Dakotapi3rc3 Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 Hi all, I was fortunate enough to get a supplemental T5 kit to go with my reef for Christmas, I currently have. A 300w mars aqua LED and I was wondering what bulbs would bring the most color to my tank for coral with the LED supplement, the catch is because it's a DIY kit there's only room for 2 bulbs. I was thinking an actinic and coral plus? I have a lot of montis/sps and am certain this tank will transition to a predominantly acro dominated one. Recent tank shot for an idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 ATI blue plus is pretty much the standard. Actinic brings out some nice color too. Coral plus is going to be a whiter bulb so it’s not gonna be for color pop, mostly just daytime growth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 That's probably the combo I would go with also with only two bulbs to supplement. You could then use your blue leds to choose the color you prefer. When I used my 4 bulb T5 hybrid with a XR30 Radion, I liked to use more white T5's and the blue channels of the Radion to balance it out. I couldn't really dial in the color that I liked when I had to use the white leds to balance out the blue T5 bulbs although your fixture may be different . Now that I'm using a metal halide bulb, I am using blue plus and actinic bulbs to balance out the whiter halide bulb. I would suggest you buy a blue plus, coral plus and an actinic and then you can find the combo that you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjmdh Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 What size T5s do you need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakotapi3rc3 Posted December 29, 2020 Author Share Posted December 29, 2020 3 minutes ago, cjmdh said: What size T5s do you need? 24 inchers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjmdh Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 5 minutes ago, Dakotapi3rc3 said: 24 inchers Was going to offer some for you to see what you like, but only have 36" and 48" inchers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 Go with two blue + for sure if you only have two bulbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthbound Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 2x coral plus turn the white leds off and crank the blues till you get to color of tank you want. Quality of white leds in most fixtures is trash and adding the narrow spectrum of green and red leds to compensate is a joke. Use the t5s for your “full spectrum” coverage and add in blue with leds will give you a much more visually appealing result than anything else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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