Question about T5 and MH bulbs?

[TheNanoReefer]

Im still a newbie, so excuse my ignorance. Im not at home looking at my light fixture, so Im not 100% sure what bulbs I even have, but I was thinking today when I read another thread about SPS lighting...

my light setup consists of

(4) 40w T5 bulbs - which I think are 10k but not certain and do not know the brand either? I do know that (2) bulbs are white and (2) are blueish color

(1) 250w MH bulb in the center - do not know anything else about it


so my question is... is this a good setup as is? Or should I look into getting specific brands, Ks, etc? My goal is to be able to keep just about any clam, coral, etc I find that I like...

when I get home, ill try and find out the k and brands of what I do have, but i think you get the general idea of what Im asking...

[TheNanoReefer]

what if I changed it out to where I had 2 purple and 2 blue T5s and the only white coming from the MH in the center? would that work or would I need more white?

[patsfan1130]

Is this for your 55g? If so is it a standard 4' tank? I ask because the standard wattage for 48'' bulbs is 54w. 36'' is 39w. On a srandard 4' tank I would think 2 MH bulbs would be more desireable for an even spread throughout. I personally like UVL brand T5 for my tanks

[TheNanoReefer]

yes, it is for my 55 gallon. I was told my several ppl in my local club (dfwmas) that a 36" fixture would be fine on a 48" tank.. so thats what I got because I found a screamin good deal on it...

is it possible to replace the 40w bulbs with 54w bulbs (assuming they make 54w 36") without having to do any modifications to the power supplies, etc? could I just simply plug and play?

you can see pictures of my setup here

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2132696

[patsfan1130]

FWIK you cannot get 36'' 54w bulbs so I would say no.

Your setup looks nice and I would imagine you can keep pretty much any coral you want. The one caveat might be placement of some more light demanding specimens IE: more towards the center of the tank

[TheNanoReefer]

thank you...
so i guess my question now would be, are certain brands better than others? Should I replace what I have with "the best"? and what color combo should I go with? should i keep the 2 white/2 blue or maybe add in a purple in there?

[patsfan1130]

I have tried pretty much all of the MH & T5 bulbs out there. IMO You cannot go wrong with Radium or XM. Ushio & Hamilton make some nice bulbs aslo. For T5 I tend to stick with UVL & ATI.

In terms of bulb combo. It would depend on what Kelvin MH you went with. If you opted for a 10k, then you would likely want the T5 to be more blue. Just the opposite if you went with a 15 or 20k. The options are quite vast

[TheNanoReefer]

ok, Ill see what i currently have tonight when I get home and update this thread. I dont really know what K any of the bulbs I currently have are? But I thought I remember the guy saying 10k

[TheNanoReefer]

OK, i had a chance to look tonight.

2 - 10k 39w T5 bulbs - Sun Coral
2 - acintic 39w T5 bulbs - Sun Coral
1 - 250w 20k MH - currently in the fixture
1 - spare 250w 15k MH - brand new in box

which MH should I use?

[Ron Reefman]

How blue is your 250w 20K MH light? The 15k bulb may give you a more 'natural' color. But bulb color varies by mfg (it shouldn't, but it does). My guess would be that you have 2 10K t5s because of the 20K MH. If you switched to the 15K MH you might want to switch out the 10K t5s for something blue. And the bulb brands recommended so far have all been good. You may be able to find cheap t5 or MH bulbs, but you may be wasting your money. I tried $25 MH off Ebay and the 2 15k 250w bulbs won't say lit. I got 2 brand name bulbs and the problem went away.

[TheNanoReefer]

The MH brand was Odessey or something similar that started with an O.

Yes like i mentioned, the T5s are indeed 10k...

Could i replace one of the acintic or 10k with a purple bulb?

And my 20k MH appears very yellow to my eye, dont see blue at all.

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[TheNanoReefer]

It seems like the 10k and MH overpower the blue tint when everythings on together.

Could i have all blue and purple t5s with either the 15k or 20k MH and have a blueish look so the corals will pop?

I want them to look cool but also want them to grow

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[TheNanoReefer]

anyone?

[bnumair]

It seems like the 10k and MH overpower the blue tint when everythings on together.

Could i have all blue and purple t5s with either the 15k or 20k MH and have a blueish look so the corals will pop?

I want them to look cool but also want them to grow

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looks like a fixture i used to have long time ago.
yes u can change the T5 to actanics and 10k MH to 14k or 20K. the only thing to remember here is that u use the same watt/volt bults.
if ur T5 are rated (for example) 40w. then u need to buy actanics at 40w.
if ur MH is 150w 10k then u need to replace it with a 150w 14k or 20k MH.
also when u make the change keep ur fixture much higher than normal and bring it down 1 inch per 3 days to its normal place. otherwise u will burn ur corals out due to newer stronger bulbs.

[TheNanoReefer]

Nobody seems to be understanding what im saying... This is what i have:

2 - 10k t5 bulbs
2 - acintic blue t5 bulbs
1 - 250 watt 20k MH bulb

And i also have a 250 watt 15k MH bulb brand new I could use instead

What im wanting is a more "blue" look so when i do get corals they will pop and look like they do in magazines and LFS stores...but i still wabt them to grow not just look good.

So should i dump the 2- 10k t5 bulbs and replace with acintic or purple and have ZERO 10k bulbs....if i have all blue acintic or a combo of blue/purple t5s, which MH would be best to use?

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[bnumair]

u can do that.