T5 Bulbs

[ssmtcarlo]

I ordered URI 10K bulbs but they have a pink like tint to them. what bulbs are a good crisp white? I have URI 39watt 03 actinic URI 39 watt 460NM actinic. Maybe 2 geisman aqua blue +.

 

[autoponicz]

i have the aquatinics fixture.....and the geiseman aquablues are white
but ati has a aquablue that has higher par....check reefgeek.com....they usually have a comparison pic

 

[fritz]

Yeah the ATI aquablue special isn't exactly white it's got a hint of blue to it. It's my favorite bulb, near perfect in my opinion. Check out it's spectrograph, it's like a 10k with actinic built in!

 

[ssmtcarlo]

with 2 existing actinic do you think the ATI aquablue special would be to much blue.

 

[fritz]

It depends on what you consider "too blue" you also don't have much in the way of options with those two bulbs. You can either go with a "white" bulb which will still be blue when paired with those or GE starcoats (6,500k) which are yellow. Mixing that with the actinics will look odd IMO.

If you were to run the AB specials by themselves they would be white with a hint of blue. Adding the UV actinic bulbs may be too much but if you like the look of the UV bulbs you should like it. The UV bulbs seem a little more purple to me than blue.
On my tank I run:
2 ATI Blue plus (my dawn/dusk and actinic bulbs) from 12pm-10pm
3 ATI Aquablue special (as my main bulbs) 1pm-9pm
1 GE 3000k and 1 GE Starcoat 6,500k (as my "noon" bulbs) 3pm-6pm

When my "noon" bulbs come on the tank is a little yellow but the overall color is good since they bring out yellows and reds. The mixture of the ATI aquablue special and Aquable plus is great IMO although reds and yellow get washed out. The aquablue plus however is my favorite of the "actinic" T5 bulbs. The lights is very blue and really makes the corals fluoresce without making it look like you have a black light over it.