t5/ halide

[bkweibley]

I have a 4' tank (90 gallon bow, 29" deep) that I currently have 2 14k phoenix halides and 4 ATI blue plus T5s on. I hve noticed that the corals that I am buying look nicer where they were under LEDs than they do at home under my lighting, they look much duller under my lighting. Are there any changes I can make with my bulbs to fix this, or is LED really just that much better for colors?

 

[bkweibley]

My fixture is an Putter Orbit and my bulbs are all only about 5 months old

 

[shred5]

ATI blue plus only have a little actinic, use actinics and you will get more pop..
The are advantages and disadvantages to all lighting systems.
One thing led does well is create that pop (makes he corals florescence ) But where halides excel because of the wide spectrum is create more colorful corals not just pop. LED has gotten better now with the multicolored leds like red and violet (uv) and is closing the gap.

I got some corals a while back and they looked awsum under leds they fluoresced like mad.. Example one chalice was blue with nice green rim.. I put one in my tank from his and it was brown with a green rim.. After a month in my tank it is turning orange with green rim... This has happened to me more than once too.. Mainly sps but each coral can be different too.

You want the best lighting use either halide or t-5 and use royal blue leds for supplemental lighting and it is awsum. Color and pop.

These reall is advantages though to both and disadvantages. There will be people that will come and tell you led is the only wat to go and they are going to be buried with their led fixture is is so awsume and there will be people on the otherside that will tell you different.

 

[bkweibley]

ATI blue plus only have a little actinic, use actinics and you will get more pop..
The are advantages and disadvantages to all lighting systems.
One thing led does well is create that pop (makes he corals florescence ) But where halides excel because of the wide spectrum is create more colorful corals not just pop. LED has gotten better now with the multicolored leds like red and violet (uv) and is closing the gap.

I got some corals a while back and they looked awsum under leds they fluoresced like mad.. Example one chalice was blue with nice green rim.. I put one in my tank from his and it was brown with a green rim.. After a month in my tank it is turning orange with green rim... This has happened to me more than once too.. Mainly sps but each coral can be different too.

You want the best lighting use either halide or t-5 and use royal blue leds for supplemental lighting and it is awsum. Color and pop.

These reall is advantages though to both and disadvantages. There will be people that will come and tell you led is the only wat to go and they are going to be buried with their led fixture is is so awsume and there will be people on the otherside that will tell you different.

Would you go with 1 actinic, 3 blue plus, or something more drastic?

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[shred5]

Would you go with 1 actinic, 3 blue plus, or something more drastic?

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What halides are you running wattage? If you are getting enough par from your halides I would go straight up actinic.. I do not like the look of blue +, they put out this blue haze. Reason people run blue plus is because they are blue but still put out a great deal of par compared to a actinic.

 

[bkweibley]

150 watt 2-14k phoenix

What halides are you running wattage? If you are getting enough par from your halides I would go straight up actinic.. I do not like the look of blue +, they put out this blue haze. Reason people run blue plus is because they are blue but still put out a great deal of par compared to a actinic.

 

[shred5]

150 watt 2-14k phoenix

Thats a hard call if you had 250 watters I would say swap 2 and see if you like it better and then swap the rest if you did like it better. Also depends on what you keep! 90 is rather deep so I would maybe try just two ati true actinic and see if you like it better. I don't want you too loose too much par.

I am going to add some led actinic strips to my lighting.

 

[bkweibley]

Thats a hard call if you had 250 watters I would say swap 2 and see if you like it better and then swap the rest if you did like it better. Also depends on what you keep! 90 is rather deep so I would maybe try just two ati true actinic and see if you like it better. I don't want you too loose too much par.

I am going to add some led actinic strips to my lighting.

I have mostly zoas/palys. Only a few sps. I do have 2 blue stunner strips I think they are called? That I got but never tried also.

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[Ike]

Phoenix bulbs are a little lacking at making corals pop IMO. You can say the same about the reflectors in the outer orbit and 150w bulbs in general... Rather than adding actinics I'd suggest trying a aquablue special and a coral plus instead of two of the blue+, put them more towards the inner with the blue+ close to the glass. That is unless you think your tank isn't blue enough, because my suggestion will whiten things up a bit. You could also try Radium 150w bulbs when it comes time to swap out the phoenix.

 

[bkweibley]

Phoenix bulbs are a little lacking at making corals pop IMO. You can say the same about the reflectors in the outer orbit and 150w bulbs in general... Rather than adding actinics I'd suggest trying a aquablue special and a coral plus instead of two of the blue+, put them more towards the inner with the blue+ close to the glass. That is unless you think your tank isn't blue enough, because my suggestion will whiten things up a bit. You could also try Radium 150w bulbs when it comes time to swap out the phoenix.

Radiums come in a 20k right?

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[bkweibley]

oh man, coral plus isnt the same as antinic is, is it? I bought 2 last night thinking they were the same thing but just a different brand, but now i believe i might have been mistaken?

 

[bkweibley]

No one?

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[shred5]

oh man, coral plus isnt the same as antinic is, is it? I bought 2 last night thinking they were the same thing but just a different brand, but now i believe i might have been mistaken?

ATI coral plus are not actininc.
This is what you want if you are buying ati:
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/t5...rue-actinic-03-t5-ho-fluorescent-ati1121.html

I have not used that bulb yet. I just purchased them. I have been using the UVL super actinic and they look awsum, My problem with them is they seem to degrade really fast and last about 6 months so I am trying the ati actinic. I hope they look as good but last longer.