Brand T5's

[ZANYMASTER]

Which Brands are the best and best for the wallet?Bulb wise that is.

 

[mrdobie]

iv had the best luck with ati.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Super blue or actinics?

 

[mrdobie]

blue plus

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I have some off brand ones to supplement my halides and feel like they're causing algae issues.Need to get quality ones

 

[mrdobie]

the price between the name brand and off brands is $2-$3 per bulb. to me its not worth using the off brand. you change them once a year.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I see Marine Depot has them for 19.00 for the 48's

 

[NYreefNoob]

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/equipment/89249-t5-bulb-pars.html

 

[homegrowncichlid]

I'm assuming you're asking about the actinic T5 bulbs only, as far as I know, algae grows poorly, if at all under 460 nm. (Algae growth peaks under red 660nm, which is in full spectrum lighting) So, your algae problem is related to your primary lighting and you can use any cheap actinic until they burn out, because most of your PAR is from your halide as opposed to the T5 actinics, which only provide a small percentage of the total PAR or in my mind, just cosmetic coloring.
To sum up, no amount of phase shifting from an old 460nm T5 bulb would support algae growth.
(never used halides personally, but read notes by "Reaper" on reef central, regarding halides and T5s.)
I currently use LEDs of the red 660nm in my algae scrubbers and have experimented with 460s and 10K in the past, which had no growth and some growth, respectively.

 

[dacaptain78]

I usually use ATI bulbs, but have also used Geisemann and KZ bulbs. They work fine as well. Just bought 4 blue plus, a Coral Plus, and a Purple Plus for my 6 bulb T-5 fixture.

 

[Reef-gazer]

Ati here as well.

 

[MikeC]

ATI
Fauna Maren
GE

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Just got in the ATI's and already making a difference.Less algae.Those made in China bulbs are garbage.