GraffitiSpotCorals May 22, 2014 Share May 22, 2014 So my sps is acclimated to the 2040 I got, both channels are at 100 percent and no optics so it covers more area. The tank is a 40 breeder. The 2040 has the erc layout, a ton of blue leds with a few random neutral whites and violets and reds. Its ridiculously blue, and I am not getting any good responses from the coral. There are lots of spots in the corals where light is not getting to. Also the corals all have the same hue to them and colors are horrible. I think adding some t5s with the whiter spectrum will help a lot. I am using an icecap 440 and 4 39w t5s. For the bulbs I was thinking of using two coral plus and two aquablue specials. Or two coral plus and two blue plus. I am leaning towards this because of the washed out look of the aquablue special, although it is supposed to have higher par. I am also getting some ge 6500k since they are so cheap, becsuse I like the 10k look and may need to use these to achieve that look. I hate blue tanks and am praying I can fix this with some overdriven white t5s. And am also hoping for more par, which I have not measured yet but would like too. I figure I have lost a lot since I took the optics off the fixture. I am guessing I should add the light to the tank by slowly ramping up the t5s run time, might start at 3 hours a day. Anyone using t5s with leds have any suggestions? I have the whole thing made and ready, just need the bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiscici May 22, 2014 Share May 22, 2014 What kind reflector do you have. I think the key in having a good par is a good reflector. I vote for the coral plus bulb, I really like the color. Might want to check on purple bulb too, it will give your tank a nice color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 May 22, 2014 Share May 22, 2014 If using 4 bulbs I would do a purple plus, blue plus, and two coral plus. I see you want white, so maybe purple and three coral plus. Play around w/ the 6500 since it's cheap. I would however definately include at least 1 purple bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 22, 2014 Author Share May 22, 2014 Well the t5s are on the sides so they have to be identical two Umberto get even coverage, or else one side of the Rock will look different thsn the other. Its viewable from two sides. I was also contemplating two purples with two coral plus. Are the ATI purples a decent white or bright color or are they more dark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 May 22, 2014 Share May 22, 2014 Maybe all coral+ would be your best bet. That is my fav T5 bulb and has a nice all in one bulb spectrum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bravanc May 22, 2014 Share May 22, 2014 i am noticing the same results with my corals. i lost some color and polyp extension on some of the corals. This happened when i went from 65/45 to 80/65 (Blue/white). Maybe too much light? i am going to bring my light intensity back down instead of up to see if the color comes back. if not i am ready to supplement with t5 too. following along to see how this goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 22, 2014 Author Share May 22, 2014 Maybe all coral+ would be your best bet. That is my fav T5 bulb and has a nice all in one bulb spectrum. Yea no doubt that would look great, but then I would be thinkin, "Man I wonder if a different bulb would give me a little different color..." we will see what I come up with I guess. I will order a few and play around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt May 22, 2014 Share May 22, 2014 I don't know that you'll even need to use LEDs if you are going to overdrive 4 39w t5 on a 40B. Coral+ are about 10% P+...so I'd do 2 Coral+ and 2 Blue+...then experiment with the 6500k cheap bulbs to see if they give you something you like better as you like the lower kelvin look. Purple+ is purple...not white...but purple is useful too if you still don't see colors on your corals as you'd like them. Maybe PM Brad (jstln) and see what his combo is...he overdrives T5 on his 75g and has grown beautiful SPS like the dickens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 22, 2014 Author Share May 22, 2014 I may have to dim the leds some but I doubt I will have to turn them down much. The lights will be about 13 inches from the water. I may be able to keep corals with 4 t5s but the corals I have won't be happy that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds May 23, 2014 Share May 23, 2014 I would go with a KZ superblue, 2 KZ new generation 14k and a KZ Fiji. Or get a few of each and play around with the combo's. I like these better then the ATI bulbs. Yes they are more expensive but worth every penny. My corals took off when I changed to these bulbs over the ATI set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 23, 2014 Author Share May 23, 2014 I do like the kz new generation for sure, that was a thought to use it with another bulb, maybe a purple or a blue bulb. I will have to lay around I think, I am not sure if I can use any blue bulbs, it may make everything too blue. Thats why I was thinking 2 coral plus and 2 aquablue specials... Bad thing is I don't have cash to buy bulbs that I am not going to use. Buying ATI coral plus and blue plus works because I use them on our shallow tank. And the ge bulbs are only 3 bucks!! Can't beat that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt May 23, 2014 Share May 23, 2014 Hey, I just took some old bulbs offf my 4x39w rig.....you could borrow to play with looks. I'm only holding them for emergency backup, and I would not suggest anyone really using them for any length of time. Two b+, one c+, one p+ Catch is I leave for a week tonight...so most likely you'd need to wait until next Sunday evening at the earliest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 23, 2014 Author Share May 23, 2014 I can come get them today before you leave, pm sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds May 23, 2014 Share May 23, 2014 (edited) I have a bunch of 4' and 5' bulbs that u could use to play around with color if you want them. They are all ATI with some fiji's mixed in Edited May 23, 2014 by epleeds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 23, 2014 Author Share May 23, 2014 I need 39w bulbs. If I cut meet up with Matt tonight I will post. Thanks though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k May 24, 2014 Share May 24, 2014 I just got an extra couple of horsepower from my car- bought the new JC Whitney Add a Horse kit to my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 24, 2014 Author Share May 24, 2014 You drive!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 25, 2014 Author Share May 25, 2014 Looks like the aquablue special and the coral plus along with two actintic bulbs is the fit. Now with the t5s I can see how poorly lit the tank was with just the led... Its like the blue leds were just making a fake healthy look for the corals, like the fluorescence and glow was just a cover-up. Now with real white light everything looks like it's been struggling the whole time... hopefully things will turn around soon. I am worried about the aclimation process for the light. I Think I will turn the leds white channel down to 50 percent. Keep running the leds for 9 hours a day, and start running the t5s at 4 hours a day for a week. Then bump it up accordingly depending on how the acros respond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 Keep posting progress. I am interested to see how things go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals June 25, 2014 Author Share June 25, 2014 Now running the t5s for 7 hours with both led channels at 100 percent and running just the blue leds for 10 hours for viewing. My alk and calcium dosage has doubled since hooking up the t5s and I have to bump it up once a week still. Colors have improved amazingly along with the health of the corals. I am extreemly happy I decided to add these and will probly end up lowering all the lights 6 or 7 inches soon. Definatly not too much light so far. The blue on the bad azz has finally showed its self again and most of the wierd pink hue it had is gone. Although it still has some in the branches where it's supposed to when it looks healthy. This makes me want to try one of thoes 8 bulb ati fixtures soooooo bad!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals June 25, 2014 Author Share June 25, 2014 Wow it's only been a month too! What an improvement... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bravanc June 25, 2014 Share June 25, 2014 so, do you ramp up your light through out the day or do they just come on? what is you light schedule and percentages? did you use the t5s (colors) stated earlier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals June 25, 2014 Author Share June 25, 2014 This is right after the transfer from my rubbermaid. It had high light but was starving from not being fed well. This is after being under just leds for a few months. This is one month after adding 4 t5s Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford June 25, 2014 Share June 25, 2014 After reading so many threads of people going to led and then going back to T5 or adding T5 supplements I'm happy I just stayed T5. I'm glad to hear things are improving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals June 25, 2014 Author Share June 25, 2014 Leds work great but you gotta have the right bulbs, distance, spectrum, etc... I don't have the money or time to get all that right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now