cyano

http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/home/

All you need to know.

As you have surmised, those Coralife bulbs are less than ideal.
I've used all ATI lamps in my Aquactinics TX5 5 lamp setup in the following combination;
2x blue +, 2 blue special, 1 procolor(not made anymore): really liked this combo, was a nice bright white with all 5 and a good blue with just the blue +

My current combo is....lemme go look....2 blue +, 2 true actinics, 1 aquablue; again all ATI lamps. This one is nice and bright white when all are running, and purple with just the actinics.
If you look in my blog you'll see pics of this combo.

Here's a link to the old combo:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...384575&page=21

post 501

So what combo in what order would you recommend for a 6 bulb setup?

I run 14k mh and antinic t5. I love the look. Ice white is the best way I can explain it

Check the link, Grim has suggestions for various fixtures. If yours is not listed, follow one of the other 6 lamp fixtures.

The first link I posted that is.

Sorry if the above comes across as rude; I just don't have any experience with 6 lamp setups and I don't want to steer you wrong.

I should also add; I used Giesemann lamps for a while when I couldn't get ATI lamps locally.
IIRC, I did 2x aquablue, 2x pure actinic, 1 midday. Looked very similar to the original ATI setup.

lol, no your fine thanks a ton for the link, I will check it out as soon as I get bit to actually sit down and read as there is a lot of info on that link, I wish I had figured this out before I bought new bulbs the last time but going from a nano taking 2 power compacts to a 48" 6 lamp t5 ho fixture is a big jump but aside from the appearance right now I have been happy with the way they have worked out for me thus far, the high cost of the metal halide is the only thing keeping me from going that route but everyone I have talked to otherwise say they prefer t5's to mh and I know with the right knowledge I could even grow sps under them

ok grim suggest 4x ati blue plus and a purple plus and a GE 6500k, thats exactly what i run and with great success. the fixture your looking isnt all its cracked up to be (odysea) the ballast "suck" to put it nice. you can always run a ati 12k or true actnic instead of one of the blue plus to cut the blue a lil.

I am curious why not go the LED route? from what I have read it seems like a great option

@Strangchris Yeah thats why I am going to stick with what I have as far as the T5's and was wanting to get the best combination in order for my setup. My biggest concern is finding T5 bulbs around here that are being recommended. All I can find locally here is the coralife and I had attempted to order some different bulbs before settling on them last time but they kept coming in broken so I am a bit leery of ordering something that fragile again. But regardless I am going to be getting some better bulbs this time and will order them before i NEED them so I have plenty of time to send them back for replacements

@chuck Money would be the simple reason and the first reason since I can not afford them even as a DIY project, secondly I have LED moonlights that I have had for about a year and they would go out one at a time starting about 4 months ago, not that they have a short lifespan but based on my experience they seem to not like saltwater too much so they NEED to have a splash shield even to keep evaporation off of them and every little bit needs to be water tight. My moonlight setup was 8 blue LEDs that looked great and I think I am down to 5 LEDs left after only a year of hanging over a reef tank. They are very new to reefing and no one really knows what they are and are not capable of especially in the long term.

I'd recommend reefgeek for ordering lamps.

ok, thanks i will check them out I had never even heard of them before. do you have any experience with them?

wait so have I been hurting my tank/corals by running 3 6,500 daylights? in other words are my corals actually used to too much light now? could that be the reason for slow growth in my montipora?

I've never used them, but my previous supplier closed up. I've heard nothing but good about them and I will order from them when I need replacements.
I would say your corals were being under lit if anything. 6500K, in theory, should result in the most growth but poor coloration. The biggest problem you face, IMO, is the poor quality fixture. Better lamps will help but getting a better fixture(read; one with individual reflectors and active cooling) will be the real fix. What fixture are you using, BTW?

48" Current USA 6x54w Nova Extreme Pro T5HO 3-10k is what I am currently using, when I said i was using 3x 6,500 I meant I am using 3x daylight bulbs at 6,500 (I believe) and 3x actinics but I am going to have to change what I said I just realized I am using 3x 10,000 k daylights and 3x actinic so I know I need to change my combination and right now I am looking at

1. Blue
2. ATI Purple Plus or Fiji Purple
3. Blue
4. GE 6500K
5. Blue
6. Blue

if you don't think that would be too blue, I would like a hint of blue over the yellowish hue I currently have but I don't want it to look like I am running actinics all day, I would also like to know for sure that I would be able to keep some sps with this combination (towards the top of the tank of course) I would love to be able to add a birdsnest or millapora and know that I have it's lighting needs under control

That, supposedly, is a good 'cheap' fixture and should serve you very well with new lamps.

I assume you mean blue + by the blue.

IMO, color preference is very subjective. To me, I think it would be too blue, and I'd replace one of the blue + with an aquablue. But again, that's my own preference.

Poke around that other link I posted and you'll see many combos. It might take lots of time though.

it wasn't too cheap cost enough lol but anyway yeah the combination I had posted in the last post was the combination given in the link for a nova fixture with 6 bulbs, but I agree with you I felt it would be too blue myself, but right now it has no blue tint to it it's just bright, lol

well it is done, I just made my order, though instead of 4 blue plus I ordered 3 blue plus and a special blue to tone down the blue a little bit

Kewl. Take some before and after pics if possible.