T 5 Lighting

[mbu man]

i have a 4 foot wide tank with 2 aqua white and 2 aqua blue t 5 bulbs.
nice and bright,but what i am wanting to do is put them on timers and acheive the same sort of effectthat my lfs has with halide lights, that being the illuminous effect on the corals.
simalar what a uv light does to white in a clud
i was going to change my t5s to all aqua white and have them on one timer,
but also need some thing to take the uv lighting or what ever the name of tis bulb is, so that this can be on in the morning and of the evening and when my 4 t5s are on in the day.
hmmmm,bit of a mouthfull that!!
any ideas or a point in the right direction would be great

 

[SkiFletch]

Are you trying to get that phosphorescent hue out of your corals?

 

[mbu man]

Are you trying to get that phosphorescent hue out of your corals?

yep. how do i acheive that?

 

[mbu man]

anybody?
its for a xmas prezzie from the parents but until i know what im looking for i cant have the lights

 

[bobf]

anybody?
its for a xmas prezzie from the parents but until i know what im looking for i cant have the lights

Just try the blues on their own, or better yet get a couple of actinics.

If your light fitting has two switches and two power leads then put the two whites on one circuit/switch and the two actinics on the other. Two timers and you're away - have the actinics on with the whites but also running for an hour or so longer and on an hour earlier too.

 

[SkiFletch]

anybody?
its for a xmas prezzie from the parents but until i know what im looking for i cant have the lights

Dunno how easy they are to find in the UK, but VHO lighting really makes coral colors "pop" Bluer temp halides and T5's can do it to an extent, but nothing makes phosphorescence better than VHO purple

 

[mbu man]

anybody?
its for a xmas prezzie from the parents but until i know what im looking for i cant have the lights

Dunno how easy they are to find in the UK, but VHO lighting really makes coral colors "pop" Bluer temp halides and T5's can do it to an extent, but nothing makes phosphorescence better than VHO purple

i can find interpet blue moons that are 55w and 21inches.
are these any good?
if they are will i need one set or two sets??
ii cannot find anything on vho purple on the internet anywhere??

 

[SkiFletch]

Hehe, try searching for VHO lighting or T12VHO lighting, then see if you can find bulbs that are 420nm. Like I said, they don't seem to be popular at ALL in the UK so you might not find them.

Blue PC's can give the same effect. You'll need at least length-spanning ones, so if that requires 2 55watt bulbs then so be it

 

[DarrenUnwin]

Aqua Medic do a nice artinic blue T5 at 31 inches. I have 2 on one timer and 2 white on another just as previuosly posted. I know one lfs who sells more corals that way but switching on the artinics when people are browsing, crafty devil

In the end I think after you have achieved the required level of lighting the type is down to personal taste.

 

[Adrinal]

UVL brand emulates t-12 lighting

Id go with
ATI Blue pluss
UVL full actinic
ATI Aquablue
Ati Blue Pluss

front to back

 

[sophos9]

i can find interpet blue moons that are 55w and 21inches.
are these any good?

Mate, they are R U B B I S H... please do not waste your money!! I nearly puked when I added these to my tank

Get the arcadia 55w PC's, more expensive but excellent hue (close to halide), match this with a 14k Arcadia white...

I've got the Interpet, used for about 30mins then removed,

 

[pengy666]

I have the interpet 55w blue moons,

With my mass od reflectors these lights are good.

Ok so they arent halides but they make my tank look sweet!

 

[mbu man]

well i went to my lfs yesterday to get the arcadia twins 55w pc`s.
they looked to small,not enough light.
they had some 4ft ho glo twin t5`s with reflectors in all ready to put on.
they threw in 2 t5 blue moon bulbs for free and knocked £20 of the lights to!
well their now on the top of my tank with 2 aqua white and 2 aqua blue!!
WOW!!!! what a difference!!! they look like haylide lighting now, for a fraction of the price!
do blue moon bulbs encourage algae to grow?

 

[SkiFletch]

No, algaes typically do not respond to the blue wavelengths of light