Light question

[Dhub]

My current light setup (which was a Christmas gift along with my aquarium and other stuff) consists of a 48" strip which houses 4 t5 lights. The lights are as follows:

2 - t5 54w 12000k and 2 - t5 54w plant

The 12000k gives off a very bright white light while the plant lights are not as bright and seem to have a bluish-purple color.

Also, on the strip are 8 leds which (i assumed) were supposed to simulate the moonlight.

My questions are do I need the plant lights? Should I get different lights to replace the plant lights? What are plant lights and how do they differ from the 12000k lights? Are these ok to get started with, etc.? Should I run them at the same time or at seperate intervals? Should i run the leds? :hmm2:

Thanks

[ihavtats29]

you sure they are plant lights? lighting for plants are normaly yellowish to red spectrum

a purplish/blue is more of a antinic , what brand is the light set? if its used i would get all new bulbs 2) 10000 to 14000 k and 2) antinic bulbs depending on how you want the tank to look , a plant bulb may cause unwanted algea growth ,

[Dhub]

I just rechecked - they are Odysea T5 54w 12000k Daylights and Odysea T5 54w Plant.
It says plant on the bulb and I was mistaken - they have a purplish-pink hue. The pink is more noticable around the clips.

So what are your recommendations?

[ihavtats29]

id replce all 4 bulbs with a name brand bulb , the odysea units use the cheapest bulbs they can find along with the ballasts , 1 thing in this hobbie to remember is you get what you pay for, if low cost is what your looking for i run wavepoint bulbs on my t-5's that average $5 to $10 less than other brands, ive been running them for over a year with great results im running 2) wavepiont sun wave bulbs and 2) coral wave bulbs, tank is stocked with sps and lps having great growth

[Dhub]

So I should def replace the plant bulbs?

[ihavtats29]

i would the plant bulbs have a light spectrum for growing plants not coral

[irieef]

replace the plant bulbs with some actinic or blue bulbs or 1 of each would probably be best..

[Jstdv8]

check out the ATI bulbs they are the cats meow.

[Jstdv8]

check out the ATI bulbs they are the cats meow. they offer a wide variety of bulbs for whatever you're trying to accomplish

[Chiefsurfer]

what size tank? Have you cycled already? What kinds of things are you planning to keep in the tank? Corals and fish, fish only? Answers to these might help a little in giving advice. If you are going for a Mainly fish tank, possibly with lower-light corals, that fixture should be fine, and the daylight(12000K) should be fine for 6 months. You can probably grab "stock" bulbs out of base-line fixtures from a reefer nearby for nothing. I'd give you my used(about 6 hours) stock bulbs for nothin, but with shipping it's not even worth it.

If you plan to do a reef, with all different kinds of corals, you will ultimately have to replace that fixture with a good fixture. Not trying to bash, but odysea is the cheapest of the cheap(lighting is VERY expensive in this hobby) and will not likely support higher-light-requiring corals.

[Michael]

+1 with chief, whats going in the tank?