cruelle

Either the Gmann or the ATI lamps will work.

What kind of fixture do you have?

See here for some recommended lamp combinations:

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

I'm a fan of the ATI bulbs, but I don't think you can really go wrong if you use either of those brands. KZ also makes a good bulb.

The link "Robb in Austin" provided is a great source to get some bulb combination ideas. The link won't recommend actinic at all because of it's low-par... but it will give you extra pop.

I'd recommend something like (front to back)

ATI Blue Plus / Giesemann Actinic Plus (not a true actinic)
Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus / Giesemann Actinic Plus
Aquablue

If you really want the extra actinic, replace that first bulb with a pure actinic. You may have to do a bit of experimenting to get the combination you like, some of it depends on the spacing of the bulbs and how high you have them above the tank.

If you still want a shade bluer than that combination, I found the KZ New Generation bulb is a smidgen bluer than the Aquablue bulbs, but I'm guessing it does not have the same amount of PAR either.

Hope that helps, please let us know what you ended up going with.

ATI bulbs are the top of the line as far as T5's go. i just recently installed them in a tank that i maintenance and it dropped my jaw. will be using ATI from now on. They arent cheap but they are worth every penny

thanks for the info everyone have had the flu for a few days ! So a will have to look into things tonight now that a feel better!

Chris

Hey Chris, glad to hear ya getting over the flu.

thanks Hat it has been a rough couple of days!
Well going to go with the ATI bulbs for my Coral life HO light fixture thinking something like this front to back....let me know what you think chris

1---blue plus
2--ATI purple plus
3--aquablue
4--blue plus

I had a purple plus bulb in my 4 light retrofit. That combo only lasted a few months before I got tired of it. The purple hue was noticeable, the other 3 bulbs are not be enough to even out the spectrum, in my opinion. I replaced it with an aquablue, so my bulbs alternated between blue plus and aquablue. The combo was fine, but I wanted a tinge bluer. I replaced that aquablue with a KZ New Generation, which seemed to be slightly more violet than than the aquablue, so I like the color combo.

Either way, I think that is the advantage of T5 lighting. There are a number of spectrums at our disposal, allowing us to customize the look to our specific tastes.

thanks for the info...I can try it to start out with and just order a extra aquable just in case it's not what I want