need help deciding on t5 bulbs.

[cj7eagle]

I know my way around metal halides enough to get by, but when it comes to t5s i am totally lost. My fiance is getting ready to set up a 75 gallon mixed reef. She bought a used catalina 8bulb 54w retro setup. It didnt come with any bulbs and we are trying to decide on what bulbs to get.

It only has two switches, so i imagine if we want the dusk and dawn effect, you would but 4 actincs on one switch and 4 whites on another. am i correct?

Is there such thing as bad brand name bulbs with t5s? or is it all just personal preferance.


I've tried reading the t5 Q&A thread, but there is way too much information to try and sort out the answers i need.

any help here would be great.

Thanks.

[cj7eagle]

anyone?

[Steve973]

Sure! I'm a bit of a beginner, but I've gone through a lot of the information on the T5 threads. As a general rule, ATI has the bulbs with the best par values. Check out Grim's T5 PAR values thread for that info:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=918935&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
He originally forgot UVL PAR values, but he included them slightly further than halfway down the first page.

There are a lot of posts asking for bulb recommendations. If you want more light output, you don't need a 50/50 split between daylights and actinics. It's all about aesthetic appeal as long as you're getting enough PAR with whatever bulb combination. You could use 2 actinics and 6 of some other bulbs. Popular setups include ATI Aquablue, ATI Blue Plus, KZ Fiji Purple, UVL Aquasun, ATI Sun Pro, Geisemann Actinic Plus, etc. It definitely pays to take some time to read through those threads before making your choice.

I hope this helps a little.

[cj7eagle]

thanks its a good start.

is there a place to buy all of these bulbs from? or would i have to make 4 or 5 different orders to have a setup like that?

[Steve973]

You might have to make 2 orders if one web site doesn't carry all of the ones that you're looking for. I'm not sure if there are sites that carry that many different manufacturers of bulbs yet. You can always try some bulbs and switch one out at a time for a very reasonable price until you are satisfied.