T5 bulb order

[jayinh]

does it matter the order from front to back on t5's? i always have read people post the order of bulb colors from front to back and wondered if this matters? i ask cause i bought a used ati fixture and wanted to place two of the blue bulbs on one plug as they currently have one blue one white, kinda like a an actinic look prior and post all bulbs on. thanks for any help

[jayinh]

Anyone?

[unkel j]

I don't think it matters much. My LFS told me that keeping the actinics in the front can help slow algae growth on the front glass but I'm sure thats minimal.
I'd say put them however you want.

[cthedaytrader]

It matters when i set it up. The order can affect a number of things. For one, how your eye sees the tank from front to back, puttng the blue bulbs in the front can help limit some of the wash out effect of daylight bulbs or sandwhiching them in between bulbs, also bulb order can help minimize banding, sometimes if you look at tank with certain orders you can see the light change colors in strips across the tank.

Also some bulbs bring out different colors in the corals, so coral placement can be important as well in terms of bulb order. I am sure there are other reasons but these are the ones I notice most. Another could be par, spready the par evenely through the tank, or having it concentrated.

I have an 8bulb ati and the bulb order has a dramatic effect. I find I keep my purple and daylight bulbs in the middle to help limit some of the wash out effect they have, but I like a 20K look

[rtparty]

Yes it matters. You want the colors evenly spread out through the tank so you don't get banding and you can totally change the look of the entire tank using the same bulbs.

For example, if you run an ATI Aquablue in the very front the whole tank will look a bit more white compared to running a Blue Plus in the same slot.

A good rule of thumb is not to clump like bulbs together and keep the pink/purple bulbs front of center so that the red light strikes the viewing side of the corals.