best brand t5s

[newreefguy]

Two of my 10K bulbs went out and thinking about upping the kelvin rating..
Maybe 20k... bulb suggestions? Im wanting to have anemones,clams and zoas.
Right now I have/had 3 10k daylight and 3 460 nm actinics.... so lets hear the oppinions.

 

[BigJay]

from what I can tell a few bulb manufacturers(giesmann,UVL, ATI) have bulbs in the 11k-12k range that have excellent penetration. Maybe a combination with a 14-15k. 20k I think is getting to far to the darkside but its all personal preference. I've been hovering at the 11k and below and I am switching to 11k-15k asap.

oh and don't be afraid to pull one of your actinics out. Theres no need for 3 actinics in that set up. 2 decent aftermarket actinics is more then you need to make everything in your tank glow. Use that extra spot for another 10-15k light or even 20k if you want.

 

[BLAKEJOHN]

From left to right (the right side is the front of the tank):
ATI blue+
ATI AquaBlue Special
ATI Actnic
ATI Procolor
ATI AquaBlue Special
ATI Blue +

And to give you a rough Idea of how the color looks. The Image below is color corrected to give you an actuall representaion of color.

 

[newreefguy]

Ok now my question is where's a good place to buy some....

 

[bandr1002]

Ok now my question is where's a good place to buy some....

i use UVL lights and love em.

UV Lighting Company

i am running one 75/25 bulb
one aquasun (puts a kinda pink tone in tank)
two actinic whites
and two super actinics (the super actinics are very actinic like a 420 actinic)

 

[Clownfish518]

Premium Aquatics has good packing for T5s and is a sponsor

ATI Blue + is a great 20k bulb. Great par, and won't overpower the tank with blue. PA has ATI, UVL, and other good brands

 

[bandr1002]

here's a link to what my tank looks like with the UVL bulbs

well, 3 months in.......... - The Southern Colorado Marine Aquarist Society

and if you put the aquasun in the back and a super actinic up front this is what it looked like at sunrise/sunset..........

sorry pic is so blurry, but it was popping with reds and greens!

 

[tektite]

Reefgeek is another good place to get T5 bulbs from. They package them really well. ReefGeek

 

[Hornet]

I'm running 4 ATI aquablue specials and 3 ATI Blue +'s in my fixture. My tank is a new set-up but I read a lot of good reviews from users on the ATI bulbs. I got my bulbs from Premium Aquatics too. The bulbs were packaged well and the price was fair.

 

[newreefguy]

Sweet... thanks for the help guys.