Advice On T5 Light Bulb Configuration

[divemasterjim]

I am planning on buying a 4 bulb T5 set up this weekend but am a little confused on what light bulbs I need. Because of the shape of my hood I am forced to get two 48" 54 watt lights and two 36" 39 watt lights. Now im planning on adding corals as soon as i get 60 more pounds of live rock, wich will take maybe 4 weeks.
The tank is a 60 gallon about 20" deep.
The lights I have to chose from are:

ATI 6500K sun pro full spectrum
ATI 11000K aquablue special 60%actinic 40%daylight spectrum
ATI blue plus peaks at 450nm
ATI Actinic 03 peaks at 420nm

Now what I was thinking was for the 48" 54 watts I would go with the 6500k and the 11000k for daylight
and for the 36" 39 watts go with the blue and actinic and use them for dusk and dawn and keep them on for 12 hours and use the 48" for 10 hours for daylight
Is this a good idea? is that enough light? will it be sufficient for corals?
should I do some other configuration?
What say you all?

 

[divemasterjim]

anyone???

 

[divemasterjim]

upon doing some reading I think I may do two 6500K , 1 actinic and 1 blue
what do you think of this set up?
do i need the 11000k?

 

[Atari]

I'm setting up a new 46 gal right now and wanted to do T5's but had the same dilema trying to decide what configuration to get. Anyway, the luminare I bought came with the bulbs so I didn't have to choose in the end. It has 2x39w daylight whites and 2x39w actinics and I'm pretty happy with effect. The only thing that isn't so great is the penetration down to the very bottom but there's still a nice shimmering effect on the sand, my tank is 20" high too.

 

[divemasterjim]

can anyone else help me figure out what to get?

 

[loganj]

I would go with 2x54w in 6500 and 2x39w in true actinic. I wouldn't bother with the "blue" bulbs at all. It would be nice if you could find some daylight bulbs that were whiter than 6500k though. Coral Vue has some 50/50 T-5's that are probably a whiter looking bulb...you might look into those.

 

[Atari]

I don't know if you have Arcadia over there but that's what I got and the marine white tubes are 9,500K which looks great.

 

[captivereefs]

Actually the Coralvues are only calld 50/50. They are actually 10K'S.

 

[divemasterjim]

Now ive done lots of google searches, ive asked questions here, ive looked at 100 different web sights, and still I dont know what to get!!!! I expected a little more help here then I got, maybe Im expecting to much?but isnt that what this web site is about? I am buying a T5 set up this weekend and still dont know what bulbs to get. There is no manual out there that I have found. maybe its not about a manual but I still dont know what bulbs to buy. I plan to get corals but dont know which ones yet , that would be a little tuff to decide everything at once instead of going step by step learning and deciding what I like and want. All im trying to do is get a light set up that will accommodate corals, I understand MH are the best and that would be easy enough but I cant do MH so im stuck with T5 which to my understanding is the best thing next to MH. As far as choices for the bulbs I think i will go with my first choice and get one of each just so i get all the different kelvins and light ranges this way every thing will be happy, unless someone tells me other wise.

 

[divemasterjim]

find some daylight bulbs that were whiter than 6500k

Like what range? less or more then 6500k? does that mean 5000k or 7000k are whiter? All ive read says corals need 10000k light they also need 6500k light so how confusing is that?

 

[Atari]

I expected a little more help here then I got, maybe Im expecting to much?

I'm not sure what more you want short of us ordering the bulbs for you.

If you read the replies by logan and myself you'll see we both suggested 2 actinics and 2 white daylights (~10K).

 

[divemasterjim]

It has 2x39w daylight whites

so what are they 6500k? 10000k? 11000k?

find some daylight bulbs that were whiter than 6500k

what does that mean?

I was also told that 6500k would make the tank look yellow
I just wanted help picking the right bulbs. there are so many choices, I dont want to get the wrong one then have to buy a different replacement

 

[steve-s]

The higher the kelvin rating of the bulb, the more blue to violet will be emited giving the tank a whitish/blue appearance.
10,000 k

The lower the kelvin, the more red, yellow and green spikes in the spectrum the bulb emits giving the tank a yellow appearance.
6500 k

Cheers
Steve

 

[divemasterjim]

thanks steve