10k bulb w/ blue actinic t5s

[savageAJC]

any one using that combo on their tank? i know 10ks are great for growth, but horrible for color. if you use that combo can you please pot pics/ if the actinics make up for the loss of blue color in the mh bulb?

i currently have 2 150watt mhs (14K) and 2 54w t5's love the color of just the mh's (need to purchase new t5 bulb) but it is almost time to replace the mhs also.

[iamwrasseman]

i like the giesemann powerchrome aquablue + bulbs as they really look great and have that blueish hue which really add color to your corals .

[savageAJC]

thx for the reply, does it really make your whole tank look blue? or is it whitish wth blue hue?

[AKG10]

Here is a bad pic of my tank with10K AB double ended bulbs with 3 160w vho actinics(2 white 1 blue). I eventually switched to 2 blue actinics with 1 white actinic. I imagine you could get a crisp white with a tint of blue using T5s. I also used 14k bulbs for a bit and was not happy with them. The tank wasn't near as bright and the corals didn't have near the color.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c281/akg10/IMG_0617.jpg

[DarG]

Depends on the 10K and on the number and color of flourescent tubes used to supplement. Not all 10K's look the same. The manufacturer K rating is just a rating, not always the true color temp. For example, the AB 10K 150 watt DE measures very close to an actual 10000K (it's above 10K actually) and is a good bit LESS yellow looking than some other 10K rated lamps. Another 10K may actually measure 7500K. On top of that, blue flourescents (460nm) have higher output than actinic flourescents (420nm) so the blue lamps have a stronger color impact than the pure/true/super actinics. You can "blue up" a 6500K halide with enough flourescents.

[reefer31]

I can vouch for the ab 10k bulbs. They are a bit more blue than other 10k bulbs that I have seen and man they are very very bright. I switched to 20k ushio bulbs for a while and the difference was incredible. I really like the brightness of the AB bulbs and I am thinking about keeping them and going with more actinic supplements.
The color on that pic by AKG10 is dead on. At first I was hesitant about these bulbs, but once they burned in the bluer they became. They are some of the more expensive bulbs but if you check out sanjay's site they have some of the highest (ppfd) par for how blue they are compared to other 10k bulbs. Im not sure if this is right or not but I heard that they give off higher UVC too...anyone know about that?