What should I Order? (T5)

I have a 20" nova extreme pro. 6bulb t5ho fixture. I need help choosing bulbs as im fairly new to my options. for a long while i only had 2 choices of bulb from current usa. Uvl has given me 4 more options.

030w T5-R VHO - UVL Actinic White 18" Buy Now $24.95 $21.95 030w T5-R VHO - UVL Aquasun 18" Buy Now $24.95 $21.95 030w T5-R VHO - UVL Indigo Sun 18" Buy Now $24.95 $21.95 030w T5-R VHO - UVL Super Actinic 18"

not sure what to go with. i was thinking 2 indigo sun and 4 super actinc. I dunno. all so confusing

nanotuners.com is where i will be buying.

Is there even a point of switching to uvl?

my current bulbs are current usa 2x12k and 4 actinic. seems so siilar to what im ordering.


HELP!!! im driving myself crazy

 

Most definitely a good move UVL is far superior to Coralife. Your thought would be a very dark blue tank with great color and slow growth. I would suggest 3 indigo sun, 1 super actinic, 1 aqua sun and 1 actinic white.

 

if you are open to other brands I would recommend ATI. I feel like I post this combo a lot but if I had a 6-bulb I'd do it with these bulbs in this order:

(front to back)
ATI Blue +
ATI AquaBlue Special
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue +
ATI AquaBlue Special

I used to run a 5-bulb T5 fixture with similar bulb set-up, great spectrum, great PAR and great growth. UVL and Geissman are also very nice.

You can get them from http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/Replacement_Bulbs/T5_Fluorescent/ATI/ if you go that route.

best of luck!

 

A question...

The indigo sun is pinkish, the super actinic is purple, the actinic white is pinkish/white. I am not sure on the aqua sun.

How does this come out to be dark blue?

Honestly, I am not trying to be confrontational. I am just curious.

 

P.S. I just bought two Giesemann Actinic + bulbs. Looking at the bulb itself, it looks "over-the-top ridiculous." But, I must say that they do make the tank look good (supplementing an XM 10k).

 

No problem with the question.

I was told the Indigo sun was bluish, didn't know it was pinkish. The AquaSun is pinkish too.

So in that case I would say go with 4 Super Actinics and 2 Indigo Sun. I am going to guess that the Indigo Sun has more blue in it than the Actinic White since it is supposed to be heavy in the 454 range. The Actinic White has more blue than the Aqua Sun. I would suggest getting 1 Actinic White and 1 Aqua Sun to see which of the 3 daylight bulbs you like best.

 

Unfortunately ATI does not make 18" bulbs.

 

really wish i had that option but with the NEP20" T5 fixture the bulbs are just too short for most manufacturers. Only recently UVL made bulbs for small fixtures.

 

so you figure that i should go with what i was already thinking but to get 1aquasun and 1whiteactinic to play with preference.

This is the color im looking to achieve. the first two pics in link.
Banjo's Biocube 29 - Nano-Reef.com Forums
the guy is using 4x 454nm and 2 indigo sun

 

Yes, if you like that color, and it is a good one IMO, I would buy the same bulbs.