03
Valuable Member
Mogul, or single ended/SE, looks like a regular screw-in fixture. DE=double ended. There are two slots a few inches apart where the bulb clips into the fixture. Note: do NOT touch halide bulbs. Your fingers will leave a residue that causes a hot (or cold, I forget) spot on the bulb. Since it heats differently than the rest of the bulb, stress fractures the bulb and it fails early.
You can see the difference at Bulk Reef Supply.
DesertReefT4r
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Phoenix 14k or Megachrome 17.5k. Nic3 crisp blue MH bulb. If you want really Blue blue Megachrome 20k or Hamilton 20K are good. For T5 I would do Blue Plus and Coral Plus.
Jorin
Community Member
I have an old 48” Marineland Marine Pro T5/Halide/Led Moonlight setup and love it too.
I use 2- ATI Blue Plus, 1- ATI Coral Plus, and 1- ATI Purple Plus in mine for the T5’s, 2- 14K Phoenix 150W Halides and the 4 blue 1W LED’s. I also have a 48” Actinic LED strip running at about 50% throughout the T5 light period.
Everything is growing like crazy and coloring is vivid on everything from mushrooms, gsp, galaxia, bta’s, toadstools, favias, zoas, montis, acros, pocillipora, chalices, torches, frogspawn, paly’s, sponges, and more throughout the tank.
I use 2- ATI Blue Plus, 1- ATI Coral Plus, and 1- ATI Purple Plus in mine for the T5’s, 2- 14K Phoenix 150W Halides and the 4 blue 1W LED’s. I also have a 48” Actinic LED strip running at about 50% throughout the T5 light period.
Everything is growing like crazy and coloring is vivid on everything from mushrooms, gsp, galaxia, bta’s, toadstools, favias, zoas, montis, acros, pocillipora, chalices, torches, frogspawn, paly’s, sponges, and more throughout the tank.
